Bound To The Ruthless Alpha

Emara sat across from her father in his study as he gave her the news. She couldn't believe her ears and she opened and closed her mouth in shock. She was speechless. She must not be hearing him clearing. Surely, she must be hallucinating.

"Emara," he called, and she was jolted out of her  thoughts 

She looked up at him

"Aren't you going to say anything?" He asked her as he sat down on his swivel chair.

"I can't marry that tyrant!" She shouted, her voice sounding louder than she had intended.

Her father looked at her as if she was crazy. 

"Emara, I'm trying to give you a good life here. I'm trying to make something out of you. You should be honored that he even asked to marry you considering your condition," he said

She felt her face turn red with anger. He was at it again. By 'your condition', he meant the fact that she was a latent. Her father would never pass on a chance to remind her that she was a disgrace to him. 

She couldn't blame him, though. As the Alpha of the Crescent moon pack, having a daughter who was a latent-a wolf that never surfaced- was the greatest shame. 

He stood up then and walked around the table towards her. The light from the window made the room brighter as he had been blocking the light while he sat. 

He stood behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Emara, be reasonable. You know I want the best for you. You would be marrying the Alpha of the black dawn pack. He is a powerful Alpha and will be able to protect you when I'm gone."

Emara looked down at the picture of her mother sitting on her father's table. In the picture, her mother was smiling. She knew that the picture was taken the year before she died. Emara was only six then. She wished above anything that her mother was here now. 

"I cannot marry him. I don't love him, and I'm very sure he is not my mate," she said 

"And how do you know your mate wouldn't reject you? Are you forgetting you don't have a wolf?" Her father, Alpha Charles, said.

"I'm willing to take my chances," she said and got up

"Sit down," her father commanded.

 Emara hesitated for a moment and thought of disobeying him, but she sat down anyway.

"You will marry the Alpha of the Black dawn pack, and that is final," he said and walked back to his seat but he didn't sit down. He just faced the window and turned his back to her. 

"You're dismissed," he said, without turning to look at her

Emara felt tears gather in her eyes. 

She rose to her feet shakily. She felt as if her whole world was about to crumble before her.  The last person that Emara would ever want to be with was Alpha Aaron. He was proud and arrogant and had a knack for killing. One time, he captured the beta from a neighboring pack and decapitated him in front of everyone. He was feared far and wide but also highly revered. 

Emara left her father's presence and walked out of the house. She texted her friend Valerie to tell her she was coming over. Valerie was the daughter of her father's Beta, and she was Emara's best friend. 

Emara had somehow always known that this day would come. She could still remember the growing disappointment in her father's face as she grew up and passed the age of transformation and yet she didn't show any sign that she had a wolf. She only wished that she was marrying anyone else but Aaron. 

When she got to Valerie's house, she knocked, went in the tiny brick house and immediately began to narrate her ordeal to her. 

Valerie's blue eyes looked at her in surprise

"Of course you can't marry that *ssh*l*" she said as she brushed her hair back with a comb. She was sitting in front of the mirror in her room, brushing her long blonde hair.

"We have to do something," Valerie said thoughtfully

"Do you think I should run away?' Emara asked her. 

"But where will you go?" Valerie asked. 

Emara knew that the idea of running away was ridiculous. She wasn't some grumpy teenage girl trying to prove a point. She was a 22-year-old woman. Also, she knew that her father's influence reached far and wide and he was likely going to find her no matter where she ran to. 

If only she had a wolf, all of these would not have been happening. Her voice would have at least been heard. She was angry with everything. She was angry with her father, she was angry with the moon goddess and she was angry with the universe. 

She sighed bitterly

"Where are you going?" She asked Valerie as she saw her starting to apply some makeup on her face. 

"Well.. I have a date," she said smiling

Emara was quiet for a while

"Well, I have to go now, good luck with your date" she said and left before Valerie could say anything. 

Her father summoned her to his office again the following day. 

"Alpha Aaron will be coming later today to officially ask for your hand in marriage. I want you to be well behaved and make him feel welcome," Alpha Charles said. 

Emara said nothing. She just stood there with her head bowed down in misery.

"Also, you need to make sure you look presentable for him. He is a man of wealth and class. I already told one of the maidens to get you a dress, and I'm sure you'll get it soon," her father added

He looked at her for a moment as if waiting for a reply 

"You can go," he said finally when she said nothing to him. 

Emara dragged her heavy feet out of her father's office. She has finally accepted her fate, even though it means that she will be miserable for the rest of her life. At least she had to get something right. She had to do something to make her father proud, seeing as what he always felt for her was shame. 

Valerie had been texting her throughout the day before with suggestions, some of them ridiculous. There was even one about her poisoning her father and running away, which made Emara gasp. Of course, she wasn't going to do any of that. She was going to meet with Aaron that evening and hoped that by some miracle, he was a better person. All she wanted was for the day to be over.

One could say anything about Alpha Aaron but they couldn't say that he wasn't handsome. He has the kind of beauty that can keep one transfixed to a spot staring with mouth open and not even realizing it. 

Emara was in her room sitting in front of her dressing mirror when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in" she said

A maid came in just then, bowing slightly.

"Your father requires your presence," the maid said to her.

Emara sighed as she got up. She walked with her head held high. She was the daughter of an alpha and so she has to behave as one. Emara descended the stairs elegantly. She was wearing a blue off-shoulder gown that hugged her curves perfectly. She adjusted her jewelry and made her way downstairs, her three-inch heels clicking softly against the marble.

"Emara," her father called out to her with a smile as she walked into the dining hall. 

'Father" Emara said and forced a smile in return. 

Alpha Aaron stood up the moment