Chapter 3: The Arrangement I Ran From

Meredith

The Benic estate looked exactly the way I remembered it. Grand iron gates, sprawling gardens that someone else maintained, and the main house rising three stories high with windows that caught the late afternoon sun. I'd grown up here, spent eighteen years learning how to be the perfect daughter of House Benic, and then I'd left it all behind for Alarick.

Coming back felt like admitting I'd made a mistake.

Hayley pulled up to the front entrance and killed the engine. She looked at the house, then at me, her expression somewhere between concern and barely contained anger.

"You don't have to do this," she said. "You can stay with me. My apartment's small, but it's better than whatever's waiting for you in there."

"I need the arrangement." I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "It's the only way to stabilize my wolf without crawling back to Alarick."

"Your father's a bastard, Mer."

"I know." I pushed the door open and stepped out onto the gravel driveway. "But he has options I don't."

Hayley got out and pulled my suitcase from the trunk, but she didn't walk me to the door. We both knew this was something I had to do alone. She gave me a long look, the kind that said she'd come get me the second I called, then got back in her car and drove away.

I watched her leave, then turned toward the house.

My father was waiting at the top of the front steps.

Aldric Benic stood with his hands clasped behind his back, dressed in a dark suit like he'd just come from a business meeting. His silver hair was perfectly combed, his posture rigid, and his expression completely neutral. He looked at my ruined wedding dress, my suitcase, and my face, taking in everything without saying a word.

He didn't ask if I was alright. He didn't move to hug me or offer comfort. He just stood there, watching me climb the steps toward him like I was a business associate arriving for a meeting.

"Come inside," he said finally.

I followed him through the front door and into the foyer. The marble floors gleamed under the chandelier light, and the familiar scent of old wood and expensive furniture wrapped around me. Nothing had changed. The paintings were still on the walls, the antique vases still sat on their pedestals, and the house still felt more like a museum than a home.

"Meredith."

I turned toward the voice and found Clover standing in the doorway to the sitting room. She wore a cream-colored dress that accentuated her colours, her brown hair fell in perfect waves over her shoulders. She looked comfortable here, more comfortable than I'd ever felt even when I lived here.

I hadn't expected to see her so soon. She must have left Bloodmoon right after the wedding collapsed. The thought made my stomach turn. Just how devious was this woman?

Her smile was small and sharp.

"I heard about the wedding," she said, her tone dripping with false sympathy. "I'm so sorry things didn't work out."

I set my suitcase down beside me and met her gaze. "Are you?"

Clover's smile widened slightly. "Of course. It must be so embarrassing, coming back here without a husband. Everyone knew Alarick would choose me eventually, but I suppose you had to see it for yourself."

I'd expected this. Clover had spent years using Alarick to hurt me, always making sure I knew she could take him whenever she wanted. She expected me to cry or argue or defend him like I always had before.

I didn't.

"If you want him that badly," I said calmly, "you can have him."

Clover's smile faltered for just a second. "Excuse me?"

"Alarick. He's yours." I picked up my suitcase again and started toward the stairs. "I'm done fighting you for a man who doesn't know how to choose anyone but himself."

"You're just running home because you have nowhere else to go," Clover called after me, her voice rising with frustration. "You think Father will fix everything? You're desperate, Meredith."

I stopped halfway up the stairs and looked back at her. She stood in the foyer with her arms crossed, her expression tight with an anger I'd never seen before. She wanted me to break, to give her the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart.

"Maybe I am desperate," I said. "But at least I'm not wasting my time on a man who left me at the altar."

Clover's face went red, but before she could respond, my father's voice cut through the tension.

"Meredith. My study. Now."

I turned away from Clover and continued up the stairs, leaving her standing there with whatever insult she'd been preparing. My father was already heading toward his study on the second floor, and I followed him down the familiar hallway with my suitcase dragging behind me.

The study looked exactly the way it always had. Dark wood furniture, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a massive desk that dominated the center of the room. This was where my father handled business, where alliances were negotiated and deals were made. It had never felt like a place for family conversations, and today was no different.

I sat down in one of the chairs across from his desk and waited.

My father settled into his own chair and folded his hands on the desk between us. He didn't speak right away, just studied me with that same neutral expression he'd worn at the front door.

"Word of your failed wedding has already reached me," he said finally. "Bloodmoon contacted me this afternoon. Others have called as well. The humiliation is no longer private."

I kept my expression steady. "I didn't come here for a lecture."

"Then why did you come?"

"The arrangement." I met his gaze directly. "The one you set up before I met Alarick. Does it still stand?"

My father's eyebrows rose slightly, the first real reaction I'd seen from him since I arrived. "You rejected that arrangement. You called it archaic and told me you'd rather marry for love."

"I was wrong."

"You chose Alarick Holt over your family's alliance." My father leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving mine. "You walked away from House Benic's interests for a man who abandoned you at the altar. And now you want the arrangement back?"

The words stung because they were true, but I didn't let myself flinch. "Does it still stand or not?"

My father was quiet for a long moment, studying me like he was trying to figure out if I was serious. Then he nodded once.

"It still stands."

Deep inside me, my wolf shifted weakly, as if even she understood what that meant.

Relief flooded through me so fast I almost felt dizzy. "Who is he?"

"I won't tell you that."

I blinked. "What?"

"The arrangement was sealed under strict privacy," my father said, his tone completely businesslike. "The Alpha's identity will only be revealed at the formal introduction. You'll meet him when he arrives."

"You expect me to marry a stranger without even knowing his name?" My voice rose despite my best efforts to stay calm. "That's insane."

"You rejected this arrangement once and left me with limited options." My father's expression didn't change. "The man who agreed to this alliance did so under the condition of privacy until the formal meeting. If you want the protection of this marriage, you accept the terms. If you don't, you're free to leave."

I clenched my hands in my lap. "Why the secrecy?"

"Because he requested it, and I agreed." My father reached for a folder on his desk and opened it, scanning whatever documents were inside. "House Benic is weaker than it looks, Meredith. The southern lands are still recovering from the border fever that swept through the southern lands three years ago. Trade agreements have fallen through. Several allied packs have stepped back from helping us. This marriage will restore political strength and secure resources we desperately need."

I stared at him, the weight of his words sinking in. This wasn't just about stabilizing my wolf. This was about saving House Benic from collapse.

"So I'm a bargaining piece," I said quietly.

"You're my daughter." My father closed the folder and looked at me. "And you're also useful. Both things can be true."

The casual cruelty of it should have hurt more than it did, but I was too tired to feel anything beyond resignation. My father had always treated family like business, and I'd been naive to think he'd change just because I came home heartbroken.

I thought about Alarick walking away from the altar. I thought about my wolf growing weaker every day. I thought about the Bloodmoon staff whispering that I had nowhere else to go.

Marrying a stranger was terrifying. But going back to Alarick would be worse.

"Then send word," I said. "I'll meet him."

My father nodded once, something that might have been approval flickering across his face before disappearing behind his usual mask. "The formal introduction will be arranged within the week. Once he arrives and the documents are signed, the agreement will be binding."

"Can you tell me anything about him?" I asked. "Anything at all?"

My father considered this for a moment, then shook his head. "He's powerful enough to help us, and dangerous enough that you should not mistake this for rescue."

That wasn't reassuring.

I stood up from the chair, suddenly desperate to be out of this room and away from my father's cold assessment. "Is that all?"

"That's all."

I grabbed my suitcase and left the study without another word. The hallway was empty when I stepped out, but Clover appeared before I made it three steps toward my old room. She must have been waiting, listening at the door or lurking nearby.

"A blind marriage?" Clover's voice was filled with mock sympathy and barely hidden delight. "You're so desperate you're willing to marry a stranger? That's pathetic, Meredith."

I kept walking.

"Alarick will come back for you." Clover followed me down the hall, her heels clicking against the hardwood. "Not because you're special, but because men like him hate losing what they think belongs to them. And when he realizes you've thrown yourself at some random Alpha, you'll regret humiliating him like this."

I stopped in front of my bedroom door and turned to face her. "Alarick belongs to whoever he chooses now. And he's already made that choice too many times for me to care anymore."

Clover's smile faltered, her confident expression cracking just slightly. She'd expected some reaction from me. But I didn't have any fight left for a man who'd proven he wasn't worth it.

"You'll regret this," Clover said, but the conviction in her voice was gone.

"Maybe." I opened my bedroom door. "But at least I won't regret it standing at an altar he abandoned."

I stepped inside and closed the door before Clover could respond. The room was exactly as I'd left it five years ago. The same pale blue curtains, the same white furniture, the same bookshelf filled with novels I hadn't thought about in years. It should have felt comforting to be back in a space that was mine, but instead it just felt empty.

I dropped my suitcase on the floor and sank down onto the edge of the bed. My wolf stirred faintly in the back of my mind, still weak and quiet. Time wasn't on my side. If I didn't get a stable bond soon, Hayley's warning would become reality.

I looked out the window at the gardens below and tried not to think about what I'd just agreed to. I didn't know the Alpha's name. I didn't know his pack. I didn't know if he'd be better than Alarick or worse.

But I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

I wasn't going back.

I had agreed to marry a man whose name my father refused to give me. By the end of the week, I would learn why.