The night I was told I had to leave my pack was the same night the Alpha offered me a marriage contract.
I wish I could say I was surprised.
I wasn't.
I'd spent the last three months waiting for this moment.
Standing in the middle of the council chamber, I kept my hands clasped tightly in front of me while the elders stared at me as if I were a disease they had finally decided to remove.
"Aria Vale," Elder Rowan said, his voice cold. "You have been given enough chances."
I swallowed.
"Chances for what?"
A murmur went through the room.
Rowan's expression hardened.
"For pretending to be something you are not."
My heart skipped.
I knew exactly what he meant.
The strange episodes.
The headaches.
The nights when my wolf seemed to whisper words I couldn't understand.
The silver mark that had appeared on my ribs when I turned eighteen.
I had hidden all of it.
But apparently, not well enough.
"I've never broken pack law," I said.
"No."
The elder leaned forward.
"But your existence has become a problem."
That hurt more than I expected.
I looked around the chamber.
People I'd known my entire life avoided my eyes.
No one defended me.
Not even the people who had once called my father their friend.
"Where am I supposed to go?" I asked.
"Beyond our borders."
My chest tightened.
Exile.
Just like that.
The word echoed through my mind.
I'd have nowhere to go.
No money.
No family.
No pack.
My mother had died when I was six.
My father supposedly died three years later.
At least, that was what everyone had told me.
I'd survived because the pack had allowed me to stay.
Now they were taking that away too.
Elder Rowan picked up a document from the table.
"There is, however, another option."
I frowned.
He pushed the paper toward me.
"Marriage."
I stared at him.
"Marriage?"
"To Alpha Damon Blackthorn."
The room suddenly felt too quiet.
Even I knew that name.
Everyone did.
Damon Blackthorn was the Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack.
The youngest Alpha to ever take control of one of the five great territories.
He was powerful.
Rich.
Untouchable.
And according to every rumor I'd ever heard, absolutely ruthless.
I almost laughed.
"You want me to marry him?"
"Not want."
Rowan's eyes narrowed.
"Need."
Before I could ask what that meant, the massive doors behind me opened.
Every person in the chamber stood.
I turned.
A man walked inside.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Dressed completely in black.
He didn't need an introduction.
The room seemed to bend around him.
His dark eyes swept across the council before stopping on me.
For one strange second, something inside my chest moved.
Not my heart.
Something deeper.
A growl echoed faintly in my mind.
Him.
I froze.
No.
Impossible.
Damon stopped a few feet away from me.
His expression revealed nothing.
"So," he said quietly.
His voice was deeper than I'd expected.
"This is Aria Vale."
I lifted my chin.
"And you're Damon Blackthorn."
His eyebrow rose slightly.
"You've heard of me."
"Everyone has."
"Then you know why I'm here."
I glanced at the contract.
"Apparently I'm the last person to find out."
Something almost resembling amusement crossed his face.
Almost.
He reached for the document and turned it toward me.
"One year."
I looked down.
One year.
"After that, the marriage ends."
I scanned the conditions.
He would provide protection.
Financial support.
A place within his territory.
In return, I would appear beside him as his wife at official gatherings and obey the rules of his pack.
No interference in political affairs.
No expectation of love.
No claim over his personal life.
I looked up.
"You really expect me to agree to this?"
"No."
His answer came instantly.
"I expect you to understand your alternatives."
My jaw tightened.
He wasn't wrong.
If I refused, I'd be exiled.
If I accepted, I'd become the wife of the most feared Alpha in the region.
Neither option sounded particularly pleasant.
I picked up the pen.
"Why me?"
For the first time, Damon's expression changed.
His eyes dropped briefly to my face.
Then to my neck.
Then back to my eyes.
"I have my reasons."
That wasn't an answer.
But before I could question him, a sudden pain shot through my ribs.
I gasped.
The silver mark beneath my clothes burned.
Damon went completely still.
His eyes darkened.
For one terrifying second, I thought he could see through my clothes.
Then he whispered something I barely heard.
"Moonblood."
My fingers tightened around the pen.
"What did you say?"
He stepped closer.
The strange sensation inside me grew stronger.
My wolf was no longer whispering.
She was awake.
Alert.
Almost frightened.
Mate.
My blood ran cold.
No.
That couldn't be right.
Damon's jaw tightened as though he had heard something too.
Then his expression became completely unreadable.
"Sign the contract, Aria."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
His gaze locked onto mine.
"Because if you don't..."
He paused.
And for the first time, I saw something in the Alpha's eyes that looked dangerously close to fear.
"...they'll find you before sunrise."
