The Contract Marriage with the Alpha Billionaire

Chapter 1: The Altar The altar was never meant for me. Cold marble pressed against my knees. Candles flickered, but they didn’t warm the hall. They just made the shadows on the walls look like wolves. I could hear them. Outside the mansion. Pacing. Breathing. Waiting. “Sign it,” the priest said, sliding a contract across the stone. Ink-black letters. My family’s debt written in every line. My hands shook. Not from fear. From rage. “I don’t have a choice,” I whispered. “You always have a choice, little Omega,” a voice answered behind me. Low. Possessive. The kind of voice that didn’t ask twice. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t need to. The air behind me had already dropped ten degrees. Damian Blackwood. Alpha. Billionaire. Monster in a tailored suit. The most dangerous man in the pack. And now… my husband by contract. He stepped closer until I could smell cedar and winter and something wild. His shadow fell over the contract, over my name that wasn’t signed yet. “Aria,” he said, like he was tasting the word. “Save your family. Or watch them burn. Your choice.” My father’s gambling debts. My brother’s medical bills. The pack had come collecting at midnight, and Damian was the only one with enough money, enough power, enough teeth to make them stop. One marriage. One year. Zero love. That was the deal. I picked up the pen. My signature looked wrong on the page. Small. Defeated. Aria Vale. The moment the ink dried, something in the room changed. A low growl vibrated through the floor. Not from the wolves outside. From him. Damian took my wrist. His fingers were freezing. His thumb brushed over my pulse like he was checking if I was prey. “You’re mine now,” he murmured, close enough that his breath hit my ear. “The contract says wife. The moon says mate. I don’t believe in fate, Aria. But the wolf does.” I yanked my hand back. “I’m not your mate. I’m your prisoner.” His gold eyes flickered. Not human. Not for a second. Pupils stretched, wolf-light bleeding through. “Prisoners don’t get diamond rings,” he said, sliding something cold onto my finger before I could pull away. It was heavy. Ancient. Carved with a wolf’s head, teeth bared. The second it touched my skin, heat shot up my arm. My own wolf, buried and silent my whole life, woke up with a snarl. I gasped. Fell back on my heels. Damian caught me. One arm around my waist. Too close. Too strong. He smelled like a storm about to break. “You feel it too,” he said. Not a question. “I feel nothing,” I lied. He smiled. Slow. Sharp. Like he knew every lie I’d ever told. “Liar,” he whispered against my lips, but didn’t kiss me. Not yet. “The contract binds you to me for twelve months. But the bond…” He pressed his forehead to mine. “The bond decides if you survive me.” The doors to the hall slammed open. Growls. Footsteps. Steel. “Alpha!” a beta shouted. “Rogues at the gate. They know about the marriage. They’re coming for her.” Damian didn’t let go of me. He just turned, and for one second I saw it: the Alpha. Not the billionaire. Not the man. The wolf that never slept. His eyes were all gold now. Teeth bared. “They’ll have to go through me,” he said, voice dropping into something inhuman. “She’s my wife.” My wife. The word should’ve disgusted me. Instead, my wolf purred. Outside, the rogues howled. Inside, Damian’s thumb brushed over the ring on my finger like a promise. Or a warning. And I realized, too late, that the contract was the smallest cage I’d ever be in. The moon was full tonight. And the monsters outside the mansion weren’t the only ones watching me. To be continued...