CHAPTER 1: I'm Not Getting Married To Her

***JAMIE***

“No!” I yelled with utter disgust. “I’m not getting married to Avery.”

My father did not even flinch. He stood by the window, hands behind his back.

“Well,” he said calmly, “you don’t really have a choice, boy.”

The word hit me like it always did.

Boy.

Even now. Even when it was just us, he wouldn't still regard my actual gender.

My chest tightened, and something heavy pressed down on me as I tried to keep my voice steady.

“Dad,” I mumbled, fists tightening. “It doesn’t matter how many times you say it… I am definitely not going to marry her.”

He turned to face me fully this time, his brows pulling together. “What did you just say?”

My throat suddenly went dry as my eyes met his, but I did not back down.

“Don’t you get it?” I asked, my eyes stinging as the words forced their way out. “I’ve been living like this for you. Pretending. Hiding. Acting like someone I’m not just so you can retain your position as Alpha.”

He said nothing, he just watched me as if giving me the nudge to go on.

I locked my gaze with his as I continued.

“Have you ever asked what I really wanted?” I continued, my voice shaking now. “Even once?”

Silence pressed heavily across the room, but not for long.

“My decision stands, Jamie,” he said flatly. “You will marry Avery and everything will go back to normal.”

Something in me snapped.

“Hell no!” I shouted, my voice bouncing off the walls. “I’m done. I’m done living this fake life you built for me.”

“Keep your voice down, darling,” my mother said quickly, stepping in and nudging my arm.

I pulled away from her.

“I’m not lowering my voice,” I said. “Not this time.”

Then something moved outside the window, and the world completely froze. For a split second, I caught the outline of a face pressed against the glass.

My heart skipped a bit, and every other sound faded into a hum.

Someone was watching us.

Someone had heard everything.

Just then, my father's eyes started trailing towards the direction my eyes were focused on.

No.

If he turned around now…

“What would you have us do?” she snapped, her tone changing so fast it caught me off guard. “Do you think this is easy for us?”

That distracted him.

I stared at her, brows furrowing.

By the time I glanced back towards the window, there was nothing there—Only the curtains swerving slightly.

“Pay attention!” My father's voice thundered and my head instantly snapped towards my mother. 

“Yes,” I said, then paused. “I do.”

Her eyes flashed. “You’re the heir to this pack, and you’re hidden away from your peers — homeschooled. Does that seem normal to you? People are starting to ask questions.”

I knew all of these, but something about the way she said it made me feel guilty.

“Mum—”

“Don’t,” she cut in sharply. “Just… stop.”

I clenched my jaw.

“Marrying Avery fixes everything,” she continued. “People stop asking questions and the elders have no reason to pry any further.”

“And what about me?” I asked, tears falling freely down my face.

She raised a brow. “What about you?”

“It's my life and I have no say in it?”

“There's another choice,” she said, moving closer to me. “You could decide to attend Silverstone academy still pretending to be a man? Tell me which one you think will be easier for you.”

That made me pause for a second and a horrible image hit me immediately.

Silverstone.

A whole academy where I'll be surrounded by men and treated like one. Even if I'm too careful, there's no guarantee that I wouldn't fumble and reveal to the whole world that I've been living a lie. And now, the stakes are higher, since someone else might have just overheard the conversation between me and my parents. 

I exhaled slowly.

“I…”

My voice trailed off.

She saw it and that was her leverage over me.

“Exactly,” she said, softer now. “You can’t keep up that lie out there. Not without everyone finding out.”

I looked away.

The anger did not disappear, but it softened slightly.

“Fine,” I muttered weakly.

It came out under my breath but I was sure they heard it. I knew they did because when I turned back, there was a small, satisfied smile on my mother’s face.

My stomach twisted.

“When is it happening?” I asked.

My father’s posture relaxed slightly. “Tomorrow.”

My head snapped up. “Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“And Avery?” I added, forcing myself to stay calm. “How do we stop her from finding out?”

My mother’s smile widened. “Leave that to me.”

Of course, there was always a plan.

I nodded slowly, even though everything inside me was screaming.

“Alright,” I said.

She stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I know this is a lot,” she said gently. “But it’s the only way.”

I gave a small smile that did not reach my eyes. “I understand.”

That was all they needed, they left my room right after that.

The door clicked shut behind them, and the silence that followed felt louder than everything we had just said.

I let out a long breath and dropped onto my bed, my hands coming up to cover my face.

“This is my life,” I muttered.

Prince Jamie of Silverfang.

I laughed under my breath, but there was no humor in it.

“I should have just chosen Silverstone,” I mumbled as I crashed into my bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “And who exactly was that person at the window.”

I sighed heavily, and closed my eyes.

Just as I was still contemplating on my choice, a crazy thought suddenly slipped into my mind—Spencer, the hot brother of my soon-to-be bride. I let my thoughts take me back down memory lane to the first time we met, the way my heart suddenly felt like it was being pulled out of my chest. And ever since then, the feelings had only been growing stronger.

Out of the blue, a voice suddenly pulled back from my thoughts—

“Can you believe it?” 

When I lifted my eyes towards the voice, I found out it was Avery—the last person I'd rather see right now. She barged into my room without knocking.

I rolled my eyes as she got closer. “What the fuck?”

“You said something?” She asked as she made her way to the bed and sat right beside me, sparing not even an inch of space. 

“No,” I lied, sitting up. “Just tired… that's all.”

Her expression dropped slightly, her fingers tracing across my forehead. “Awww… are you getting sick?”

I forced a smile. “Nah… I just had a lot to do today.”

She waited a minute, reading my eyes. Then—

“So, we are finally getting married!!!” She squealed out so loudly, the sound gave me an instant migraine. 

I couldn't help but just force a smile.

She continued anyway. “You have no idea how long I'd been waiting for this… I'm just so happy that we can finally end up with each other."

Obviously, I wasn’t excited at all, but she didn't even notice. So, to make the whole situation easier for me, I just tried my best to think about Spencer while she spoke, only then did a genuine smile tugged at my lips.

I was already lost in my sweet thoughts when her voice pulled me back. “Jamie!”

I jerked back into reality, my eyes darting around.

“You've not been listening, have you?”

I took a deep breath, then paused for a second before answering. “I'm right here… just thinking about how glorious tomorrow will be.”

“Aww… that's so sweet,” she squealed, then pressed a soft kiss against my lips. “I'm sorry but I've got to go now. I just came to say hi cause Mom said we can’t meet from now on till after the wedding.”

I didn't respond, I just nodded, waving her off.

She was almost at the door, then she stopped abruptly. “I almost forgot… Spencer just got admitted into Silverstone Academy.”

Just as she finished saying those words, I felt my whole world collapsing around me.

“What?” I asked in surprise. 

“Oh, Spencer? He got accepted last night, he’s so dumb, but finally, he aced the test and would be leaving tomorrow. Sadly, he is going to miss the wedding.”

I sat there frozen, as the only thing I was holding on to had just slipped from my grip.

“Well, don’t miss me too much, mwah!” She mouthed a kiss and stepped outside of my room 

“I should go now, I have a lot to do in such little time,” she explained, then she closed my door with a soft click.

I sank into my bed once more as the reality of what she’d revealed dawned on me, Spencer was leaving, but I was still trapped in this hell I call a life, I stood up and walked into my vanity, I opened the hidden drawer and brought out the letter I had gotten just a week ago, a letter of acceptance to Silverstone. 

I stared long and hard at my entrance exam record, I scored a full 98% grade, I was more than qualified to be there, and maybe a part of me secretly took this test because I wanted to be there since that's the only way I could live without my parents deciding how I should live.

I sighed hard, finally deciding on what to do. I'm going to choose the hard way—Silverstone Academy.