Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

“I won’t marry him, Dad. Over my dead body.”

The marriage contract sat between us as its red wax seal glows in the afternoon light. The parchment looked fancy with its silver wolf crest. To anyone else, it would have resembled the beginning of a prosperous and highly coveted alliance between two noble bloodlines. To me, it looked like a gilded death sentence, signed in ink and sealed with my own destruction.

I stared at the name written right under mine: Corbin Vesperis. Seeing it made my skin crawl and brought back memories of his hands gripping my wrists. My chest tightened but I forced myself to stay still.

My father sat behind the massive mahogany desk. Alpha Magnus Ellis wore an immaculate black coat across broad shoulders, silver streaks frosted his temples and his cold gaze commanded total submission.

"You'll sign the contract before sunset," he said and straightened a stack of documents. "Preparations for the mating ceremony have already begun and the elder council already gave their blessing." 

I looked outside. Outside the arched windows, members of the Ellis Pack crossed the sunny courtyard, completely unaware that their Alpha arranged his only daughter’s future as though negotiating the sale of prized livestock.

I lifted my gaze from the parchment and forced steel into my spine. "No. I won't marry him, Dad. You can't force me into this."

My father leaned back in his leather chair and folded his hands. "You've always mistaken stubbornness for courage, Caidy. It is a foolish flaw that will ruin you."

"I'm not being stubborn. I know exactly what this contract is," I said as my my voice rose as panic turned into fury. "You call sending me back to the man who nearly killed me a political duty?"

His expression remained stoic. "You've already shared a bond with him, Caidy. It is time to formalize what you started."

"It wasn't a bond." I stepped toward the desk and clenched my hands into tight fists. "It was never a courtship. He wasn’t even my fated mate."

"It was proper courtship. And come on, do you really think fated mates exist? If yes, I am a hundred percent sure that you won’t have anyone," he corrected smoothly.

"It was abuse." The word echoed through the quiet study. He frowned and let out a slow sigh.

"Corbin acted rashly," Father said and dismissed two years of terror with a single sentence. "Young wolves lose control when their instincts spark. It is the nature of our beast."

"He fractured my ribs," I choked out, the pain tearing at my throat as memories surged back. "He left me bleeding on his floor."

"And you recovered right?" he replied coldly. "Our bloodline heals quickly."

"He locked me inside his house for three whole days without food or light."

"And yet, you survived." He tilted his head. "You still stand before me now, healthy and whole."

“He tried to mark me by force!"

The confession tore out of me and silence crashed over the room. My pulse pounded against my throat and my chest rose and fell with every shaky breath. Angry tears burned behind my eyes but I refused to let them fall.

“I begged him to stop,” I said. My voice shook no matter how hard I tried to steady it. “I screamed until I couldn't scream anymore. Do you remember that part, Dad? Do you remember when I came back to you covered in his marks and begged you to help me?”

My father rubbed his temples. "You've always been so dramatic, Caidy." 

 "I won't sign it," I remarked. "I refuse to become his mate! No fucking way! I would rather be cast out as a rogue!"

The heavy wooden chair scraped across the floor as Alpha Magnus rose to his feet. His aura flooded the room and crashed into me. The pressure settled on my shoulders until my joints protested and my knees threatened to give out.

He stepped around the desk, stopped inches away, and met my eyes. "I have given you everything a daughter of House Ellis could ever desire."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "Everything? I'd rather have nothing than be your fucking daughter."

His hand struck my face before I finished the sentence. The crack rang through the room. My head snapped to the side and blood filled my mouth. I staggered into the edge of the desk, but I barely recovered before his fist tangled in my hair. He yanked my head back and forced me to face him.

"You forgot who you're speaking to, my daughter," he said with a cold snort. His grip tightened until my scalp burned. He jerked my hair again and stole the breath from my lungs. "I am your Alpha."

"You stopped being my father long before you decided to become my Alpha," I shot back. Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth, but I never looked away.

His face twisted with fury and his grip tightened.

"You were born for one purpose alone," he said. "To continue the Ellis bloodline and secure our power."

"But I am just your daughter..."

"You were born a failure!” he roared as he shoved me backward. I hit the marble floor hard, slid across it, and slammed into the base of the wall. Pain exploded through my shoulder and stole the air from my lungs.

He straightened his cuffs and looked down at me as if I were beneath him.

"You should thank the Gods," he said. "I could have chosen any ruthless Alpha to strengthen our border alliances. Instead, I graciously chose the man who already wanted you."

"Wanted?" I let out a bitter laugh that almost turned into a choke. "He doesn't want me, Dad! He hates me because he knows that I will never love him."

"At least he will give us powerful heirs," my father replied without the slightest hesitation.

"He'll put me in my grave before I ever give him a child."

I braced a hand against the floor and forced myself back up even though every muscle shook with the effort. His expression hardened with disgust. 

"You have one responsibility left to this House, Caidy." He took another step until he stood over me. "You failed to awaken an Alpha wolf at twelve. You failed to surpass the Volkaris heirs at the academy. You never developed the strength this family expected. Instead, you inherited far too much of your disgusting mother's magic."

He looked at me with contempt. "So fulfill the only purpose a weak woman like you still has. Become a vessel. Give this House children worthy of inheriting it, then stay out of the way."

Every muscle in my body went rigid. A cold wave of horror swept through me and drowned out every trace of physical pain.

"What?" I whispered.

"That," he said quietly. His eyes held nothing but cold malice. "That is the only true value you still have to offer to our pack, you useless little piece of shit."

"I would rather die."

My voice came out calm and almost lifeless. I forced myself to my feet and stood in front of him even though every part of my body trembled.

"I would rather watch this entire bloodline burn to ash with me than spend another day belonging to that fucking Corbin Vesperis"

The room fell silent. My father studied for several long seconds. His eyes searched my face for the slightest hint of fear or hesitation but he found neither. At last, a smile spread across his lips. I gulped. 

"The ceremony will proceed on the next Blood Moon," he said. He smoothed the front of his dark coat as though we had discussed nothing more serious than business. "You will remain in your quarters until then. Every servant has orders to report your movements, and guards will stand watch outside your door at all times."

A cold chill ran down my spine. He had expected me to fight from the very beginning.

"If you try to run," he continued as he walked past me toward the heavy oak doors, "I will hunt you down myself. I will break your legs and drag you back here in chains."

His hand settled on the iron handle, but he stopped before he opened the door. "Oh, and Caidy..."

I flinched. He spoke my name without a trace of affection. "Remember this," he said as he glanced back at me. "No one in this realm will ever help you because you were such a bad… bad girl. No one will ever want you.” 

The heavy door clicked shut behind him and I was left alone. 

My gaze shifted from the mirror to the bookshelf along the eastern wall. Behind the bottom shelf sat a loose stone that only I knew about. I crossed the room on unsteady legs, knelt before the wall, and pulled it free. A small wooden box wrapped in a faded blue cloth rested inside the hidden compartment.

My hands shook as I set the box on my lap and opened it. Inside lay a single unopened letter. The parchment had yellowed with age but the elegant handwriting of Lady Seraphine Volkaris remained clear.

A shaky breath escaped me as tears blurred my vision. It was the last thing my mother had given me.

The memory hit me at once. She lay weak beneath heavy blankets, her face pale, her breathing slow. Even then, she smiled every time I walked into the room.

"Listen to me carefully, my sweetheart," she whispered as she placed the box in my small hands. "If the day ever comes when you have nowhere else to go, take this letter to Seraphine."

"Malakai’s mother?" I asked. "Mom... she's our enemy."

My mother brushed my hair away from my face and cupped my cheek. "Not every promise dies in war, Caidy. She promised me that if I could no longer protect you, she would."

The memory faded, and the cold reality returned. There were just two massive, life-threatening problems with my mother's grand escape plan: first, Lady Seraphine is dead, and second, her five sons absolutely hated my guts.

They despised everything about me. To the Volkaris brothers, I was the spoiled princess of House Ellis. The academy bully who never missed a chance to humiliate them, challenge them or mock their family. I tightened my grip on the letter until the old parchment crumpled beneath my fingers.

For some reason, the choice felt painfully simple. I could face five dangerous men who hated my existence, or I could spend the rest of my life with a monster who would break me until nothing remained… heck, I would rather fall to my knees and beg my enemies for mercy than waste another day begging Corbin for his.

My gaze drifted to the tall windows and settled on the snow-covered mountains beyond them. They marked the border between House Ellis and House Volkaris. Before the Blood Moon rises, I will definitely cross that border and leave this nightmare behind. 

Whatever awaits for me on the other side, it couldn't be worse than this… right?