Home / When I Chose an Arranged Marriage, My Three Childhood Friends Cried / Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

All Chapters of When I Chose an Arranged Marriage, My Three Childhood Friends Cried: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

My father shot to his feet.The bone knife snapped in his grip, and the full force of his Alpha power exploded through the room."Have you lost your mind? Have Cyrus and those two been picking on you?"A mating alliance with the Snow Wolf Pack had always been a one-way trip. It was a death sentence.Life in the northern snowfields was brutal. The werewolves there were savage, and the last bride sent there had died.How could he let the daughter he cherished walk into that kind of danger?"I'm going to punish them right now."I grabbed my father's arm and shook my head. "Don't."I didn't want to humiliate myself.What would I even say? Ask them why they don't love me anymore?Seeing how furious my father was, I thought back to a year ago.Nara had just arrived at the Frostmoon pack with her pup.She was covered in wounds and didn't even have a place to live.Cyrus was the first to rush to her side.Cyrus used to be my guardian. He would spend a whole day and night out hunting just to br

Chapter 2

At dawn, I went alone into the forest at the edge of our territory.I hadn't slept at all since they cut off the mind-link the night before. I needed something to keep my mind off it.There was a lone wild boar in the woods.Before, at least two of them would have come with me. Cyrus would lure the boar away, Draven would lead the attack, and Knox would cover my back as I threw my bone spear.Today, I was alone.The instant my spear pierced the boar's throat, its tusk ripped open my right leg.I collapsed, tore a strip of cloth from my sleeve, and wrapped it tightly around my wound.Before long, it was soaked through.The scent of blood would carry on the wind. The patrol would pick it up soon.I stayed because I wanted to see if they'd still come running to me like they used to when they realized I was hurt.The sun crept across the sky toward the west.The woods were silent. No footsteps. No scent drifting closer. No one came.I looked down, tied a fresh bandage over the wound, and d

Chapter 3

Knox carried me into the stone house where they lived.Once, it had belonged to just the three of them.Now I barely recognized the room.Finely woven grass mats covered the floor. Dried wildflowers sat on the windowsill, and the air smelled faintly of berries.Nara's touch was everywhere.Knox set me down on a wooden chair.He found a clean cloth and some herbs, knelt in front of me, and bent to untie the filthy strip around my leg.The cloth had stuck to the wound, and when he pulled it away, it tore off a layer of skin.I trembled from the pain, letting out a small whimper before forcing myself to stay quiet.I had never been fragile. It was only with them that I'd allowed myself to be vulnerable and depend on someone. Again and again, I'd swallowed my pride, hoping they'd show me the same tenderness they once had.Cyrus and Draven were talking by the door."Back in the woods, I actually thought she'd changed.""Turns out she's the same as ever. She won't stop until everyone's miser

Chapter 4

The heavy wooden door behind me stood half-open. From inside came Nara's soothing voice and the sighs of Cyrus and Knox.Dragging my injured leg, I stumbled back to my stone house.Moonlight fell on the wooden chest by my bed. Inside were the gifts the three of them had given me. I used to treasure them more than my own life.I opened the chest, and my fingertips came to rest on the moonstone.When I was 14, I had a fever that wouldn't break. Knox knelt at the Moon Goddess's altar and prayed for me. On every stormy night afterward, he would press the moonstone to my heart and tell me the Moon Goddess would protect me.The wolf fang came from the first snow wolf Cyrus had ever killed on his own. He returned covered in blood and hung it around my neck in front of everyone. He said the fang was his glory, and so was I.At the very bottom lay the soft leather armor Draven had made for my coming-of-age ceremony. He had ventured deep into the Black Marsh and spent a year hunting crocodiles f

Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Cyrus, Draven, and Knox stepped out of the patrol meeting hall.Lyra had been acting so strangely that none of them had slept well.First thing that morning, Cyrus cut off half a leg from a freshly hunted mountain goat and set off to find Lyra."Lyra's stubborn."Cyrus carried the meat, his voice still gruff. "I was a little harsh with her yesterday. She's probably hiding in her house crying again. Give her this meat. It'll give her a way to back down without losing her pride."Draven frowned. "She ran to the Alpha last night and nearly got Nara and her pup kicked out. We can't ignore that. Bring her the meat, but she still needs to apologize to Nara."Knox trailed behind them in a daze, a jar of salve in his hand.He couldn't forget the look in Lyra's eyes when she'd shut the door the night before. No tears. No protests. Just the lifeless stillness of a pond frozen solid.Halfway there, two older wolves from the patrol came toward them through the woods.They were talking i

Chapter 6

The three of them tore out of the stone house and raced for the west gate.But when they reached the boundary stone, they found only two deep wheel ruts. Windblown snow was already filling them.The caravan had crossed the border river long ago and entered the far northern snowfields of the Snow Wolf pack.Knox clutched the shattered moonstone, his tears falling onto the ice. He'd been right to feel uneasy the night before. Lyra had been unnaturally calm, without a trace of her usual temper. She'd already made up her mind to accept the mating alliance. And he'd thought she was trying to threaten him by complaining to the Alpha.He remembered standing behind Nara last night, coldly calling Lyra cruel.Cyrus's fist tightened around the wolf fang. He had never imagined Lyra would leave. Just last night, he had called her vicious.Draven leaned against the boundary stone and slowly sank to his knees, then slapped himself hard across the face twice."What have we done..."They thought Lyra

Chapter 7

Winter in the far north was long, but my bedroom was always warm.Kael kept his word.He wouldn't even let the palace maids near my courtyard, so I could rest undisturbed.He saved the softest, thickest snow fox furs to make my cloaks.On nights when snow raged outside, he held me close and warmed me with his body.The next spring, the ice and snow melted.Kael and I had a strong little pup.Our baby had silver-gray eyes, and two shallow dimples appeared whenever the little one smiled, just like mine.Kael was as happy as a boy who had just learned to hunt. For seven days straight, he rode through the pack's main streets with our pup cradled in his arms, proudly showing off his child to everyone.Meanwhile, over those three years, the Frostmoon Pack in the south sank into endless regret and infighting.In the second month after Lyra left, the old priest stood before the whole pack and revealed a shocking truth.Nara was no helpless refugee.She was descended from the wolves of the sout

Chapter 8

Three years passed.Cyrus, Draven, and Knox became known as the Frostmoon Pack's three madmen.In every brutal fight against the rogues, they charged to the front, collecting one ugly scar after another.Cyrus fought tirelessly to earn battle honors and traded them for the finest pelts.Draven searched the most dangerous corners of the south for materials to recreate the armor he'd once made for Lyra.Knox lost an eye, but he still crossed mountains and climbed sheer cliffs to pick the sweetest honey fruit.They clung to a faint hope.They believed the snowfields were harsh and the Snow Wolf Alpha was brutal, so Lyra must be suffering.If they saved enough honors and treasures, they could go north one day. Even if they had to die on their knees at the palace gates, they would offer everything they had to bring her home and make amends.Late that autumn, a Snow Wolf delegation escorted me home to visit my family.The day the news reached the Frostmoon pack, the whole camp erupted.Cyrus

Chapter 9

I walked onto the main platform on Kael's arm and greeted my father.When my father saw me and my strong, beautiful little pup, tears of relief filled his eyes."Father, I'm home," I said with a smile.Kael handed the baby to him and slipped his arm around my waist.His deep voice rang out before the great hall. "As promised, I have brought Lyra home safely for a visit."The pack cheered, and soon the square was filled with fine wine and roasted meat.As I headed down the steps toward the path leading to my mother's grave behind the camp, three figures appeared at the far end of the corridor, blocking my way.Cyrus, Draven, and Knox threw themselves down on the cold flagstones with a thud.Cyrus looked up, his face streaked with tears, and lifted the fire fox pelt above his head with trembling hands. He had spent three years mending it."Lyra... I fixed it."Cyrus's voice cracked, rough as gravel. "Nara was a spy. She drugged us... we were poisoned back then. We didn't mean to be so cr

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