Bound To The Immortal Beast

I stand in front of my father’s chamber, seething. Tears blur my vision as I listen to my parents' voice tearing through the door.

"You cannot do this, Adric!" Mother cries. "She is your daughter. This is so cruel! I was the one you hated, not her!"

"Stay out of this!" Alpha Aldric snarls. "Your daughter is of no use after all. Her life is pathetic. A curse and a disgrace to the family, whom I should have ended the moment she was born. This is the only value she has. We'll marry her off to him and save the pack from those ruthless rogue bandits.”

Mother's voice comes sharper. "Send a complaint to my brother, the werewolf king! They'll send the army—”

“Do you think I haven’t tried?!” he roars, voice filled with irritation. “Your brother has ignored us for years. You are worthless just like your daughter. Our marriage should have secured the royal family's support, but they abandoned us. Drogo wants to Isolde. There is no going back.”

I freeze.

Drogo?

As in Drogo, the rogue Alpha?

“Please. Aldric," mother pleas. "She cannot marry him. Your mistress sealed my daughter’s wolf. She won’t survive!”

I’m breathing way too hard. My veins are on fire, and the world around me has blurred into darkness. This can’t be right. There is no way my father will be this cruel to marry me off to the cruelest man in the country.

I want to storm in and yell at my father.

I want to let him know that I would rather have my head cut off than to marry Drogo.

But, knowing my father, it is impossible to change his decision.

“Your daughter was born under the red moon and doesn’t have a wolf because you slept with someone else. It’s probably a curse the moon goddess laid upon you!"

“You did not believe that nonsense, Aldric. Isolde is your pup. Flesh and blood!” mother counters.

“And this is a way for her to prove it. She will marry him, and we’ll save the pack!”

I clench my fist hard until my knuckles turn white.

Why does he hate me so much?

“You shouldn't have made deals with Drogo in the first place!” Mother’s voice edges with anger and frustration. “You are the cause of this, Aldric! Why use my daughter to cover up your mistakes, you old fool! Come at me! My daughter has suffered enough, bastard!"

I don’t remember my mother ever cursing, especially at my father. She always kept her head low, obedient, as if immune to the jeers thrown at her. She forced me to do the same as an act of protection, because our pack was filled with people who wanted me gone.

It's a miracle I've spent twenty years living.

The silence that follows is deafening before my father’s voice comes, deeply dangerous. "What did you just say to me?"

"Aldric, I... I..."

A loud crash echoes.

I burst into the room before I