THE ALPHA'S CONTRACT BRIDE

CHAPTER THREE

Chapter Three — The Alpha's Bride

Aria had always believed that fear had a sound.

A scream.

A slammed door.

The frantic pounding of a heartbeat.

She was wrong.

Sometimes fear was silent.

Sometimes it was the moment when an entire room went completely still.

That was what happened inside the council chamber.

The howls outside had stopped.

Not gradually.

All at once.

Elias remained beside the window, his hand resting near the weapon attached to his belt.

Damon stood in front of Aria, his eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the glass.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Aria finally broke the silence.

"What exactly has found me?"

Damon turned toward her.

"You're coming with us."

Her eyebrows drew together.

"That wasn't my question."

"I know."

"Then answer it."

His expression remained cold.

"We don't know yet."

Aria let out a frustrated breath.

"You're really good at avoiding questions."

"I'm good at keeping people alive."

"Those aren't the same thing."

"No."

Damon's eyes briefly met hers.

"But tonight, they are."

Elias approached them.

"The horses are ready."

Aria stared at him.

"Horses?"

"We're not using vehicles."

"Why?"

"Because we're leaving through the forest."

She looked at Damon.

"You're taking me through the forest in the middle of the night because someone is apparently hunting me?"

"Yes."

"That sounds like an excellent way to get killed."

Elias almost smiled.

Damon didn't.

"Stay close to me."

Aria folded her arms.

"I can take care of myself."

"I didn't say you couldn't."

"Then why do I need to stay close?"

"Because whatever is outside the border isn't looking for me."

His gaze settled on her.

"It's looking for you."

Aria's stomach tightened.

She hated how easily he could make her feel as though she were standing on the edge of something she couldn't see.

She looked down at the contract still lying on the table.

Her name was written beneath Damon's.

One year.

That was all she had agreed to.

One year of being his wife.

One year of protection.

One year of answers.

She hadn't expected the contract to change.

She hadn't expected wolves to surround the border.

And she certainly hadn't expected Damon Blackthorn to look afraid.

Aria reached for the contract.

Damon stopped her hand.

"Leave it."

"Why?"

"Because it isn't safe."

"It's a piece of paper."

"Not anymore."

His voice was low.

Aria looked at the strange symbol that had appeared beside her signature.

The crescent moon.

The thorns.

Something about it made her skin crawl.

"What is this symbol?"

Damon's expression hardened.

"Something you don't need to know yet."

She pulled her hand away.

"Then why did you marry me?"

Silence.

Elias glanced at Damon.

Damon noticed.

"Go prepare the horses."

Elias hesitated.

"Alpha—"

"Now."

Elias nodded and left.

The doors closed behind him.

Aria turned back to Damon.

"You knew something about me before tonight."

He didn't deny it.

"You knew my family."

"Yes."

"You knew about the mark."

"Yes."

"You knew I was in danger."

"Yes."

Her anger finally broke through her fear.

"And you still stood there and let me sign that contract without telling me the truth."

Damon's jaw tightened.

"If I had told you everything, you wouldn't have believed me."

"You could have tried."

"I have."

"When?"

His eyes darkened.

"Long before tonight."

Aria stared at him.

"What does that mean?"

Instead of answering, Damon walked toward the door.

"You're leaving now."

"You're not getting away from this conversation."

He stopped.

For the first time, there was something almost tired in his expression.

"Aria, if you want answers, come to Blackthorn territory."

"And if I don't?"

He looked at her.

"Then you'll never know why your parents died."

Her breath caught.

Damon opened the door.

Aria followed him.

The walk through the pack grounds was strangely quiet.

Usually, the village was alive at night.

Werewolves moved between houses.

Children played near the central square.

Guards patrolled the roads.

Tonight, every window was dark.

Everyone was inside.

Watching.

Waiting.

Aria could feel their eyes following her as she walked beside Damon.

Some whispered.

Some stared.

One woman quickly pulled her child away from the road.

Aria's chest tightened.

She had spent her entire life in this pack.

Now it felt like she was walking through a place that had never wanted her.

At the edge of the village, three black horses waited.

Damon mounted the largest one.

Aria stared at the remaining horse.

"You're expecting me to ride that?"

Damon looked down at her.

"Unless you'd prefer to walk."

She glared at him.

"I hate you already."

His eyebrow lifted.

"That's convenient."

"What is?"

"The contract says you don't have to love me."

Aria froze.

He had actually made a joke.

It was so unexpected that she almost laughed.

Almost.

Instead, she climbed onto the horse.

Damon turned his attention toward the forest.

"Stay behind me."

They began moving.

The forest swallowed them within minutes.

The moon was barely visible through the thick branches overhead.

Aria kept looking over her shoulder.

Nothing.

No movement.

No wolves.

No enemies.

But she could feel something.

A presence.

Something moving alongside them.

"Stop."

Damon immediately pulled his horse to a halt.

Aria looked around.

"What?"

"You felt it."

She frowned.

"Felt what?"

Damon studied her.

"The presence."

Aria's blood ran cold.

"You felt it too?"

His expression changed slightly.

"Yes."

A branch snapped somewhere to their left.

The horses became restless.

Damon dismounted.

"Stay here."

Aria grabbed his arm.

"Don't."

He looked at her hand.

She quickly let go.

"I mean... don't go alone."

For a moment, something passed between them.

Then Damon nodded.

"Stay with Elias."

Elias had been riding behind them.

He immediately moved closer.

Damon disappeared into the trees.

Aria watched him go.

The forest became painfully quiet.

Then her wolf growled.

Something is coming.

Aria's fingers tightened around the reins.

"What is it?"

Elias looked at her.

"You can hear her?"

Aria frowned.

"Hear who?"

"Your wolf."

Aria stared at him.

"I've always been able to hear her."

Elias looked surprised.

"That isn't normal."

Before Aria could respond, a howl erupted in the distance.

Elias immediately reached for his weapon.

"Get down."

Aria barely had time to react before a shadow moved between the trees.

Then another.

And another.

Elias stepped in front of her.

"Don't move."

"What are they?"

"I don't know."

The creatures remained hidden among the trees.

Aria could see their eyes.

Not golden.

Not blue.

Not even the normal wolf colors.

They were silver.

Dozens of silver eyes stared at them from the darkness.

Aria's wolf became frantic.

Run.

She had never heard her wolf sound afraid before.

Then the silver-eyed creatures stepped into the moonlight.

They were wolves.

But they were different.

Their bodies were unnaturally large, their fur almost completely black, with strange silver markings running across their faces.

Elias whispered a word.

"Moonborn."

Aria looked at him.

"What?"

He didn't answer.

One of the wolves suddenly lunged.

Elias shifted instantly.

The transformation happened so quickly that Aria barely understood what she was seeing.

A massive dark wolf stood between her and the creatures.

The forest erupted into chaos.

Aria backed away.

She had never seen anything like it.

Wolves rushed through the trees.

Growls echoed around her.

Branches snapped.

The ground shook beneath her feet.

Then a howl silenced everything.

Damon.

His wolf emerged from the darkness.

He was enormous.

Black fur.

Silver eyes.

A scar ran across one side of his face.

Every other wolf stopped.

Even the strange silver-eyed creatures hesitated.

Damon stepped forward.

The largest Moonborn wolf lowered its head.

Not in fear.

In recognition.

Aria's heart pounded.

Damon shifted back into human form.

He looked toward the creature.

"You shouldn't have crossed the border."

The wolf growled.

Then something impossible happened.

It spoke.

"She belongs to the Moon."

Aria froze.

Damon's face became unreadable.

"Leave."

The creature ignored him.

Its silver eyes moved toward Aria.

"The bloodline has awakened."

Aria couldn't breathe.

"What bloodline?"

The wolf's gaze remained fixed on her.

"The last daughter."

Damon stepped in front of Aria.

"You will not touch her."

The creature growled.

"You cannot protect her forever, Alpha."

Then the wolves disappeared into the forest.

Just like that.

The silence returned.

Aria stared at Damon.

"The last daughter?"

He said nothing.

She stepped closer.

"What did it mean?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

"Aria—"

"You promised answers."

"I promised to try."

"You knew."

He looked away.

"You knew exactly who I was."

Damon's silence was answer enough.

Aria's eyes filled with anger.

"Who am I?"

He finally looked at her.

Before he could answer, Elias approached.

"Alpha."

Damon turned.

"What?"

Elias held out a small object.

A silver pendant.

Aria recognized it immediately.

Her breath caught.

It was the necklace from her mother's box.

The one she had believed was lost forever.

"Where did you find that?"

Elias looked at Damon.

"We found it near the northern border."

Aria reached for it.

The moment her fingers touched the pendant, the silver mark beneath her clothes burned.

The pendant began glowing.

A thin line of light spread across its surface.

Then a voice whispered through the forest.

Not from Damon.

Not from Elias.

From somewhere inside the pendant.

"Find the heir."

Aria dropped it.

Damon caught her before she fell.

For one brief moment, everything disappeared.

The forest.

The wolves.

The contract.

The fear.

There was only the strange warmth coming from his hand and the terrifying realization that whatever had just happened was connected to her.

Damon looked at the pendant.

Then at Aria.

His expression was no longer cold.

It was worried.

"Now you understand why I needed you to marry me."

Aria pulled away from him.

"No."

She shook her head.

"I understand why you needed me close."

Damon said nothing.

"But I still don't understand why you chose me."

He looked at her for a long moment.

Then he said the one thing she wasn't prepared to hear.

"I didn't choose you, Aria."

He picked up the glowing pendant.

"The Moon did."

And somewhere far beyond the forest, another howl answered.

This one wasn't from the Moonborn.

It was from something much closer.

Something already inside Blackthorn territory.