Athena’s POV – One Year Ago
“You will do as you’re told, Athena. That is final.”
My father’s voice cut through the air like a blade. I sat stiffly in the grand dining hall of our packhouse, my hands curled into fists beneath the table. Across from me, my mother sipped her tea, as if this conversation was no different from discussing the weather.
The weight of my father’s words settled over me like an iron chain.
“You are to marry Eryndor.”
I had known this was coming. My entire life, I had known.
From the moment I was born, my fate had been sealed. I was nothing more than a bargaining chip, a tool to strengthen alliances. My father, Alpha Castor Seraphael, had made the pact with Alpha Xerxes long before I was even old enough to understand what it meant.
The moment Eryndor and I turned twenty-one, we would be bound.
It didn’t matter that we didn’t love each other. It didn’t matter that he despised me.
This was about power. It was always about power.
I swallowed hard, my voice barely above a whisper. “And if he doesn’t want me?”
My father laughed, shaking his head. “He doesn’t have a choice. If he refuses, he loses his claim to the Alpha throne.”
That was the only reason Eryndor tolerated this arrangement. His birthright depended on it. Without me, without this forced union, his father would strip him of his title.
I was nothing more than a stepping stone for him.
And to my own family?
A liability.
“Your job is simple, Athena,” my father continued. “Be obedient. Bear him an heir. Secure the alliance.”
My stomach churned, bile rising in my throat.
This wasn’t a marriage. It was a prison sentence.
But I had no choice.
So, on the eve of my wedding, I stood in my room, staring at my reflection in the mirror, trying to convince myself that I could survive this.
That somehow, I could make Eryndor love me.
Eryndor’s POV
The ceremonial hall was packed. Hundreds of wolves from both our packs stood in attendance, their eyes locked onto me and the woman beside me.
Athena.
My mate.
My prison.
I barely glanced at her as she stood in that ridiculous white gown, her hands trembling as she clutched the bouquet. She looked nervous. Hopeful.
Pathetic.
She thought this was a real marriage. That this meant something.
It didn’t.
She was just a means to an end.
I had fought my father on this, fought him until my knuckles bled, but it hadn’t mattered. He had given me a choice—marry Athena and become Alpha, or refuse and be cast aside.
There had never been a real choice.
So I played my part. I took her hand when the Elder instructed me to. I repeated the vows. I pretended I didn’t see the way her eyes lit up with hope.
She actually believed this was real. How pathetic.
Then came the final words. The ones that would bind us.
The Elder smiled warmly. “Eryndor, do you accept Athena Seraphael as your mate and Luna?”
The words stuck in my throat. I wanted to say no.
I wanted to walk away. But my father’s warning echoed in my head. “If you refuse, you lose everything.”
My jaw tightened.
“I do,” I forced out.
And just like that, my fate was sealed.
The hall erupted into applause. My father clapped me on the shoulder, whispering, Good boy.
Athena turned to me, a shy smile on her lips. “We’ll make this work,” she whispered.
I stared at her, disgust curling in my gut. I leaned in close, so only she could hear me.
“I wish you never existed.”