The waiter bumped into me, and red wine cascaded down the front of my dress. He didn’t apologize. He didn’t even slow down. In a world where wolves rule, a wolfless girl like me is nothing.
The Hyde Pack’s engagement banquet was packed with the local wolf elite, and I stood in the corner, trying to disappear. I’d dressed up for this. For seven years, I’d lived on their charity, and tonight, I thought, I’d finally be accepted. But the cold looks told me otherwise.
Then Braden got to his feet. The room went silent. “Tonight marks a new era for our pack. I present my choice, my fiancée, Catherine Parish.
” He took her hand. Thunderous applause filled the hall. Catherine’s eyes met mine. You will never belong here, they said.
Seven years, and this is how it ends. I bit my lip, turned, and ran. I fled to the library, the only place in this pack where no one sneered at me. The moment the door closed, I broke down, crouching in the corner, hugging myself.
“Adela, you’re pathetic,” Catherine’s voice echoed in my head. “Foreign girls like you will never belong. ”
She was right. I had no wolf, no family, no status.
Just a charity case picked up from the ruins after my parents died and my land was burned. I didn’t even know if my wolf would ever come. “You’re pathetic. ” I whispered the words to myself.
“Don’t waste your tears,” a voice said from the darkness, low like thunder before a storm. I looked up. The Wolf King, Dallas Marshall. The most powerful man in the country, standing in the shadows, his black, bottomless eyes fixed on me.
“Mr. Marshall, I didn’t know you were here,” I stammered, scrambling to my feet, my knees shaking. “I’ll leave. ”
“Stay.
” It wasn’t a request. It was an order. “You can stay with me. But if you do, there’s no turning back.
Cross my threshold, and your old life is over. ”
I looked out the window at the party celebrating my removal. Then I took his hand. It was large and warm, like a furnace.
“Take me away,” I said. “I’ve had enough of living like this. ”
His Maybach was silent as a graveyard. I found the whiskey decanter in the rear mini bar and poured myself a glass.
The burn in my throat was the only thing strong enough to distract me from the electricity still buzzing where he touched me. “Marry me,” I said. The air inside the car vanished. “You’re drunk, Ms.
Everett. ”
“I’m desperate. I have no wolf, no family. Braden will kick me out by morning.
I need protection. And you—you need something too, don’t you? Everyone wants something. ”
He didn’t answer.
But I knew he was listening. Back at his penthouse, he walked to a painting and opened a safe behind it. He pulled out a contract and placed it on the table. “Sign this.
And then you belong to me. ” He leaned in, the scent of cedar wrapping around me. “You asked for marriage. This is a binding protection contract.
It gives you my surname, my resources, and my absolute protection. But in return, Adela, you become mine. Your life, your safety, your future. ”
I stared at the paper.
Dense clauses. Binding. Marshall. Wife.
I didn’t read the fine print. I didn’t care about the consequences. I just wanted the pain to stop. “Where’s the pen?
”
I signed my name. Adela Everett. The moment the ink dried, the room spun. The last thing I felt was him scooping me up.
Overnight, I went from a discarded outsider to the wolf king’s wife. I woke up to the smell of rain and cedar and that electric charge that made my heart race. This wasn’t the servants’ room at Hyde Manor. This was his territory.
The sheets were charcoal gray, silky smooth, and outside the window sprawled the city skyline. On the nightstand lay a stack of new clothes, a black card, and his note: “Business in the north. Do not leave the city. Use the card.
” And a ring. Platinum, simple, thick, no diamonds. But when I put it on, it felt heavy as a shackle. My phone buzzed.
Fifty-two missed calls, all from Braden. His text: “Stop playing games. Come home. You belong here.
”
I stared at the screen. For the first time, I blocked him. Silence. But for the first time in twenty-four hours, I felt a tiny spark of control.
Someone knocked. Dallas’s daughter, Azalea, walked in, her eyes narrowed. “Why did my dad just transfer you a fortune? ”
“He mentioned some translation job,” I said.
“I’m translating ancient texts for him. Library archives. ” I was lying, but what else could I do? Tell her I married her father?
“Dad doesn’t read,” she said. “He only growls and signs things. ” She leaned in and sniffed. Her expression changed.
“You smell just like him. ”
I quickly pulled up my collar to hide the marks on my neck. She didn’t press. She dragged me downstairs.
In the parking lot sat a fully loaded Aston Martin. Everyone watched, whispering. “He had it dropped off an hour ago. A gift to you.
”
“I can’t drive this. ”
“You can, and you will. Get in, Mrs. Marshall.
”
That’s when I understood what it meant to be publicly claimed by the wolf king. I never replied to Braden. But Catherine attacked me online for him. On the Howler, the pack’s private social platform, she posted: “Finally cleaning house.
The wolfless parasites who try to climb by clinging to alphas—blood still matters. ” The photo showed her arm around Braden, smirking. The comments exploded. Each remark was a poisoned arrow.
“Finally, the Hyde pack did something right. ” “These pity-case outsiders need to be kicked out. ” “Katherine is the true Luna material. ” “That Adela isn’t even fit to shine her shoes.
”
Every comment stabbed at my heart. They were voicing all the fears I’d always had. I glanced at Azalea. She was staring at her phone, brow furrowed.
What was she thinking? She’s also a local wolf. Does she think I’m just a social-climbing outsider too? My hand unconsciously grabbed the hem of my dress.
Then her thumb moved. She replied with a single emoji. A skull. She looked up at me, her eyes holding no contempt.
Only disgust. Disgust for them. She didn’t look down on me. She looked down on them.
That simple gesture worked better than any comfort. Dallas sent me to his jewelry store. I thought I was just picking up a simple necklace, but the clerk led me to the deepest private suite—frosted glass walls, bulletproof. Then he brought out a black velvet tray.
“Mr. Marshall insisted on the Luna collection for you, Mrs. Marshall. ”
The Luna collection.
Moonstones encircled by layers of white diamonds. Ancient, heavy, giving off a kind of power I had no right to touch. “Wait. Why is my dad showing you the top bridal line?
” Azalea’s voice cut through. “There must be a mistake,” I said quickly. “We’re here for his birthday gift. A watch.
The manager must have misunderstood. ”
My lie was flimsy. But Azalea didn’t get a chance to press further. The door burst open.
Braden stormed in. “I knew it. You think you can just walk away? ”
He grabbed my wrist.
His nails dug into my skin. His scent—sour milk and burnt rubber—made me want to throw up. For the first time, I pulled my hand back. “I’m married.
“
