The Cursed Alpha in Town

Chapter Three

Adonis’s veneer of control cracked momentarily, bewilderment taking up his thoughts. Instantly, however, he wore a self-satisfied smile and took a finality to his tone as if the issue was already settled.

You will survive," he declared. But only in captivity. "Let’s see how long you can endure.

Lia felt the slow bubbling of rage within her as well as the nervous apprehension that coursed through her. Still, she held his stare, unyielding in her refusal to be cowed. “You’ll regret this, Adonis,” she said, her tone cool. “I’m not so easy to defeat.”

Adonis’s grin was akin to the icy pelting of rain on their surroundings. “Time will tell,” was all he said, and gestured to his men to come closer.

From the side, two of his soldiers appeared, their demeanor fierce and unyielding. They advanced and took hold of her arms in a grip that was way too tight. She attempted to fight back, but their grip was fast and strong, and they began dragging her deeper into the trees, where darkness was now settling in.

In the course of her detention, she was able to turn her eyes upon Adonis one final time. She called out to him at the top of her lungs, her voice penetrating the stillness of the night. “You had better be ready for your pay back. You can take me, but you will never make me submit.”

Adonis looked at her without concern, her body being drawn away into the dimness of the room where his figure remained strong and dark. Even as she was snatched from his sight into the shadows, Adonis showed no expression until the stillness returned.

Lia sat uneasily on the edge of her bed. There was something uncomfortable and heavy about the silence hanging in the palace. A moment later, her bedroom door was pushed open, and two of her maids walked in. There was undeniable tension in their faces, and they walked tentatively as if knowing that even a single word would be out of place.

“What’s happening?” Lia turned from one maid to the other, narrowing her eyes. Tell me the truth. "Is there anything I need to know?”

The maids turned and looked at each other, and even without saying anything, Lia could feel the tension rise in her. When they remained silent, a rash and angry Lia stood up and approached the door, but they were in front of it and trying to get past. They moved their heads in sync, eyeing each other like trouble was coming.

“I can’t get past you?” The noise in Lia’s voice upped an octave as she began to lose her calm. “Get out of my way. I want to see my father.”

At long last, one of the maids spoke her head down. “Your father… he said you are not to go to the courtroom today, Princess. Those many were his exact words.”

Turning back, her anger sought to protect her. “Why would he put forth such a thing?” She hesitated for a moment. ‘No, I shouldn’t’ and then resumed her forward glare. ‘There’s something going on in there?’

The silence that followed confirmed her fears and, without another word, she pushed them aside and rushed out of her room. Rushing towards the door while her fix raised caught on the rough edges of the stone pavement slab, but that momentary lapse was enough for her to ignore as the weight of her father’s decision began to crush her. Upon reaching the grand double-door courtroom entrance, she finally halted, her heart fluttering in anxiety. She heard some voices resounding inside and prepared herself.

Pushing the doors that were ajar, she scanned the room that was laid out before her. Her father was on the ground, looking tired and dispirited. But most of all, it was the dark figure on the throne that belonged to her father who made the deepest impression on her. The man was large in stature, with a hard, imperious facial expression, and his eyes scanned the side of the room, making her feel such fear that it caused a chill in her bones.

“Father!” She shouted and moved closer. Her father was startled, and his appearance begged her to stop. But she had already shifted her attention to the man who was occupying her father’s seat, who appeared to be mildly enjoying himself.

“Lia,” her father’s voice was filled with rage and urgency, “Why did you have to come here?”

She ignored him and instead turned to the man who had replaced her father. “Who are you?” she asked, controlling the quiver in her hands but firm on the declaration.

The man never answered, but a figure next to him, a tall and thin man with a rugged scar above his eyes, moved closer. He looked both respectful and contemptuous while speaking to her. “Meet His Excellency, Alpha Adonis of the Red Moon Pack,” he stated with an authoritative air. “His purpose here is very pressing, and it has to do with you, Princess Lia.”

The statement was as freezing as ice, and she raised her head back, her voice breaking the quiet. “What matters?”

The scar-faced man smiled a vivid and measured smile. “An offer,” he said, his voice ringing throughout the hall. “His Excellency has come to ask for the hand of marriage of Princess Lia. "That peace treaty will put an end to warfare between our clans.”

Lia felt nauseated. Marriage? To Adonis? She did not really know him and everything she did terrified her even more. He was the subject of wild stories that terrified the very bravest of the brave, tales which were common within the packs: of how cruel he was, a thoroughbred warrior who marched ordering everything and anyone in his was in sight, or worse, leaving no eye to see nor any piece unscorched.

“No,” she said, soft, but very determined. “I refuse.”

There were moments of calm in the room when all the noise died down except for her voice. The spokesperson did not drop a grin. “That’s not for you to decide, Princess,” he said in the manner of a weapon being drawn. “Your father has already agreed.”

And along with it came disappointment. She imposed her gaze on her father, looking for some kind of reassurance. He, too, stared down apparently as if there were so many things within him for him to say, but managed only this.

“Father!” She stretched her voice” unusually in disbelief, “You can’t possibly mean this? You… you actually accept this?”

He averted his eyes to hers in an instant, filled with all kinds of emotions. “I had no option as such, Lia. This alliance is… strategic.”

Strategic?” With controlled composure fused with rage, she took a step forward. “You’re marrying me off to such a man? An unknown stranger? How can you even consider this?”