"I am not your future bride." I spit in his face. I grit my teeth in anger and try to get up but Xavier hastily dashes towards me and pins me by the arm.
"Not so fast princess." Xavier says winking at me. The force of his hand on my arm is enough to pull me down. I choke out a small cry and yell at him "Let go off me!"
Xavier is about to reply but a small knock on the door interrupts him. We both dart our eyes towards the direction of the door.
"Come in doctor." Xavier yells, the door opens wide and surprisingly Angela steps into the room with a straight face. Oh my goodness, Angela is here. I really hope she is on my side.
"Angela!" I call out her name pausing to sigh heavily at a famliar face and the relief that comes from Xavier taking his hands off my arm.
"Larissa, are you alright?" Angela asks with a concerned look on her face. She slowly walks towards me and I immediately say "Angela please help me. Xavier sent some of his guys to bring me here and he plans to keep me captive for a very long time." I cry out but surprisingly Xavier just bursts into laughter and shakes his head at me.
"You are so hilarious Larissa. What is Angela supposed to do?" He ask pausing to gaze at Angela and back at me. I gaze at Angela and she has a defeated look on her face. Wait, is she really not going to help me? What did I expect anyways? She is only obeying the Alpha's command.
"Wait, you knew all along? My parents never told you? Xavier did." I say as I slowly realize everything that is happened. No one is on my side, in the end, I am all alone. My plan at escaping has failed because Xavier's grip on me is just too firm. I am stuck here forever as Xavier's bride.
"Is she okay doctor Angela?" Xavier asks. For a second, I see that look of concern flash on his face but then it vanishes almost immediately.
"She looks fine. She just seems a bit frightened by all of this. She needs rest so I think you should let her be." Angela says gazing at Xavier with a serious look on her face.
"Let her be? I can not do that Angela. she is my bride to be, we still have a lot to catch up on. Right Larissa?" Xavier gazes at me and back at Angela.
"Get lost. I will never marry a ruthless and heartless soul like you!" I say through gritted teeth. Xavier touches his chest in fake hurt and it makes me wish he would just really get lost.
"I will be off now but I am close by incase you need anything from me Larissa. My big advice for you is to try not to fight it. Just get some rest and see how tomorrow will be like." Angela says, she does not wait for my reply, she bows her head ad a form of greeting to Xavier and slowly begins to walk away.
"Coward." I mumble but she does not hear me anyways.
"I would listen to your friend If I were you, do not try to fight it Larissa. Everything has happened. All you need to do is accept it and move on as my new bride. There are a lot of perks that come with it." Xavier wriggles his brows at me playfully.
He must think everything is a joke. It means Angela lied, Xavier does not look cold, he seems to be enjoying all of this anyways. I hope he enjoys it while it lasts because I do not plan to remain here forever.
"Why me though? If you needed a bride, you could have picked other beautiful ladies to be your bride and I am very sure they would be delighted to be the Luna of the Moonfang pack so why me?
All of people, why me? I have nothing to offer to you, as a matter of fact I am like a burden to you, I do not want to be here." I snap at him but Xavier does not look shaken by my words, not even in the slightest way.
"Is it a crime if I want you?" Xavier asks but in a serious tone this time. His voice is hoarse and deep sending chills down my spine and I feel electricity course through my veins at the sound of his voice.
"It sort of is especially since I wanted you years ago but you pushed me away. You rejected me publicly Xavier and you made it very clear that I was not in your league. You told me I did not stand a chance with you so what in the world do you want now?" I cry out as I slowly remember everything that happened that day, the day I got rejected by Xavier. The day he made it clear to me that I was too weak and ugly for me. He called me bold for thinking I stood a chance with him.
"Larissa, let us not talk about what happened that day. You and I both know how much it hurts you whenever you talk about it. I did what I had to do and I still get to do whatever I want." Xavier says slightly raising his voice at me. I flinch a bit at the harshness that comes from his voice and most importantly the truth that his words hold. Yes, it hurts me whenever I talk about it and even when I do not talk about it, I am still reminded of it and it hurts.
Now I have to face the fact that I will be stuck with him for the rest of my life as his wife. Not even because he loves me but because he probably needs me for something I am getting figured out.
"I hate you!" I yell at him.
"I do not care Larissa. Our wedding is tomorrow." Xavier deadpans.
Kai’s hand locked around my arm like a shackle, his grip iron-tight as he dragged me back from the bars. Heat poured off him in waves, his fury so thick it felt like the whole corridor vibrated with it.“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” His voice was sharp, dangerous, too loud in the narrow hallway.Mira stepped forward fast, blocking his path before he could yank me further. “Kai, wait…”“Move.” His command cut like a blade.“No.” Mira’s eyes sparked with defiance. She stood straighter, folding her arms like a barrier. “Don’t do this here.”The guards lingered at the door, tense but quiet. They didn’t need to move. Kai’s presence was enough to make the air burn.I tried to twist free, but his grip only tightened. Pain shot through my wrist, but it was nothing compared to the storm surging in my chest. “I just needed to talk to him.”“You needed?” Kai’s voice dropped to a dangerous calm that made my stomach turn. “Do you realize what you’ve done? Do you even think before
Sleep didn’t find me that night. I lay in the apartment’s dim quiet, the ceiling above me blurred by shadows of passing headlights. Every time I shut my eyes I heard it again, his voice raw but unyielding. Family. That single word had carved itself into me, echoing through every pulse of my veins.I twisted under the blanket, restless. My chest felt heavy, like something was pressing down on me from the inside. The walls seemed closer than they should have, the silence too sharp. Kai had insisted on staying near, but even when he finally left with the promise to be back at first light, his warning stayed behind, heavier than his presence had been. Do not believe him. Do not let him near you again.And yet I couldn’t stop replaying the way those gray eyes had searched for me, desperate, like I was the last thing tethering him to this world.The door clicked softly, and I sat up quick. Mira stepped inside without knocking, carrying a blanket draped over her arms.“You look like hell,” s
The air in the room was still thick with Sera’s warning when Kai finally coaxed me out into the open. He said it would help, that I couldn’t hide in the four walls forever, and maybe he was right. But as I stepped into the afternoon light, I felt like the whole pack was watching, weighing me with their eyes. Mira was the one who tugged at my arm with her easy grin, insisting the pack needed to see me alive, not just whispered about. “You’re Luna now, whether you believe it or not,” she said. “They’ll only follow if they can look you in the eye.” So I went, Kai’s presence a steady line at my side, Mira bouncing ahead like she didn’t feel the quiet tension humming in the ground beneath us. The heart of the village was alive, women gossiping , children shrieking in play, men sharpening blades that gleamed in the sun. It was the kind of scene that should have felt safe, but every sound struck too sharp, every glance lingered a moment too long. I forced myself to smile. I held my head h
I woke because of the light, a pale stripe slicing across my eyelids. For a second the world felt slow and soft, like I was under water and everything moved easy. Then a warmth pressed against my arm, steady and real, and my breath hitched.Kai was still asleep, arm tossed over his face, chest rising and falling against mine. I curled my fingers around the edge of his sleeve without thinking, memorizing the steady rhythm of him. There was a ridiculous part of me that wanted to stay exactly like that forever, tucked into the space where none of my nightmares could find me.My mouth felt like I’d swallowed fire and water in the same breath. Last night was a blur of lips and heat, of fingers mapping the places I had kept closed for too long. The memory made something in me small and bright. I let it sit there, not trying to name it.He shifted then, not waking, just moving closer until I could feel the scrape of his beard against my cheek. He mumbled something that sounded like my name h
The walk back from the market with Sera had been filled with laughter, small talk, and the kind of lightness I hadn’t felt in a while. By the time we reached the clearing where the path split, she gave me a playful smile, tugged my arm, and said she needed to check on Mira. I didn’t argue. I just nodded and watched her disappear, leaving me standing there with a bag of fruits in my hand and silence pressing in. I lit a small lamp, its glow softening the corners of the room, and pressed my palms against the table as if grounding myself. That was when I felt it—the subtle shift in the air, the way the silence wasn’t silence anymore. My pulse quickened before I even turned. Kai was leaning against the doorway, like he’d been there longer than I realized. His eyes were dark, steady, taking me in. He didn’t look surprised to see me. If anything, it felt like he had been waiting, though his voice was casual when he spoke. “Thought you’d be with Sera longer.” “She had somewhere else
Sera nudged my arm with her basket, nearly spilling the apples she’d just stuffed into it.“Tell me why every guy in the training yard thinks flexing their arms is the same thing as flirting,” she said, rolling her eyes.I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. “Because it works on you. Don’t even lie.”“It does not.” She made a face, shoving a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just because that beta—what’s his name again, the one with the too-perfect jaw”“Rowan,” I supplied, smirking.“Yeah, him. Just because he asked if I wanted water and I said yes doesn’t mean anything. I was thirsty.”“You were blushing,” I teased, lowering my voice just enough for her to groan. “You nearly spilled the water on yourself too.”She gasped and swatted at me. “You’re the worst.”“And you love me for it.”We were still laughing when the scent hit me. Sharp. Familiar. A thread of the past that wrapped around my lungs before I could take another breath. My feet stopped cold, the sound of the market fading unde