bChapter 169 /b

April’s POV

The walk back to my pack, Darkmoor is slowly, and almost like a suffocating crawl. I don’t rush, I go slow, there’s no reason to rush I know what I’m bgoing /bback to. The forest seems to close around me, and shadows twist like figures that are reaching out to pull me back into a ce that I no longer feel safe.

I have to go, I have to let the shadows pull me in that direction. Stil, my steps are careful and measured, each one is heavier than thest and weighted with knowledge of what waits for me at home.

The mark on my neck burns beneath the fabric of my cloak, and it’s a reminder of the life I thought I would have, the one that inow /iseems too far away bfor /bme to get a hold on. All I can do is hope that Eryx speaks with his father and it get solved tonight.

It’s strange, the mark is both afort and a horror, it’s a reminder of how it felt to be wrapped in Eryx’s arms, even if I only let myself believe in that happiness for one moment. I know it was temporary but I can still hope that goodes from all this.

Pressing my fingers against the im, I feel it pulse, and I know that no matter what happens, I will fight to get back to Eryx. Maybe I should have spoken with Alpha Xander? Maybe he would have been more kind had I sat and exined my situation to him?

The air grows thicker with tension as I near the gates that surround the pack house, the scent of smoke and iron is so familiar yet so suffocating. It wraps around me like a shroud and every single breath that I take tastes like dread.

Stopping, I look up at the massive iron gates of Darkmoor’s pack house, they are scarred with years of weather and bloodshed and I hesitate for just a moment before I force myself to step inside. The stone floor echoes beneath my feet as I walk up the steps and go inside. The hall is the first ce I walk into. It used to feel like a sanctuary but now it’s more of a prison.

Torches are flickering along the walls, their mes creating shadows that dance in a way that feels almost mocking, like it’sughing at what’sing. I don’t pause though, I keep going, breathing in the scent of leather, wood and smoke. I can see the doors ahead of me, and I know that I have to go into that room. I’m not ready for this, but I have no choice in the matter.

Taking onerge steadying breath I push forward, the sound of my cloak brushing against the stone is the only noise right now. As I push open the doorsb! /bsee them. My father, Alpha Wesley sits on his carved throne, like ba /bking, regal and immovable. His eyes are sharp and they lock on me the moment I step into therge room. Beside him is my mother, Luna Irene, her expression is calm but cold and she keeps her hands folded neatly in front of her like she’s waiting to strike.

I hate this, I want to turn around and pretend like I’m not their daughter, and not something they own. I feel like everything around my freezes and I force myself to take one more step in and then I pause. My heart is thudding so loudly that it almost drowns out everything else that’s around us.

“We’ve been expecting you,” my father says, his voice low and dangerous, the kind that brooks no argument.

I force my voice steady, though it trembles inside. “I came to speak with you. Please, I need you to listen.”

My mothers eyes narrow and flick toward Wesley before she speaks. “We need not, do anything you say. This is no time for you to talk, April. The wedding has been moved forward. Tonight. You will marry Rnd Corwick.”

No! The wordsnd so hard, it’s like a physical blow, a cold crushing weight that presses down my chest. I stagger back, and shake my head. “bNo/bb,/bb” /bbI /bwhisper, the word fragile and desperate. “Please… you can’t do this. I won’t, I have a mate. He imed me.”

Panicking, I draw my cloak back enough for them to see the mark, hoping so much that this changes their minds, the sigil still glows faintly on my bskin/b, and pulses with the magic. I feel their eyes on meb, /band pray that they listen, that they let me go to my mate.

My father’s face twists with rage, his dark eyes shing dangerously. “That mark means nothing,” he spitsb, /bvoice brising /bbin /bbfury/b. b“/bYou are nothing bbut /bba /bpawn. Tonight, you will belong to Alpha Rnd Corwick of the ckfang pack. His im will override any token you bcling /bbto/b.b” /b

No, he can’t do this! I open my mouth, but his handshes bout /bbefore I can speak and I don’t have time to bbrace /bbmyself/bb, /bbthe /bbsting /bbof /bbhis /bp bburns /bbacross /bmy cheek. The entire hall falls into silence and everyone watches me, Humtion burns bthrough /bmeb, /band stabs bat /bme blike /bba /bbbroken /bbss/b.

“You disgrace this family,” he snarls. “Weak. Stubborn. Your defiance will bring ruinb./b”

b12:52 /bbSat/b, b12 /bbJul /bG

Tears sting bmy /beyes, but I refuse to let them fall. My voice cracks but holds firm. “Please… I won’t be used. I won’t be a bargaining bchip/b. How bcan /bbyou /bignore that I have a mate.”

My mother steps forward, her tone cold and final. “You have no choice, child. The ceremony begins at dusk.”

Trembling, I shake my head and feel trapped beneath their judgement and the fate that they have put on me. Panic ws at my chest, but beneath the terror burns a desperate and fierce hope, part of me refuses to surrender without putting up a fight.

“I have a mate,” I say, voice breaking but resolute. “He imed me. You can’t force this.”

My father sneers and steps closer, his voice a low growl. “im or no im, you will obey. Tonight, you be ckfang. Whether your body belongs to Corwick or your heart to some foolish boy.”

My hands continue to shake as I clutch the cloak tighter. “Please!” I plead, needing them to listen. “Don’t make me do this.”

My mothers eyes harden. “This is your destiny. We’ve made arrangements. Rnd will be here before nightfall.”

Falling to my knees, I let the tears fall, and give up, I give up on being normal, I give up on trying to be brave and now begging with everything I have. I’m desperate now. “I love him. I can’t- Please, you have to stop this!”

My fathers boot presses against my side, it’s a cold reminder of the power that he wields. “Love means nothing. Obedience means everything.”

Closing my eyes, the weight of my fate crashes down on me like a storm, I can’t let this happen. Defiance still flickers, and I know I have to find a way to fight this.

Tonight is a war that’s far more personal than anything else, and I hate it.

Standing up, I run for the door, determined to get away from here, as I near it, guards step in my way and push me back. I stumble and fall.

“Keep her locked in her room, guards stay outside at all times, the windows have already been locked.” My fathers words have me screaming and scrambling away from the guards, but they grab me and pull me out.

My voice breaks as I cry out, pleading with them not to do this, but they ignore me and the doors close behind me.

b2/2 /b