EPISODE FIVE— THE CONTRACT MARRIAGE

EPISODE FIVE 

Mara's POV 

My eyes widened in sheer shock. 

What did I just hear? 

How is this possible that Mia is supposed to be his contracted Luna? 

But just as quickly, my shock turned into something darker and I didn't feel bad about it at all nor would I back down.

This is definitely the Goddess helping me to get back to those who have hurt me in ways I never thought possible.

Elena found such a powerful and perfect man for her daughter, while I was nothing but a sacrificial lamb to Leon. 

Mia has never been innocent; she has always enjoyed as I was beneath her, watched as everything was taken away from me and handed to her. If this is the way I can hurt her, then so be it.

The Alpha whose name I haven't come to know stared up at me. “So, what did you think we should do, Miss? I'm supposed to be your sister's mate. Should we still go ahead or cancel?”. That wasn't a question though; it was a test. 

I shrugged, unbothered. “Let's go ahead, Alpha,” I said smoothly. “My sister will definitely be fine.”

His brows furrowed as he stared at me more intensely. Then he nodded with a devilish and satisfied grin. “You've got guts, Miss. You are exactly my kind of person.”

Just then, the door creaked open and I snapped my head back to see Mia, walking in gracefully with a broad smile on her face, her eyes darted across the room and when they landed on me, the smile vanished into thin air replaced by a dreadful expression that was so satisfying.

She has always been the loved one, the privileged one, so it was time I watched her break.

She started walking towards us, her heels hitting the floor sharply like a war declaration. She stopped in front of the Alpha and bowed with a forced smile. “Greetings to you, Alpha Aldrich.”

Aldrich is his name.

Without waiting for him to respond, she closed the distance between us, her expensive cologne filled my nostrils. “Mother and Leon have been searching everywhere for you?” She whispered through gritted teeth. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I didn't answer her. I just looked at Aldrich. “So, should we proceed?”

“Sure, let's do that.” He rose up from his seat.

Mia let out a humourless laugh. “Proceed to what?” Her eyes shifted between us but none of us responded. “I'm sorry Alpha, can I have a quick discussion with my sister?

He nodded. “Go ahead.”

Her fingers dug into my arms as she led me to a corner. “What are you doing here? And what are you proceeding with?”

I snatched my arm free from her and looked at her dead in the eyes. “ I want to be his Luna,” I said like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Did you have a problem with that?”

For a long moment, she paused and then scoffed. “Are you crazy? You are getting married to Leon next week, so what the hell are you talking about?”

“What about we exchange? You marry Leon while I marry Aldrich?”

She did not respond; she just stood there, visibly shaken with her lips and eyes wide open.

I shoulder-brushed her and walked back to Aldrich. “Let's proceed Alpha.”

Aldrich held up his arms. “How about we continue this discussion in my suite upstairs?”

I hooked mine into it. “Sure.”

We started walking out of the room towards the bar and as if Mia just regained herself, she started running behind us while screaming our names. We did not wait but she caught up and stood in front of us, painting.

The other guests' attention was on us now, their gazes were curious. Everyone rose and bowed. Aldrich must be a very powerful Alpha.

“You choose me, Alpha Aldrich,” she choked out, hitting her chest slightly. “I am Mia Hartwell—the one who is supposed to be your Luna and not my sister.”

“Sister?” I let out a mocking laugh. “I bet you never thought of me as that until now.”

She did not respond; she just swallowed hard, her eyes watered with tears.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Aldrich said but the apology was far from being genuine. “But I choose your sister now. She will be my wife and Luna.”

We walked past her and made our way outside.

“Mara. Alpha Aldrich,” she called and tried to follow us again but Evander held her back.

__________

Inside the luxurious suite, I sat on a single seater couch. My chest pounded loudly in my ears from it all and several unanswered questions ran through my mind.

Since he brought me to his suite…. did he want to fuck me by any chance?

Of course, I won't be able to stop him anyways since I promised to do anything.

He slammed a brown envelope on the glass table before me and settled on the couch across. “Wine?” He asked, shaking the bottle of bourbon.

I nodded. “Sure.”

He half-filled the glasses and passed one to me. “Thank you,” I muttered. I took a sip. The liquid did nothing to ease the nervousness inside me.

He took a sip, retrieved a piece of paper from inside the envelope and handed it over to me. “These are the rules of the contract. Go through it and let me know when you think.”

I swallowed hard, eyes darted around the black and white ink.

NO LOVE. 

It was in bold letters , yet that was my mission. Get him to fall in love with me in three months. Mere looking at him, one can tell that he is emotionally unavailable. Would I succeed?

But we have to convince everyone that we are in love and I need to perform Luna duties diligently. No one knows that we are in a contract marriage.

No invading one's privacy or personal relationship.

The contract ends in exactly one year and both parties are expected to walk away without contacting each other ever again.

“I think everything is fine,” I murmured, even though I'm not too pleased with the first rule.

“Alright.” He handed me a pen. “Go ahead and sign with your name.”

With slightly shaky hands, I inscribed my name. Just Mara. I have no family nor name. I handed the paper back to him.

“Ma…ra…” my name rolled out of his tongue in perfect precision and it has never sounded better than it did on anyone's tongue.

He inscribed his name too and held his glass up. “Cheers to a peaceful contractual relationship.”

I held my glass up. “Cheers.”