The Wolf Without a Voice' and the Three Who Claimed Her

The Arranged Marriage

POV: Rafe (Age 16)

Father called me into his study on a Tuesday afternoon, which immediately put me on alert.

He never summoned me during daylight hours unless something important was happening. Usually something I wouldn't like.

I sat across from his desk, notepad ready, and waited for him to speak.

"Your grandfather has made a decision about your future," Father said, his voice carefully neutral. "Given your... unique situation and the concerns raised after your first shift, he believes it's time to secure the Sterling bloodline."

My stomach dropped.

No, I wrote immediately. Please tell me this isn't what I think it is.

"You're being engaged," Father confirmed. "To Celeste Nightshade. Alpha Nightshade's daughter. The formal announcement will be made at a party this weekend."

I stared at the words I'd just written, then at Father, then back at my notepad. My hands were shaking too badly to write anything coherent.

I'm sixteen, I finally managed. This is insane.

"It's politics," Father said quietly. "Alpha Nightshade is one of the most powerful wolves in the region. This alliance strengthens our position and quiets the whispers about your first shift. They see this as proof that despite your... difficulties, you're still fit to be Sterling heir."

I don't care about being heir, I wrote furiously. And I'm not marrying some girl I've never met just to make the pack feel better about me.

"You don't have a choice, Rafe." Father's voice was gentle but firm. "Your grandfather has already agreed to the arrangement. The contracts are signed. The party is this Saturday."

What about Mina? I wrote, knowing even as I did that bringing her up was pointless. No one except Father knew about her, and even if they did, she was a mute girl from the slums with no family or standing. She couldn't compete with an Alpha's daughter in the eyes of pack politics.

"Your sister has nothing to do with this," Father said carefully. "This is about your public role as Sterling heir. What you do privately is your own business, but publicly, you need to fulfill your duties."

I wanted to argue more, but I could see in Father's face that this conversation was over. The decision had been made without me, and nothing I wrote on this notepad would change it.

Can I at least meet her before the party? I wrote. So I'm not going in completely blind?

"She'll be at dinner tomorrow night," Father said. "You'll have a chance to get acquainted then."

I left his study feeling like the walls were closing in around me. In two years, I'd turn eighteen. The seal would break. Mina and I would finally merge and become whole. We'd have to figure out how to navigate that without one of us dying.

And apparently I'd be doing all of that while engaged to a stranger.

Celeste Nightshade arrived for dinner the next evening dressed in designer clothes that probably cost more than the headmaster paid for Mina's labor in a year.

She was beautiful in the way that came from wealth and privilege. Perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect manners. Everything about her screamed high society and calculated ambition.

She smiled at me when we were introduced, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"It's lovely to finally meet you, Rafe," she said, her voice smooth and practiced. "I've heard so much about the Sterling heir."

I nodded politely and pulled out my notepad.

It's nice to meet you too, I wrote.

She read my words and something flickered across her face. Not quite disgust, but close. Discomfort, maybe. Like she'd known I was mute intellectually but hadn't quite prepared herself for the reality of it.

"Oh," she said, recovering quickly. "Of course. I'd forgotten about your... condition."

Condition. Like being mute was a disease instead of just how I was.

I felt my wolf snarl inside me, but I kept my expression neutral and wrote nothing.

Dinner was exactly as painful as I'd expected. Celeste talked at me about her accomplishments—her grades, her social standing, her future plans for when she became Sterling heir's wife. She asked me nothing about myself except whether I agreed with her various opinions.

I wrote polite responses that said absolutely nothing meaningful.

Through it all, I could feel a growing wrongness in my chest. Not the usual emptiness of being without Mina, but something sharper. My wolf was rejecting this entire situation, snarling and pacing and making it clear that this female was NOT our mate.

Because our mate was sitting in a temple miles away, probably scrubbing floors or reading by candlelight, completely unaware that I'd just been promised to someone else.

"I think we'll make an excellent match," Celeste said toward the end of dinner, smiling that practiced smile again. "The Sterling and Nightshade alliance will be very beneficial for both our families."

She didn't say "for us." She said "for both our families."

This wasn't about me or her. It was about status and power and bloodlines. She didn't care about me as a person any more than I cared about her.

We were both just chess pieces being moved around by our families.

I'm sure we will, I wrote, because what else could I say?

After dinner, as Celeste was leaving, she leaned close and whispered, "I don't expect love, Rafe. I just expect you to play your part publicly. What you do privately is your business, as long as you're discreet."

Then she was gone, leaving me standing in the foyer feeling hollow and furious and trapped.

The engagement party was scheduled for Saturday evening. Three days away.

I spent those three days in a fog, going through the motions of my daily routine while internally screaming. During training, I fought too aggressively. During meals, I barely ate. At night, I lay awake staring at the ceiling and feeling Mina through our bond.

She knew something was wrong. I could feel her concern mixing with my distress. But I couldn't tell her yet. Not until I could see her face to face and explain.

Saturday arrived too quickly.

The Sterling estate was transformed for the party. Flowers everywhere, string lights, tables laden with expensive food. Every important family in the pack had been invited to witness the formal announcement of my engagement.

I stood in my bedroom, dressed in formal clothes that felt like a prison, and tried to breathe through the panic attack building in my chest.

Through our bond, I felt Mina's sudden spike of alarm. She could feel what I was feeling—the trapped sensation, the wrongness, the desperation.

I closed my eyes and tried to send calm back to her, but I had none to give.

The party was exactly as awful as I'd feared.

Celeste stood beside me, playing the perfect fiancée. She smiled and laughed and charmed everyone who spoke to us. She touched my arm possessively and called me "darling" and acted like we were a love match instead of a political arrangement.

And I stood there, silent as always, and died inside a little more with each passing minute.

My grandfather made the official announcement an hour into the party.

"It is my great pleasure to announce the engagement of my grandson, Rafe Sterling, to Celeste Nightshade. May their union bring strength and prosperity to both our houses."

Everyone applauded. Celeste squeezed my hand. I felt nothing except the desperate urge to run.

Through our bond, I felt Mina's reaction from miles away. The sharp pain in her chest that matched mine. The tears I knew she was crying even though I couldn't see her face. The way she was probably clutching her chest right now, experiencing all of this through our connection.

I'm sorry, I tried to send to her through the bond. I'm so sorry. This means nothing. You're the only one who matters.

I didn't know if she could hear my thoughts clearly from this distance, but I hoped she could feel my sincerity at least.

The party dragged on for hours. People congratulated me. People told me how lucky I was. People speculated about when the wedding would be and how powerful our combined bloodlines would make our children.

Every word felt like a knife.

Finally, mercifully, the party wound down. Guests started leaving. Celeste kissed my cheek for appearance's sake and whispered, "We did well tonight. The pack approves."

Then she was gone too, and I was free.

I didn't even bother going to my room first. The moment I could slip away unnoticed, I ran.

I made it to the temple in record time, not caring about being careful or hiding my tracks. All I cared about was getting to Mina.

I found her in our main chamber, curled up in the corner where we kept the blankets and cushions. She was crying silently, her whole body shaking with sobs.

The moment she saw me, she uncurled and we crashed into each other. I wrapped my arms around her and she wrapped hers around me, and we held each other while she cried into my shoulder.

Through our bond, I felt everything she'd experienced tonight. The shock when she'd first felt my distress. The growing horror as she'd realized what was happening. The pain of knowing I was being bound to someone else. The fear that this meant I'd leave her.

Never, I sent fiercely through our connection. I'm never leaving you.

We sank down to the floor together, still holding each other. Mina's tears were soaking through my formal shirt, but I didn't care. I just held her tighter and tried to push every ounce of love and certainty I had through our bond.

Finally, her sobs quieted enough that I could pull back slightly and grab the notepad we kept in the temple.

I'm so sorry, I wrote. I had no choice. My grandfather arranged it. I didn't even know until three days ago.

Mina took the pencil with shaking hands.

I felt your pain tonight. Felt how trapped you were. It was like being torn apart all over again.

This changes nothing between us, I wrote desperately. Celeste doesn't matter. She's a political arrangement. You're my twin. My other half. The only person I actually care about.

But you'll have to marry her, Mina wrote, tears streaming down her face again. You'll have to pretend to be her mate. Have to touch her and smile at her and act like you love her.

Only in public, I insisted. She doesn't even want love. She wants status. We agreed to play our parts publicly but live separately privately.

Mina stared at my words, and I felt her desperate hope fighting with her fear through our bond.

What happens when we turn eighteen? she wrote. When the seal breaks and we're supposed to merge? How do we do that if you're engaged to someone else?

I grabbed the pencil and wrote the truth that had been burning in my chest all night.

After we merge and complete the prophecy, I'm breaking the engagement. I don't care about duty or family expectations. You're my only real family. We'll figure out how to make it work, but I'm not spending my life with her when my soul belongs to you.

Mina read my words, and fresh tears fell. But this time, I felt something shift in her emotions. Not just fear and pain, but determination.

She took the pencil back and wrote slowly.

What if completing the prophecy means you forget me? What if merging means one consciousness dies and the other absorbs it? What if you wake up whole but I'm gone, and you don't even remember that I existed?

The question hit me like a physical blow.

I'd been so focused on making sure neither of us physically died during the merge that I hadn't considered the possibility that one of our consciousnesses might disappear. That we might become one person, but that person might only have one set of memories. One identity.

What if I merged with Mina and woke up as just Rafe, with no memory of my twin sister? What if she was absorbed into me completely, leaving no trace that she'd ever been separate?

Or worse, what if she merged with me and I was the one who disappeared, leaving her alone with all my memories and obligations but none of her own identity?

I don't know, I finally wrote honestly. I don't know what the merge will look like or what we'll become. But Mina, even if the worst happens and one of us forgets, we have two years of memories together. Eight years of weekly meetings. You've shaped who I am. Even if I forgot you existed, I'd still be the person you helped me become.

That's not enough, Mina wrote, her handwriting messy with emotion. I don't want you to just carry my influence. I want US. I want both of us to exist. I want to still be able to hold your hand and share thoughts and argue about books and train together. I want my brother, not just the echo of myself in your mind.

Then we figure out how to make that happen, I wrote firmly. We have two years. Two years to research and learn and find a way to merge without losing each other. We've already found so much in the temple. We'll find this too.

Mina stared at my words, then at me. Through our bond, I felt her desperate need to believe me warring with her fear.

Promise me you won't give up, she wrote. Promise that even when you're with her, even when you have to pretend to be her fiancé, you won't forget about finding a way for us to stay together.

I promise, I wrote immediately. Everything I do from now until we turn eighteen is focused on one goal: making sure we both survive the merge. Both of us, Mina. Separate and whole and still able to be together.

She nodded, and we pressed our foreheads together like we'd done so many times over the years. Through our bond, I felt our certainty aligning. Our determination solidifying.

We had two years to change our fate.

Two years to find a way to merge without one of us dying or disappearing.

Two years to make sure that when we finally became whole, we didn't lose each other in the process.

It would have to be enough time.

Because I refused to accept any other outcome.