Chapter 3

~Areum~

They shoved the veil over my face so hard the comb scraped my scalp raw. Red silk everywhere, heavy as chains, dragging on the floor like it wanted to swallow me whole. My knees buckled the second the cursed Alpha (my husband now, fuck my life) took my wrist to lead me out of the hall. His hand was warm, so warm, and he held me like I was made of glass.

The doors opened. His pack bowed. I heard the whispers before I even saw their faces.

“Poor little thing.”  

“She’s shaking so hard the dress is rattling.”  

“Gods, she’s tiny. He’ll break her in half the first night.”  

“Bet she doesn’t last a month.”

If only they knew the dress was hiding a boy who was already broken in a hundred places.

We rode out on his horse. They sat me in front because the gown wouldn’t let me sit any other way. His arms caged me in, holding the reins, not touching me anywhere else. I folded my hands in my lap like a good little bride and tried not to puke from terror and the way his scent kept hitting me in the chest. His smell was so amazing, it had a fruity flavor, that was rare. 

The entire ride his pack rode around us, stealing looks.

“She’s the new Luna?”  

“He didn’t even lift the veil at the ceremony.”  

“Hope she’s stronger than the last one.”  

“She won’t be.”

I kept my head down so low my neck hurt. Areum, don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry in front of these people. They already think you’re pathetic.

His palace rose out of the dusk like a graveyard. Gray stone, no flowers, no banners, just shadows and silence and cold that crawled under the silk and hit my skin. I stumbled getting off the horse. He caught my elbow before I ate dirt. Didn’t say a word. Just steadied me like it was nothing.

Two women waited in the courtyard. One in blood-red, one in dark blue. They bowed like I was actually important.

The red one smiled, all teeth. “Welcome home, Luna.”

My stomach flipped so hard I almost threw up on her shoes.

Luna.  

Mate.  

I’m not your Luna, lady. I’m the fake they shoved in the dress last minute because the real princess couldn’t stomach the job.

They led me inside. He walked ahead, shoulders stiff, never looked back once. Like he’d delivered a package and was done.

The second the chamber doors closed behind me the maids ripped the veil off and I finally saw myself in the mirror.

I wanted to scream.

They’d painted me like a doll. Lips red, cheeks pink, eyes lined so dark I looked drugged. Hair twisted up with pearls and gold pins. Neck dripping jewels that probably cost more than my entire life. The dress hugged places I didn’t even have curves. I looked like a lie someone spent hours perfecting.

I looked like the most beautiful corpse they’d ever dressed.

One maid whispered, “The Alpha will come soon,” and they all scurried out like they were scared to be in the room when the monster walked in.

The door opened.

I jumped so hard the jewels rattled.

He stepped in, closed the door soft, leaned against it like the day had taken everything out of him. Then he looked at me.

Really looked.

I waited for the rage. The “who the fuck are you” moment. The fist through the wall.

Instead his face did something I wasn’t ready for.

It softened.

He crossed the room slow, reached out, and lifted the rest of the veil off my face like he was unwrapping something holy.

I couldn’t breathe.

His eyes went from my painted mouth to my eyes and something in them cracked open.

“Stop shaking,” he said, voice low, almost gentle. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

I laughed. “Everyone says that right before they do.”

He flinched. Actually flinched.

Then his scent slammed into me full force and his eyes flashed wolf-gold.

Bones cracked. Fur poured over skin. In three seconds there was a massive black wolf standing where my husband had been, head tilted, staring at me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

I screamed. Couldn’t help it. Backed into the dressing table so hard bottles crashed to the floor.

He made this confused whine, ears flat, and shifted back just as fast. Grabbed a robe, tied it, hands up like I was the dangerous one.

“I won’t touch you,” he said again, rougher this time. “Ever. Even if you want it.”

My knees gave out. I sat on the floor in a puddle of silk and jewels and tried to remember how lungs worked.

He crouched a few feet away, still giving me space. “Three rules. Listen.”

I nodded like a doll.

“One: stay out of my business. Don’t ask. Don’t follow. Don’t try to ‘ fix me’.”

I swallowed. “Okay.”

“Two: we don’t have to share a bed. Not ever. I sleep in my room. You take the other room. No marital shit unless you beg for it, and even then I’ll probably say no.”

My face burned so hot I wanted to die.

“Three,” he said, and his voice cracked, “three might change. Depending.”

“Depending on what?” I whispered.

He looked at me like the answer hurt. “On whether you stop looking at me like I’m already eating you alive.”

I stared at the ceiling until the sun came up. Didn’t sleep. Couldn’t. Every time I closed my eyes I saw his face softening when he looked at me.

***

The next days were hell in a different flavor.

Nobody hit me. Nobody slapped me. Nobody dragged me by the hair or called me pretty boy just to spit on me after.

The Consort smiled like a witch and kept ten feet away at all times.

The Bloodmate bowed so low her forehead almost touched the floor every time I walked past.

Alpha marital system here worked like this;

Luna–highest position 

Consort–secojd position and is chosen out of love or beauty

Bloodmate–least and usually for majic or so. 

Servants called me Luna and looked at the ground.

And the Alpha?

He treated me like I was made of poison he was scared to swallow.

Sat at the opposite end of the table during meals. Answered me in grunts. Left the room the second I walked in.

It hurt worse than the beatings.

Because I was starving for someone to look at me like I was a person and the one person who ever had, twice now, once when I was eight and once on my wedding night, was acting like I carried the plague.

One afternoon they sent a tray to my room so big it took two wolves to carry it. Meat, bread, cheese, fruit, little cakes, soup that smelled like heaven. My stomach growled so loud the maid jumped.

I hadn’t eaten real food in days. Before the wedding they’d locked me in the dungeon for forty-eight hours to “calm me down.” No food. No water. Just darkness and the sound of my own teeth chattering.

I attacked the tray like an animal. Bread in both hands, meat shoved in my mouth, crumbs down the silk robe they made me wear. I ate until my stomach hurt and then I cried because I was disgusting and he’d never want me now and everyone was right, I was only good for dying pretty.

I curled up on the bed in a ball of silk and shame and sobbed into the pillows that smelled like him.

A knock.

I sat up fast, wiped my face on the sleeve like a kid.

The door opened.

He filled the doorway, eyes flicking from the empty plates to my red face.

“Come,” he said. Just that.

I followed because what else was I going to do?

He led me down halls I hadn’t seen, past training grounds where wolves stopped and stared, down stone steps that got colder and colder until we reached a door that looked like it hadn’t been opened in years.

He pushed it open.

Inside was dust and moonlight and a tiny bed pushed against the wall.

He didn’t step in. Just stood in the doorway.

Little backstory; 

I was eight when I first saw him.

Back then, I didn't know him as “the cursed Alpha.” Or the monster parents used to scare their children. He was just a tall, quiet man who didn’t look like he belonged in our kingdom. I didn’t even know his name. I only knew he came from the northern lands and that everyone treated him like he carried a plague.

My parents hated him too. They said his presence meant trouble, but they never explained what kind. They didn’t want me anywhere near him. They even told the guards to watch me during the royal gathering. That didn’t stop me. I wandered off anyway because I wanted to see what a “dangerous man” looked like.

I found him near the stables.

A few older boys had cornered me; sons of nobles, the kind who could hurt anyone without facing consequences. They pushed me around, called me names, tugged my hair, and kicked my legs out from under me. I was small, pretty, and soft, so they found it easy.

I still remember the moment one of them tried to hit me with a wooden staff. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to land.

It didn’t.

Someone caught it.

When I looked up, he was there. The Alpha. Taller than anyone around, with this stillness that made the whole area go quiet. He didn’t say a word, but the noble boy who’d been swinging the staff dropped it and ran. The others followed. None of them even dared look back.

I was frozen. He crouched down and checked my arm for bruises. His touch was gentle, careful, like he was scared he’d break me. Then he asked, “Where are your parents?”

I was staring at him, blushing so hard my face burned. I didn’t know why back then. Now I do.

He walked me back to the gathering hall. He didn’t hold my hand, but he stayed close enough that no one dared come near. When we reached the entrance, he stepped back before my parents could see us together. He didn’t want trouble.

I turned around to thank him, but he was already leaving, like he’d never been there at all.

After that day, I couldn’t forget him.

I knew he’d never look at me twice. I was a boy, and boys didn’t get stories like that. So when I grew older, I tried to find my mate instead. I thought maybe I’d get lucky, maybe someone would want me.

And I did

find my mate, only for him to reject me.

Still, when I saw the Alpha again years later, he looked exactly the same. Strong. Calm and untouchable.

Just as painfully attractive as I remembered.

***

Now the Alpha called me into his room, but the fruity smell I got before wasn't what I was getting, it was stronger, more like whisky and it had desire with it, no! He was going into his rut period. What do I do?.