CHAPTER TWO

I stared at the three of them—my parents beaming like they’d just won the lottery, Gabriel looking pleased with himself—and felt my entire world crack apart.

Then I turned to Gabrel and fixed my agze on him, “You really want to marry me off to someone else?”

The words came out calmer than I felt. Steadier. Like I was asking about the weather instead of the complete destruction of every hope I’d been clinging to for seven years.

Something flickered in Gabriel’s eyes., but it was briec and gone before I could pin point what it was.

“Of course,” he said simply. “Your parents and I thought it was a good idea. The best idea, actually.”

“Why?” My hands were trembling in my lap. I pressed them against my thighs to still them. “Why would you do this?”

Gabriel leaned forward, “Because I have your best interests at heart, sweetheart. You know that. You’re like a daughter to me, and I only want—”

“I am not your freaking daughter!”

I yelled and mum flinched.

But I was too angry to care.

“You had no right,” I continued, my voice shaking with barely contained rage. “No right to make decisions about my life without my consent. To sit here and arrange my future like I’m some—some piece of property to be traded…”

“Amara, honey…” Mom started, reaching across the table.

“Don’t.” I jerked my hand away. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down or that this is for my own good. I just graduated. It’s my fucking life. I should get to decide how I want to spend the rest of it, not be tossed into some alliance like I’m nothing!”

“That’s not what this is,” Dad said, “This is about your future, about securing your place in the pack…”

“I don’t care!” Tears burned behind my eyes, “I don’t care about alliances or pack politics or whatever excuse you’re using to justify this. You should have asked me. You should have…”

My voice cracked, and I shoved back from the table before anyone could see me completely fall apart.

“Amara…” Gabriel started.

But I was already moving, practically running from the dining room. I took the stairs two at a time, my vision blurring with unshed tears, and slammed my bedroom door hard enough to rattle the frame.

The lock clicked into place.

I pressed my back against the door and let myself slide down to the floor, finally letting the tears fall.

Seven years. Seven years of loving him, of waiting, of hoping that maybe one day he’d look at me and see what I’d been trying to show him. And this was what I got. An arranged marriage to his nephew. Like I was something to be passed off, disposed of, removed from his life permanently.

Ten minutes later I was still sobbing into y pillow when a soft knock came at my door, interrupting my thoughts.

“Amara.” Gabriel called from the door, “Can we talk? Please?”

“Go away.”

“I’m not leaving until we talk about this.”

“Then I hope you’re comfortable standing out there all night.”

He paused for a few seconds before he continued, “I know you’re upset—”

“Upset?” I wrenched the door open, not caring that my face was probably blotchy and tear-stained. “You think I’m upset?”

He stood in the hallway, hands shoved in his pockets, looking at me with something that might have been regret. Might have been pity. I couldn’t tell, and I hated that I couldn’t read him.

I started to slam the door in his face, but his hand shot out, catching it. Holding it open.

“Amara, let me explain…”

“There’s nothing to explain.” But I stepped back anyway, because arguing through a doorway felt too pathetic. “You made your decision and you made it perfectly clear.”

He followed me into the room, closing the door behind him. The space suddenly felt too small, the air too thin with his presence in the room.

“You know I would never make a decision that wouldn’t be good for you,” he said quietly. “You have to know that.”

“All I know,” I said, my voice breaking, “is that you’re trying to get rid of me. Forever. And the only reason I can think of is that you feel something for me and you can’t handle it.”

His jaw tightened. “That’s not…”

“Isn’t it?” I took a step toward him, “Because I can’t think of any other reason why you’d be so desperate to marry me off to someone else. Why you’d arrange this behind my back. Why you’d…”

“Amara, stop. It’s not like that. Marcus is a great guy. He’ll be good to you. I know that better than anyone.”

“You don’t know anything about what I need.”

“I know more than you think.” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding into his movements. “As Alpha, it’s my responsibility to secure good matches for pack members. And as your godfather…”

“You should have let me decide!” The words came out as a near-shout. “It’s my life, Gabriel! Mine! Not yours to manipulate or control or arrange however you see fit! So no, I am not going to get married to you nephew. I do not care about your intentions…the wedding is not happening.”

“The document is already signed.”

I froze.

“What?”

“The marriage contract.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “It’s been signed and witnessed. And you know that once an Alpha approves something like this, it’s final. There’s no going back.”

My heart shattered into a million pieces.

I stared at him—this man I’d loved for seven years, this man who’d just casually destroyed any future I’d imagined—and felt something inside me go cold and brittle.

How could he dob this to me?

How could he just…hand me over that way, sign away my life wiythout hesitation?

He never really cared about me? Has he never for once felt something for me all these years?

“Why?” I sobbed, “Why are you so desperate to toss me away? Are you scared of something? Like what happened seven years ago?”

“No,” he laughed, “I’m not scared of that. I knew it was just you being young and drunk. A child’s crush. I’m not scared of that.”

I said nothing. What was there to say? He’d just confirmed what I’d always feared—that he’d never taken my feelings seriously. That he never would.

Gabriel moved closer, and I hated that my traitorous body still responded to his proximity. That my heart still stuttered when he reached out like he might touch my face, then thought better of it.

“I promise you won’t regret giving Marcus a chance,” he said softly. “He’s a good man. He’ll make you happy.”

“You don’t know what makes me happy.”

He turned and left without another word, closing the door quietly behind him.

I stood there in the middle of my room, surrounded by boxes I hadn’t finished unpacking, and tried to remember how to breathe.

-----

The next morning came too soon.

I’d barely slept, had spent most of the night staring at my ceiling and trying to figure out how my homecoming had turned into a nightmare in the span of a single dinner.

The marriage contract was signed. Final. No going back.

I was going to marry Gabriel’s nephew. A man I barely remembered. A man I didn’t love.

And Gabriel would be there at the wedding, probably giving a speech about how proud he was. How this was the right choice.

The thought made me want to throw up.

I was halfway down the stairs, planning to skip breakfast entirely and maybe go for a run to clear my head, when Dad appeared in the foyer below.

He was smiling. Actually smiling, like last night’s explosion hadn’t happened.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said cheerfully. “Perfect timing. Your fiancé is here to meet you.“