Married to The Ruthless Alpha

Prologue

Amelia

"You, Amelia Sheffield, will be marrying Alpha Woodson, the leader of the Zenith Pack," the pale man next to Woodson declared, his voice cold and final. Woodson's hand extended toward me, palm up, waiting.

I took it without hesitation.

And then it finally kicked in.

My heart stopped. My mind spiraled into a never-ending anxious state as reality began to unfold before me.

I was getting married to The Ruthless Alpha.

This was going to be my life, and there was no going back.

Few Hours Earlier

The door burst open, the pungent scent of alcohol-laden perfume filling my nostrils as Lucy, my stepmother, stormed into the room. The force of her presence jolted me upright from my bed.

"You better get your ass downstairs right now if you want to get to school," she sneered, her once angelic face now gaunt and haggard from years of heavy drinking.

I glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until the school bus arrived. Fifteen minutes to escape this house, even if just for a few hours.

She left the door open, and I sighed, pulling the covers off me. My body felt heavy with the weight of dread, but I forced myself to move. In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower, the cold water barely enough to wake me up. I dressed in black rompers, a sweater, and my worn-out Converses, trying to ignore the gnawing anxiety in my chest.

I put my hair into a neat bun, grabbed my school materials, and rushed downstairs. The sound of laughter greeted me—cruel, mocking laughter.

"Look what the cat dragged out of the room, Mum," Ashley, my stepsister, said with a smirk. Lucy joined in, their laughter stabbing at my heart.

My throat tightened, but I swallowed the pain. I wouldn't cry in front of them. Not again.

Ashley, dressed in a revealing outfit, shot me a glare before finishing the last of the toast. There wasn't any food left for me.

"I'm leaving for school now, Mum," she announced, her tone dripping with false sweetness.

"Have a nice day, sweetie," Lucy cooed, rolling her eyes when she caught mine.

Ashley's car zoomed off, and it hit me. Ashley never left before I did. I always leave first.

I checked the clock again—8:00 a.m. My eyes widened in realization.

"My clock wasn't correct," I muttered, adjusting my backpack. Lucy's smug expression confirmed my suspicion. "You changed the time on my clock," I accused her, more to myself than to her.

The smug look vanished. She stormed over and slapped me hard across the face.

"How dare you accuse me, you stupid girl?! Get out of the house now!" She shoved me toward the door.

The twenty-minute walk to my high school felt like a lifetime. The semi-empty streets echoed with the sound of my tears, my heartache, my only company.

It hadn't always been this way. Lucy and Ashley were tolerable when my father, Bill Sheffield, was alive. My mother had left us after giving birth to me, and my dad had been lost in grief. Lucy filled that void, and for a while, he was happy. But when cancer took him from me, Lucy's tolerance turned to hatred. She blamed me for his death, and her love for him twisted into a desire to make my life a living hell.

The sharp ring of the school bell snapped me back to reality as I stepped into the hallway. I hurried to my locker, trying to blend into the crowd.

"Watch it, loser!" Anna, once my best friend, now one of Ashley's minions, tripped me, sending me sprawling to the floor.

I didn't respond. I just got up, grabbed my books, and headed to class as fast as I could.

How did things get like this? I thought as I entered my class. How did I lose my best friend?

Anna and I had been inseparable for years—until I lost my father. I thought she’d be there for me, but instead, she became Ashley’s shadow. It hurt. But I didn’t have the energy to confront it anymore. I couldn’t afford to feel more pain.

"Miss Sheffield, nice of you to finally grace us with your presence," Mrs. Green, my calculus teacher, mocked, inciting laughter from the entire class.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I scurried to my seat. My mind drifted, as it always did, making the hours blur together. Before I knew it, it was time to go back to the place I reluctantly called home.

But I wasn't ready to face Lucy and Ashley again. The thought of their cruel remarks and the inevitable punishment for being late made my stomach turn. They wouldn't care where I was. They'd probably prefer it if I never came back.

But then, who would cook their meals?

I decided to take the longer route home, through the woods. It was just past 4 p.m., and the fading daylight filtering through the trees was a welcome escape from the world. The woods were quiet, almost peaceful, and for a moment, I could pretend I was somewhere else. Somewhere safe.

You don't have to cook for them anymore.

I gasped, whipping my head around at the sound. The voice was clear, almost tangible, but there was no one there.

"Who said that? Who's out there? Show yourself!" My voice trembled as I brandished a branch, my only weapon against the unseen.

No response. Just the distant tweeting of birds.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

It's far from your imagination, Reve.

My heart pounded. I heard it again, in my mind, but it was unmistakably real.

"Who's there?! Don't be a coward!" I shouted into the emptiness.

You don't know how pathetic you look right now.

"Shut up!! Show yourself!" My voice wavered, betraying my fear.

Silence again, save for a bird fluttering away. I shook my head, trying to clear the fog of confusion.

And to think I have to get married to you.

Married? To me? No, this was insane. Maybe I was losing my mind. Maybe the stress was finally too much.

You're not losing your mind, Reve. I'm real. I'm in your head.

I ignored the voice, picking up my pace. My house—anywhere—was better than this crazy dialogue with myself.

Don't ignore me.

I ignored it again, focusing on the path ahead, trying to block out the voice.

"I said don't ignore me."

The male voice came from behind me. My heart nearly stopped as I slowly turned, but there was no one there.

Okay, don't freak out, Amelia. As if.

I broke into a run, the urge to flee overwhelming. My breaths were ragged by the time my house came into view. I paused for a moment to collect myself, looking back to ensure no one had followed.

The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the yard. I quickly entered the house.

A slap across the face greeted me.

"Where were you? Where have you been, you slut?" Lucy spat, her breath reeking of alcohol.

"I got lost in the woods," I whispered, my voice small.

"That's a lie. Why use the woods to come home in the first place?" Ashley added, her tone dripping with disdain.

"You dare lie to my face?! I'm going to teach you a lesson, you good-for-nothing—"

The threat was cut short by a loud, disturbing sound from outside. Ashley rushed to the window, screaming when she saw the wreckage.

"My car!!!" she shrieked, throwing the door open and running outside.

Lucy released me and followed, her face twisted in anger and fear. I hesitated, then followed them out.

The car was completely totaled, nothing more than a heap of twisted metal. Standing beside it were two men, both strikingly handsome, but it was the one on the right who caught my attention. He stared at me with an intensity that made my skin prickle, completely unfazed by the surrounding chaos.

He had gray eyes and olive skin, dressed simply in jeans and a polo shirt, yet he exuded an aura of power and danger.

His eyes trailed to me, assessing me like he had heard my thoughts.

Because I did hear you, you fool.

My breath hitched. He was the voice from before. But how?

"What the—" I started, but Ashley's hysterical voice cut me off.

"Who are you guys?! Was it you that did this to my baby?!!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face, mascara smudging into dark streaks. She looked like a goblin.

The man on the right barely concealed a smile, and I wondered if he had heard my thoughts.

Again, I did.

Oh my God. He was in my head. Who was he? How was he doing this?

I am your husband, Reve.

"What in the world..." I murmured, trying to make sense of the madness.

"I am calling the police right now!" Lucy yelled, and started walking inside the house.

"You are calling no one. We are just here for Amelia, and we will be on our way," the man on the left, who had pale skin and striking blue eyes, said calmly. He was tall and lean, also undeniably attractive, but my eyes were drawn back to the other man—I'll call him Stalker guy.

You look at nobody else but me, or they end up dead.

Stalker guy's threat was like ice in my veins. My gaze snapped back to him, his face expressionless, yet his eyes held a deadly promise.

"What do you want with Amelia? And who cares about that w***e?!! Look at what you did to my car!!" Ashley wailed, her voice piercing the air.

"Did you just call Amelia a w***e?" Stalker guy 's voice was low, dangerous, yet it rumbled through me, even though he spoke quietly.

"I did. What are you going to do about it?" Ashley sneered, her face contorted with rage.

Before I could blink, Stalker guy was in front of her, his hand gripping her throat with a terrifying gentleness.

"You should be careful with your words," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, yet laced with a chilling menace. "Your life depends on them."

Ashley's eyes widened in terror as she struggled to breathe, her hands clawing at his iron grip. Lucy screamed, rushing forward to help her daughter, but the other man—the one with pale skin and blue eyes—intercepted her with a simple gesture. Lucy froze, her face drained of color as if an unseen force held her in place.

"Please, let her go," I found myself whispering, though my voice was shaky and uncertain. "She didn't mean it."

Stalker guy's gaze flicked to me, his grip on Ashley loosening just enough for her to gasp for air. He studied me, his eyes cold and calculating, as if he was deciding whether my plea was worth considering.

"Why should I?" he asked, his voice devoid of emotion."She insulted you."

I swallowed hard, trying to steady my trembling voice.

"She's just angry about the car. Please, just let her go. I... I'll do whatever you want."

His eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I feared I had said the wrong thing. But then, with a slow, deliberate motion, he released Ashley, who crumpled to the ground, gasping and coughing.

Lucy rushed to her side, cradling her daughter's head in her lap, her eyes filled with both terror and hatred as she glared at me.

"You're coming with us," Stalker guy said, his tone leaving no room for argument. My heart pounded as I stared at him, the weight of his words sinking in. He wasn't asking. He was commanding. And I had no choice but to obey.

"Why?" I whispered, my voice barely audible. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"

Woodson stepped closer, his gray eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. "You said you'll do whatever I want. You're to get married to me, Amelia."

The words sent a shiver down my spine, the finality in his tone making it clear that this was not a request. It was a declaration, a binding contract that I had somehow unknowingly signed.

"You are to get married to Alpha Woodson. The leader of the Zenith Pack." The pale guy said afterwards.

"What?" My mind stuttered to a stop, the word barely forming as the enormity of what he was saying hit me. Married? To an Alpha? The guy who had been stalking me since I’d arrived? My pulse quickened, a wave of nausea swirling in my gut as I tried to make sense of the words thrown at me.

Wolves. Alphas. Packs. It was absurd, like a bad joke. Except no one here was laughing.

Was he seriously saying that wolves were real? That there were entire packs of them, hidden away in this shadowy world, just waiting to be discovered? And now, they wanted to marry me off to their so-called "Alpha"? Like it was just… normal?

I shook my head, trying to clear the disbelief clouding my mind. It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. Wolves were creatures from myths, stories told to scare children around a campfire. They didn’t actually exist. They weren’t real. They weren’t... this.

But every fiber of my being screamed that this wasn’t a joke. That there was something more happening here, something I couldn’t explain away with logic or reason.

Still, I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Wolves? Packs? And me? I was supposed to be part of it now? Married?

A cold, creeping sensation moved through me, panic tightening its grip. I wasn’t ready for this. I hadn’t asked for this. I didn’t know the first thing about their world, and now they were expecting me to marry into it? To become one of them? To marry… a wolf?

I barely knew what that meant. What did any of this mean? Were they saying I was destined for some kind of… role? That I was meant to be tied to this Alpha, this leader of a pack of wolves, like some kind of ancient ritual or… I didn’t even know what?

But the worst part? They weren’t just asking me to believe in wolves and packs. They were throwing marriage at me. Like it was an afterthought.

Marriage? To a complete stranger? To the guy who had been lurking in the shadows since I’d arrived? To the one they called Alpha Woodson?

"Yes, you fool, and you have to get married to me, or they will continue to suffer."

"I am not getting married to you! Who do you think you are to just come to my house and ask that of me?!!" I yelled, my voice trembling with terror despite the defiance I tried to muster.

His eyes flashed dangerously, a low, menacing growl vibrating from deep within his chest. And in the blink of an eye—too fast for my mind to fully process—he was in front of Ashley again.

Then I heard it.

The c***k.

It was her arm.

Ashley’s scream pierced the air, raw and filled with agony, before she crumpled to the ground like a broken doll. The sight of her lying there—motionless, helpless—knocked the breath from my lungs. .

I gasped, stumbling back, as if trying to distance myself from the horror unfolding before my eyes. My heart pounded so violently I could hear it in my head, a wild, erratic drumbeat that matched the surge of fear tearing through me.

How could this be real? How could this be happening? My eyes darted from his cold, ruthless figure to Ashley’s lifeless form on the ground.

He had barely lifted a finger, and she was broken. Broken.

"Jeez.. she just passed out!"

"Please stop!!" I cried out, my voice sounding small, desperate. I couldn’t look away from Ashley, lying there as if she’d been discarded. "How can you be so ruthless?!!"

Was this what it meant to be an Alpha? To rule with violence and fear? To break people just because you could? He had done it so effortlessly, like it meant nothing. Like Ashley’s pain, her suffering—it was insignificant.

I swallowed hard, choking on the overwhelming fear surging up my throat. The police should be on their way by now.

"No one is coming. They cannot see us."

"You're scaring her." The pale guy said, shaking his head

"You agree to marrying me right now, or they die." Woodson said, his voice devoid of any emotion as he looked at me, waiting for an answer.

"I don't even-" He started moving towards Lucy and I didn't have the heart to witness such monstrosity, so I yelled

"STOP! I'll go with you! I'll marry you!! Please just stop hurting them!!" Tears welled up in my eyes, realization dawning on me as my words replayed in my head.

My life, as I knew it, was over.

"You, Amelia Sheffield, will be marrying Alpha Woodson, the leader of the Zenith Pack," the pale man next to Woodson declared, his voice cold and final. Woodson's hand extended toward me, palm up, waiting.

I took it without hesitation.

And then it finally kicked in.

My heart stopped. My mind spiraled into a never-ending anxious state as reality began to unfold before me.

I was getting married to The Ruthless Alpha.

This was going to be my life, and there was no going back.