Bound to the False Bride

Chapter 3

Helena POV

The drive to Bloodstone Pack Territory felt like countdown to an execution. My own execution to be precise. I stared out the tinted windows as the kingdom blurred past, noting the streets and people I'd never spoken to freely. Now I'm leaving it all behind. Without choice.

As if to add salt to injury, heavens decided it was a perfect time to shower their ‘blessings’. And it came down in torrents.

Silas didn't utter a single word to me during the entire drive. He just sat across from me, staring out into the storm, his massive frame completely still while his silver pocket watch ticked quietly in his hand.

By the time the vehicle finally stopped, we were deep inside a heavily fortified compound surrounded by concrete walls and armed guards.

Two guards opened my door, rushing me through the downpour and up a flight of stairs into the main estate. They didn't take me to a welcoming hall. Like we usually do to a visitor back home. They led me straight to the master suite, pushing the heavy double doors open before leaving me alone in the dark. They dashed out immediately but I could feel their disdain.

I quickly adjusted my sight to accommodate the darkness so as not to give myself away. The room was massive, cold, and decorated entirely in shades of black and charcoal.

A second later, the doors opened again. Silas walked in, shutting them behind him with a heavy, final thud. He didn't look at me as he walked toward the center of the room. He just unbuttoned his cuffs and ripped his wedding jacket off, tossing it into the trash clearly disgusted.

The next moment, his alpha aura exploded through the room.

It was suffocating. A thick, heavy pressure that slammed into my chest, making my lungs burn for air. Even though I didn't have a wolf, I could feel the pressure. It was nothing compared to my father's. He turned around slowly, his icy eyes boring into mine with pure, unadulterated malice.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Marlow,” Silas started, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated through the floorboards. “You are not my wife. You are a debt repayment. I will never offer you my heart, and I will never offer you my love. You are nothing but a political tool to keep the pack elders quiet while Genevieve is in that medical wing.”

I squeezed my hands into fists behind the heavy fabric of my wedding dress, refusing to let my knees buckle under his terrifying pressure and to remain clear headed.

I had spent twenty-four years being told I was nothing and can't amount to anything in a basement. He couldn't say anything that hadn't already been hurled at me by my own blood.

“Do you honestly think I care about your heart, Alpha?” I asked, as a bitter smile grazed my lips. “please.. Keep your love. I didn't marry you for a fancy fairytale ending. I married you because my family needed a way out, and you needed a warm body to satisfy your pack rules. Don't flatter yourself.” “As if I can turn your love into money” I groaned internally.

His eyes narrowed, flashing a deadly silver cutting through the ice-blue iris. He took a predatory step towards me, his jaw clenched so hard the tribal runes on his neck tightened. His teeth gnashing so hard that for a moment, I thought they might fall off.

“You have a very loud mouth for a woman who is completely at my mercy, you clearly have no idea what I am capable of” he whispered, his voice dropping into a lethal register.

“My mouth is the only thing you don't control,” I fired back, holding my ground even as his shadow completely engulfed me. “You can dominate your pack, Silas, but you don't scare me.” I don't even know where the sudden bravado came from though I'm praying to the high heavens he doesn't tear me apart on the spot.

My defiance only seemed to inflame his alpha possessiveness. He hated it. He hated that a Marlow woman wasn't cowering at his feet, begging for his approval. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper and tossed it at my feet.

“You should have read your copy of the alliance paperwork before you agreed to put that ring on your finger,” Silas said, his lips curling into a cruel smirk.

I looked down at the paper, then back up at him. Brows pulled together confused. “What is that?”

“Open it and find out” he commanded.

I bent down, my heavy silk skirts rustling in the quiet room nearly pulling me down and picked up the document. My eyes scanned the typed lines and my stomach instantly twisted into a violent knot.

There was a marital s*x clause within the contract terms. One I wasn't aware of. Father, that conniving bastard, duped me.

“Either party can initiate physical intimacy at any time behind closed doors to satisfy basic biological urges,” I read aloud, my voice faltering for a fraction of a second before I forced it back into a cold calm. “Total physical submission is demanded behind closed doors.”

“Exactly” Silas said, his voice sounding detached as he stepped closer, the heat radiating from his body hitting my face. “My pack rules strictly forbids extramarital affairs or mistresses. If and when I have biological urges, you will fulfill them. You signed away your right to refuse the moment you stepped onto that altar. Behind these doors, your body belongs to the Bloodstone Pack.”

The true nightmare of my situation finally clicked in place as I quickly understood the gravity of the mess I landed myself in. This wasn't just a political masquerade. It was a physical battlefield.

“You are a monster,” I whispered, staring at him with pure disgust.

“I am your husband,” he corrected coldly. “And you are my property for the next three years.”

Before I could even process the words, his hand shot out like arrow, gripping my waist and dragging me forward. The fabric of my bridal gown tore slightly as he pinned my back against the cold stone wall, his massive frame trapping me completely in the darkness of the suite without any room for escape.

“Let go of me,” I hissed, bringing my hands up to push against his boulder-like chest. My human boxing training kicked in automatically, my muscles tensing as I looked for an opening, a weak point to strike back.

“Never” Silas growled against my ear, his breath hot and dominant. As if sensing my intention, he dragged my hands above my head leaning down till his lips brushed against my ear, his breath hot against my cold skin. The suffocating weight of his alpha aura pressed into me, trapping me completely between his massive chest and the stone wall.

“Don’t look at me with those defiant eyes, Marlow,” he murmured. “We have an audience out there to satisfy their curiosity. The pack elders are waiting in the wing downstairs. Traditionalist rules demand proof of consummation before dawn. If they don't see the blood on the sheets, the alliance is void and my enforcers will hunt down your family by morning.”

Immediately he finished speaking, the fight left my body. I tried to twist my wrists free from his iron like grip, my knuckles scraping against the rough stone. “So you’re going to force yourself on me just to please a bunch of old men?” I tried to reason.

“I do what is necessary for my pack,” Silas said. “I despise your family. I hate the very blood in your veins, and I will never give you a single piece of my soul. But behind these closed doors, you are the Bloodstone bride. You will submit to the clause, and you will give them the proof they want.” “Atleast, your body's inviting enough. Now, let's get to it shall we?”

He shifted his weight, his dominant frame pinning my thighs down as his large hand moved to the zipper at the back of my heavy lace gown. The metal teeth gave way with a click as he began to slide it down.

Panic—sharp, blinding, and entirely human—slammed into my chest. My boxing instinct evaporated, replaced by a raw, terrifying vulnerability I couldn't hide behind a snappy comeback.

“Stop,” I gasped out my voice cracking as I tried but failed to break his hold on me. “Silas, please stop!”

He didn't freeze, his fingers digging deeper into my waist. “Defiance won't save you tonight, Vivienne.”

“I really am a virgin!” I screamed, trying my last punchline.

The scream tore out of my throat before I could stop it, echoing loudly against the ceilings of the dark suite.

Silas froze instantly. The hand on my zipper stopped moving. The brutal, suffocating pressure of his alpha aura suddenly wavered, thinning out just enough for me to draw a ragged breath. “Wow, that was a close call, Helena” I thought.

He tilted his head, his piercing eyes boring into mine with a mixture of shock and complete disbelief, searching my face for any sign of a lie.

“What did you just say?” he asked.