BOUND BY FATE

Chapter 3: ELIJAH'S SUDDEN CLAIM

Chapter 3: Elijah's Sudden Claim

AVA

We reached Nightshade Pack not long ago. The air was colder here, heavier somehow, as if the trees themselves bent closer to watch us arrive. My stomach had been twisting the entire ride, and now that we stood inside their territory, my chest felt like it was being bound by invisible chains.

The maids who welcomed us wore black and silver gowns, heads lowered, eyes never once lifting to meet mine. Their silence made my skin prickle. They led us through long halls until we stood before the Alpha’s chamber. The doors opened, and there he was.

Alpha Samuel.

He was already grinning wide, his thick beard framing that smile like it had been carved there. It unsettled me. I wondered what could be so amusing about seeing me... the girl his family wanted as if I were some bargaining chip in a game I never agreed to play.

“Oh well, see who is here!” His voice boomed across the room like thunder. He moved quickly toward my father, shaking his hand before pulling him into a strong embrace. “My in-law!” he yelled, the sound bouncing against the walls.

I waited, stiff and small, until his eyes finally fell on me.

“Our wife, come here.”

The words hit me harder than any blow. Our wife. As if I already belonged to him, or worse, to his son. My knees felt weak, but I bowed, forcing my head down. Then, slowly, I walked toward him. My heart tightened with every step, the weight of it pressing higher in my throat.

When I finally reached him, he gestured for me to sit beside him, pointing to the space he had parted for me. I obeyed silently, folding myself onto the chair as though I could disappear inside it.

“How was the journey, Alpha Micheal?” Alpha Samuel turned to my father, his booming voice softer now, but still holding power.

“It was stress free, Alpha…” Dad began, but his words broke off as the chamber door opened.

A tall woman entered, elegant and sharp, her beauty undeniable. She moved like she owned the air around her. Her brown hair was bound high, not a strand out of place, and her eyes glinted like knives. She bowed slightly toward my father.

“Welcome, Alpha Micheal. We have been expecting you.” Her tone was smooth but carried an undertone I couldn’t place... something cold.

She walked straight to Alpha Samuel and took her seat beside him, the Luna of Nightshade. Elijah’s mother.

The moment her eyes landed on me, I knew. She didn’t want me here. She looked at me the same way my own mother did

... like I was an inconvenience, a weak stain that had slipped into their perfect line of power. My chest tightened. Did all mothers hate me now?

“Thank you, Luna,” my father answered politely. “We are glad to have made it here early.”

Her eyes didn’t leave me. I bowed under the weight of her gaze, but when I lifted my head, she was smiling, the curve of her lips fake, a mask that didn’t touch her eyes.

“Truly,” she said, voice rich with mock sweetness, “your daughter is a beauty to behold. I am certain my son will like her the first moment he sees her.”

My father’s face softened into a smile, pride brightening his features as he nodded. But for me, the words struck like thorns. My heart began to pound wildly, jumping up and down in my chest until I lost control of it. I didn’t want him to like me. I didn’t want any of this.

They had both married their mates. My father and Alpha Samuel. Both of them had the chance to love freely. And yet here I was, stripped of the same right. Because I was weak? Because I was an omega?

I bit the inside of my cheek hard to stop my tears from spilling in front of them. I couldn’t let Elijah’s mother see me crumble. She already disliked me; she didn’t need more reason to.

“Yes, Luna,” my father agreed after a beat, his voice too warm. “She resembles her mother.”

I clenched my fists in my lap. My mother? I carried her face, her blood, but all she ever gave me was disdain.

Two maids entered then, bowing deeply. “Good day, Alpha. The food is ready, the table is set.”

“Oh, good! Let our visitors enjoy themselves,” Alpha Samuel shouted, his voice so loud that I flinched before quickly adjusting myself.

“Thank you, Alpha,” my father said, then added, “Where is the soon-to-be Alpha, if I may ask?”

“Oh… he went to train,” Alpha Samuel replied, waving his hand. “He will be back soon. He will join us.”

My father nodded, stealing a glance at me. But it wasn’t the glance of a man proud of his daughter... it was distant, unreadable. It made me wonder if he truly wanted this for me, or if something else was pushing him into it. Something he wasn’t saying.

Still, he said nothing.

We rose and followed Alpha Samuel and his Luna to the dining hall. The room was large, the table stretching endlessly, crafted from golden glass that gleamed beneath the chandeliers. We all took our seats... Samuel at the head, Luna at his left, my father at his right, and me beside him, as far from her as I could be.

“Enjoy!” Alpha Samuel roared suddenly, making me jolt again. My fork slipped, clattering lightly against the plate. I adjusted quickly, lowering my eyes. No one else reacted. They were used to his voice.

We began to eat in silence. The food tasted like ash on my tongue.

“Is she ripe already?” Luna’s voice broke the quiet. Her eyes were fixed on me, but the question was aimed at my father.

The word ripe lodged in my throat like poison. I choked on my food, coughing lightly. We all knew what she meant.

“She will be soon,” my father answered easily, his tone calm, as though he weren’t cutting me open with every word. “By the coming moon, she will turn eighteen. She will be ripe by then. Alpha Elijah can have her anytime.”

My chest squeezed painfully, my heart dropping so low I thought it would tear out of me. He called him Alpha, though the title wasn’t yet his. My father was already bending to them.

Before I could swallow the panic rising, a voice cut through the hall.

“Father.”

It was deep, steady, and so familiar to Alpha Samuel’s that it needed no introduction.

Elijah Rummon.

I didn’t dare turn immediately. My breath hitched, my palms damp. His footsteps echoed as he walked toward us.

“Come here, son,” Alpha Samuel’s proud voice called out. “Your wife has arrived, waiting for you since.”

I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.

He didn’t come to me first. He went to his mother. She giggled softly as he bent and kissed her cheek. “Aww, my sweet boy. Welcome. How was the training?” Her hands wrapped around him briefly, but he pulled back quickly.

“It was great. I killed two rogues.”

The words dropped into me like stones. My heart fell straight to my stomach. I raised my head despite myself, and our eyes met for the first time.

Fear struck me, sharp and cold.

Two wolves. He had killed two wolves. Rogues or not, they were still wolves like us. Maybe they had families, maybe they were lost or broken, but they didn’t deserve death like that. My throat tightened, fighting tears that threatened to escape.

“That’s my boy,” Samuel boomed proudly. “I know you will do well once I step down. My true heir.”

Elijah bowed his head once before Alpha Samuel gestured. “Go, sit, and eat.”

He nodded, his movements calm, controlled. He walked toward the seat opposite him, not far from me, and sat down.

And then his eyes were back on me.

I hadn’t meant to, but my head turned to him again, drawn against my will. His eyes were like ice, emotionless, unreadable. His hair was jet black, falling against his forehead, and his lips were pink, too soft for the cold expression he wore.

Danger and beauty tangled in him, and I hated how easily I noticed it.

“I can see you already like each other,” Luna’s voice broke the silence, her sly smile spreading as she looked between us.

Heat rushed up my neck. I cleared my throat, turning my face away, but then his voice came low, calm, cold.

“She’s beautiful.”

The cutlery slipped slightly in my hand. My heart gave a painful lurch.

Then, without hesitation, he turned to my father. “Can I start having her?”

The words shattered me. My chest constricted so tightly I could barely breathe. Did he just ask that here? In front of everyone?!

My father’s voice came steady, unbothered. “I would advise you to wed her first. By then she will be ripe for you to have anytime.”

They talked as if I wasn’t sitting here. As if I were a fruit to be picked, nothing more.

“When is the wedding, Father?” Elijah asked, eyes never leaving mine now.

Alpha Samuel looked to my father to answer him.

“In a month,” he answered.

But Elijah’s gaze lingered, colder than befor

e. “I want us to get married tomorrow.”

The air stilled. My eyes widened, my throat closing around words I couldn’t speak.

Tomorrow?!