THE ALPHA'S CONTRACT BRIDE

CHAPTER TWO

Chapter Two — The Contract

Aria couldn't move.

The words Damon had spoken kept repeating in her mind.

They'll find you before sunrise.

Who were they?

And why did he sound as though he knew exactly what was coming?

She stared at him across the council chamber, still holding the pen between her fingers.

"What do you mean, they'll find me?"

Damon didn't answer.

Instead, his gaze shifted toward the council.

"Leave us."

Elder Rowan immediately stood.

"Alpha Blackthorn, this is a council matter."

Damon's expression hardened.

"It became my matter the moment you offered her a contract bearing my seal."

Silence.

One by one, the elders began leaving the chamber.

Aria watched them go.

Not one of them looked back.

When the doors finally closed, only three people remained: Aria, Damon, and a tall man standing behind the Alpha.

The stranger looked older than Damon, perhaps in his early thirties. He had dark hair, sharp features, and an expression that suggested he trusted absolutely no one.

Damon noticed Aria staring.

"That's Elias. My Beta."

Elias gave her a brief nod.

"Aria."

She nodded back.

Damon turned his attention to the contract.

"Sign it."

Aria looked down at the document.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"I will."

"When?"

"When you're safe."

She scoffed.

"That isn't exactly reassuring."

Something flickered in his eyes.

"You don't have time to be reassured."

Aria tightened her grip on the pen.

"What happens if I refuse?"

Damon leaned against the table.

"You leave this pack tonight."

"I know."

"No."

His voice became quieter.

"You don't understand."

He pushed another document toward her.

Aria picked it up.

Her eyes widened.

It was a report.

Her name was written at the top.

Below it were pages of information about her.

Her birth.

Her parents.

Her childhood.

Every pack she'd lived in.

Every place she'd visited.

Even details she had never told anyone.

She looked up sharply.

"Where did you get this?"

"Your father."

Her breath caught.

"My father is dead."

"Is he?"

The room seemed to tilt.

Aria stared at him.

"What does that mean?"

Damon said nothing.

Instead, he reached into his coat and placed a small envelope on the table.

There was no name on it.

Just a symbol stamped into the wax.

A crescent moon surrounded by thorns.

Aria's fingers trembled as she picked it up.

"I've seen this before."

"Where?"

"My mother's belongings."

Damon's eyes narrowed.

"Where are those belongings now?"

"Most of them were destroyed."

"Most?"

"My mother left a small box."

"What was inside?"

Aria hesitated.

A silver necklace.

A faded photograph.

And a letter she had never been able to read because the ink had disappeared years ago.

She hadn't thought about the box in months.

"Why are you asking me all this?"

Damon stepped closer.

"Because your family wasn't ordinary, Aria."

Her heartbeat quickened.

"You knew my parents?"

"I knew of them."

"That's not the same thing."

"No."

His expression remained unreadable.

"But it's enough to know that you are in danger."

Aria looked back at the contract.

There was something wrong with all of this.

Too many secrets.

Too many unanswered questions.

And Damon Blackthorn was standing at the center of all of them.

She put the pen down.

"I want another condition."

Elias raised an eyebrow.

Damon looked amused.

"You haven't even signed it yet, and you're already negotiating."

"If I'm going to marry you, I deserve answers."

"You'll get some."

"All of them."

"That's not possible."

"Then no contract."

The amusement disappeared from his face.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Finally, Damon pulled out a chair and sat.

"Fine."

Aria blinked.

"Fine?"

"You'll have access to my library."

"And?"

"You can ask questions."

"Will you answer them?"

"If I can."

She frowned.

"That's vague."

"It's the best you'll get."

Aria looked at the contract again.

One year.

One year of living with a man she didn't trust.

One year of pretending to be his wife.

One year to discover the truth about her family.

She picked up the pen.

"One year."

Damon nodded.

"No extensions."

"Agreed."

"No pretending this is a real marriage."

His eyes held hers.

"Agreed."

"And you don't get to control my life."

"I won't."

"Then we have a deal."

She signed.

The moment the ink touched the paper, a sharp pulse of energy moved through the room.

The candles flickered.

Elias immediately stood.

Damon's head snapped toward Aria.

The silver mark beneath her clothes burned again.

Aria gasped and dropped the pen.

"What was that?"

Damon didn't answer.

He was staring at the contract.

The ink she had just written was changing.

The letters of her signature shimmered beneath the candlelight before a second symbol appeared beside her name.

The crescent moon surrounded by thorns.

Damon's face went pale.

Elias stepped forward.

"Alpha..."

"I see it."

"What does it mean?"

Damon slowly looked at Aria.

For the first time since entering the room, he looked genuinely shaken.

"That isn't supposed to happen."

Aria's voice came out barely above a whisper.

"What isn't?"

Damon picked up the contract.

His fingers tightened around the paper.

"The contract was supposed to bind the marriage."

He looked directly into her eyes.

"Instead, it has bound something else."

A sudden howl echoed from somewhere beyond the castle walls.

Then another.

Then dozens.

Elias rushed toward the window.

His expression changed.

"Alpha."

Damon stood.

"What?"

Elias turned around.

"The northern border."

Damon's jaw tightened.

"What about it?"

"The guards are reporting movement."

"How many?"

Elias hesitated.

"Too many."

Aria's stomach dropped.

Damon looked at her.

And she knew immediately that whatever was coming had something to do with her.

His next words confirmed it.

"They've found you."

Outside, the howling grew louder.

And somewhere in the darkness beyond the castle, something answered.

Something that sounded nothing like a wolf.