CHAPTER 1: The Wife Bought With Debt

Ariana’s POV

The water in the bucket turned dark as I scrubbed the Alpha hall floor for the third time but still Beta Harold’s wife kicked the bucket over again and dirty water splashed across my dress.

“Clean it properly, thief’s daughter.”

Laughter filled the hall and I lowered my head and kneel again.

My fingers ached badly, but I kept scrubbing.

Another woman then walked past me and muttered loudly, “I still don’t understand why Alpha Damien married her.”

“Because her dead father stole pack money.”

“No. Because she spread her legs.”

More laughter and my chest burned, but I stayed silent.

I learned silence three years ago.

The day my father died.

The day the entire pack gathered outside our house screaming for blood after they discovered millions missing from the pack treasury.

My father was Damien’s Beta, his most trusted man.

Then suddenly he became the biggest traitor in pack history, he died before he could explain himself.

Some said he killed himself while others said Damien killed him quietly and I still did not know the truth.

All I knew was that the debt almost caused war between packs and I became the payment.

Damien married me to stop the scandal, and not because he wanted me, it was never because he wanted me.

“Ariana!”

I looked up quickly and Damien’s Gamma stood at the entrance.

“The Alpha wants you upstairs.”

The women beside me start whispering immediately.

“Look at her face.”

“She thinks he loves her because he sleeps with her.”

“Men use whores every night. It means nothing.”

I stood up slowly and wiped my wet hands on my dress and my heart still beat fast anyway because no matter how much Damien hurt me during the day…

At night?

He became another man. I then walked toward our bedroom upstairs and the moment I opened the door, I stopped breathing.

Candles burned around the room and the black silk dress I hid weeks ago lay across the bed.

I swallowed hard.

Tonight was our third anniversary, maybe this year will be different.

Maybe tonight he would finally look at me like a wife instead of a debt. I quickly bathed and wore the dress.

The silk barely covered my thighs and my hands shook while I applied lipstick.

“You’re embarrassing yourself again,” my wolf whispered sadly inside me. Maybe.

But I still wanted him, even after everything.

The door suddenly opened and Damien walked inside and my breath caught immediately.

Black shirt, dark eyes and dangerous face and his gaze landed on me and stayed there.

The room suddenly felt hotter and neither of us spoke and he slowly shut the door and then locked it.

My heart rang harder and Damien walked toward me slowly.

“You dressed like this for me?”

His voice came out rough and I forced myself to smile. “You’re still my husband.”

Something changed in his face instantly and before I could breathe again, Damien grabbed my waist and pulled me against him and I gasped softly and then his hand slid up my thigh.

“You keep looking at me like that,” he muttered against my lips. “Like you still expect love from me.”

The words hurt but his mouth crashed against mine before I could answer and the kiss turned deep immediately, hungry, messy and painfully desperate.

I then gripped his shirt tightly as he pushed me against the wall.

“Damien…”

“Say my name again.”

His voice sounded darker now and I did, again and again and every time I said it, he kissed me harder and his fingers gripped my throat possessively, not enough to hurt but just enough to make my body shake.

“You’re mine tonight,” he whispered against my neck.

“Mine.” That one word destroyed me because I wanted it to be true so badly.

Damien then lifted me easily and carried me to the bed and his eyes never left my face while he removed my robe slowly.

Then suddenly his fingers stopped on my waist, on one of my scars.

A punishment scar from last year after a pack elder accused me of stealing and Damien’s jaw tightens.

“Who touched you?”

I blinked in surprise.

“You know who.”

His face darkened instantly and for a moment, he almost looked angry, not at me but at them.

Then he kissed the scar gently and my chest tightened painfully because Damien only became gentle when nobody was watching.

The rest of the night felt dangerous, his hands, his mouth and the way he kept saying my name like he hated losing control around me.

And when I finally fell asleep in his arms, I allowed myself to dream stupid dreams. Maybe he loved me, maybe he finally chose me, maybe tomorrow would change everything but when I woke up the next morning…

The bed was empty and my heart sank instantly.

The other side was already cold and I sat up slowly.

Then someone knocked on the door.

“Alpha Damien requests your presence in his office.”

Fear crawled into my stomach immediately and I dressed quickly and headed downstairs.

The moment I entered Damien’s office, I froze. Divorce papers sat on the desk. No. No no no.

Damien did not even look at me.

“Sign it.”

I stared at him like I could not understand the words.

“What?”

“The alliance debt is paid,” he said flatly. “This marriage is over.”

My chest hurt so badly I almost could not breathe.

Last night flashed through my head, his hands on me and his mouth on my skin.

“You’re mine tonight.”

I forced myself to speak. “So that was all?”

Damien finally looked at me and his expression did not change.

“It was a mistake.”

Something inside me cracked and then suddenly…

The office door opened and Selene walked inside, wearing Damien’s shirt.

My stomach twisted violently. Purple marks covered her neck, fresh marks and my wolf whimpered painfully inside me and then Selene smiled when she saw my face.

“Oh,” she said softly. “Didn’t he tell you I stayed over?”

I could not speak, I just stared at Damien but he said nothing.

Then Selene walked closer and fixed Damien’s collar casually.

“He still gets rough after seeing you cry.”

The room spinned and I felt sick.

Damien picked up a pen calmly and signed the divorce papers first and then he slid them toward me.

“You were never meant to be more than repayment for your father’s debt.”

My wolf shattered inside me.