1. THE WEDDING SAGA 

~ODETTE

I will never forget the day I watched my father and his mistress kill my mother. 

That same day, I swore to them that I would destroy them all. 

And today, on my wedding day, I was finally beginning the first phase of my vengeance.

All the years of enduring silent abuse from my stepmother, her daughter and my father— while pretending to be meek and naive just to survive—

It was all ending today. 

"Mom, you'll finally get justice," I whispered as I stared back at my silver eyes in the mirror. 

I turned to my closet, where I had kept my wedding dress but it was empty. 

I frowned. 

Could Camille have something to do with this?

I tightened my bathrobe and walked out of my room immediately. I was heading for hers when I heard her laughter coming from downstairs. I hurried down instantly and when I found her in the living room, I froze in my tracks. 

Not only did she have the guts to take my wedding dress, she went as far as wearing it. She was busy showing it off to her mother like it was a trophy she had been yearning for. 

I felt my wolf stir with anger but I forced her down. It wasn't yet time to drop our meek and weak act. 

"Camille. . ." I called calmly. "Why are you wearing my wedding dress?" 

She and her mother turned to look at me, noticing me for the first time. Then they both broke into laughter, hyena-like laughter that seemed to prick my skin in irritation. 

"Oh, Daddy didn't tell you yet?" Camille asked in a teasing tone. "How sad." 

"It's Camille's dress now, Little Rat," Rowena spat. 

I frowned harder. "I understand that Camille always takes whatever she likes from my collection. . . But I can't let her have this one. I need to get married in it, Step-mother." 

They laughed again. 

"You won't be needing it, Big Sis," Camille sneered in mockery. "Because I am the one getting married to Adrian today." 

I felt my heart shatter at the news. My wolf tossed with instant anger and I clenched my teeth hard. 

Rowena and her daughter resumed laughing like hyenas when they saw the look on my face. 

"Wait, did you actually think a little rat like you deserves to marry Crown Prince Adrian? He's the future Alpha King of all wolves! He can't possibly be stuck with a classless weakling like you." 

I staggered back in shock. 

This had better be a silly prank or a joke. I was banking my entire life on this marriage. My revenge was centered on it. If I marry Adrian, only then can I use my Wolf Queen status to bring my mother justice. 

If I lost this chance, I would never be able to get my revenge. 

I was slowly losing it at this point but I forced myself not to drop the weak act. I still needed to appear clueless so they wouldn't suspect a thing. 

"Step-mother. . . You need to think this through clearly. I understand that you only want what is best for the entire wolf realm. But my late mother arranged this marriage with the Alpha King for me. We could risk angering him. If I am not the one who marries Adrian today, don't you think he would descend his wrath upon our entire pack?" 

"Do you dare to question my judgement, Odette?" Rowena suddenly demanded as the laughter on her face switched to hatred. "I must have gotten too soft on you. Let me teach you what happens to little rats like you that speak out of line."

Within seconds, she closed the distance between us and ripped the pearl necklace I had on off my neck. 

The beads went shattering to the floor in depressing sounds that wrecked my soul. 

My heart skipped triple beats as I let out a shocked gasp. 

"My mother's necklace!" I cried and sank to the floor, frantically gathering the fallen pearl pieces I could find. 

My eyes burned with anger and all I wanted was to launch myself at her and put her in her place. 

In fact, I was so close to actually doing it when—

"What is the cause of all this screaming?" Father's voice suddenly rang out. 

This stopped my violent thoughts in my head and I shakily looked up at him. He had an impatient look in his eyes, already clad in his royal robes. 

"My sweet Alpha," Rowena began in a sugary tone. "I was just disciplining the little rat. She forgot her place once more and dared to question me." 

I stood up immediately and faced him while protecting the pearls in my bathrobe. "Why is Camille wearing my wedding dress, Father? I am supposed to get married to Adrian." 

My voice came out shaky with anger but I tried so hard to steady it. 

"Not anymore. You will be marrying Adrian's uncle instead. Prince Rafael Skull." 

"What?" My heart sank in disbelief. 

I had heard tales of his ruthlessness. He was known as a demon. A mindless demon wolf who killed for sports. Both men and women, Alphas and betas— feared him throughout the wolf realm. 

How did we get to this?

"A proposal came from the Capital city, signed by the Alpha King of the realm himself. He wants Prince Rafael Skull to get married and he chose Camille to be his bride." 

My brows rose as I understood what had happened here. 

"You can't possibly expect us to allow our precious Camille to marry that monster. He would kill her before she even breathes!" Father exclaimed. 

I released a shaky breath at how pathetic my situation was. 

"So it's okay for me to marry him then?" I asked in a small voice. 

Rowena laughed. "Let's face it, little rat." She paused and looked me over as if I was trash. "You're useless. You didn't inherit the healing powers from I and your late mother's bloodline. You are a disgrace to the family and basically a freeloader. Take it as your repayment to us for feeding and bringing you up." 

My father smirked at her words. "After all, as the elder sister, you are supposed to protect the younger ones. It's your duty to protect Camille. We can't have it any other way." 

The decision had already been made. My fate was sealed and I couldn't change it. 

I swallowed hard as my brain began to think of new ways to execute my revenge. 

Prince Rafael Skull was feared throughout all the land. He still had great influence even if he wasn't set to inherit the throne. He was a demon and I could still use his influence to destroy my family—.

Provided I actually survive and find a way to tame him. 

If I succeeded, he could even turn out to be the best weapon against my family. 

They were willingly sending me to my death to shut me up forever, so that they could share my mother's inheritance and Silver Healer title. 

Not on my watch. 

They had no idea just what I could do when I set my mind to something. 

"Fine," I finally said. "I'll marry Prince Rafael Skull." 

Camille widened her eyes in disbelief. "She's actually agreed," she laughed. "Mom, she's so obedient. She has no idea what she's walking herself into." 

"Good girl," Father said as he came to stand before me and ran his finger through my long dark wavy hair. "I knew you would do the right thing in the end." 

I wanted to recoil in disgust but I didn't get the chance to. Because that was when the grand doors chose to come open. 

My father's beta hurried into the space and bowed to my father before doing the same to us. 

"My Alpha," he began. "The Skull grooms have arrived to take their brides away.”