CHAPTER 002
1374 Words
CHAPTER 002
"Isabella, please look at me."
She looked at the window, and her eyes were filled with guilt in the face of her father. Outside, life looked normal. Edmund was smiling because he was behind the wheel of the new silver Benz that their father had purchased for him. Nick was holding his girlfriend by the arm and had her shoulder looped over, and both were laughing as they strolled down the avenue. Noah, the last born, ran away with a company of boys, callous and noisy.
And her?
It was she who was told to get married to a man that she had never seen. A man who was not her mate. She chose a man who was selected by her father and Alpha Edward of the Red Moon Pack.
She felt the words sink into her heart, and she could not draw a breath.
Her father sighed into the dead air of a room and was gone. The door closed, and she was alone. It had too final a sound, a turned-on-freedom sound.
Only then did the tears overflow. They were very quick and very hot and dripped on her hands as she wiped them away, almost furious. Shedding tears would not make any difference, but to restrain it had been like drowning.
Have arranged marriages ever caused happiness? Not once in all her tales that she had heard. Her father had found his mate. So had her mother. Her brothers would too. They would date, play, and wait until they spotted their chosen ones. But her way had been stolen from her.
She pulled her trunk case out of the closet and flung it open on the bed. The empty space mocked her.
Her father had told her that Omegas could come and pack her, but she had refused. It was the last day she would spend in her room, the last night she spent under this roof. She would prefer to keep quiet even if it involved ironing clothes with trembling hands.
They had not yet informed her brothers of it. Until the day of her departure, she was not to utter a word. Everything would be smashed open tomorrow.
The door creaked. She did not have to turn and knew that her father was standing behind her. She was bending down and folding up clothes in the suitcase, and she did not want to give him her eyes.
"I brought you another suitcase," I said kindly as though that would comfort her. "It is Chanel. Like your other one. I know you like that brand."
He lowered it and touched her arm with his hand. She flinched and pulled away.
You are my little girl, Isabella, yet Mrs. Tulliver, he whispered.
With anger trembling her physical frame, she turned back. She looked in his eyes and hoped that he could read the bitterness in hers.
"Really? Would you give her to a stranger if you knew she was really your little girl? Would you trade her for power?" She breathed out her words, one after another, slowly and harshly, to stab.
His mouth tightened.
"It is for the good—"
"Of the pack. Yes, I heard you already." She interrupted him and walked into her closet.
Nothing he would say would ever suffice. He had not asked her. He had commanded her.
That memory was fresh as though it had been only a few seconds old.
Flashback.
"I am not marrying anyone!"
She broke into crying and stood in front of her parents. The bridge of her nose was pinched tiredly and in exasperation by her mother. Her father sat behind his desk and rubbed his stubble on his jaw, then rose to his feet.
Sweetheart, on behalf of the pack, this he meant, and he hoped that patience might make her take it. As Alpha, I should do what is most beneficial to all.
By selling your daughter to a stranger? Her voice was shrill, and her chest was up and down too quickly.
By establishing an alliance with one of the most powerful packs in the nation.
"Give them land. Give them money. Give them warriors. Why me? Why do I have to be the price?"
Her father's eyes flashed. His roar shook the walls. "Lower your voice!"
The room fell silent. His words came out like steel. "This is not a choice. The decision is made. The deal is sealed. You will marry Alpha Edward. That is final!" His hand knocked on the table, shaking it.
Her mother at last raised her head, her voice so sweet, like sugar over poison.
You will continue with your comfortable life. Money will be sent out to your card. You can buy whatever you want. We may even give you an allowance of a few thousand a month more; we can have that.
It is not money. She had to speak in a low voice since raising her voice would be imprecise, as it would tremble.
"Oh, darling. Perhaps it is not the issue, but some shopping will do. Retail therapy always works." Her mother massaged her hair at the back of the ear of Isabella; her hand was to comfort.
Her teeth sank into Isabella.
"Do you want me to help you pack?" Her mother smiled at her with the same gentleness.
The memory terminated as soon as it had begun.Her father's voice pulled her back. "Your brothers will be told tomorrow. Do not hold out hope that they can change this. It is already done." His words carried a faint tremor.
He set a wallet on her bed. "The credit card will refill every week. There is cash. Emergency numbers for your car. Everything you need."
He shifted on his feet, uncomfortable in his own skin. "Maybe you would like a new car? We can buy one together before you leave." His eyes lit with a weak sparkle, a desperate offer.
She did not even look up. He thought gifts could mend wounds. That was always his way. Cry, and he brought jewelry. Fail a test, and he brought a car. No problem in his world could not be fixed with money.
"No," she said flatly, tossing another shirt into the suitcase.
"Isabella—"
"Just leave!" The shout tore from her chest before she could stop it. Her face burned with anger, her eyes hot with unshed tears. She wanted to hurl sharper words, words that would cut deeper.
"I only need you to understand—"
"I will never understand," she hissed. "Never. You gave your daughter away. You did it against her will. And now you expect me to make peace with it? To forgive you so you can sleep at night? No. You made this choice. You live with it."
Her words landed like blows.
His shoulders sagged. He nodded once. "I will see you at dinner."
"Send an Omega. I will not sit at the table and pretend we are a family. Not for one last night."
The color drained from his face. His cheeks reddened, his lips parted like he wanted to argue, but no sound came.
She turned from him, finished with the conversation. She gathered her makeup, perfumes, and creams and packed them tightly into smaller bags. The zipper scraped shut like finality.
Laughter floated through the walls, her brothers' voices echoing as they entered the house. Edmund bragged about a fight and how he had punched some boy square in the face. The sound of their joy stung her, but a small smile tugged at her lips anyway.
At eight, an Omega brought dinner to her room. Her brothers had asked why she had not joined them, and her father had lied, saying she felt sick. Not untrue, but not the whole truth.
Tomorrow would change everything.
No one knew but her parents.
Tomorrow she would leave to marry Alpha Edward of the Red Moon Pack.
A stranger.
A man who was not her mate.
And the question that sank deep into her heart, the one that made her chest tighten as the night stretched on--
What kind of man was he? And would he destroy her before she even had the chance to fight back?
- Writer
