Chapter 1 CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

ZARIA’S POV

The air in the ceremonial hall had changed, it was heavy, with a mixture of my fear as I stared at the wedding band on my fingers. I shifted backwards, hitting the ceremonial table with my eyes glued to my fingers, and sharp tears threatening to fall from my eye.

I looked at Max, the shock of Elder Finn’s words struck him too, he was no longer drunk, he stared at his hands, then the door, before his eyes met mine.

A cold panic had replaced his anger.

“No,” he whispered. His voice sounded choked. “This can’t be real. I was- I was drunk, it doesn’t mean anything”

He reached for my hands and I yanked my hands away, holding the wedding band tightly, even when it felt heavy.

“It means everything,” I hissed. My voice was shaking so much, I could barely remember it. “You heard him, we can’t go against the pack’s law”

I raise my hands to his sight,

“You put this on me, Max, You kissed me and called me your bride, you caused this”

I am not one to point fingers, but at this point, I had to.

“You are wearing my bride’s dress, what were you expecting,” He yelled, making a gesture at Gwen’s silk wedding dress that adorned my body.

I had sewn this dress, it was just fair that I would try it on before the mean bride who happens to be my wicked stepsister.

I looked down at the dress, the once silk, golden dress had become rags in my sight and I regretted wearing it.

“Tomorrow, all the royal carriages will go to your father’s house, Miss Zaria, and the wedding ritual will continue,” Elder Finn said and walked out of the hall.

Hearing the word ‘wedding’ brought a sharp discomfort to me, I don’t want to be a wife, while I am still in college, and definitely not to the man who is making my life hell in college.

“Were you trying to seduce me?” Max asked and I scoffed at his insensitivity.

“Seduce you? You came onto me first, and forcefully slipped the wedding band on me,” I yelled. “So tell me who is doing the seduction”

“It was a mistake” he yelled, running his hands through his dark curly hair. “A huge terrible mistake, I am betrothed to your stepsister Gwen, I hate you Zaria, I would not even touch you when I’m sober”

I already knew he hated me, but hearing it directly from the scumbag felt like a sharp sting, he doesn’t want this, neither do I but the deed had already been done.

“Well, you did touch me” I scoffed, rubbing the place on my wrist where he squeezed, it hurts though. “And now we are stuck, deal with it” I sneered at him.

I tore Gwen’s wedding dress off fast and it ripped a little.

“I’m going,” I told him, as I folded the dress in a fabric bag and placed the bag across my shoulders. “I need to think”

Max didn’t respond, nor did he try to stop me. With heavy legs, I ran out of the ceremonial hall.

It didn’t take long before I got home.

“Don’t tell me arranging the ceremonial hall for my wedding took this long,” Gwen sneered at me, stretching her legs on the couch, as some maids from the Alpha palace styled her hair against tomorrow.

“I am…”

“Shut the hell up and come massage my feet while the maids style my hair,” She said, cutting me shut.

Without a fight, I dropped the fabric bag to the ground and started massaging her feet.

Three years since my mother disappeared, two years since my father married Jenny and brought Gwen into my once peaceful life, and it only gets worse daily.

Gwen and Jenny had made my life a living hell, and I feel like a maid in my father’s house, and it may sound surprising but my father is clueless about what’s going on in his house.

My father, Mark, is like a Ghost in the house, he doesn't see anything wrong with how they are treating me, he just pats my back and says “You are doing well Zaria”

He never sees the ache in my eyes, how Jenny watches me clean like I'm some mess and…

“ZARIA ADAM”

Gwen yells my name, and it's like a sharp nail dragging across woods, disrupting me from my thoughts.

“FOCUS” She yelled before I could respond to my name.

I quickly poured some oil in my palm and rubbed my palms against each other before massaging her feet, ignoring the ache in my back.

“What took you so long at the ceremonial hall, I hope you didn’t cause any disaster,” Jenny scoffed, from the corner of the living room.

Her eyes were on my dress, and the look she gave me made me feel dirty.

I pressed my lips together, as I tried to ignore the feeling of being dirty.

Gwen doesn't sit up, “I hope you took the wedding dress to the tailor, the expensive one, and I swear, if you put a damn wrinkle in it, I will tell the Alpha I saw you trying it on” She smiled.

I gulped hard, knowing that I had already tried it on, and the Alpha is not only the boy I hate in school, but also my husband because we just got married.

“Yes, I took it to the tailor and there is no wrinkle on it,” I whispered, as I got a flash back of how Max slipped the wedding band in my fingers.

How do I tell them that tomorrow, they are going to complete the wedding ritual for Max and me, and not her?

“If the Alpha were to pick a different bride, what would you do?” I asked, and everywhere fell silent.

“I am sorry, you don’t have to answer that,” I apologized.

“No, I will answer your question,” Gwen said, with a smile at the corners of her lips. “I will peel her skin off, so that her beauty can fade”

My face turned pale instantly, Gwen doesn’t just make threats, she acts on them.

“And if he picks you, and not me,” she said, turning to face me, giving me all her attention. “I will not just peel your skin off, I will make sure you live a life filled with regrets and pain”

“What the hell have I done?” I asked myself as I trembled in fear.