Chapter 2

~Areum~

“Areum, move your ass!”

The guard screamed my name down the hallway like it was a curse, which of course it was , and I dropped the broom so fast it made noise like bones. My knees were already numb from scrubbing floors since dawn, bruises blooming under the rags I called clothes, and now this. Nobody ever used my full name unless I was about to eat shit in a brand-new way.

I stood there shaking, bucket sloshing gray water over my cracked feet. “W-which Alpha?” I asked, voice tiny, because we had two Alphas who'll be available in this hellhole today.

The guard grabbed my arm hard enough to leave fingerprints. “The big one, idiot. The one who sent the marriage demand. Move.”

My stomach flipped inside out.

The cursed Alpha was supposed to arrive tonight, not now, not while I still had soap under my nails and princess-handprints on my cheek from this morning when I apparently breathed in her direction.

I followed, legs stiff, ribs screaming where the Omega twins had “accidentally” kicked me down the stairs an hour ago. Every step felt like walking to my own funeral, except funerals don’t usually come with wedding dresses.

The one question that always went through my mind was what I did in my past life to deserve such misery. Screw life and screw whoever was writing my story.

The double doors opened and the air inside the chamber was thick enough to choke on. The Alpha (our Alpha, the one who owned my life) just stared at me for ten full seconds like he was trying to decide if I was worth the dirt on my shoes.

“Come here, Areum.”

I walked. Hair fell in my face, hiding the new bruise blooming on my cheek. 

He leaned on the desk, arms crossed, looking tired instead of evil for once. “You’ve heard the gossip.”

I nodded once. Hard to miss when the entire palace was laughing about sending the pretty Omega boy as the sacrificial bride. They even made a song about it. Catchy little tune. I hated it.

He sighed like this was paperwork he didn’t want to file. “The cursed Alpha arrives tonight. I’m not giving him my daughter.”

My nails dug into my palms so hard I felt blood.

“You’re going to take her place.”

There it was. Out loud. Like ordering tea.

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again. “You’re joking.”

His eyes went flat. “Do I look like I joke?”

No. He looked like a man who’d sold his soul years ago and was now selling mine for the receipt.

“We’ll dress you up,” he kept going, calm, bored, “veil, makeup, the whole thing. He barely looks at the brides before he drags them off. By the time he figures it out you’ll be over the border and I’ll send people to pull you out later.”

I laughed. It came out cracked and wet. “You’ll send people. Right. Like you sent people when my father got called traitor and my siblings disappeared. Like you sent people when they beat the shit out of me so I wouldn’t tell anyone the bond snapped toward a Beta’s son.”

His face didn’t even twitch.

I kept going, voice shaking harder. “You’re not sending anyone. You’re throwing me to the monster so your real daughter can keep painting her nails. Say it.”

He stepped closer. “Say yes, Areum, or your little brother and sister vanish for good this time. No more monthly visits. No more proof of life. Gone.”

My knees buckled. I caught the edge of the desk so I didn’t hit the floor.

He waited.

I swallowed blood and hate. “Yes, sir.”

“Good boy.” He waved at the door. “Go get pretty. Celebration starts soon. You’ll serve tonight as yourself first. Stay invisible. He won’t notice.”

Invisible. The one thing I’ve never been in my entire life.

The maids were already waiting like vultures when I stumbled out. They dragged me to the washing room, stripped me naked, and threw me under ice-cold water that made every bruise scream.

“Quit shaking,” one snapped, scrubbing my back raw.

“Gods, look at these hips,” another laughed, pinching me hard enough to leave marks. “No wonder they picked him. He’s halfway to girl already.”

They yanked my hair so hard tears came. Someone poured rose oil over my head like I was meat they were seasoning.

“Too pretty for his own good,” the oldest one muttered. “Always knew this face would kill him.”

They shoved a thin robe on me and kicked me out.

“Go clean the princess’s balcony. She wants her favorite punching bag close.”

I climbed the stairs like a dead man walking. Lyana was already there, glittering like a knife, pacing hard enough to wear holes in the marble.

She saw me and slapped me before I even opened my mouth.

My head snapped sideways.

“You’re late,” she hissed.

“The Alpha…” I started.

Slap. Again. Other cheek. My ears rang.

“Don’t talk back to me on the day I’m supposed to die,” she snarled. “I heard. I heard they’re putting you in my dress. I heard Father thinks your stupid pretty face is enough to fool a monster.”

She grabbed my chin, nails digging in. “Look at me.”

I did. Tears blurring everything.

“You’re stealing my death,” she whispered, shaking. “I was supposed to go. Now I get to live and you get to be ripped apart. How is that fair?”

I laughed. Couldn’t help it. “When has anything ever been fair to me, Princess?”

She let go like I burned her and turned away, hugging herself.

Her lady-in-waiting burst in. “He’s here! The cursed Alpha just rode through the gates!”

Lyana went white. Actually white. Then she squared her shoulders, painted on a smile sharp enough to cut, and swept inside.

I dropped the broom. Sat on the cold floor. Wrapped my arms around my knees and tried to breathe.

He was here.

The man who turned brides into ghosts.

And tonight they were going to hand me over gift-wrapped.

I forced myself downstairs. Someone shoved a tray of wine into my shaking hands. “Garden. Now. Don’t spill or we’ll break your legs.”

The garden was lit up like a stage. Torches everywhere. Musicians tuning. Servants running. Nobles pretending they weren’t terrified.

And then he walked in.

The cursed Alpha.

I dropped the fucking tray.

A cup flew out,He caught one cup mid-air. One hand. Didn’t even look.

Then he looked straight at me.

He was huge. Tired eyes. Shoulders that looked like they carried graves. Dark hair falling over a scar that cut through one eyebrow. And when his gaze locked on me something inside my chest yanked so hard I almost fell over.

No.

No no no.

Not again.

Because I knew that pull. I’d felt it once before, months ago, when the Beta’s son looked at me and the mate bond snapped into place, right before he laughed, rejected me, and beat me bloody so I’d never tell.

This couldn’t be happening twice.

He handed me the cup he saved. Fingers brushed mine.

“Careful,” he said, low, quiet. Like he actually meant it.

I stared at him, mouth open like an idiot.

He gave the tiniest nod and walked toward Lyana.

She stepped forward, smile sharp. “You must be my mate,” she announced loud enough for half the garden to hear. “I feel my wolf stirring toward you.”

The lie slid out smooth as poison.

His forehead creased. He looked at her like she was speaking the wrong language.

Then his eyes slid back to me.

Again.

And again.

Every time Lyana opened her mouth his gaze drifted to the shadows where I was trying to disappear behind a pillar.

I felt it on my skin like warm hands.

I wanted to throw up.

Because I knew what this was.

I knew.

And he was looking at the wrong person.

Lyana laughed too loud, grabbed his arm, started dragging him toward the center for the toast.

He let her.

But over her head his eyes found me one last time.

And the pull in my chest turned into a scream.

Because the real mate bond (the one that was supposed to save me, protect me, love me) had already rejected me once and ruined my life.

The guards grabbed my arms from behind.

“Time to get the bride ready,” one muttered.

They dragged me away while the music started and Lyana’s laugh cracked like breaking glass.

I didn’t fight.

Couldn’t.

Because the dress was waiting.

Long veil.

And a one-way trip to hell.

When I felt the pull with my mate some time ago, He was in love with the Princess. And he didn’t want me. He never wanted me. He even beat me up and warned me never to expose the truth to anyone.

“Areum, I reject you as my mate and lover.” He said to me, “ I am not going to be with a man!” 

He was the son of the powerful Beta who worked with the current Alpha to expose my father as a ‘traitor.’ and just like that, I lost my position and the love everyone once showed me. My siblings were taken away as they were young pubs. And I needed to work in the palace and serve till I could get them back. 

The cursed Alpha left the celebration with the princess. They would prepare for the “bride reveal” ceremony soon.

Gua

rds grabbed me from behind.

“Time to dress him,” one muttered.

They dragged me away. My breath shook the whole time.

Areum… it’s happening. You’re going with him. He won’t know. No one will save you.