The War Hero's Broken Bride

Amelia Callahan paced anxiously around the drawing room.She was so nervous that she did not realize she had been biting her fingernails until the lord of Callahan entered the room.The sharp clack of his heavy cane against the floor broke the silence, and Amelia quickly hid her hands behind her back. “Have I not warned you time and again to stop that disgusting habit?”Her father’s words sent a chill through her and Amelia lowered her eyes to her feet. “F-Forgive me, Father…”“You had better not embarrass me, girl. You have been far more fortunate than you deserve. If your disgraceful behavior brings shame upon our family name, I will not forgive you.”She opened her mouth, trying desperately to form a proper response, but fear gripped her spine. “I-I w-w-w… I shall… I shall d-d-do as you c-command, F-Father. W-When he c-c-c-comes, I w-w…”Amelia did not need to look up to know her father was grimacing. Whenever he heard her speak, disgust always appeared across his face. “I-I… I w-w

Flashback "Damn it. I can’t hold back any longer…” Ryder muttered to himself impatiently, and his fingers entered her deeper and deeper still.Amelia breath was lodged in her throat. She had long forgotten her servant instructions about dutifully submitting to her husband’s will.Under his touch, her body twitched and jerked, and she gasped helplessly, overcome by unthinkable sensations.“N-No! D-Don’t…Oh!” Her struggles and protests were useless. There was no chance of escaping his searing mouth and rough caress. She clutched at the pillow under her head.She could not believe that something so grotesque was happening to her. Her eyes burned, and her mind twisted and turned, tossed in an impossible storm. What’s happening to me?After what seemed like a lifetime, Ryder hand stopped. “This will hurt a little.”Amelia sank into the bed, her limbs hanging limply as she tried to catch her breath. Her body had been so tense that it was now drained of strength. She was no longer capable o

Amelia stared at her husband, completely dumbfounded, unable to reconcile the man sitting before her with the husband she thought she understood.Ryder was calmly watching the scenery pass beyond the carriage window, one arm resting casually along the windowsill as if there were nothing unusual about their situation.The peacefulness of his expression only made Amelia more confused. Was this truly the same man who had showered her with blistering remarks and kisses before marching out of her father’s castle and dragging her along with him? The memory felt almost impossible to reconcile with the composed man now sitting beside her.Her father’s words suddenly returned to her. "King Adrian has offered him the princess’s hand in marriage, and he will not let such an opportunity slip by!"Lord Richard had been the one to drive those words into Amelia’s mind, repeating them until she had come to accept them as an unavoidable truth yet her father had not been the only person who assumed Ryd

The carriage rattled violently under Amelia as the knights’ cries and urgent shouts mingled with the eerie shrieks of something unmistakably inhuman, the dreadful sounds echoing through the air and making her blood run cold.Unable to bear it any longer, Amelia buried her face in the folds of her skirt, desperately trying to shut out the terrifying noise surrounding her.Every tremor beneath her seemed to convince her that the carriage could be overturned at any moment, and she could do nothing but cling to the hope that Ryder and the knights would keep the creature away.Something struck the carriage with tremendous force, making the entire vehicle jolt. Amelia immediately looked up, her heart hammering as she feared the ceiling might come crashing down upon her.Before she could gather her thoughts, an enormous eye was staring directly at her through the window, its blue surface horribly bloodshot and so unnaturally large that Amelia could barely comprehend what she was seeing.A sc