Married To The Cursed Alpha

3

~Zuri~

"Auntie!" I yelled as I ran up the flight of stairs, past maids hauling putrid bedding soaked with blood and vomit, and bile rushed to my throat.

I threw open a door and my heart stopped.

Auntie Cordelia was hunched at the edge of her bed, throwing up deep red blood that almost looked black.

Maids hovered around her, some cleaning up, some gently holding her to get the junk out of her system.

"Auntie." I cried as I rushed to take the place if the maid by her side. She managed to lift her head up and gave me a small, strained smile.

"Oh... you... y-you're back already?" She rasped and threw up again.

"We should go to the hospital or call Doctor Jon—"

"No." She grabbed my hand as her chest heaved.

"But you're worse than how I left you this evening," I argued.

Why?

I swear she had been recovering well for the past three weeks. I couldn't remember the last time she threw up.

Where the hell did all those improvements go?

"We should take you to the hospital or at least call your doctor. Right, Julian?" I said to Julian, who was by her other side, and he shook his head.

"What's the point? They're useless." He frowned as he pushed her hair out of her face.

"Maybe they can do something, you know, prescribe another medicine? It could work this time." I said, but he shook his head.

"No... more medicine... please..." Auntie Cordelia croaked as she let out a shaky breath and leaned against me.

"I understand," I sighed, gently patting her back.

~•~•~

"I'm sorry for ruining your evening." Auntie Cordelia apologised as I tucked her into bed.

All trace of what had happened was gone, and the room no longer smelt like death, but my back and feet ached from all the running up and down to clean up.

"No. You didn't ruin anything." I said, and she slowly shook her head.

"No one likes coming home from a party to have to clean up the mess of a sick person. I'm such an inconvenience."

"The only inconvenience I know is Julian. Someone should revoke his licence since it's just for fancy," I teased.

"You shouldn't joke about that. You know the guilt that he can't do more is eating him alive."

"I know," I sighed as I sat at the edge of her bed.

Finding a cure for her was why he went into the medical field in the first place. But despite rising to be one of the top doctors in the country and owning one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the city, he still couldn't change anything.

Her condition had continued to move like a wave, good some days, bad the others—seventeen years of that.

And though Julian hid his feelings well, there was always an air of guilt around him when she fell into another crisis.

"How was the party? Did you meet Corvus?" She asked, and I groaned.

"Yes. I told him the truth and asked him to marry me, and do you know what he did? He threatened to murder me in front of everyone. No wonder people call him a beast!" I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"But you got him to talk to you. That's a win to me."

"It's not. He threatened me. He said he'd slit my throat if I ever came close to him, and I'm sure he's not bluffing. How am I going to get the man to marry me if he'll kill me on sight? Ugh, I f****d up."

"Corvus is a stubborn and proud man. You caught him off guard, that's all.

The most important thing is that you made an impression, and despite his threat, you're surely on his mind now."

"You're trying to make me feel good about my shitty situation," I frowned.

"No. Trust me, I know you'll be able to get him. You're smart, confident and sassy, and you have your mother's and my looks. What does he want that you don't have? He should be begging to marry you." She beamed, and I grinned.

Yup, I was that b***h.

"Or running for the hills if he loves his mental health. You're a crazy bitch." Julian snorted as he walked into the room, ruining my mood.

"Shut up, hoe." I scowled as I threw my shoe at him. The pointy heel smacked him right in the head, and he hissed.

"And a murderous psychopath too." He grumbled as he rubbed the sore spot.

"I'll show you, psychopath," I took off my other shoe to chase him, but Auntie Cordelia grabbed my hand.

"Please, no fighting. I want a quiet night," she whispered, and he gave me a smug look.

"Yes, ma'am," I nodded, and Julian and I kissed her goodnight.

"Zuri?" She said before I could walk out the door, and I turned.

"I promised your mother that you're going to marry Corvus, and I'm going to keep that promise. Even if it costs my life." She said, a strange look in her hollow black eyes.

“Don’t say stuff like that, Auntie." I frowned, shaking my head.

“I mean it. It was her dying wish that you marry into the Vanes, and no one is going to stop it from coming true, not even Corvus.”

I bit my inner cheek, holding back the question that had hung on my lips from the first day she told me I had to marry Corvus.

Why? Why did I have to marry Corvus?

"I won’t let you down." I smiled and shut the door.

I trusted Auntie Cordelia to do what was best for me, and I wasn’t going to fail her. Besides, anything to make sure my sweet sister doesn’t fall into the hands of that devil. Why my father didn’t offer me to him like he ought to was a mystery—Mathilda’s handiwork most likely—but hell was going to f*****g freeze over before I let them force her into the worse decision of her life.

If they needed a sacrificial lamb, then sign me up; throw me to the damn lion’s den. I got manicured claws.

Seraphina was out of the question, no matter how many times Corvus promised to kill me.

~•~•~•~

"Ugh, get out of my head." I groaned as I turned on my bed.

Proposing to a total stranger was exhausting as hell, and I wanted to sleep until the end of the world, but the damn man kept popping up in my mind when I closed my eyes.

Ugh. It wasn’t like he was that hot…

Pfft. Who was I kidding? The man was a walking, breathing greek god in suit, but his personality was trashy. A d**k was a d**k no matter how handsome he was.

But I won't complain if he gave me his di—

No, come back. I only simp for kind, charming, sunshine gentlemen, but Corvus was the opposite: jagged, cold and dangerous.

Very dangerous.

He was a predator.

I closed my eyes, and vivid crimson ones seemed to stare down at me like I was prey. I wanted to be his prey.

My hand slipped under my shirt, tracing the outline of my boobs.

One of his hands would trap me against his bed, a wall, or his muscular chest, while the other groped my skin, making me hot and needy.

Then he would spread my legs apart...

Would he be as big as the rest of him?

When we got married, I would find out.

My chest heaved, my heart pounding as my other hand slid under my shorts. My panties separated my fingers from my already wet core.

How would he like it?

A man like Corvus won't be gentle—at least not every time. He would touch me like he owned me, claiming every inch of me with a dark smirk on his face, driving me to the edge till my mind was only full of him.

The overpowering smell of cedar and pine tingled my nose, almost like he was here with me, and I squeezed my legs together.

"Corvus," I moaned.

Oh hell no!

I rolled off my bed, tapping my face to snap me out of whatever had possessed me.

What the hell?

That bastard was driving me crazy.

Ugh, f**k him.

I stripped off my clothes and stormed to the bathroom for a very, very cold shower.

~•~•~•~•~

"Miss, wake up, miss." Someone tapped my shoulder, and my eyes flung open.

"What is it? Is something wrong with Auntie Cordelia?" I asked, sitting upright, ready to burst into action.

"No, but an important guest wants you right now." The maid, Penny, said as she rushed to my closet.

"But I'm not expecting anyone." I frowned as I stood up from my bed.

"It's a sudden visit. Mistress said you should dress well," she replied.

"Is it a man?" I asked.

Had I smitten Corvus so much that he wanted to see me as soon as the sun was up?

"No, an older lady." She said as she rushed out with a dress that was too nice to be worn on a Saturday morning at home, and I raised my brow.

Who was this she?

Penny got me ready in less than a minute and practically carried me to the living room. I walked in to see Auntie Cordelia sitting opposite a beautiful older lady. Everything about her screamed calculated perfection and elegance. Her black and grey hair was done in the most perfect bun I had ever seen. Her posture was straighter than the straightest line, and her sharp features almost cut me.

"Good morning." I greeted her as her piercing blue gaze analysed my spirit, soul, and body. She seemed familiar.

"Pretty face. Good figure. A few pounds need to go." She commented, crinkling her nose, and I frowned.

From who? Me?

Excuse me, but not to brag, I was damn hot.

"Posture is subpar. I might need to do something about that nose and chin. A few other things too, but you're manageable as you are for now."

"You're not doing any f*****g thing to my body. I'm not a damn dress that you can make adjustments to how you like." I scowled.

"I'll have to work on that attitude first." She frowned.

Ok, she needed to f*****g go.

"I don't know who the f**k you are but—"

"I'm Vesper Vane, Corvus' grandmother."