Annalise POV

 My body trembled, but I lifted my chin. If this was their choice... if I was to be sacrificed in Dahlia's place then I would not let them see me crumble. Fear twisted inside me, yes, but beneath it, something sharper burned. Anger and rage. I would not weep for their decision. But Judy's false pity sharpened and it made my blood boil even more. "Oh, my dear Annalise," she murmured, her voice pitched high enough for all to hear. Her hand pressed against my shoulder, a mockery of comfort. Her nails dug just enough to remind me: this was her victory. Dahlia gone, me trapped. My father's voice wavered. "Forgive me, Annalise." I swallowed hard, the words I could never speak screaming inside my chest. 'I did not choose this. You did.' The Alpha turned, satisfied. "Prepare her. The Lycans will not wait. Tomorrow, there must be a bride." Tomorrow. The weight of the word crushed me. By dawn, I would belong to the monster even Dahlia had feared enough to flee. The servants shifted nervously, their whispers rising like a tide. My father sank into silence. Judy smirked behind her mask of false concern. And alpha Prince Nathan?... Nathan had not looked away. His gaze was still locked on me, searching, steady, something unreadable burning in his green eyes. Not pity. Not cruelty. Something else. Something I couldn't decipher. For one breath, it felt as if he were silently promising me something. That this wasn't the end. That he saw me.. even in my silence. But the Alpha king's placed his hands on his son's shoulder, pulling him away. The hall emptied, the echo of boots and wheels fading into the night. I stood frozen, every nerve burning. Tomorrow, I would be a bride. Not by choice. Not by love. By decree. And when the Lycans discovered the truth-that the bride they were promised had fled, that a mute daughter had taken her place-what would become of me? The answer struck like a knife, sharp and merciless. Either I would be claimed by the beast. Or I would be destroyed by him *** The soft silk veil felt heavy against my face, though it weighed nothing at all. My hands trembled as the servants pinned the last strand of my black hair into place, and still my stepmother's shadow loomed behind me. Judy's reflection hovered in the mirror, her lips curled in that familiar smile that fooled others but never me. I couldn't speak to expose her venom, but my eyes burned with all the words I wished I could hurl at her. "Awwwn... Look at you," she murmured, stepping closer. Her perfume was choking me , as it felt sharp in my throat. Her hand clamped on my chin, forcing my gaze up to meet hers through the mirror. "A mute girl pretending to be a pretty princess. Do you know what happens to fragile things when wolves bare their teeth?" Her nails dug into my skin. I didn't flinch. I had grown used to the pain she masked as affection, the way she pretended concern in front of others while twisting the knife deeper into me when no one looked. "You will keep your pretty little head bowed," she whispered, against my ear. "Do not embarrass us. Do not give him a reason to tear you apart. Be grateful it's you and not Dahlia, because Alaric is merciless. He would have crushed her." My stomach knotted. A thousand questions screamed in my chest, trapped where my voice could not reach. 'Why me? Why must I carry the shame of my sister's flight? Why was I always the shadow, the replacement, the unwanted daughter forced into silence?' I tried to look away, but Judy's grip tightened until my jaw ached. "Smile," she hissed. "At least try to look like a bride instead of a funeral offering." The door slowly creaked. My father stood there, shoulders slumped beneath his ceremonial robes. Troy, Beta of SilverClaw, feared by others, but to me he looked like nothing more than a broken man. His eyes softened when they fell on me, then hardened with guilt. "That's enough, Judy," he said quietly. "Leave us." She lingered, slowly squeezing my face one last time before releasing me with a cruel soft pat on the cheek. "Remember what I said," she sang, her tone sickly sweet like honey as she slipped out from the chamber. The silence she left behind pressed heavier than her words. My father approached slowly, each step a confession. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice rough. "Annalise... I never wanted this for you." My throat tightened. My hands moved in sharp gestures "Then why? Why let them use me like this?" His eyes followed my signs. He understood, as he always had. And still, his answer broke me. "Because there is no choice my dear. The Alpha demands a bride. The Lycans demand unity. Without this union, blood will spill again. I cannot protect you from their wrath." He swallowed hard. "At least this way, you live." Live. Was this living? To be caged in vows not my own? To be bound to a man feared by all, even his own kind? Troy reached out, his calloused hand trembling as it brushed against mine. "I failed your mother. I will not fail you.... I swear, if there is any danger... I will find a way." I wanted to believe him. But I had learned long ago that survival in this world meant learning to carry wounds alone. The knock came before I could answer. "It's t ime," a servant called from the hall. My father straightened, the softness in his face vanishing beneath the mask of duty. He offered me his arm. "Let me walk you to the door." I rose, veil trembling with me. My legs felt hollow, as though each step would make me crumble. The corridors blurred until we stood before the towering double doors of the ceremonial hall. My chest felt constricted, and just then a strange pull tightening deep in my core.. something unseen, unseen yet undeniable. My knees buckled, and I pressed a hand against the wood to steady myself. "What's wrong?" my father whispered. I couldn't explain. My heart pounded so loud I thought the guards could hear it. And then, a voice beside me. "Don't be afraid." I turned. Nathan stood in the shadows of the pillar, tall and steady, his dark eyes fixed on me with a gentleness I had not known in years. His gaze did not mock, did not pity. He saw me. He stepped closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear. "I know we don't know each other, but I can see the fear in your eyes. If you ever need help..." He pressed something small and cool into my palm, closing my fingers around it. "...call on me. I'll come." My lips parted, but no sound emerged. All I could do was clutch the token and nod my head, my chest aching at the warmth in his tone. Nathan's smile was faint, almost secret. "You're stronger than they think. Don't let them break you." And with that, he turned and vanished down the corridor, leaving me trembling. The doors groaned open. Gasps echoed from the crowd. I lifted my eyes... and the world stopped. The hall was not a gloomy hall as I had imagined but an arena of light and grandeur, silver banners cascading like moonlight, chandeliers blazing above like constellations. The air shimmered with power, with expectation, with fear. And there, at the altar, stood the man I had been given to. He was not what I expected. He was tall, broad-shouldered, every line of him carved with a predator's grace. His hair fell in dark waves, his amber eyes burning brighter than the flame beneath the crown on his head. His presence strangely filled the room, cold and merciless, yet magnetic enough to steal all the breath from my lungs. His gaze locked on me... through veil, through bone, through soul. The crowd faded. The air thinned. For one heartbeat, it felt as though his eyes alone held me upright. And then... He smiled. Not warm. Not gentle. A cruel, knowing curve of lips that promised danger. The doors slammed shut behind me. And all I could see was Alaric...

Alaric's POV

 The smell of wolves always sickened me. Their halls reeked of wet fur and desperation, though they'd polished every marble surface to a blinding sheen for this wedding. My wedding. I stood at the altar in my black ceremonial armor, the silver wolf sigil etched beneath the Lycan crest ... a cruel mockery of unity. Wolves and Lycans could barely share a border without bloodshed, yet here I was, binding myself to one of theirs. "For politics," Mother had said. "For power." And power, I liked. The grand oak doors groaned open, and silence fell over the gathered nobles. The bride appeared... My bride. She was draped in ivory, her face veiled. My jaw tightened. The spoiled daughter of the Beta known as a spoilt brat. Everyone's eyes turned to her, but mine locked instantly as her scent hit me first. A strange scent rolled towards me... not wolf, not kin, not anything I knew. It was... human. My jaw tightened. My chest burned with rage.... My nostrils flared, searching, testing the air. My pulse thudded hard. This wasn't Dahlia. Whoever was beneath that veil was... human. A cold, fragile and breakable human? Impossible. My mother had sworn that Beta Troy's daughter... the promised Dahlia, was a wolf of strong blood, a fitting bond for a prince. But this... this was deception. A crime against the Lycans. Zarrok, the beast inside me snarled, demanding blood. 'Tear the hall apart. Make them pay.' I flicked my eyes toward my mother, who sat like an ice queen on her chair, her expression calm.. too calm though her hands gripped the arms of her throne too tightly.. Then to the Alpha King, Ethan, who met my gaze steadily as if daring me to lose control. Anger coiled low and hot in my chest, sharp and lethal. They thought they could play me!! They thought the ceremony, the kingdoms expectations, the binding laws of alliance, would trap me?? That I wouldn't shred this veil from her face and expose the farce. Did they not know that I was not a man to be trapped. She reached me. Step after careful step. Every movement deliberate, as if she carried chains no one else could see. Then I caught it.. a stutter, the faintest tremble. Her small hands clenched around the bouquet, and though her face was hidden, her body betrayed her... nerves, fear... and something else. Strength. She moved as if she were walking into her own execution yet refused to collapse. My wolf pressed harder, demanding release, demanding we reject this, end this before humiliation tainted my name. "Unveil her," the priest commanded softly. My hands curled into fists and for a heartbeat, I considered tearing the veil with claws instead of fingers... let the world see me for what I was. Let them choke on blood as a result of their lies. My wolf snarled inside me, rattling against my ribs. 'Unacceptable.' I reached for her veil. My gaze never left the girl. I was seconds away from ripping the fabric from her head, exposing their charade to the entire court, and spilling blood across the polished floor. I moved like a predator cornering prey. My fingers brushed the gauzy fabric, and for a heartbeat, I expected resistance, panic, some sign of the spoiled Dahlia beneath. Instead, silence. Stillness. She didn't fight. She waited. And I saw her. The priest's voice drowned. I barely heard him. The world cracked. Her eyes.... Not the cowering gaze of a lamb offered to slaughter. Not the simpering fear I expected from a human standing in a den of lycans. No. Her silence roared louder than the crowd's hushed breaths. She looked at me as though she knew exactly what I was, and yet refused to bow. Her eyes were as blue as fractured ice. Wide with terror, yes, but burning beneath... fierce, alive, unyielding. They speared straight through me, and for the first time in years, my chest forgot how to breathe. Zorrak stilled. 'She is prey,' he hissed. But she is...' "Human," I growled, voice low enough only she and the priest might hear. Her lashes flickered, but she didn't look away, she didn't even say a word. Instead that blue-fire stare burned through my anger, hooking into me, anchoring me when I should have torn her apart. I forced my eyes to my mother and she met my gaze, warning written in the lift of her brow. She knew. Of course she knew.... And she was daring me to expose it, to start a war here and now in Silver Claw's own den. The priest cleared his throat, oblivious. "Do you, Prince Alaric, take this bride-m.. " "Yes." The word cut from me like a blade before I could stop it. A collective exhale shivered across the hall. Ethan's smirk deepened. My mother inclined her head, approval gleaming in her eyes. But it wasn't for them that I'd spoken. It was for her. For the girl with ice-fire eyes who stood silent yet unbroken before me, daring me to decide whether she would be destroyed or protected. "And do you take the Prince of BloodHowl as your husband?.." Her lips parted, trembling. For a wild second, I thought she might refuse. Might rip this illusion apart herself. Instead, she bowed her head... once, slow, resigned. The ceremony blurred. Words passed. Oaths were spoken. When it came time to seal the bond, the hall leaned forward as one. I could feel the expectation... blood, chaos, rejection. But then she lifted her eyes again, those hauntingly blue flames, and the choice was ripped from me. I slowly lowered my head, and for the briefest moment, I let myself breathe her in. Sweet, fragile, wrong-and yet perfect. I pressed my lips near hers... Heat. Sparks. Not wolf-magic, not the tether of a mate bond. Something else. Something rawer. And it terrified me more than her humanity ever could. As the hall erupted in applause, I held her hand tighter than necessary. Too tight. A silent command that meant 'You can't escape'. She flinched but didn't pull away. Her spine straightened. And in that moment, I knew this girl... this human, was no pawn. She was a storm dressed in silk, and I had just bound myself to her. My lips curled, not in kindness, but in possession. If they thought they could humiliate me with this human, they were wrong. I would take her and break her. I stared at her as the final vow, the dagger slashed open my palm as well as hers, and just when our bloodied palms were placed together... Her scent shifted. A flicker of something beneath the fragile human skin... A sweetness edged in fire. Not wolf. Not wholly human either. Different. Unnatural. Forbidden. I leaned in closer to her... She didn't speak. She hadn't spoken once since stepping into the room. A mute bride? Rage warred with something darker inside me, something I refused to name. Then I spoke, my voice a whisper only she could hear. "Who are you?"

Annalise's POV

 The weight of his question still echoed inside me. Who are you? It was not asked with curiosity, but with the authority of someone who could quickly rip me open if I dared answer wrong. The words felt like claws in my throat, demanding truth, even if I had none to give. Before I could even form the thought of a reply, the sound of heels clicking against marble shattered the fragile silence between us. His mother. Queen Seraphina of the BloodHowl Kingdom. Regal, untouchable, cold as the steel that crowned her throne. Her beauty was the kind that cut, not warmed, and when her gaze landed on me it was not with affection but calculation. She didn't wait for permission. She swept forward, her crimson gown trailing like spilled blood, and placed her jeweled hand on Alaric's arm. Her eyes flickered to our bound hands, our mingled blood still fresh between us. "Congratulations, my son," she sweetly said, her voice sounded silk over a sharp blade. Then, her gaze slid to me. "And to you... our little bride. You wear courage well, I applaud you for that." I held her stare. My tongue ached to lash back, to tell her my courage was not choice but punishment, but instead I lowered my lashes, bowing slightly. That was safer. Always safer. Before I could retreat further, Alpha King Ethan stepped forward. His presence filled the room like a storm-cloud.. commanding, suffocating. He clasped Alaric's forearm, a show of unity for the audience still watching. Then his smile turned toward me, sharp and knowing. "Congratulations on your union," he said, his voice ringing with approval. "May your unity continues to bring peace between the wolf and lycan blood." 'Peace'. A really pretty word for a cage. The priest's table was brought forward, the parchment rolled and pressed with the twin seals of both kingdoms.. the peace treaty. The very reason my life had been stolen and reshaped into this moment. Alaric and I were guided forward. His hand still gripped mine too tightly, and though it hurt, I didn't pull away. I didn't dare. His presence felt like molten steel at my side, burning, suffocating, unrelenting. We signed. His name, sharp as a sword. Mine, trembling but legible. The applause that followed felt hollow, like a mockery of freedom. When it was over, the court began to part. We were to leave for BloodHowl before the moon reached its peak. My stomach coiled. I would no longer see the sunrise of Silver Claw again. We had just reached the edge of the great hall when an annoyingly familiar voice called out, shrill and commanding. "Wait!" Judy. Her footsteps snapped against the floor as she swept toward us, her red painted lips stretched in a false smile. She bowed low before Alaric, though her eyes sparkled with venom when they flicked to me. "My prince," she said sweetly, "before you depart, allow me to send with you one of our serving girls. A companion for my dear daughter." Alaric's brow arched, suspicion sharp in his gaze. "A serving girl? Why?" The silence that followed tightened the air like a noose. Judy didn't falter. Her smile only widened, her voice pitched to carry to every ear present. "Because my daughter is mute," she said smoothly. "She cannot speak for herself. Surely, she'll need someone to interpret her silence." The words sliced through me, hot and cold all at once. My fists curled against the folds of my gown, nails digging into my palms forming crescent shapes . Humiliation prickled up my spine, but worse than that was the raw truth... my secret laid bare for all of them to sneer at. The Lycan nobles that heard her gasped softly, they began whispering behind fans and hands. My cheeks burned, but I did not bow. I did not let them see me break. Alaric's reaction was instant. His jaw locked, his amber eyes igniting with fury. He stepped toward Judy, towering, predatory. The silence stretched taut. "Mute?" he repeated, his voice low, and dangerously lethal. "You insult my bride at my own wedding?" Judy faltered, her smile flickering at the sound of his raging voice. "I.. I only meant what... " "You meant WHAT?," Alaric snarled, "to tell everyone including me of her flaws. To parade them like trinkets before us. To humiliate me. Do you think I am subject to your venom?" The room froze. Even Alpha King Ethan's expression tightened, but he said nothing. Then, out of the corner of my eye.. I caught it. A subtle gesture from Queen Seraphina. Barely a tilt of her head, a flick of her jeweled fingers. A signal... To him. She wanted him to control it. To let the insult slide, or bury it quietly. But it was obvious Prince Alaric was not a man to be muzzled. His lips curled in a humorless smirk as he leaned closer to Judy. His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper that still carried across the hall. "Your gift is refused. And your tongue... should remember its place. Else...." Color immediately drained from Judy's face. She quickly dropped into a trembling bow, too cowed to speak further. For the first time that day, a spark of warmth flared inside me. Pathetic, perhaps, that it came from watching him shred her with words sharper than knives. But it was something. A piece of satisfaction carved from the ruins. And though sadness pulled heavy inside my chest, though shame still clawed at my throat, I couldn't stop the faint curl of a smirk from tugging my lips. Alaric saw it. His eyes flicked to mine, brief and unreadable, before turning away. Queen Seraphina excused herself soon after, gliding from the hall like a predator retreating into shadows as she walked towards her carriage ready to leave. Her approval of her son's handling of the insult was evident in the faintest lift of her chin. That left us before the wolves. Ethan, cold and smug. Prince Nathan, eyes softer, searching mine with something that felt like pity. And Troy, my father, silent and broken, his shoulders hunched under the weight of his cowardice. Alaric's voice sliced through the air. "Any more farewell gifts?" Ethan's smirk deepened. Troy bowed his head. Only Nathan stepped forward, his jaw tight, his fists clenched at his side. He met Alaric's gaze without flinching. "Take care of her." The words were not request but command. Alaric's lip curled. Disdain rippled across his face, but he said nothing. His hand tightened around mine instead, punishing, possessive. "And if I don't?" Alaric coldly shot back and Nathan smirked. "We'll see" I lowered my eyes, hiding the storm within them. Alaric and I finally turned, towards the great doors, the sea of nobles parting before us. The weight of their stares pressed into my back, into my skin, into my bones. With every step, the world I had known crumbled further away. My family. My kingdom. Even the last shred of my voice. And yet, when the doors slammed shut behind us, sealing us from Silver Claw forever, I felt it. The truth sinking deep, unshakable, terrifying. I no longer belonged to them. I belonged to him now.