Chapter One: The Tenth Bride
Yeah. I'm staring at the papers.
They're spread neatly on the table in front of me, official and final, stamped with seals that carry more power than my own life.
I know I need to sign them. I know everyone is waiting.
But my mind refuses to cooperate. It keeps drifting, backward, forward, anywhere but here.
I can't stop thinking about the man I'm supposed to call my husband.
Alpha Kael Cinderclaw.
Just his name feels heavy in my chest.
He isn't just any Alpha. He's my father's pack enemy. The Monster of Ebonvale.
A man whispered about in lowered voices, a man whose shadow alone is said to make grown warriors flinch.
And a man who has already had nine wives.
Nine! And they are all dead!
My fingers curl slowly against the edge of the parchment as the images my mind insists on replaying refuse to leave me alone.
I don't even know why I remember the details so clearly. Maybe because fear has a way of carving things deep into your bones.
His first wife was found hanging in the fortress.
The second had her eyes gouged out.
The third through the sixth were discovered dead in the mountains, their bodies left like offerings to something cruel and unseen.
The remaining three didn't even last a week. They were found dead on the second day of their marriages.
None of them survived long enough to matter.
So the question keeps circling my mind, slow and merciless.
What kind of death is waiting for me?
"Liora?"
My mother's voice pulls me back. I blink and realize I've been staring at the same line on the paper for far too long.
She steps closer, her expression soft, careful.
Luna Lyra. Everyone calls her kind. Wise. Gentle.
"Are you alright?" she asks, as if this is just another ordinary day. "You look worried."
Worried.
That's one way to put it.
"You can put your mind at rest," she continues quickly, lowering her voice. "You won't even be living with him. It's just a marriage on paper, Liora. Only to secure the pack."
I nod slowly, because that's what I'm expected to do.
Because she isn't wrong.
My father's pack is weak now. Crippled by bad decisions and broken alliances.
After backing the wrong people, we lost territory, soldiers, resources, everything that once made us strong.
If another attack comes, we won't survive it. Everyone knows that.
This marriage is supposed to be our shield.
"I know you're afraid," my mother adds gently, resting her hand over mine. "But we don't have a choice. You know Ivy is the future Luna of this pack. We can't send her to him."
There it is.
The truth dressed as reason.
Of course I know. I've always known. Ivy has always been precious. Strong. Loved. She has a wolf. She has a future. I'm just… me.
"I understand," I say quietly. "I know you don't want to do this. I know you don't have a choice."
The words come easily. Too easily. Like I've practiced them my whole life.
My grip tightens around the parchment until my knuckles ache.
And for just a moment, just one reckless, dangerous moment, I let myself think something I shouldn't.
What if I wasn't wolfless?
What if my wolf had awakened at thirteen like everyone else's did?
Would they still be asking me to sign this contract?
Would they still be trading me away in Ivy's place?
The thought burns, sharp and unwanted. I shove it down where all the other useless questions live.
Because wishing doesn't change anything.
I pick up the quill.
The ink trembles as my hand moves, and with one final stroke, I sign my name.
Liora.
Just like that, my life is no longer mine.
No one says anything as the paper is taken from me. No one looks guilty. No one looks relieved either.
It's as if this was always how things were meant to go.
As I stand, a strange chill crawls up my spine. I don't know why. Nothing has happened yet.
But somewhere deep inside me, a quiet certainty settles.
This marriage won't end the way they think it will.
And as Alpha Kael Cinderclaw's name stares back at me from the contract, bold, permanent, unforgiving, I realize something else.
I didn't just sign myself into a marriage.
I signed myself into a grave.
As the ink dries, a messenger bursts through the door.
The messenger bowed stiffly.
"The Alpha's carriage arrives at dawn," he said. Then, after a pause, "He demands the bride travel with him alone."