Four

CHAPTER FOUR — THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

ORLENA’S POV

“This is a marriage contract?”

I stared at the document in my hands, then slowly looked up at Drayven.

He stood in front of me with the same cold expression he had worn since entering the room.

“Yes.”

I looked down at the contract again.

My name was written clearly beside his.

For a moment, I wondered if I had somehow read it wrong, but the words were still there.

Marriage.

Between me and Drayven.

I looked at him again.

“You want to marry me?”

“Yes.”

His answer came without hesitation.

I could not understand him.

“I have known you for less than a day.”

“I know.”

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know enough.”

I frowned.

“How can you possibly know enough?”

He did not answer immediately.

Instead, he looked at the contract in my hands.

“You saved my life.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to marry me.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

His expression remained calm.

“Because I have my reasons.”

I almost laughed.

“Your reasons?”

“Yes.”

“That is all you’re going to say?”

“For now.”

I stared at him.

He was impossible to read.

Most men would have tried to explain themselves in this situation, especially if they were asking a woman they barely knew to become their wife.

Drayven did not seem interested in explaining anything.

He simply stood there as though he had already made his decision and my opinion was the only thing left to settle.

I looked back at the contract.

“What exactly do you want from me?”

“You will become my Luna.”

My fingers tightened around the pages.

“And that’s it?”

“You will stay in my territory, take your position beside me, and follow the conditions written in the contract.”

I looked at him carefully.

“And what do I get?”

“Protection.”

The answer was immediate.

“You will have a place here. No one from Xavren’s pack will be able to claim you or force you to return.”

My chest tightened at the mention of Xavren.

I looked away.

I hated that Drayven had to remind me of the reality I was facing.

I had nowhere to go.

No family waiting for me.

No home.

The only place I had known for years had thrown me out as if I meant nothing.

Still, I could not simply agree to marry another Alpha because I had nowhere else to sleep.

I had already trusted one man.

I had already believed his promises.

I would not make the same mistake again.

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“You haven’t finished reading.”

I looked down at the contract.

“I don’t need to read the rest.”

“You should.”

His voice remained calm, but there was something firm about it that made me pick up the pages again.

I slowly read through the conditions.

It was not what I expected.

There were no declarations of love, no promise that he would care for me as a husband, and no attempt to pretend that this was a romantic proposal.

It was an agreement.

A marriage built on protection and position.

I turned another page.

Then I stopped.

I looked up at him.

“You prepared this before coming to see me.”

“Yes.”

“So you had already decided that you wanted to marry me?”

“I had considered it.”

I frowned.

“You barely know me.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

He looked at me for a moment.

“You are useful to me.”

The words hurt more than I expected.

I looked away.

“Useful?”

“Yes.”

I swallowed and forced myself to look at him again.

“At least you’re honest.”

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

There was something strangely reassuring about that.

At least he was not making promises he could not keep.

I looked at the contract again.

Then something else caught my attention.

I slowly lifted my head.

“You said I would be your Luna.”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t know whether I can even take that position.”

“I know you can.”

“How?”

He looked at me without answering.

I waited.

He remained silent.

I finally shook my head.

“You are very difficult to understand.”

“I am not asking you to understand me.”

His answer was so cold that I almost smiled.

“I noticed.”

I looked down at the contract again.

My eyes moved across the page, but I could barely focus.

The thought of becoming another Alpha’s Luna frightened me more than I wanted to admit.

I had once worn the title proudly.

I had once believed being Xavren’s Luna meant I was safe.

Instead, it had become the reason everyone hated me.

I touched the mark on my body without thinking.

Drayven’s eyes immediately moved toward my hand.

I noticed.

“What?”

He said nothing.

“You keep looking at my mark.”

His expression changed slightly.

“Who told you it was a curse?”

My body went still.

I slowly lowered my hand.

“What did you say?”

“The mark.”

I stared at him.

“Why are you asking about it?”

“I want to know.”

“Everyone knows about it.”

“That is not what I asked.”

I felt uncomfortable.

I had spent years hearing people call me cursed, but I had never expected a stranger to question it.

“Xavren’s pack believes it is a curse,” I said quietly.

Drayven’s eyes remained on me.

“Do you?”

I hesitated.

“I don’t know.”

It was the first time I had admitted that aloud.

For years, I had simply accepted it because everyone else had.

Drayven looked at the mark again.

“I don’t believe it is a curse.”

My heart skipped.

“You don’t?”

“No.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t.”

I frowned.

“Then why would you say that?”

“Because I have seen curses before.”

He paused.

“That isn’t one.”

I stared at him.

Nobody had ever spoken about my mark like that.

Nobody had ever made me question what I had believed about myself.

“What is it, then?”

“I don’t know yet.”

The word yet caught my attention.

I studied his face.

“You think there is something else?”

“I think you should stop believing everything people tell you.”

My chest tightened.

For the first time, I wondered if Xavren had lied about more than just what happened between us.

I looked down at the contract.

“Is that another reason you want me to marry you?”

Drayven did not answer immediately.

That silence was enough to make me suspicious.

“You do have another reason.”

He finally looked at me.

“I have several reasons.”

“But you won’t tell me.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“At least you’re consistent.”

He walked toward the door.

I quickly looked at the contract again.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

“If I sign this, how long will the marriage last?”

He turned slightly.

“Until we decide otherwise.”

I frowned.

“That isn’t an answer.”

“It is the only one you need.”

I looked at him in disbelief.

“You expect me to sign a contract without knowing how long I’m supposed to remain married to you?”

“You don’t have to sign it.”

His voice remained completely calm.

“You can leave tomorrow.”

I fell silent.

He opened the door.

I looked at the contract again.

Then I looked at him.

“Why me, Drayven?”

For the first time, he seemed to consider the question carefully.

Then his eyes moved toward the mark on my body.

“You are not what they told me you were.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he walked out of the room.

The door closed behind him.

I remained standing there, staring at the contract.

I had come to this pack believing I only needed a place to stay until I became strong enough to build a life for myself.

Now a powerful Alpha had placed a marriage contract in front of me.

And somehow, I had the feeling that the contract was not the strangest thing about him.

The strangest thing was that he seemed to know something about me that even I did not know.