Sinful Valentine: Claimed by My Father-in-law

Ravenna. “Would you please tell your mother to stop worrying about us having children?” I said the moment the bathroom door creaked open. I did not need to look back before I knew it was him. Ryder Ravenwood. My husband of six months. The Alpha heir of the RavenWolf Pack. I pressed the red lip gloss onto my lips, smacked them together, and then started brushing my wavy ginger hair. “You should tell her that the reason we won't have children is that you've never touched me since we got married, just so she can know to stop harassing me.” From the mirror where I was seated, I saw his face twist in anger. “She is harassing you, and you are complaining?” he growled, his chest already heaving like he would shift at the next minute and rip me apart. “You don't get to complain, woman. Did you forget what your real duties are?” He reminded me like he always did. Instantly, I fell silent. He was right. My duties were simple. Act like his loving wife in public, but in private, I was nothing but his roommate. My father sold me. To him. My father owed him a huge amount of money, and since Ryder spoke about needing a wife to appear serious and capable before the pack members and his father—the Alpha King—he used the unwanted, unloved illegitimate daughter to pay off his debts. On our wedding night, after the vows were exchanged and everything was done, Ryder told me matter-of-factly that I was nothing to him. I was just a placeholder in his life because the woman he truly loved had broken up with him and left the RavenWolf Pack. I thought he did not really mean his words, but then he started avoiding me like the plague. Despite it all, my heart would skip whenever he was close. He was so handsome. His jaw was perfect. His eyes were deep blue. His lips were attractive and always naturally red. He was the golden boy of the pack, and the other she-wolves, who were oblivious to the real reason why we got married, were jealous of me. They thought he deserved better. I thought if I tried harder… if he saw the intensity of my love for him… maybe, just maybe, he would change, but I was only fooling myself. The day I heard him talk to his friends about how he had married me to prove to his ex-mate that he had gotten over her—and to hurt her since she hated me so much too—was the day I realized that nothing could be done to keep a man who did not want to be kept. I still had feelings for him, which I hated, but I made sure not to be hopeful about getting his love in return. A devilish smirk curved up on his lips, clearly satisfied with my silence. “Thank Goddess that you know your place now,” he taunted. “So, wifey, make sure to keep quiet and swallow down all the harassment because I won't pay such a fortune to have you still chirping like a bird.” I gritted my teeth, fingers tightening around the brush in my hand. He flung the closet door open and retrieved his suit jacket. He slipped it on and wore his Italian shoes too. “If you hate me so much, then why won't you just let me go?” The words slipped past my lips before I realized it. I was just too hurt. Too broken. “Let's reject each other so you can marry the woman you truly love.” “No!” His nose flared. “If we get divorced, then how would I recover my debt?” he snapped. “What would the pack members and my father think of me? They would think I'm so pathetic that I couldn't even stay married for a year.” He strolled toward me, clearly enjoying how miserable he made me feel. His hand gripped my shoulders tightly, sending jolts of disgust and heat down my spine. “I decide when this marriage is over, Ravenna.” Then he pressed his lips to the fake mark he had given me on my neck. “Happy Valentine's Day, wifey. I will be outside. Don't keep me waiting. And make sure you don't embarrass me before my father.” With that, he walked out of the room, his feet hitting the floor sharply. I squeezed my eyes closed, trying not to think too much about his words. I should be used to them, but it still stung every damn time. Of course, it was Valentine's Day, and we were getting dressed to visit the palace to have dinner with his parents, especially his father, whom I had never met because he had been away from the pack for years on official duty. I pushed myself up, straightened the red silk dress that clung to my body like a second skin, strapped on my white Louboutin heels, and grabbed the white clutch. Staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror, I looked beautiful, and that made a small smile tug at the corners of my lips. “You are so beautiful, Ravenna,” I said softly. Self-affirmation has a way of making me feel better. It has a way of not making me feel like the trash others intend to make me feel. “You are strong and always loved. If anyone can't see that, then it means they are blind. Happy Valentine's Day, baby girl.” I turned and walked out of the room toward the parking lot. I slipped into the back seat of the already opened car, and the driver pulled away, heading toward the palace that was just on the next street. The ride was silent, with just the faint sound of Ryder tapping on his thighs like it was the only way he could withstand being in the same space with me. Until… his phone buzzed. He reached for the device in his breast pocket, his fingers hovering over the screen as he unlocked it, and his eyes widened in shock before he screamed, “Stop the car!” My brows narrowed in confusion as I watched the driver park by the roadside. The car had barely come to a full stop when he flung the door open and got out. He rounded the car and opened my door. “Get out!” he ordered. “What? Why?” I was already wondering what I had done to piss him off. “Kate is back.” His voice was urgent, and a rare smile—one I had only seen when he stared at her picture or read about her in the media—tugged at his lips. Of course, she was back. Kate was the name of the woman he loved. “I need to go see her immediately.” “What?” My mouth parted in disbelief. “But we are heading to the palace for dinner. You need to introduce me to the Alpha King, remember?” “You go on your own. Find something to tell them. It's Valentine's night, and I need to spend it with the woman I love.” His words knocked the oxygen out of my lungs completely. My heart ached so hard that it felt like I might stop breathing. My lips trembled. “W—what do you mean?” “You heard me right!” He dragged my wrist and pulled me out. He slammed the door shut. “Take a cab or walk since it's just a few blocks away.” He was already rounding the car again, then he stopped midway. “And don't wait for me tonight.” He got into the car, and he was gone. Tears stung my eyes as I watched the car speed off. No… no… this was the highest humiliation I had ever suffered. I felt worse than trash. I hated myself. I wrapped my arms around myself, patting myself in consolation. Even my self-affirmations did not work. I bit the inside of my mouth until I tasted copper. I blinked away tears, my blurry eyes darting around the lone, dark road. No… I wasn't going to the palace because a fresh set of humiliation was waiting for me there. Apart from the fact that the delicious food would taste bland under his mother's hateful glare that would remain fixed on me, I hated the fact that she would taunt me about how I couldn't get pregnant in just six months of marriage. Instead, I turned away and started heading to God knows where. For what seemed like hours, I walked all around the kingdom, looking for a place where I could at least stay, but I realized I had nowhere to go. So I ended up in a clubhouse that belonged to Ryder's father—the Alpha King, who was also the president of the RavenWolf Riders Club. Inside the RavenWolf Clubhouse, it was like Valentine had exploded inside it. Every table had couples seated at it, drinking, laughing, and exchanging gifts. Even the music was solemn and all about love. But here I was. Alone. Pathetic. My husband had left me to spend tonight with another woman. I stared down at the red dress I had on… it felt like it was mocking me. A symbol of the love I could never have. I was tempted to rip it off me. “Another glass of tequila, please,” I said to the bartender who had been casting me a knowing glance. Of course, she knew I was the wife of the Alpha heir, but did I care? “Yes, ma'am,” she answered and turned away. Moments later, she slid the glass of tequila to me. I threw down the shot. The alcohol burned down my throat, but not enough to burn out the pain and humiliation that I still felt. “I'm sorry, Princess… but why are you here alone?” the bartender asked. With the thought that she was mocking me, I wanted to snap at her to mind her damn business, but it didn't seem like she was mocking me; it seemed like she was concerned. “I’m alone because no one wants to be with me.” I slid the glass toward her again, wanting another shot of tequila. Her expression crumpled in sadness. “Well… I'm only asking because I heard the prince is throwing a party for the woman he loves in the VIP lounge upstairs. I was wondering if that should be you… but it seems it isn't.”