Forty-Eight Hours

Aliyana’s POV

I couldn’t breathe.

The Alpha’s words landed like a physical blow, knocking the air out of my lungs.

“You will marry me,” he said.

Me?

My throat constricted as if invisible fingers were closing around it. My lungs wouldn’t obey. I dragged in shallow, shaky breaths that made me lightheaded. When I said I’d do anything to shield my sister from her fate, I hadn’t meant inheriting it. I hadn’t meant standing here, trembling before a man like him.

I turned desperately to my father, my eyes stinging. He looked as stunned as I was, paralyzed, jaw slack, no words forming.

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again. Nothing came out the first time. The second time I forced words through the tightness strangling my chest.

“I— I’m sorry, what do you mean?” My voice cracked. It was barely a whisper, yet somehow too loud in the heavy silence.

Alpha Nolan smiled like I’d amused him. He spread his arms, his black eyes never wavering from mine.

“Looks like my bride is standing right in front of me.”

My father jolted forward so fast I nearly toppled over. “Forgive me, Alpha Nolan, but Aliyana is already betrothed. She is engaged to be married in a few days. You came here for Alessia, her sister. We should focus on finding her. She could be in danger—” He repeated himself.

The Alpha’s gaze slid lazily to my father, then back to me. He didn’t blink. His stare was heavy enough to pin me in place, cold enough to freeze the blood in my veins.

“I came here for a bride,” he said softly. He didn’t need to raise his voice. The quiet was sharper than a blade. “And I will not leave without one.”

The air thickened, pressing down on us. My father straightened his shoulders, but I saw for a second, the unease in his eyes.

“You would dishonor me?” Nolan continued, still deceptively calm. “Dishonor the deal your grandfather made with mine?”

My father’s jaw clenched. He hesitated, shoulders heaving once, like he was swallowing a dozen protests. His voice was hoarse when he finally spoke.

“Give us forty-eight hours. We will find Alessia. Please…stay at the estate until then. You have my word, it will be resolved.”

Nolan tilted his head, studying my father with the patience of a predator deciding whether to chase or wait. Then, slowly, he nodded once.

“Forty-eight hours.”

With a flick of his hand, one of his men stepped forward to escort him to his quarters. Nolan turned and left as if he hadn’t ripped the ground out from under me.

I tried to breathe. It came in short, jagged gasps. Forty-eight hours. That was all the time we had. Forty-eight hours until Nolan decided whether my life belonged to him.

That night I laid awake, staring at the ceiling. Shadows stretched long across the walls, heavy and suffocating. Every creak of the old house made me flinch.

I hated him. Hated the way his eyes had lingered on me like I was already claimed, already property. But beneath the hatred was something worse.

Something I didn’t notice at first but now, in the quiet dark, I couldn’t stop thinking about.

A pull. A strange, aching pull, like my soul leaned toward him when his gaze locked on mine. I shoved the thought away, disgusted with myself. My sister was missing, and her monster of a fiancé haunted my thoughts.

Still, a terrifying truth whispered inside me, Alessia would never survive a man like him.

The first day passed. Nothing.

No trace of her.

Until one of our men returned, dirt caked under his fingernails, something clenched in his fist. He opened it, and I saw a scrap of fabric. Light blue, torn and smeared with wet soil.

My heart lurched into my throat.

I knew that fabric. It was from Alessia’s dress.

I snatched it from him, pressing it to my chest, whispering a broken prayer to the Moon Goddess. Please. Please keep her alive.

But by the second day, my hope was rotting inside me.

I stayed locked in my room, staring at my reflection. My eyes were swollen, my lips split. I thought of Luke, his warm smile, the way he’d call me, ‘my lioness’, when I was being stubborn. We were supposed to be married. We were supposed to be happy.

Instead, my future dangled over a cliff, one cut away from disaster.

My mind drifted to Alessia, and a horrible thought slithered in resentment. I hated myself for it, but it was there.

My hands trembled as I opened the drawer and pulled out the dagger I’d hidden months ago, its cold metal heavy in my grip.

One slice. That was all it would take.

No Nolan. No forced marriage. No shame of failing my sister.

The blade kissed my wrist. My chest heaved, breaths short and ragged. One push. Just one.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered into the void.

The door creaked open and a servant entered with a basket. Her eyes fell on the blade pressed to my skin and she froze.

Her basket clattered to the floor as she ran out, skirts whipping around the corner.

Moments later, my father stormed in.

“Aliyana!” His voice was raw with panic. He ripped the dagger from my hand, throwing it aside. His arms crushed me against him. His chest shook. “I’m sorry,” he choked into my hair. “I’m sorry for being a coward. I’ll fix this somehow. Please… don’t give up on your old man.”

I wanted to believe him. But his arms felt like lies.

.

.

The next morning, the Alpha’s men began preparing for a wedding. My wedding.

I moved like a ghost through the day. The gown clung heavy to my shoulders, the bouquet shook in my trembling hands. The air reeked of roses and spiced wine, but I gagged on it.

The priest’s voice droned, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

And then, a voice was heard from the back.

“I object!”

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

My head whipped around. My heart slammed.

Luke.

He stood at the edge of the gathering, eyes blazing, chest heaving. My Luke.

“Luke,” I whispered, reaching for him.

Before I could take a step, Nolan’s men seized him, dragging him toward the gates.

“Luke!” My scream tore from my throat, raw and desperate.

“Don’t waste your tears on other men, Aliyana,” Nolan murmured, his breath brushing my neck, his tone both warning and promise. It made my skin crawl.

That night, during the reception, music blared, laughter echoed but I sat frozen, my smile brittle and false. Nolan’s gaze never left me. And then, the doors crashed open.

Luke strode in, sword drawn. His voice thundered. “Nolan! I challenge you!”

Gasps. Panic. People scattered.

But Nolan… smiled. A slow, cruel curve of lips.

“A sword for sword duel, then.”

My blood turned to ice.

The hall erupted into chaos as Luke’s challenge rang out. People scattered, skirts swishing, chairs toppling, but my gaze was locked only on him. My Luke, sword gripped tight, eyes blazing with the fire I’d fallen in love with.

“Leave her alone, Nolan!” Luke’s voice cracked with fury. “She’s mine!”

“Yours?” Nolan drawled, stepping forward with lethal calm. “You think you can claim what I have chosen?”

“Chosen? You’re not even fated to begin with, she’s not your fated mate,!” Luke spat, his chest heaving.

“You call it that? You steal. You destroy it.” His eyes flicked to me, soft for a heartbeat before returning to Nolan, burning. “I’ll die before I watch you take her.”

Nolan’s lips curled, a predator’s smile. “As you wish, but fate doesn’t decide for me.”

The clash shook the room, sparks leaping with every strike. Luke fought with desperation, every blow fueled by love and fury. Nolan met him with infuriating ease, parrying like this was mere entertainment.

“Come now,” Nolan taunted, twisting his wrist, sending a blade’s screech through the air. “Is this all you bring me?”

Luke’s teeth clenched. He pressed harder, their swords locking, faces inches apart. Sweat streaked down his brow. “I’m not fighting for glory. I’m fighting for her.”

Something inside me shattered.

The fight turned brutal. Luke ducked a slash, drove his sword across Nolan’s arm, a line of red bloomed. Gasps rose around us. For the first time, Nolan’s smirk faltered.

Hope flared in my chest. He could do it. Moon Goddess, he could. But Nolan’s eyes darkened, no amusement left now. “Enough.”

His strikes came faster, sharper, and merciless. Luke stumbled under the onslaught, blocking, retreating, every step backward drove a knife into my chest.

“Stand!” I screamed, voice tearing. “Luke, please.!”

He found me in the chaos, only for a heartbeat, eyes locking with mine. A small, broken smile curved his lips.

Then Nolan’s blade slid past his guard and their blades locked again, steel grinding against steel. Sweat dripped down Luke’s temple as his muscles trembled under the pressure of Nolan’s strength.

Nolan’s smirk faltered, his eyes narrowing as crimson bled down his sleeve.

Luke staggered back into a guard stance, chest heaving, but for a heartbeat there was fire in his eyes. “Not so untouchable after all,” he spat, voice shaking but defiant.

Nolan’s lips peeled back in something between rage and amusement. “You’ll regret that.”

They clashed again. Sparks shrieked from their blades, steel screaming under the force. Nolan pressed hard, brutal and relentless, but Luke didn’t break. He twisted, ducked under a slash, then slammed the hilt of his sword into Nolan’s ribs. The Alpha snarled, stumbling half a step.

Gasps echoed. My heart leapt, he could do it, he could.

“Aliyana!” Luke shouted between strikes, his voice raw. “Remember what I told you—” his sword locked against Nolan’s, faces inches apart, his teeth gritted with effort. “Not Alphas, not kingdoms, not even the Moon Goddess—” He shoved hard, forcing Nolan back a pace. “Nothing will take you from me!”

Tears blurred my vision. My fists clenched against my chest. “Luke!”

But the flare of hope only enraged Nolan. His blows came harder, faster, each strike designed not just to kill but to break. Luke stumbled, still fighting, still swinging with everything left in him.

And then Nolan caught his wrist, twisted, and wrenched his sword free. The blade clattered across the stone. Luke fell to his knees, gasping, sweat and blood streaking his face.

Nolan raised his sword with cold precision.

“Enough games.”

And the final, merciless strike came down.

Luke froze. His sword clattered to the ground. He looked down, as if disbelieving the steel jutting from his chest.

A scream tore from me, raw and animal. “No!”

Blood poured over my hands as I fell to my knees beside him. I pressed against the wound, desperate, useless. “Stay with me. Please, stay with me.”

His hand lifted weakly, trembling fingers brushing my cheek. His lips moved, no voice, only a whisper I caught in fragments.

“I love you…”

Tears blurred my vision. “No. No, you’ll live. You’ll live, Luke, you’ll—”

But his hand fell, his chest went still, and my world broke. I screamed until my throat shredded, until hands dragged me away, nails raking skin, fighting like a feral creature.

“Lock her away,” Nolan’s cold voice rang, unshaken. “She will learn.”

Hands dragged me back as I thrashed, nails clawing at the floor, throat raw from screaming his name. Luke’s blood was still warm on my palms when the doors slammed shut behind us.

I don’t remember how long they carried me, only the blur of stone walls, the burn of iron grips on my arms, and the taste of salt and iron on my tongue.

I fought until my body gave out. I screamed until there was nothing left but a rasping whisper. By the time they threw me into the darkness of my room and the lock clicked into place, I wasn’t sure if I was alive anymore or if some part of me had already died with him.

And I knew with horrifying certainty, my nightmare had only just begun.