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3

Three days later

"This pink would look great on you."

The wedding planner holds a pink dress, showing it to me with excitement. The fabric is fitted, sequins designed to have eyes on every aspect of my body, exposing my flesh to the cold air. I didn’t like the idea, nor did I like the color pink. Of course, she assumes I'm interested in whatever I'll have to wear in the morning like she assumes I care about this forced marriage.

"Maybe yellow? I think lemon yellow will suit you perfectly!" Triss, my wedding planner gushes, picks up another shred of fabric against my exposed bra.

She is from Hardin’s pack. The Alpha who took me from my home.

I remain a statue, allowing her to measure and work without flinching.

“What about blue?”

"I'd like to wear white." I finally spoke up after a while of silence.

Triss stares at me, briefly before nodding. "That's fine, what about this?"

She holds up a piece of her flimsy fabric like the few centimeters are going to cover all of me. Blankly, I shake my head.

"It's tradition for every bride to dress this way. Every male will want you, and every female will want to be you, and you will only belong to the Alpha. Don't you think it's a beautiful thing?" Triss smiles, almost wistfully.

I've heard a few stories of Alpha Hardin living in this pack, every she-wolf speaks of his wealth and charisma. Some of them even would kill a man to be in my position as his bride like he's some kind of god.

Perhaps he is, the devil’s god, who has cursed me.

Forever.

"No, I don't," I state with a voice.

Call me bitter and cynical, but I stopped caring about my life at the moment my parents sold me.

Triss's shoulders fall as her smile deflates, the best thing I've seen since coming here. Perhaps now she'll feel a little bit of what I do, maybe she will understand that I am not expecting a bright and happy future in this pack.

"Our Alpha chose you for a reason, Katalayha, and I can see why. You have bloodline from an Alpha, and you are young, beautiful, and still a virgin." Said Triss.

"Beautiful?" I whisper. No one ever tells me I am beautiful because I always covered in bruises and scars.

"Yes, very much." She nods firmly.

Part of me felt the urge to stop being sarcastic to her. Yet part of me still doesn’t give a damn. I couldn't think about a stupid dress or sparkly outfit, because after tomorrow, I'll be trapped with a man I never know forever.

Taking my silence as an agreement, Triss continues preparing the dress and pushes me into wearing the 'traditional' choice of clothing.

I didn't bother arguing about her style choice, that’s how little I cared for this wedding. My dress, or Triss's dress, won't change anything despite its look.

I am looking at myself in the mirror, the sparkling sequins add a shimmering glow to my emerald-green eyes. Am I really worth the word, beautiful? A sentence slipped out of my throat without attention.

"Is it okay if I go for a walk?"

"Sure, I need you to pick a color, and a few minute's break won't hurt." Triss smiles at me.

A slight surprise fills me, I didn’t expect her to say yes.

Is she not worried I might run away?

"Yellow."

Triss flashes me a beaming grin, ecstatic that I'm willingly taking part in this whole thing. We inched my way to the door across the room.

No words are spoken as we walk down the hallway, ascending the huge staircase. Triss remains close, a little too close for me, but I know she is preventing me from running. She doesn’t need to worry, because running won't solve anything, I'd be hunted by Hardin and his pack anyway.

Even with Triss glued to my every step, I don't let it stop me from enjoying the freedom of being outside. For me, outside is a safe zone, because my parents always made the house feel like a prison. Every bad thing ever happened to me is behind closed doors. As a werewolf, I naturally seek the woods, a kind of freedom even if I know I'm once again trapped.

"Can I ask you something?" Triss speaks up after a while of walking through the woods.

I give a slight nod, glancing at her briefly before returning my eyes to the endless greens surrounding me. Jackson told me that the color of the forest matched my eyes.

"Why did you stand for it?" She frowns at me. For a moment I stare blankly, uncertain of what she means.

"The abuse," Triss says softly.

I turn my eyes elsewhere, covering my deep emotions that might be sensed by her.

"You could have run, why didn't you?" She presses.

I'd never thought about why I didn't run. The amount of times I could have fled is endless. However, outside the pack, I had nothing, no friends, no family, no allies. I will be a lone she-wolf with Alpha blood, vulnerable to the cruel rogues that always lurk.

"Any family is better than none," I murmur.

Triss stares at me. "Even us?"

I don’t want to offend her by telling my true feelings, so I remain silent and look back to the forest.

"The pack won't hurt you, not without good reason," Triss says as if she feels the need to comfort me.

For a short while we walked, Triss asked various questions along the way, most of which I simply blank. Call me rude, but I don't feel like sharing my life with someone I don't know. I'm not in the mood to make friends, nor am I willing to tell her anything about me.

The sun begins to fade behind the mass of tall trees, casting a looming shadow over the land and pack house, bringing darkness with it. I felt the darkness had chilled my bones, waiting passively for the terrifying reality of what dawn would bring me.

Tomorrow, I'll be Alpha Hardin’s wife, and I will belong to him. My freedom is in his control, and I can’t question him for anything.

Just like at home.

"Come, we have wasted enough time." Triss states, dragging me away from the distant vaguely visible sunset.

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