Taming The Cursed Beast

How much are you willing to sacrifice for the sake of your loved ones? Wealth? Life? Freedom? Agnes has more than that, all until . . . “What is it that they want to tell me?!” Agnes bit the ends of her thumb in anticipation, her heart wild in her chest. It was an exhausting repetitive movement for Agnes as she marched back and forth in front of a large cushion of sofa her wealthy family owns. Emphasis on wealthy, yet the said sofa was nothing more than rugged furniture her mother cherishes so much. She doesn’t really understand why her family still keeps such an old thing in their house. They were rich. She was an Alpha’s daughter. The eldest at that. Her younger sisters, twins, two young faces with almost the same visage, on the floor leaning on the other pair of the same old cushion, were giggling at a picture they cut out from today’s village newspaper. As Agnes peeked through the source of their lowered muttering, it was none other than a picture of a young man who seemed like a pretty boy for his age. Agnes has never fathomed her two sister’s obsession with beauty. “That’s because you haven’t seen anyone that can make your eyes bulge out of their socket just from looking at their face,” was what the twins would always say when Agnes scolds the two for being too engrossed into such lewd things. Back to her marching, she was incredibly nervous as to what her parents had to say. They never invited her out to the living room like this. Her thoughts scrambled to all the things she did this week. No way, they didn’t know about how I sneaked out last night, right? No, scratch that, of course they don’t. I specifically told—threatened the maids that if they opened their mouths about my escapade, I’d fire them myself. No one questions Agnes Burroughs’ decisions. Even her parents. She’s Daddy’s little princess. The daughter of an Alpha. She was the societal Rose. Blue Bill pack’s spoiled and desired girl. Desired, sometimes for her pretty face, often to exploit her money. Yet though Agnes was overindulged with wealth, she was clever enough to pick out who to trust between the bunch who have gone lengths to talk to her. “What do you guys think Mother has to say?” Agnes unconsciously bit the tip of her tongue to the surging anxiety. The twins, Hollie with her brunette locks to the side, and Fiadh, bangs dwindling on her forehead, both turned to her, their identical gazes nonchalant. “We do not know,” Hollie replied, shrugging, her tone implies that she does not really care. Expecting this from her brunette sister, Agnes didn’t bother to turn to her sibling. “I bet it is about your lavish spending.” Fiadh, on the other hand, made a more sensible answer which made Agnes take a slow stop to stare at her sister’s void eyes. Fiadh stares like that to almost everyone and her family, although Agnes was worried when her gaze turned dark like that, she simply had grown familiar with it. She was a black sheep. So different from the other family members, but of course, is loved all the same. And favored more by her mother. “Perfect, you’re here.” Speaking of her mother, she was already walking down the wooden stairs alongside her husband, Blue Bill Pack’s Alpha. She had a longing expression which made Agnes’ nerves pulsate even more at the anticipation of what news is there to have them looking like that. “What is it, Mother? Father?” she mumbles, looking side by side at their faces as they sit down slowly on the sofa. Her father looks stressed, streaks of his white hair were overlapping the brown ones which he would usually comb back before, yet now, he didn’t bother to do so. Creases of something else were written on her mother’s forehead, telling her that what they will discuss is definitely not something she’s going to like. “Sit down, dearest,” her mother’s voice, as sweet and as lulling as it was to obey, Agnes did not move an inch. She definitely cannot with their expression as dreary as a person in a funeral. “Not as long as I will get the headline of what this gathering is all about,” she aggressively replies. This was nothing like how you should talk to your parents, but Agnes was raised as a spoiled girl. So much that even manners was far from her vocabulary. “Agnes, don’t make this harder than how it should be. Sit as your mother tells you,” her father, Washington, massaged the bridge of his nose from his daughter’s stubbornness. “Fine, whatever is the matter, it should be done with,” she sighed, crossing both her arms as she slouched down the cushion of the rugged sofa. They were merely separated with a knee-high glass table with a healthy bouquet of daisies that — like the old sofa — was taken care of by her mother. Agnes always thought that such a cheap flower should be replaced with a beautiful rich rose. Like her family. Like her. “Agnes, we think that you’re spending way too much,” the Alpha said, his eyes not meeting her daughter’s. The sofa felt as though it was as hot as a burning cauldron by how fast Agnes stood up from it. “What? You’re kidding!” They’re obviously lying! Her mother instantly takes this as a sign to nod at the twins who were still on the other sofas to evacuate back to their bedrooms. “Agnes, dear; calm down,” her mother voices out. “There is no way I am calming down!” as though she loathed the floor, her feet stomped down on it like a mad woman. “You are simply living a lavish life too much, Agnes,” her mother calmly said, yet her eyes didn’t meet her daughter once again. “I am the daughter of an Alpha! The Alpha of The Blue Bill Pack at that. We are merchants. Wealthy merchants, Papa!” she emphasized, her finger pointed at her chest as though to remind her who she is. Luna Layla, Agnes’ mother on the other hand, avoided her daughter’s gaze, trying to hide whatever will reveal her expression at this very moment. This was simply a confirmation that whatever they told her so far was all a lie. They cannot even back up their claims of her spending too much. Of course, there was nothing wrong with any of their financial stability for them to reprimand Agnes. They were rich. A neutral and an abundant pack. They were also kind and professional to the other packs. So there must be some other reason. “What is it, Papa? Mama? I may have been raised with a golden — No, a diamond spoon, but I am literate enough to know that our businesses are doing well.” Agnes’ tone has finally calmed down, yet it warped into something far worse than her rage. And that is her suspicion. “I—it’s the money—” Alpha Washington once more blabbered until he was met by Agnes’ ice-blue orbs — and it lives up to its color. Her glare was frozen, as though it was Wonderwoman’s lasso forcing the truth out of him. Again, there was nothing wrong with their wealth. Before the Alpha can continue saying anything else, Luna Layla placed her wrinkling palms on her husband’s thigh, stopping her mate from lying any further. Aha, they’re indeed lying! Agnes’ mother raised her gaze and from the emotions on her eyes alone, Agnes’ stomach was already sinking. And indeed what she said next would have made Agnes run across the living room and to the bathroom to vomit her guts out. “You’re arranged to marry someone,” her mother chimed, ringing a huge bell on Agnes’ head, leaving her speechless. “It’s a high-ranking Alpha, Agnes. You’re going to be a beautiful bride and-and they’re far richer than us, honey—” her mother stopped when her daughter glared down at her. “Why?” Agnes asked, tone heavy with crackling anger. They’re planning to marry me off? What kind of bullcrap are they onto now? “I am not marrying anyone,” she declared with finality before turning around, striding off from her parents as to not hear anymore, afraid that their statement might be true. She almost laughed at the notion. Her, married? How vile. She was still not spending enough—had not explored the world enough. She wants to do it on her own, with no ties chaining her from the worldly freedom of being a woman. And besides, there was another reason she cannot be married. “Agnes!” her mother once more called onto her. However, Agnes was determined to walk away from all the nonsense she was hearing. Perhaps I shall spend some more to wake them up and have them nag me for throwing money instead than telling me all this marriage crap. Her father’s tight grip on her wrist, however, stopped her from escaping all this information. She turned around, glaring at the height of her father as well as the Alpha. The begging look in his eyes tells her that she has no say in this. She’s marrying whoever they have set up for her whether she likes it or not. “Why, Papa? Why?!” she finally bursts her bullets. She had no idea why her Papa and Mama were so eager to send her off to someone she never even met. It was clear that they were not being dragged to poverty like any other ladies out there who marries old men in exchange for a wealthy life. She had no need for that. Agnes was rich by birth. “Agnes—” “No! I want to know the reason why!” She cut off her father immediately. Her father closed his eyes, frustrated. No one frustrates the Alpha like this unless they want their heads severed. Of course, she was exempted. The most loved daughter has always been his father’s main source of stress. How ironic, I thought I was his favorite. I can’t believe he’s willing to send me off to marriage so fast. “Our pack—” her father’s voice cracks. At this moment, the man standing right in front of him isn’t his father who would yield to her pouty face as she requests for an amount worth a month of her allowance — no, this one looks like the man who would protect his pack. This looks like her Alpha. The Blue Bill Pack’s strong and competent Alpha. “Our pack is bound to be attacked if we were not going to send you, they specifically want you, Agnes. I-I’ve offered them gold and other women from our pack, not one but a hundred of them, but they refused.” he whispered. It sounded so agonizing that Agnes almost obeyed. She has never seen his father so distressed. “So, in turn, I asked what their intentions were, but it was to marry you off to their Alpha Ki—” “And that’s reassuring? What if I end up unhappy! Beaten by my own husband, father?!” Agnes shouted, her face red from trying to contain her tears. “No, no . . . They made a blood pact . . . no hands would be laid on you. You’re gonna live an even more lavish life than here.” He smiled weakly, wrinkles etched on Alpha Washington as he held on his daughter’s face. “But I am happy here. I am happy with all of you . . .” Agnes laid on her cheek her father’s palm, embracing his warmth. Of course, the pack is important, but she was aware that her father would always choose his family. Which would explain that whomever they were referring to be her husband is a trusted person. Worthy enough to send their eldest daughter off to him. That would be a noble sacrifice. A life for a thousand. Her life for her pack. She’s simply going to suffer a marriage life, but they’re all going to die. The odds were not on her side. That was the weight of her refusal on this decision. But it was at this moment that Agnes realized she was much more selfish than she thought she was. “No!” she backed away from her father’s embrace. Agnes turned around, walking back up the stairs. “I will never be wed! That will be over my bloody, dead body,” “Agnes, it’s going to be fine, honey. You’re going to live a much better life, with mansions, shoes, you’ll wear a tiara. You will have everything,” his father reassured yelled back from downstairs. “I will do so when the Alpha King stops slaughtering,” she sarcastically replies, smirking at his father’s helpless expression. That’s not going to happen. The Alpha King is a beast, so to utter a curse was the same as to promise death. “Agnes, you’re marrying the Alpha K—” he was once more cut by his sharp-tongued descendant. “I shall hear no more of this crap! I do not care who’s Alpha is this! I will never marry him! Unless he’d be the King himself.” she cried, slamming the wooden door of her glamorously-decorated room. Her parents stared at each other, bewildered at their daughter’s demand. They have never guessed that she would be willing to be a Queen if the chance came. Agnes slept through the night, her silver hair fuzzled, eyes draped with a soft cover, snuggled on her pet monkey, without knowing she was actually arranged to the Alpha King.