Accidentally Yours, Alpha.

Susie's POV: If this was a dream, I wanted to wake up so badly. I was seated at my desk with a racing heartbeat, thinking of all the worst-case scenarios that could possibly happen, as the cast list was passed around the classroom. Apparently, my name had been selected to play the lead in the upcoming school play I did not audition for. Just so you know, I was not the kind of girl that got chosen to play romantic leads. I was more of the type to make jokes during awkward silences, and eat lunch in the library instead of the cafeteria. I had even brought myself to develop this ‘bubbly personality’ just to make me seem more attractive, but no matter what I did, I always had to watch from the sidelines as the prettier girls got asked to dances. So when I saw my name on that list, my heart literally sank into my stomach. "Susie Lockwood... Winter Bride?" my best friend Darcy read aloud, blinked at the sheet and then back at me. Her jaw dropped to her chin. “Did they spell that wrong?” I sighed. God I wish they had. At least then I could have laughed it off and made some joke about Professor Jefferson needing new glasses. But no. It was there in bold block letters: SUSIE LOCKWOOD as The Winter Bride. Two thoughts came to mind. This was most likely a cruel setup by the persons I hated most in this Academy – Hayley Graves, and her squad of dumb, loyal minions who found pleasure in making life miserable for me since the day I unknowingly beat Hayley in a game of chess. Prior to that day, I had no idea she was from some royal family and was expected to excel at everything. All I did was represent my group in a harmless competition with her and emerged the winner. Since then, I had become a target for her ugly comments and passive body shaming tactics, one of which could be signing me up for this. It was either that or, Professor Jefferson, the Drama tutor and my most favorite lecturer, must have thought it was a great idea to put me in the spotlight by giving me none other role but that of the romantic lead. A sour taste filled my mouth. I held my stomach as if pained, wishing that time would just go by fast, especially when Hayley's gaze landed on me. She covered her mouth partially and whispered something to her friends, who all giggled like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. And honestly? I couldn't blame them. If someone had told me yesterday that I would be cast as the lead in anything, I would have laughed too. “Do you know what this means though?” Darcy asked, drawing me out of my thoughts. “You're going to be a star Susie!!" she squealed, not giving me the chance to respond. I could feel the growing tension in the room as more people got the chance to glance through the list. Everyone had disbelief written all over their faces. Then laughter followed, which began low with a few people trying to control their reactions, before growing into loud outbursts. "Well, this should be fun," Hayley strutted past me with the list rolled in her hands. “I hope the stage has extra support. We wouldn't want a tragic fall halfway through your love scene now, would we?" Her words hit me hard, then again I had heard much worse in this school. "This has to be a t****k prank or something.." I muttered, "like there's got to be a hidden camera somewhere, right?” "I'm afraid it's not a prank Susie," Darcy said with a mix of excitement and concern in her voice. "Professor Jefferson doesn't do pranks. He is more next-level Shakespeare with absolute sincerity and zero tolerance for anything that is not completely authentic." Then she looked at me again and I watched her face change as something occurred to her. "Wait! So if you're the Winter Bride, it says your Winter Groom is…" That was when the classroom door creaked open, and in walked Roy Henderson. The room suddenly went still. Like, time freeze, hold-your-breath kind of still. Roy looked like he had just dramatically stepped out shirtless in one of those Netflix rom-coms. He was your typical bad boy who made sensible girls lose their minds and dignity at the mere sight of him. Probably 6’3, he had a cool muscular body build and his dark hair was a complete mess, but in a perfect, effortless kind of way. And those eyes? Jesus. They were gray and piercing, the kind that made you squirm and fall head over heels in love. He didn't say a word when he walked in. He most definitely did not acknowledge the sudden hush that fell over the room, or the fact that every girl in there suddenly sat up straighter and was checking their lip gloss. He simply walked over to Professor Jefferson with confident strides that suggested he owned every room he entered, got his script, then glanced around. His eyes met mine. I wanted to look away, but I didn't. Instead I watched him walk across the room and I swear, every step felt like it was happening in slow motion. He didn't break the eye contact either, the intensity of his stare gave me butterflies in my belly. "Mr. Henderson," Prof. Jefferson called out politely. "You've been cast as the male lead. Please join your partner for the read-through.” Unbelievable. Roy Henderson, the guy who could have any girl in school, the one who probably had girls fighting over who got to sit next to him during classes, was going to be my scene partner, my Groom, my fake boyfriend for the next two months. He came around and sat in the empty chair next to me, so close I could smell his perfume. He began to flip through the pages of his script with his long, elegant fingers. His movements were casual, as if this was all completely normal to him. "You're shaking," he said quietly, not looking up from his manual. And damn right I was. My hands were trembling and my heart was beating so fast like it forgot how to do its job. "It's called shock!" I snapped back, then immediately wanted to kick myself. Way to make a great first impression, Susie. Be rude to the hot guy who's going to have to pretend to be in love with you. But instead of getting offended, he chuckled. "Relax, Winter Bride. It's just rehearsal." Right. Easy for him to say. We began the read-through and my voice went off-key on the first line, sounding like a squeaky toy that had just been stepped on. I heard some muffled laughter and whispers that made me want to just disappear into the floor. Still, I pulled myself together. I had spent my entire life surviving humiliation in the form of mean comments and being picked last for everything. I thought to myself; if I could handle all that, I could as well handle a little pretend romance with the hottest guy in school, right? Wrong. So very, very wrong. Because then his hand brushed mine, and my body froze. It wasn't even intentional. He was just reaching for his bag, and our fingers touched for maybe half a second. But this tingling feeling shot up my arm like wildfire, and spread through my entire body until I felt like I was burning from the inside out. My heart started missing beats again in my chest, and my breath hitched so audibly that I was sure everyone heard it. Roy glanced at me and for a moment, that confident smirk of his faded into a look of surprise. "Let's try Scene Ten," Professor Jefferson announced, stepping forward with an expression that seemed way too interested in our reaction. "The vow." I blinked, trying to focus on the words instead of the way my skin was still tingling. "The what?" He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, studying us both with those sharp eyes of his. "It's one of the final scenes. When Elias binds himself to Audrey. It's the emotional crescendo of the entire play. Try to feel the connection between your characters." Connection? I could barely remember my own name, let alone feel connected to anything other than the panic rising in my throat. Roy turned the page, seemingly unaffected by whatever had just happened between us. "You ready?" I nodded, even though I absolutely wasn't. He began reading and his voice was different now, smoother and steadier. "By moon and vow, I am bound to you. Blood to blood, breath to breath, fate to fate. Say it back to me." Those words felt strange to my ears, but I read them anyway, because that's what you do in rehearsal. You read the lines, you pretend to feel things you don't understand, and you hope nobody notices that you have no idea what you're doing. "By moon and vow, I am bound to you. Blood to blood, breath to breath, fate to fate." And immediately, something cracked.