The Wolf Within Her

Chapter 2- The Unwanted Bride

The gossip didn’t stop. Everywhere I went in the Silvercrest Pack, whispers followed me like shadows. They said things I had no control over, things that weren’t even entirely true. Some questioned whether Father could even remain Alpha now that his own daughter—me—was wolfless. “You can’t have an Alpha whose bloodline isn’t pure,” they said. “How can Dominic remain Alpha with a daughter like that?”

I overheard some of them as I passed through the hallways, and my chest tightened every time. I had long stopped caring about what the pack thought, but it still stung. I wasn’t part of their world anyway—not really. I had been stripped of my title, my place in the family, and my dignity, yet I had to walk among them like I belonged.

Father, though… Father wasn’t blind to the whispers. I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes flicked around when he spoke to his advisers. He hated the idea of losing the Alpha title. And as always, he had a plan.

He had decided to secure power through an alliance. He called Alpha Mario of the Black Fang Pack, one of the most feared and respected Alphas in existence, offering a marriage alliance. Becky—Father’s legitimate daughter—was the obvious choice. Becky, with her perfectly awakened wolf, her beauty, her arrogance, had been parading around, telling anyone who would listen that she would soon become Luna of the feared Black Fang Pack.

Her friends were thrilled for her, of course. A few gossiped, envious of her luck, but most clapped and cheered at the thought.

Becky glided downstairs, a picture of shy excitement, though I could see the smugness behind her carefully rehearsed smile. Father introduced her to Mario, who stepped into our hall like a storm wrapped in calm. Becky curtsied, a little flustered, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Mario, however, didn’t smile. He didn’t gush. He didn’t act the least bit impressed. To him, this was business.

And then… I was there. Somehow, I had been standing near the doorway, invisible until he turned. I accidentally bumped into him.

“Sorry,” I whispered, bowing my head immediately, my face burning. I was about to step back when something strange happened. The air seemed to crackle. My heartbeat went haywire, and for a brief moment, the room disappeared. Just me and him.

Mario froze, his eyes narrowing slightly. There was… recognition there. Something powerful, almost frightening. He knew. I didn’t.

Becky scoffed behind me. “Watch where you’re going, useless girl! Can’t even be careful around my fiancé!” Her words were sharp, cruel, meant to humiliate.

I stayed bowed, whispering another apology, expecting her wrath to continue. But then Mario’s hand closed gently around mine. He lifted me up, his touch firm but not harsh. “Stand up straight,” he said quietly. His eyes met mine, and I couldn’t look away.

Becky opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off with a single glance. “It’s fine,” he said. And then… he turned his attention to me.

“Who are you?” he asked, his voice calm but intense.

Before I could answer, Becky jumped in. “She’s nobody. Just a maid. You don’t need to concern yourself with her,” she spat.

But Mario didn’t look convinced. He studied me as though he were seeing something unexpected, something he hadn’t anticipated. “A nobody?” he murmured to himself. “A maid?”

Yes. That was me. Wolfless, powerless, stripped of my title, dressed in plain clothes. And yet… something in him didn’t let go. Something in him knew.

And then he said the words that would change everything:

“I will marry her. Not her,” he nodded at Becky.

Father’s eyes widened, shock flashing across his face. “What? You can’t! She is… she is—”

“From a human affair,” he said before I could protest. “She is nothing but a mistake. My illegitimate child with a human. You should marry Becky. She is the one suitable to be your Luna.”

Mario’s gaze didn’t waver. “Either I marry her, or there is no alliance. Take your pick.”

Father’s face tightened as he weighed his options. Power, influence, the title of Alpha—it all hung in the balance. He could not risk losing the alliance. He swallowed hard and finally nodded. “Very well,” he said, his voice tight. “She will be your bride.”

My stomach dropped. I opened my mouth to object, to plead, to protest—but Father ignored me. Becky’s eyes blazed with fury, her lips curling into a snarl. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was thinking.

Mario didn’t speak. He merely took my hand, his grip firm, steady. The same electricity I had felt when we first touched didn’t fade. He was calm, but I could feel it beneath the surface—something undeniable, something neither of us could ignore.

That very day, I left Silvercrest Pack with Mario as his bride. Becky seethed behind me, plotting, scheming, already paying people to spread lies about me in the Black Fang Pack. “Wolfless,” they would whisper. “A human child. Not fit to be our Luna.”

And just like that, my life shifted once again, from maid to bride, from overlooked to the center of a storm I couldn’t control.