The Ruthless Alpha’s Mute Wife (The Last Guardian)

Eyes open

Marisol’s P.O.V

How in the world did I go from being on the verge of being executed by my ex-husband to now having a wedding with his enemy?

And worse, in two days.

I stood in the circle of fire, glancing up at the sky and the moon hidden behind the clouds. Fear gnawed at me as the priest walked around me, muttering incoherent words.

Things were moving too fast and on the other hand, where was Alpha Atticus?

He should have arrived at our wedding. He honestly didn’t want me to go through the wedding rituals, alone, right?

At the same time, the fear inside of me intensified as that stigma of being a curse clung to me.

I tried to take my mind off anything relating to Alpha Julian, but how could I forget the unfortunate events that happened on the day we tied the knot?

The earthquakes, the deaths, and the beginning of doom— What if history repeated itself?

I sucked in a shaky breath, trying not to show my anxiousness as another thought flashed through my mind. What if the reason Atticus hadn’t arrived at the wedding yet was that he already discovered the truth about me and was thinking of sending me back?

Sending me back to my death— Alpha Julian.

Perhaps that was the reason, I could feel the judgmental eyes of the guests scorching my back. I was a curse whose presence carried destruction. They surely wouldn’t want me in their pack.

Tension filled the room. Before my anxiety could overwhelm me, the priest’s voice cut through it. “Focus on the ritual Marisol. Remember that you are not allowed to turn to the crowd until Atticus arrives. If you do, we will have to start over again”

I hated this sadistic pack.

Something about this pack and their customs just felt so wrong.

And if anything felt more wrong, it was the fact that there was this nudging thought at the back of my mind that kept on screaming that Atticus was indeed Caelum.

For me to run.

For it would be better for me to be killed by Julian than remain with Atticus if he turned out to be Caelum.

A groan slipped from my mouth because of the sharp pain in my head—caused by the confusing thoughts that wouldn’t leave me alone.

All of a sudden, someone announced. “Alpha Atticus has arrived for the wedding”

At the mention of Alpha Atticus, my heart stopped and goosebumps littered my skin. The sudden urge to turn and lock eyes with him itched at me but no.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep my breathing steady, but his presence was overwhelming. With every second that the sound of his footsteps got closer, it felt more like he was about to yank me out of the circle and put a sword to my throat for ruining his pack with my ominous presence.

My eyes closed shut, my heart thundering in my ears until his voice floated into my ears. “I had important issues to attend to”

My heart almost jumped into my chest as my eyes flew open. I turned to look at Atticus who had taken his stand in the circle.

His head snapped to mine, our eyes meeting in a way that sent a shiver running down my spine. “Did you hear me?”

Blinking my eyes away, I nodded.

Relief that my fears hadn’t come to pass crashed over me and now, we could move forward with the wedding rituals.

The ritual went smoothly and with the ritual on the verge of coming to an end, the priest instructed us to finally face the crowd.

I swallowed the heavy lump that formed in my throat, turning to the crowd but the darkened eyes that I saw made me cower in fear.

Could they have found out about the curse?

Was that the reason the middle-aged men sitting on the right stared at me with so much hatred burning in their eyes, like they couldn’t wait to break me into two? They all had their eyes fixed on me like I had taken something from them.

My fingers fluttered to my neck as I darted my eyes to the men sitting on the left and with the glint of approval in their eyes, I felt welcomed.

What was going on?

As if Atticus knew the thoughts that boggled my mind, his hands slipped above my waist, grabbing me towards him possessively. “Ignore them,”

“The men on the right are the council members, my father-in-law’s people. They look that way because taking another Luna means that the power they uphold in the pack has come to an end. And the men on the right are the council members who stand for justice, neutrality, and equality”

My mouth parted in shock because what!

Atticus was crazy.

How could he invite his father-in-law to his marriage with me despite knowing that his daughter was in a coma right now?

He continued. “The werewolf council had voted for me to take another wife and since the men on the left are the majority, the voting process was a success,” He said and while he spoke, that feeling that he was Caelum came again, nudging at me this time.

The longer my eyes were glued to his side profile, it dawned on me that Caelum had a noticeable birthmark at the back of his neck.

How could I have forgotten so easily?

My eyes shifted from his face as I peeked at the back of his neck, but I saw nothing. Not even a tattoo.

I was disappointed but at the same time, what was I expecting? Caelum was dead, and this man was just a mere lookalike that the moon goddess had sent to mess with my mind, soul, and spirit.

“You don’t have to worry about my father-in-law and his cohorts. After the wedding ritual is completed, his daughter’s life support would be disconnected, and she would die” He said and at that moment, my heart turned cold in my chest.

This man was cruel.

I didn’t know what scared me the most, his words or the dark excitement in his eyes as he talked about ending his first wife’s life.

My heart shattered into pieces and knowing that I was the reason another woman was about to lose her life didn’t just sit right with me.

The more I stared at him, the more it hit me that this monster who had Caelum’s face could never be him. Caelum could be anything, but he wasn’t cruel nor was he a monster.

But this man who stood next to me wasn’t the reincarnation of the devil but the devil himself.

What could his first wife have done to him for him to hate her this much? Was it infidelity?

Because there was something that I noticed in the pack house. No one ever spoke about her. There were no pictures of her, instead, the hallway was littered with framed pictures of Atticus and strangers I didn’t recognize.

When I dared to ask the maid about his first wife, she shuddered in fear. With tears welling in her eyes, she had pleaded with me never to ask about her because it could trigger Atticus and result in her death.

And the craziest part was that she was somewhere in this pack house, locked away and now, he was ready to put an end to her life.

I stilled next to Atticus, trying to remove his hand from my waist, but he gripped me so tightly that a wince almost escaped me. “I am done with paying for her treatment, she could rot in hell for all I care, right?” His darkened eyes met mine and I froze.

I couldn’t even breathe.

Was he expecting to answer that?

His nails dug deeper into my waist and I winced, nodding involuntarily.

He smirked, fixing his eyes back to the guests. That was the moment it hit me that this marriage was more than just using me against Julian. He was using me to get rid of his first wife.

I could never last here. I was just glad that according to what he had said, we could go our separate ways after Julian’s pack was brought down.

That was the only form of consolation that made sense to me right now.

His fingers finally left my waist and I could finally breathe. We were now done with the wedding rituals, and it was time for the werewolf council to bless our union when someone rushed into the courtyard.

A woman with curly hair dressed in servants’ apparel panted heavily, her chest heaving as moisture gathered in her eyes. “Alpha Atticus!”

I watched as Atticus raised a brow. “What”

The woman pointed to the door. “She…she…she”

He tilted his head to the side, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “She?”

“She has opened her eyes. Luna Neriah has opened her eyes.”