003

~~ ARIA ~~

“Mrs Hale, I want you to be totally honest with me. Do you really not know what caused the fight between Thorne and Alec?” I ask her.

I watch her pause, and even though it is just for a second, I know that she never hesitates whenever she wants to say the truth.

“I have no reason to lie to you, sweetie,” she answers. “Now come on, let’s get you settled in.”

I sigh deeply, realizing that she knows something. Maybe not everything, but she definitely knows something, and she isn’t telling me.

I force a tight-lipped smile and follow her back home.

The air in my room feels different when I enter. It is more soothing and cozy. Maybe it is because I haven’t been here for five years.

Mrs Hale goes to prepare my favorite meal, so I use that opportunity to meet up with Alec.

I need answers to my questions, and I am not going to rest until I get them.

When I get to Alec’s study, I don’t bother knocking before I go in.

Because I know that if I do, he’ll know it's me, and I have a strong feeling he won’t want to see me.

So I open the door and go in.

But I flinch when he suddenly gets up from his seat, ready to take a fight pose.

I let out a breath of relief, clearly startled by his sudden reaction.

I stare at him and shake my head, feeling sorry for him. He doesn’t even feel safe in his own home.

Is this the kind of life he is living now?

He cusses under his breath when he sees it's me.

“Next time, knock before you come into my study, Aria,” he says sternly before sitting down.

“Can you even listen to yourself? You were alarmed, thinking it was someone coming to kill you. Why do you choose to live like this, when you can confide in me so we can come up with a solution to end all this?” I ask him.

But Alec, being the annoying person that he is, doesn’t even look at me. Instead, he focuses on the laptop in front of him.

Goddess knows I feel like taking the damn thing and smashing it against the wall so that he can finally look at me.

But I don’t.

“It’s been five years since our pack has been at war with Thorne’s pack. Each time I ask you why, you change the topic. Alec, I demand to know what is happening?” I lash out.

He finally looks at me and sighs.

“Aria, you are my precious little sister. You shouldn’t worry about things that we men can handle. What you should be concerned about now is your marriage,” Alec says calmly.

My marriage? I frown.

“What do you mean by my marriage?” I ask.

“Aria, that is the reason you’re back. I’ve arranged a marriage between you and Alpha Magnus. You will marry him tomorrow. All plans have been made, so you won’t need to stress yourself about anything at all,” he smiles.

I freeze, my jaw dropping in astonishment.

Is he smiling about this? I feel my blood begin to boil because his fucking smile doesn't falter, as though he is talking about something casual, normal, and good.

“Are you talking about the Alpha Magnus I know? Or some other one?” I ask, trying to keep my cool for now.

“He has promised to treat you like a queen. He will cherish you, Aria,” Alec states, making me scoff.

I feel like punching something — anything. But I can’t. Instead, I ball my palms into fists.

I should have known that something like this might happen when he suddenly called me to come back home.

How could Alec arrange a marriage without my consent? And to Alpha Magnus? Of all people?

That man is my late Dad’s age mate.

“Wow, I can’t believe this,” I laugh bitterly and then look at Alec.

His betrayal settles deep in my heart, making it all the more painful.

“He is the best man I can entrust you to. He will take care of you,” Alec tries to reason with me.

“For the umpteenth fucking time, can you even listen to yourself? Alec, you’re talking about me marrying a 60-year-old man like it’s some walk in the park,” I snap.

He just sits on his chair, relaxing his back and getting comfortable, and this pisses me off more.

“Alec, you shipped me out to the human world like some cargo to a place where I don’t know anyone. You left me there for five years. Five fucking terrible years. And now you brought me back just to marry me off to some old man?” I yell this time around, fighting back tears.

How can he be so inconsiderate?

Let’s even keep the fact that Alpha Magnus is old aside.

And talk about how my own brother can agree to marry me off to an Alpha that everyone in all packs hates?

I look at Alec again, and it is at this moment that I finally see it in Alec’s eyes.

Frustration and guilt.

“You think I wanna do this?” He retorts in frustration, making me take a step back.

“Then why are you doing it?” I ask him, trying to be calm and hear him out.

“Financing the war with Thorne’s pack has cost us a lot of money, Aria. The company is on the verge of bankruptcy,” Alec explains. “But Alpha Magnus has promised to give me any amount I need if I let him marry you.”

The explanation is supposed to calm me down, right?

But it doesn’t. Rather, it fuels my anger.

“What the fuck, Alec? You’re selling me off to an old man because of something that is your fault?” I lash out at him.

“All I did was take the money to buy weapons for the war,” he points out.

I scoff, “ You’ve already collected the money from the man?”

He blinks and looks away, avoiding eye contact with me.

I groan, resisting the urge to slap Alec.

“The war is your mess. I don’t even know why it started, so why on earth will you marry me off without my consent?” I tell him, my nose flaring and my breath coming out hard.

Just the thought of Alpha Magnus touching me irritates me so much that I want to bring down the whole building if possible right now.

“This? The war?…” Alec frantically yells back, “I’m doing it for the family.”

“Oh, you are?” I ask in a tone dripping with sarcasm. “Then marry Alpha Magnus yourself, because this… is your mess, and I want no part in it.”

I don’t even wait for him to respond, because if I stay one more minute inside there with him, I will end up punching the fucker right in the gut.

So I storm out of the study only to bump into Mrs Hale.

She sighs sadly, and that is when I realize she has been listening in on my conversation with Alec.

“Did you know about this?” I ask her, my breath still coming out a bit fast.

She doesn’t need to answer because the look in her eyes says it all.

I huff in disappointment and storm out of the house because I can’t stand being in the same place with them.

How could Mrs Hale even let Alec make all these impulsive choices and decisions?

Isn’t she supposed to be his moral support?

She is the only mother figure Alec and I have.

I walk for over thirty minutes, heading nowhere in particular, thinking of a solution to my problems.

However, no matter how much I think about it, aside from marrying Alpha Magnus, there is only one way out.