Marriage

Josie POV

"What do you mean I'm getting married, Dad?"

I stared at my father, waiting for him to laugh. Waiting for someone to admit it was a cruel joke. No one did.

He took a sip of his drink and nodded,

"Exactly what it means, sweetheart. You are getting married to the lycan king." 

"I'm not marrying him. I didn't even know that lycans existed until recently!"

I found out that we lived amongst a group of shifters called lycans, like, literally, humans who shift into beasts, lycans.

And we've been in conflict with them for decades. The humans want the conflict to end, and to do so, they must form a political alliance through marriage. That's where I come in. My father is the Chancellor and has offered me in marriage to Ronan Osborn, the lycan king. 

"You were born into this family and have enjoyed the privileges afforded to you. Everyone has a part to play, and yours is this." He was resolute. I dug my nails into my palm until it hurt more than my chest did, and I glanced at the engagement emerald ring on my finger.

I wiped my tears, trying to be strong. I wouldn't cry... I shouldn't worry. Surely my father's heart will soften, and he won't let me marry a beast. Besides, I'm engaged to Jonathan. His family is as powerful as mine, and they will save me. 

I stormed out of my father's office and drove to my fiancée's house.

My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white.

Jonathan would know what to do. He always did.

The thought was the only thing keeping me from breaking down completely. My father had made his decision, but Jonathan was different. He loved me. He wouldn't stand by and watch me be handed over to a creature I knew nothing about.

I glanced at the touched ring on my finger, and a small smile tugged at my lips despite everything. I remembered the day Jonathan gave it to me.

We were in his family's garden, beneath the old oak tree where we used to sit for hours talking about our future. The sun was setting, painting everything in gold, and for once, the powerful families we were born into didn't matter. Only us.

Jonathan had been unusually nervous that day, and was pacing.

"I actually prepared something," he admitted.

I had raised an eyebrow. "You? Prepared?"

He rolled his eyes but smiled before taking my hand.

"I know our families expect a lot from us," he said softly. "But I don't want our marriage just to be another arrangement. I want it to be ours."

Then he got down on one knee.

My breath caught.

"Josie, I don't know what the future will look like, but I know one thing. I want you in it."

My eyes had filled with tears as I laughed, covering my mouth.

"You practiced that speech, didn't you?"

"Several times," he confessed.

I laughed harder, and he smiled before sliding the emerald ring onto my finger.

"I'll protect you," he whispered. "No matter what happens."

The memory gave me hope. He would remember those words, and choose me.

I parked outside his house and hurried inside, not even waiting for someone to announce me. I needed to see him. I needed to hear him say that everything would be okay.

But as I approached his father's study, I slowed. Voices drifted through the slightly open door.

"There is nothing that can be done about it, son."

I stopped at the sound of Jonathan's father.

"You have no idea how powerful and ruthless the Lycans are. If you meddle, you might end up getting us all killed."

My stomach turned, but I stepped closer.

"But Dad..." Jonathan started, and hope rushed through me. There he was. He was fighting. He was telling his father he wouldn't let this happen.

"I can't let them take her."

"Enough!" his father snapped. "We worked too hard to come to this alliance."

A long pause followed before his father spoke again.

"I will find you another woman. Someone from a good family, perhaps the Granger girl. You used to sneak around with her."

It suddenly hurt to breath, no. I waited for him to deny it and tell his father he was wrong and he would only marry me, but his silence felt endless.

"Father, do you understand what you are asking me to do?" Jonathan said.

"Yes," his father said. "To survive."

Another long silence followed before he answered. "Yes, father."

The world stopped, and my fingers went numb. That wasn't what he meant, it couldn't.

I stepped back, my hand covering my mouth. His ring suddenly felt unbearably heavy. He broke his promise, he didn't fight for me.

"Josie?"

My heart broke at the sound of his voice. The door opened, and he appeared. The moment he saw me, his expression changed to shock, fear, and then regret.

"Josie, wait!"

I stared at him, wanting to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.

"Let me explain..." he said, stepping towards me, but I shook my head, tears burning my eyes.

"No."

"Josie..."

"You promised me," I said, and his face fell.

"I know, love."

Those words hurt me more. I turned before he could see me break. He was close on my heel.

"Please, let's talk..." he begged. I almost stopped. Almost, but I remembered standing outside the door waiting for him to fight for me. He didn't. I walked faster and didn't turn around because if I did, I would be hopeful again, and I couldn't afford it. Not anymore.

... 

I tapped my fingers against my thigh, unable to stop the nervous rhythm.

The chapel was beautiful. Perhaps too beautiful.

White flowers decorated the aisle, candles flickered softly along the walls, and sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows.

It looked like a place where people came to begin their lives together.

But all I could think about was everything I was leaving behind.

My old life and freedom. It felt less like a wedding and more like a funeral.

“Don’t do anything foolish, dear,” my father murmured as we stood at the entrance. “A lot depends on this.”

I glared at him, and a part of me wanted to ask if he had ever looked at me and seen his daughter, or only a piece on a chessboard.

My mother gave me a small, encouraging smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

I turned toward the aisle. My legs felt heavier than they should have, but I walked.

The humans sat on one side of the chapel, and the lycans on the other side. Neither group looked happy to be there. Their hatred filled the room like a storm waiting to break.

And at the end of the aisle stood him. My groom.

His back was turned toward me. He didn't look nervous, or impatient, or even curious. Instead, he stood there like this was an obligation he had already finished enduring.

When I reached the altar, he still didn’t turn immediately, and when he did, my breath got caught in my chest. I knew he was handsome.

I'd seen a picture of him, but it didn't do him justice.

He was very tall with dark hair and steel-blue eyes. His gaze locked onto mine, cold and unreadable. There was no warmth at all, no sign I was his bride, only resentment.

For a second, I forgot everyone else was watching. Because the man standing in front of me didn’t look at me like someone he was about to marry. He looked at me like I was the reason he was suffering.

I glanced toward my parents, silently begging them to see what I saw.

But they had already taken their seats, and given me away.

The ceremony passed like a dream I couldn’t wake from. There were vows, and signatures, and it was over. I barely had time to look back at my parents and say goodbye or share final words.

“I’m done.” Ronan’s voice was cold.

He walked away before I could even process that I was now his wife.

I watched him leave, and I scoffed, my husband, the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

The castle was like something from another world. Massive stone walls surrounded it, and the tall windows reflected the darkening sky. It was breathtaking. But it didn't feel like home.

The driver opened the door, and I stepped out in my wedding dress.

I looked back, expecting someone to be there still, but the driver was already gone. I was alone.

Taking a shaky breath, I walked toward the entrance and opened the doors. Music and laughter filled the room, and for a moment, I froze.

People were celebrating, and someone noticed me.

“The human is here!" he shouted. The room went silent, and every face turned to me. I felt their gaze scrutinize my dress, my face, and my existence, as if I were something strange they had never seen before.

My hands trembled, but I forced myself to smile.

Some people nodded, and others looked away. Then the music started again. 

I stood there in the middle of the room, a bride with nowhere to go.

“Hi, Josie, right?”

I turned to see a man with black hair and a muscular build approaching me.

“I’m Kane. I’ll be your aide. King’s orders.” He bowed. I stared at him for a moment before nodding.

“The washroom,” I whispered. “Could you show me where it is?”

I barely recognized myself in the mirror. The woman staring back looked like someone who had been broken apart and carefully put back together.

Dread pooled in my stomach and my lips trembled.

How did my life become this? I closed my eyes and took a breath.

I wouldn’t cry here, not where they could see me. I wiped my face and left the bathroom.

I had only walked a short distance when voices stopped me. Ronan?

“Do you think I’m happy about this, Sadie?” I froze. “If I could have stopped this sham of a marriage, I would have.”

My chest tightened painfully. 

“There should have been another way. I was supposed to be the Luna. I'm your mate!”

Mate. I knew the word. But hearing it from her made it feel different, important, and sacred. My mind searched desperately for another explanation. She was someone else, maybe a friend, or a relative, just anyone, but Ronan spoke.

“I know, baby.” My stomach dropped. Baby. He called her baby. “That human is nothing to me.”

I stepped closer before I could stop myself, and then I saw them, his arms around her. My eyes widened when I saw my husband crashing his lips on her.

The woman's fingers tangled in Ronan's shirt as they kissed fiercely, and she moaned his name.

My world went completely silent, and the music downstairs disappeared, everything did. Because the man I had just married was holding another woman like she was the only person in the world who mattered.

“You’re mine, Sadie.” His hand gently touched her face. “Nothing will ever change that,”