CHAPTER ONE

DONIKA'S POV

“I can’t believe this is happening.” As I stare at myself at the glass in front of the wedding hall,draped in the most hideous wedding dress ever.I stood just outside the ceremonial hall, veil halfway pinned, hands shaking around my bouquet of fresh lilies.

“You’re lucky it is,” my aunt snapped, yanking my shoulder straight. “Fix your face. Do you know how many girls would kill to be where you are?”

“Being forced to marry the man who cheated on me with my cousin,your daughter?” I muttered under my breath but she heard me all the same and she could have slapped me on a very normal day if not it was my wedding

She glared. “You should be grateful Damon even still wants you. After what your parents left behind, you’re just a wolfless burden to this pack. This union saves your name.”

Uncle scoffed beside her, arms crossed. “The pack agreed to this match. You’ll bring honor to what’s left of your family. That’s the least you can do.”

“I didn’t choose this,” I said, voice flat. As an ex alpha’s daughter,one would think I was going to be all high and mighty but being born without any wolf abilities really made life hard for me. From my own uncle and his family to the pack members,every single one of them found a way to taunt me in every single way. Now I’m being thrown into this dirt shirt marriage just to get rid of me.

“No,” Aunt sneered her voice pulling my thoughts into reality. “But your parents made choices that left you in our care. And this is how you repay us? By whining? Wear the damn dress. Say the vows. Then vanish into the role you were given.”

My chest ached, but I said nothing.I’d said nothing for years so there’s no point starting now,no one gave a FUCK! The funniest part was that I didn't even have a choice,tho deep down I wished the moon goddess could just come down and take me away. Ever since the death of my parents,the former Alpha and Luna of our pack,after an unexpected war with the NightHowl Pack, I've been nothing but an item of scorn to my uncle,his wife and of course,his daughter. The pack members weren't excluded.

I mean,an Alpha's daughter who was way past 18 without a wolf? Not even a special ability? I was treated no lesser than a servant and whispers followed me around the pack. "The cursed bitch,killed her parents and is still wolfless."

And my so-called mate? Caught red handed him deep inside my cousin's cunt but what was his reaction? He stood to face and said "You should grateful I'm taking a wolfless Luna like you...know your place." 

The music started tearing me out of my deep thinking

and the doors opened.The pack ceremony hall was packed. Every face in the pack was watching me as I stepped through the arch, the long aisle stretched like a prison sentence before me. At the end of it stood Damon.

He claimed to be my mate and I did believe him as I didn’t have a wolf to confirm if he was truly my mate….funny right?I depended on him till I caught him red handed with my own blood cousin tangled in bed and moaning their heads off.

Damn traitor. And that’s when I knew he was just using me to climb the ladders as an ex alpha’s daughter,I tried calling off the wedding but was locked in a cold cellar for two weeks only brought out today for my “wedding”.He smiled like he won a gold medal and I just wished I could wipe that smirk off his face.

The Pack elders stood beside him. My cousin, Lilia, stood smug in a pale pink gown beside the altar. Her lips curved up in a smirk as she mouthed the words “FUCK YOU BITCH” right at my face as I walked down the aisle and tears burned in my eyes.

I walked like I was made of stone.My legs didn’t want to move. My lungs didn’t want to breathe.

But still, I walked till I reached the altar and the proceedings started immediately.

“Donika Conri,” the elder began, staring at me with bored eyes. “Do you accept this union, and vow to serve your pack, your mate, and the bond of loyalty from this day forth?”

I didn’t speak and I tried to speak but I couldn’t,it was as if I had suddenly lost my sense of speech.

“Donika?” Damon’s voice was sharp now. He took my hand, squeezing it like a warning. “Speak the hell up…we don’t have all day.”

“I—” MOON GODDESS SEND HELP,I cried desperately in my hearts of heart.

The doors burst open with a deafening boom.

Gasps echoed through the room as black-armored men stormed inside. About twenty of them surrounded the entire hall.

“Who the hell—” one of the elders shouted.

Then he stepped in.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in dark royal leathers trimmed with silver.

Kael Dawson.The Lycan King! And Alpha of NightHowl Pack!

How would I not recognize him after what happened between our both families years ago,I’ll be a bitch to not remember him. But first,what was he doing here?

Golden eyes swept across the room and when they landed on me, the chaos around us quieted—just for a moment.

“What is the meaning of this?” Damon shouted.

Kael didn’t even flinch. “You’re standing between me and what belongs to me.” He said casually.

I blinked. “What?”

“You’re not taking her,” my uncle snapped trying to act smug but I could see the fear in his eyes;I mean,Kael was a Lycan. “This is a sacred—”

“Oh please…She doesn’t belong to you,” Kael said coldly. “She doesn’t belong to any of you.”

One of his guards growled, stepping forward. “Do we remove them, sire?”

Kael lifted a hand. “Not yet.”

He walked down the aisle with deliberate calm, ignoring the mumbling wolves. He didn’t stop until he stood two steps below me.And then, slowly, he looked up.

“You don’t look happy baby girl,” he said, voice smooth and deep. “Most brides do.”

My heart was slamming in my chest.

“This is insane,” Damon growled. “She’s my mate.”

Kael’s eyes flicked toward him. “Your mate? Did she feel the bond? Did you feel the bond as well or just trying to lie your way into a marriage of convenience?” He asked Damon and I could see his eyes panic for a moment. “She’s not yours.”

“She’s pack property,” my aunt spat. “She belongs to us!”

Kael turned to her, then back to me, tilting his head.

“Do you?”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

My uncle stepped closer to my ear. “Don’t even think about this. You go with him, you’re dead to us.”

“She was never meant to be a Luna anyway,” Lilia hissed my way. “You don’t even have a wolf. Why would he want you?”

Kael’s eyes didn’t move from mine. Not once.

And then he stepped up, closing the last bit of space between us. His voice dropped low enough only I could hear.

“Do you want to go with me… or stay here, stuck under them?”

My breath caught and I thought of all the humiliation I had endured under this so-called pack for years. It would be much better to leave with him then make plans of my own while with him.

I looked at him. Then at the people I’d called family for years.The people who only ever used me.

“I’m waiting for your verdict princess,me or them?” He asked again…