Bride of the Wolf King

The Beautiful Sacrifice

The heavy doors of the church swung open and that loud organ music hit me right in the chest. It was the kind of music that's supposed to make you feel like a princess in a movie, but to me, it just sounded like the song they play when someone is about to die.

I took a deep breath and tried to keep my hands from shaking against my father's arm. This dress was just too much. White silk, thousands of tiny crystals that caught the light every time I moved. I felt like a perfect, expensive doll instead of a real person.

But inside my heart, I felt hollow. Empty. My father's words from the kitchen were still screaming in my head, louder than any church music. He told me I had three months to kill Mario, or he would kill me himself. That thought was stuck in my brain like a bad song that just wouldn't stop playing.

I looked down the long aisle with the red carpet and there he was.

Mario Massimo stood at the front like he owned the whole of Chicago. He wore a black suit that probably cost more than what most people earn in a whole year. His golden eyes were locked on mine like a hunter watching a small bird fly straight into a cage.

As we started walking, I could feel every Mafia boss and Lycan big man in the room staring at me. They weren't looking at a bride. They were looking at a peace treaty. I was just a human girl being handed over to a beast to stop a war that had already killed too many people.

"Smile, Annie," my father whispered out of the corner of his mouth. His grip on my arm tightened until his fingers really dug into my skin and hurt me. "The cameras are everywhere and everyone is watching us. Don't you dare shame the family name today."

I didn't smile. I couldn't. My jaw felt like it was made of heavy stone. We reached the altar and my father handed me over to Mario like he was just passing a bag of money across a table to finish a business deal.

Mario took my hand and the second his skin touched mine, I almost jumped.

It felt like a live wire hitting me. A jolt of pure, hot heat shot up my arm and settled deep in my stomach. It wasn't some romantic spark like you read about in books. It was a fever. A physical weight that made my knees feel like they were about to give out right there on the floor.

What the f**k is wrong with me? I thought as I stared up at him, my breath getting stuck in my throat.

Up close, Mario was even bigger than he looked from far away. He smelled like expensive wood. He had this raw, wolf smell that made my heart beat against my ribs like a drum.

The priest started talking and reading from the Bible, but I didn't hear a single word he was saying. I wasn't thinking about "I do" or "forever." I was looking at the pulse jumping in Mario's neck. I was thinking about the fact that I had ninety days to murder this man.

"Do you, Mario Massimo, take Anne-Marie Lukasz to be your wife?" the priest asked.

"I do," Mario said. His voice was a deep, low growl that shook my chest. It wasn't sweet at all. It sounded like a warning to everyone in the room.

Then it was my turn. My throat felt like it was full of dry sand. I looked past Mario and saw my brothers, Stefan and Ivan, sitting in the front row with big smiles on their faces like they were watching a funny show.

"I... I do," I whispered. My voice sounded so small and weak. I felt ashamed of myself for sounding like a victim.

"You may kiss the bride," the priest finally said.

I froze. I didn't want this man to touch me. But Mario didn't wait for me to get ready. He reached out and grabbed my waist, pulling me hard against his body until all the air left my lungs. He felt like a strong brick wall.

Before I could even blink, his hand went to the back of my head and he kissed me.

It wasn't a sweet kiss. It was rough and deep. It was like he was trying to show me he was the boss of my life now. I wanted to bite his lip or push him away with everything I had. But my hands just stayed on his chest, grabbing his suit jacket. I felt like if I let go, I would actually fall over.

My head was spinning. My body was screaming "Yes!" while my mind was screaming "What the f**k are you doing, Anne-Marie?"

When he finally pulled away, he looked like nothing had even happened. He didn't look like a man who had just married a wife. He looked like he had just finished a business deal he didn't even like that much.

He leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Get used to it, Anne-Marie," he said, his voice low. "We have a very long night ahead of us in my house."

I stood there with my lips feeling like they were on fire. The guests started clapping and the music got loud again. Mario turned around and started walking down the aisle. He dragged me along with him like I was just a trophy he had picked up from the floor.

We walked out of the church and straight into the bright sun where a big black car was waiting. The door was held open and Mario basically pushed me inside before climbing in after me. The door closed with a loud thud that sounded like a prison cell locking for good.

The ride to the Massimo house was easily the most annoying forty minutes of my entire life. We sat in the back of that big, shiny car and the silence was so heavy I felt like I couldn't even move my legs. Mario didn't look at me once. He just stared out the window, tapping his fingers on his knee like he was counting down the seconds until he could get away from me.

I sat as far away from him as possible, pressing my shoulder against the cold leather of the car door. Every time the car hit a bump and our arms brushed against each other, I felt that weird, hot spark again. I hated it so much. I hated that my body was acting like it liked being near him when I knew he was the enemy.

"We are almost there," Mario said suddenly. His voice was so low and rough it actually made me jump a little in my seat. It was the first thing he had said since we left the church.

"Great," I snapped back without even looking his way. I started picking at a loose thread on my white dress. "I can't wait to see the cage you've built for me. I'm sure it's very cozy for a prisoner."

Mario let out a short, dry laugh that didn't sound happy at all. "It's a palace, little ghost. You should be happy your brothers sold you to me and not to some low-level wolf who would have eaten you for lunch by now."

"Oh, so I should be thanking you now?" I turned to look at him, my eyes narrowing with all the anger I had been holding in. "Should I thank you for being a murderer? You are such a prick, Mario. Truly."

Mario's golden eyes flashed for a second, but he didn't get angry. He just looked at me with this annoying smile like I was a funny toy he was playing with.

"I am the King here and I don't need your thanks. I just need you to remember why you are here. Your brothers made it very clear that you are here so I can use your body. That is the deal. So don't go thinking this is some kind of love story. It's just a debt payment."

The way he said it made my blood boil. It was so cold and mean. What the actual f**k is wrong with this man?

"You think you are so big and powerful," I said, my voice shaking because I was so mad I could barely speak. "But you are just an arrogant jerk. You won't dare touch me because I am not a doll you can just play with."

Mario leaned closer. His smell filled up my whole space. I could feel the heat coming off him like a stove in the middle of winter.

"I won't dare? Anne-Marie, I own everything you see, including you. I will touch you whenever I feel like it and there is nothing you or your useless father can do about it."

I looked at him with my heart racing, but I didn't back down even for a second. As the car slowed down and the big iron gates of the Massimo house appeared in front of us, I realized the "fairy tale" was completely over. The nightmare was officially starting.

The car rolled through the gates. I looked at the dark forest surrounding the house and then back at the man sitting next to me. I told myself over and over: I have to kill this man. I only have eighty-nine days left before my father comes for me.

As the car pulled up to the front of the huge stone house, I saw a group of people waiting on the steps. I knew my life as the "Quiet Ghost" was gone forever.