The Alpha's Forceful Bride

Beatrice POV I stood by the window, my eyes set on the dim moon, rising from the peak of the clouds as it casted its light in my direction. I slightly moved forward and sat beside the frame of the window, my breath warm and heavy, carving its way out of my lungs and blending with the cold breeze that was brushing over my skin. It felt like freedom, but it isn't. I feel like I'm about to get trapped in a dilemma I never wanted nor chose. I slightly rose from where I was seated by the window frame, and made my way out of my room. The mansion corridor paved straight, the looming light from the lap arched on the wall creating a more viewable path for me to pass. I walked in the middle of it, directly making my way to my mother's room. Before twisting down the doorknob, my father's voice resonated from within the room, making me pause from pushing the door open. “You know we don't have a choice in this; we have to give one of our daughters to the Caprino family. It's a demand from the pack.” “Yes, Rowan, I know, but the one decided by Wesley himself is pregnant. We can't let the pack know about this; they will banish her,” my mom's voice blurted out. I could feel the panic from it. But at the same time, I was left utterly stunned. I had never imagined that my sister Clara would get pregnant at a time like this, when she was ideally supposed to be the alpha's bride. Though over the few days that had passed, I noticed Clara's dull behaviour. I knew something was wrong but I never expected it to be signs of pregnancy. My father has a high title in the pack; he's the Beta to the previous alpha, father to Wesley, and it was ideal that the present alpha would pick a bride to mark as his mate from the beta family for the ceremony to be complete. Though Wesley selects my sister Clara as his bride to mark. But Clara didn't have even a single attachment to him, and because of this, she had always wanted to disrupt the agreement in one way or the other. Wesley, the current alpha of the Moonview pack, was very ruthless, inhuman, and heartless. If there were any other name that could describe how bad he was, I wouldn't hesitate to include it. The tradition stated that he was to choose a bride from the Beta family. And now that my sister has claimed to be pregnant with someone else's child, the entire story has gotten complicated, and this could lead our family to be banished from the pack of even worse. My father smashed his fist on the desk as he said flatly. “We have only one thing to do now: we have to give Beatrice to Wesley, then later we will tell them the truth of what had happened. No matter what, the ceremony has to begin tomorrow night; if not, another rival pack will come claim this pack as theirs, and our family will be rendered responsible for the endangerment and disruption of the harmony this pack had built over centuries.” It was hard for me to believe that my father was actually making that decision. I have never once ever imagined myself ending up with someone like Wesley; he would be a nightmare to me. I finally twisted the doorknob completely, and the door opened wide as I slowly stepped into the room. Before me was Clara, seated on the bed, my mother standing tall in front of her, and my dad doing the same, his hands crossed against his chest, and his face contorted with unsettled anger. Their eyes locked on me for a while as the room fell into a sudden silence. My father got tired of the silence and me standing like someone that's hypnotized. He then gasped before speaking, “Please, Beatrice, have a seat.” I hesitated before finally nodding, then sat beside my sister who didn't give me even a slight glance. “I know you were standing at the door listening to our conversation,” my dad said, and I thought as much. His strong wolf-detecting nose is unmatched, and annoying. Why didn't he just speak while I was standing at the door? “I wouldn't want to go deeper on this. I assume you have already gotten the hint. As you well know, your sister is pregnant with someone else's child, which, traditionally, means she can't create a mate bond with Wesley the alpha, who is supposed to be her mate,” my father then adjusted slightly before letting out a deep sigh. “Father, what are you trying to say?” my voice hitched within his sigh. “What I'm trying to say is that you would be Wesley Bride; if not, catastrophe would follow our family. I'm the Beta, and it's under must that the alpha must choose his bride from my family,” my father blurted out, his voice sharp and raising, brow knitted. I was already getting so frustrated and annoyed. What if my dad ends up having only boys as children? Will the alpha pick one as his bride? I slightly clenched my fist as I stared at my father. “Dad, you well know that even a psycho wouldn't want to end up with a person like Wesley. And it's obvious that Clara did what she did intentionally just to run from this nightmare, you are trying to push me into.” Though Clara was my elder sister, it was clear to me that she had gotten herself pregnant deliberately, just to run from the responsibility of being a bride for a madman. I slightly shifted my gaze to Clara. “Clara, you did this on purpose, didn't you?" Clara said nothing; all she did was smile darkly at me before turning her gaze away. I looked at my father. “So is that the trick now, get f**k by a random person and run from a responsibility that's rightfully yours because that's precisely what Clara did.” "Shut up, you stupid child,” my father's voice raged out, his eyes glowed green, his wolf threatening to take over. “The choice isn't yours to make, so you have no say in the decision. It looked like your dumb brain wouldn't understand the situation,” my dad added. “Father, why are you sounding so harsh to me? This isn't my fault,” I blurted out, and before I knew it, a slap landed on my face. I shuddered, my eyes widened in disbelief; silence fell in that instant. The slap! I didn't see that coming. “I have one responsibility, which is making sure this pack lives on with its culture. Now get out of this room, and prepare yourself tomorrow for the ceremony. You have to act smart, or else if you blow this cover, you are dead for sure. I won't hesitate to make that possible. Now get lost from my sight.” My father's commanding voice sent a shiver down my spine. He might seem soft and kind sometimes, but when he's angry and utters a word, he makes sure he does it. Without a word, I sprung up like a scared child and stormed out of the room making my way straight to my chambers. I shut the door, locked it, and fell on my bed.