Camille

Every meeting with her father—Alpha Loeka had always included her brothers; Devon and Conrad.

Camille could tell something was definitely off.

She arched a brow. “Apparently, it's my business now,” she quipped.

“Rather than stand here arguing with your mother, which is a proof of your arrogance and rebellion, you should know better than to keep your father waiting. You have five minutes more,” Rosalind said, her fake smile cracking rapidly as she walked away.

“Whatever,” Camille muttered, heaving a sigh of relief.

With her mother gone, she pressed her palm moist with sweat to her face. What special guest did her father need her there for?

Pulling her hair back into its strap, she hurried toward Alpha Loeka's study. If she needed answers, there was no point in boxing her brain for something it had no idea about.

Two more strides and she would be in front of his study when an unfamiliar, languid smell hit her nostrils.

Camille, this wasn't unusual. her sense of smell was unnaturally high. She could even pick the smell of insects.

It didn't smell like a member of WhiteMoon pack.

Her father's guest was here.

But when? she hadn't seen any car drive in. Or had Rosalind's little time distracted her from noticing?

Camille tapped on the door twice, immediately followed by the turning of the knobs. She didn't wait for Alpha Loeka to respond; she opened the door to his magnificent study.

Alpha Loeka's guest was here.

His back turned to her as he sat facing her father.

His heavy-built shoulders made a statement through his well-tailored suit. He looked athletic.

Camille inhaled deeply.

*She didn't just notice that. Did she?

She didn't just check him out.

Certainly, not. She'd never done that before. she could promise it wasn't anything serious,* Camille thought.

She was just… anyway, who cared?

Alpha Loeka lifted his eyes to face her, Mr. Stranger's expression remained fixed as he stared ahead, as if no one had interrupted his meeting.

“Good evening, Father,” Camille said, her voice hoarse as she bowed showing her respect

“I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting, but Mother informed me you sent for me,” she added, standing straight.

“Very well, then,” Loeka said returning a stifled smile, his eagle eyes on her choice of outfit. Camille hadn't changed from from her training suit.

“Mmmhh…” he grunted, obviously clearing his throat as if it were clogged. “Why not come forward so Alpha Sigewuf can see you, darling?”

Alpha Sigewuf? Darling?

Darling? That was insanely strange, but there was no time to rationalize things. She stepped forward toward the area where he held out his hand to her.

“This is Alpha Sigewuf of the Darkstar Pack from the North,” Loeka announced with a proud smile on his face, like he had just earned himself a golden fish.

Camille wanted to roll my eyes but didn't.

“Welcome to Lakenheath, Alpha Sigewuf,” she curtsied, catching a side view of his face. Chiseled cheekbones with thick brows, dark hair falling slightly above them. He looked…

Hot!

Did all the alphas from the North look this deadbeat, eye-catching handsome?

“Thank you,” he said with a blank stare that wasn't thankful, tilting his head so that his full face was visible, giving me her his complete attention.

Emerald eyes shone, fierce and dark.

Camille turned away.

Those eyes reminded her of something. Someone? she couldn't remember. Her mind tuned out again, only coming back to the present when her father began to speak.

“Alpha Sigewuf just finished signing the final contract,” Alpha Loeka continued.

“Contract?” she asked, feeling the air in the study shift.

If her father needed someone present to sign a business contract, wouldn't Conrad have been the perfect witness?

Camille thought, except this wasn't a business contract....

Camille suddenly felt her stomach knot with anxiety. She didn't like the sound of that.

Alpha Loeka nodded, a confident smile on his face.

“What contract would that be, Father?” Camille asked, already feeling her chest tighten with dreaded suspicion.

The goddess, it shouldn't be what she was thinking. She prayed silently.

An eternal second of uncomfortable silence followed.

“Your marriage contract…” Alpha Loeka announced then paused before continuing, “Alpha Sigewuf has just signed the final contract. The mating ceremony will be held tomorrow at Slantville.”

Camille felt her heart stop. The blood drained from her face, and her legs suddenly felt like butter underneath her weight, unable to keep her upright. Steady.

Alpha Loeka continued to speak, but she could not hear him. Marriage? The word echoed in her head as her consciousness drifted.

If death could only come now. Take her. Seal her. Keep her from this evil.

She was going under.

And probably, this time, she was gone.

Camille

“M A R R I A G E ?” The word was threatening to choke the life out of her.

No. Her father wasn't going to betray her like this. He knew how much she dreaded getting married.

She had never attended any of the districts gala to even see if she would find her mate.

Marriage was one thing she had never anticipated. She had made it abundantly clear, even to the men in the pack, that she wasn’t ready to let any supposed ship sail.

Not even when Devon had tried to talk to her about sex.

She craved to scream, to lash out, to grab hold of something, anything, yet her feet felt cemented to the floor. Her body was unwilling, refused to respond; she couldn’t even feel it anymore.

Opening her mouth to voice a protest, she snapped it shut when no words came out. Why did her tongue always betray ger at the most critical moments?

She saw alpha Loeka still droning on, but her mind was floating away.

Snap!

Feeling those familiar gentle tremors course through her veins like jolt of electricity, she jolted back to reality.

“What…?” The word exploded from her lips.

With a quick turn of her head, a derisive snicker escaped her lips. “This is some kind of joke, right, Father?” she declared, seething with mounting frustration.

Camille looked from father to the breathtaking stranger sitting down calmly, clearly an irritant now, as she saw his eyes claw over her body, obviously eye-fu**ing her.

His eyes were roaming every curve of her body. from her collarbone to her perfect breast—not small or too much, just perfect.

This was normal. Sge got it all the time. But right now, it infuriated her.

She had an amazing face and body. At least the gods had spared her that lot but had left her wolfless!

Trade by barter, right?

Even the men in the pack were learning the hard way to keep their lust to themselves.

Two weeks before the academy resumed in the fall, and this is what she was getting from her father? Marriage?

Was this his twisted form of punishment for her being wolfless?

Rage pulsed within her, hot and furious.

“I apologize for my daughter's unrestrained behavior. She isn’t always this poorly behaved,” Alpha Loeka said, directing his gaze toward Alpha Sigewuf.

What about her? Didn't she deserve an apology for this life-damaging news he'd just served her?

Alpha Loeka completely ignored her, just as everyone else in the family did—dismissing her very existence like she was nothing more than a ghost.

He passed on his piece, expecting her to shove it down, following suit like a lamb heading toward her own slaughter.

But no.

she was not going to do that.

Alpha Loeka's labored breathing radiated tension, thickening the air around them, but Camille knew he was desperately trying to rein in his fury in front of Alpha Sigewuf.

Her own anger was unnerving.

My eyes turned to face the stranger, whose full lips suddenly made the words in my throat choke right there.

Goodness! He was attractive.

Mind you, she had never checked out a man in her entire life and she ad no idea why she was doing that now

But it was a waste! This stranger, his handsomeness, all of it was a waste of her time.

She did not need an attraction that was going to change the course of her life.

Camille couldn't tell why the one stranger who made her unsides tinkle have to also be the reason why an important part of her life was about to be shattered.

He stood up. A perfect 6 feet”.

It didn't surprise her he was that tall, almost making her own height insignificant.

The packs in the North were mostly lycans. The special breeds.

Lycans were hybrids and higher in the power-ranking. They were more brutal, and their pride—well, it probably would come Summa Cum Laude if it were a person graduating from college.

It was almost like the separation between the districts had been intentional since creation. The southern districts were made up of packs with wolves, while the northern district was made up of packs with Lycans. And then, the human district—the city, which she rarely heard about.

Alpha Sigewuf’s tall frame was clearly imposing as he stood above me.

A slow, predatory smile unfurled at the corner of his lips. A smile that was unpredictable and unpredictability made Camille uncomfortable.

He yanked her arm, pulling her to himself.

She didn't like the mixed feelings ravaging her from being this close to him.

“The gods seem to have taken a liking to you," he smacked his lips, "decidedly choosing you as my mate,” he muttered, placing his face around the nape of her neck as he sniffed in her scent.

Camille chuckled, freeing herself from his grasp as her disbelief rolled into another chuckle, then a short laughter.

Mate? A Lycan alpha as her mate?

She couldn't belief it.

First off, she was wolfless and couldn't prove what she'd just heard him say except for the mixed feeling circling her.

secondly, she wasn't even interested in a relationship yet, more worse, marriage, or finding out about a living-breathing-lycan mate.

Alpha Sigewuf's eyes darkened.

Was she trying to play hard to get?

“With all due respect, I…” Camille began but was cut off as he cut her off,

“Shhhh,” he shushed her, placing his hands on her neck again as he pulled her closer to himself, sniffing harder.

"She smells perfect!"

"Absolutely" Alpha Loeka concurred, a mischievous smile on her face

Did they realize she was here? standing before then?

Lycan or werewolf, if he thought he could impose himself on her, he had another thing coming.

Camille pulled away from his grasp, "What exactly are you doing?” she snapped, looking him in the eyes.

“You can't come here acting like a freak and…”

He gripped her neck. His whole fingers pressed deeply, cuting her words of mid-sentence.

A flicker of something dark appeared on his face as she tried to pull away from him

“Being my mate does not give you the right to speak with such condescending words!”

“Mate?” I scoffed through clenched teeth

She turned to alpha Loeka to come to her rescue, ask him to take his hands off her but he looked away, avoiding her gaze.

Camille felt her lungs choke with betrayal.

Alpha Sigewuf released his fingers, eyes watching her like a hawk.

Camille didn't cower, her audacity even more as she spoke again, "With all due respect, alpha, I am no mate of which you seek.”

Hs lips tilted upward, "You can't deny that when I'm this close. I can smell that musky-floral mixed in hot chocolate scent"

Camille rubbed a hand around her neck, "Well, I can't pick yours" she spat

Alpha Sigewuf's face twitched with surprise. “You… you can't pick my scent?”

Suddenly, the chasm between them felt agonizingly small.

Shit!

She should have just kept quiet.

His presence was suffocating; a heavy, oppressive weight bearing down on her, yet I remained rooted to the spot.

He moved closer, the tenderness she'd seen his eyes a few minutes ago was gone.

'You're wolfless,” he yelled, tone laced with disgust. “You're fu*king wolfless!” he snarled, smashing his fist into the wall behind her.

Camille shut my eyes.

Hearing those words repeated made her sick.

This was the only thing that got to her.

She was a wolfless fighter and that made her everyone see her as insignificant as the humans.

She was nothing without her wolf and that hurt badly.

Camille

Alpha Sigewuf laughed dryly, ran a hand through his thick, unruly black hair, the strands slipping between his fingers.

“What the hell is this?" He sneered, "how could the gods even consider a joke like this? I, Alpha Sigewuf of the Darkstar pack, with a wolfless mate?” bitter edge sharpening his voice.

The venom in his words were meant to sting, his fingers stabbing outward in angry accusation.

And they did.

“You!" His anger flashed, "Why are you still standing here?”

Camille opened her eyes, feeling the rush of emotions surge within her chest. But, as she'd learned long ago, she wasn't going to succumb, not even to him.

"Where else would you have me stand?" She asked, defying the unspoken rules between lycans and wolves—the rule to submit. She wasn’t going to cower in fear or bow in submission.

Alpha Sigewuf scoffed aloud, taking a step back to look from alpha Loeka to Camille.

How bold of her. He thought.

He had never met a proud, audacious woman before, more less, a wolfless one.

Camille met his gaze squarely. She was tired of the endless repeat about her wolflessness.

“You know what? I’ve had enough of this unending loop about me being wolfless, and since everyone suddenly wants to blow their trumpets, I might as well take my leave, " she said, her voice steady and fierce.

She squared her shoulders, shoulders that refused to tremble, turned sharply and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.

Alpha Loeka and Sigewuf both recoiled, startled, caught off guard by her audacity, her defiance.

Alpha Sigewuf's fist curled, his voice thick with menace. “What just happened?"

Alpha Loeka said nothing—paralyzed momentarily by Camille's reaction. He had never seen her that way.

"Is this what you raised? A brash wolfless woman?”

Alpha Loeka bowed apologetically, his expression strained with regret. “Not so, Alpha Sigewuf. In fact, she has never behaved like this before. I believe the news of the marriage has caused her a panic reaction.”

Sigewuf couldn't believe that wolfless thing had actually walked out on him. A Lycan alpha.

“I apologize for her actions,” Alpha Loeka added quietly.

“If the goddess doesn’t consider your daughter worthy of a wolf, then how did you expect her to produce a worthy heir for mr? Planning to trick me, perhaps?” His voice sharpened with suspicion as he turned on Alpha Loeka.

The accusation made Alpha Loeka’s face blanch with shock. He tilted his head upward, voice strained with disbelief. “I would never do such a thing!”

“She… she can give you a worthy heir. I’m sure she can,” he stammered, desperation creeping into his tone, Rosalind had insisted he made sure the marriage contract went well.

He needed this alliance. He needed royal power and Darkstar had it.

“How do I believe that?” Sigewuf demanded, stepping closer.

"The healer confirmed it. Plus, she’s untouched,” Alpha Loeka lowered his voice, the words almost a whisper. “She’s a virgin.”

A tense silence stretched between them.

“Then fix this!” Sigewuf barked. “The contract has already been signed, there will be penalties if the contract is broken. It’s explicitly stated in the final part of the agreement.”

“I am well aware of that,” Alpha Loeka replied, his face an unreadable mask of composure.

“I’ll be in the grand hall waiting,” Sigewuf hissed, shutting the door with a finality that echoed through the study.

Alpha Loeka's expression was a storm brewing. Dark, intense, furious.

Camille had managed to dent his ego, and that was a victory she would savor, even if only for a moment.

————————————

Camille releasef another punch at the punching bag in the training area, the only outward sign of the fury boiling inside her.

She heard the door open as Alpha Loeka stormed in, Rosalind behind him.

A reprimand or rebuke was probably on the way, about her unruly behavior.

From the rigid set of Loeka's jaw, she knew it would be in her best interest to cease the boxing, kneel, plead, or beg for mercy. To do otherwise would only invite his wrath.

But rebellion burned fiercely within her. She wore the family title of black sheep like a badge of honor; a rebel. With marriage looming as a bleak fate, she refused to submit quietly.

Camille squared her shoulders, kepping her gaze firm, and braced herself for the worst.

"Let's talk, now!” he sneered, standing a few feet from where she was

His eyes red with fury, Rosalind placed an arm on his shoulder. The perfect supportive wife.

"You disrespect me in front of a guest! How dare you defy my orders!” his words were out before my feet could steady itself in a standing position.

His grip on her neck was swift, brutal, lifting me effortlessly off the ground as if she were weightless, pressing her hard against the wall.

Talk about alpha strength

“How dare you?” Alpha Loeka growled, shoving her against the wall, the impact rattling her bones.

Camille groaned inwardly, pushing herself to my feet, a flicker of defiance flaring. Part of her wanted to fight back, but another recognized him as both her alpha and her father. My anger boiled, but she kept my stance.

The next strike sent her staggering into a corner of the training area.

Loeka advanced toward her, towering like a hawk as he struck again. His dark eyes shifted into a piercing red; his wolf was taking control.

"I have my own plans, father!" Camille yelled her voice hoarse as she spat out blood,

“Your life, your existence, everything begins and ends with my decision,” he snarled, pressing his foot down on her head, drawing a line between who called the shots and who followed.

Warm, thick blood trickled down her cheek, the area around her forehead feeling fractured, as if her sanity itself was cracking.

She would never beg for his mercy.

“Don’t let your foolish pride make you suffer! Just obey!” Rosalind’s voice pleaded, filled with desperation.

Camille ignored the woman.

What mother stood by and watched as her only daughter was treated this way?

Alpha Loeka's nostrils flared, and he unleashed a guttural growl that shook through the training area.

“You will obey my commands!” he said using his alpha's tone

Camille held back the sobs threatening to crack through her facàde.

“The academy starts in the fall,” She said, voice trembling but defiant,

“I will inform the council that you no longer have an interest in the admission,” Father shot back, disdain dripping from his words as he finally moved his foot off my head.

My brow rose in disbelief. “Father…!” Camille protested, her heart shattering into countless pieces.

This was nothing short of betrayal.

“You can't do that!”

What did they say about betrayal? It always came from the people you loved the most.

Her entry into the academy had been the only hope for a different life.

Camille wiped away a tear that had slipped over her composure. I stayed silent

There was no use crying—Loeka had made his decision. One that didn't care about her feelings.

"You’ve always wanted to do something great for the pack, right?” he grinned slyly, his expression a concoction of cruelty and mockery.

He was wielding her own words against her. What kind of parents did she even have? Camille wondered.

If cruelty were a person, it would take the form of her parents.

“Cover that cut with something girly. You wouldn’t want anyone thinking poorly of our pack now, would you, darling?”

Her emotions roiled beneath the surface, ready to erupt at any moment.

Loeka walked past her, Rosalind tailing behind, as they exited the training room.

For the second time in her life, she felt that striking emptiness, and this time it felt worse.

Alone, hot tears streamed down her cheeks, defying her attempts to hold them back. She wanted to stop, but she couldn’t.

Her heart felt seared, and whatever trust she had left had just shattered into oblivion.