Lyra's POV
The scent of expensive leather and aged whiskey pulled me from unconsciousness. My skull felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Cotton filled my mouth, mixed with the bitter aftertaste of humiliation. I forced my eyes open against the muted light filtering through tinted glass and found myself sprawled across plush seats in what could only be a luxury limousine.
The wedding disaster crashed back into my memory. The accusations. The setup. Daphne's victorious smile as everything went black.
I pushed myself upright too quickly. The world spun violently, forcing me to grip the leather seat for stability. That's when I noticed him.
Kaelen occupied the opposite bench like he owned the entire universe. One leg crossed over the other, spine perfectly straight, fingers dancing across a tablet screen with practiced indifference. He might as well have been sitting in his office boardroom instead of a moving vehicle. When I stirred, he didn't even glance up. Just kept scrolling like I was invisible.
The silence stretched between us like a blade. I watched him, waiting for some acknowledgment of my consciousness. Nothing.
Finally, those steel-gray eyes lifted to meet mine. Something that might have been entertainment flickered in their depths.
"Look who's finally awake."
He paused, then released a sound that barely qualified as laughter. Harsh and empty, like grinding metal.
"Though I use that term loosely."
I wanted to fire back something that would crack that arrogant facade. But my thoughts moved like molasses, and sharp words wouldn't come. Instead, I studied him properly for the first time since this disaster began.
He possessed a ruggedness that seemed calculated. Dark curls refused to submit to whatever styling product he used, catching the filtered sunlight streaming through the windows. Those gray eyes held winter's bite, turning almost metallic when they fixed on me with such obvious disdain. Like looking into polished silver that could slice you open.
He returned his attention to the tablet.
I found my voice at last. "Where am I?"
The question emerged before I could stop it. He cut me off before I could continue.
"How's your head?"
The inquiry sounded accidental. Like concern he hadn't meant to express. But concern from him made no sense when he clearly despised my existence.
"Why am I in your car?" I demanded instead.
He didn't look up. "Because we're husband and wife now. Did you forget already?"
The words slammed into me like ice water. Married. The bond hummed against my ribcage, that artificial connection the healer and goddess had forced into being. I could feel it pulsing there, this unwanted thread binding me to him.
"After all, this is exactly what you schemed for," he added.
"No." The word exploded from my chest. "I didn't scheme for anything. I never wanted this."
Now those eyes lifted. His expression remained perfectly blank. Unimpressed.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Then explain why you attacked your sister and stole her position at the altar?"
My mouth opened. The truth burned on my tongue, desperate to escape. I wanted to shout about Helena's betrayal. About the lies and manipulation. About how they'd orchestrated everything while he remained too blind to see it. But what would be the point? He'd already written the story in his mind. Everyone had already cast me as the villain regardless of facts.
I swallowed the truth back down.
"I have no interest in you, Alpha Kaelen."
His eyebrows climbed slightly. "I'm certain that's false."
"It isn't."
"Rest assured, Omega, the feeling is entirely mutual." His gaze dropped back to the screen. "But circumstances have forced my hand, and I've never been one to waste opportunities, even unpleasant ones."
The casual brutality in his tone made my stomach clench. He delivered it so matter-of-factly. Like I was nothing more than an inconvenience he had to endure.
"Then reject me," I said. "End this charade. Daphne is who you actually wanted."
He kept his focus on the tablet. His jaw ticked almost imperceptibly. "Yes. She possessed Luna qualities. She could have produced strong offspring worthy of my bloodline."
The blunt assessment stung more than I cared to admit.
"You're merely an Omega," he continued. "Yet you managed to steal her place, and somehow the ritual caught the goddess's attention." He paused, frowning at whatever filled his screen. "I cannot fathom why she would consider us compatible."
"You sound bitter," I observed.
"Perceptive."
"Just do it then. Reject me. The consequences aren't that severe." The lie tasted like poison. I knew better. I'd experienced the agony when Cyrus rejected me. That empty ache that settled in my chest and refused to leave. But I'd survived it before. I could survive it again. "I've been through it already."
That made him look up sharply. Those silver eyes locked onto mine, and I saw something predatory shift in his expression. Interest. The kind a hunter shows when prey reveals weakness.
"So I heard," he said slowly. "A sentinel from your pack. Broke your heart days before your sister's wedding."
My chest tightened. Of course they'd told him. Of course they'd twisted even that.
"Is that when you began plotting?" His voice dropped lower. More dangerous. "Planning to steal me from your elder sister?"
I couldn't believe it. Even unconscious, even absent from the situation entirely, they'd managed to weave new lies. They'd taken my rejection and incorporated it into their narrative. Another piece of evidence that painted me as the monster.
"I didn't even get to pack anything," I said quietly.
"Don't concern yourself." He waved dismissively. "My mother purchased extensively for Daphne. You appear to be similar sizes. You'll manage."
"We're not the same size."
"As I said. You'll manage."
The finality in his voice ended the discussion. I was expected to wear my sister's clothes. Sleep in her bed. Live the existence she was meant to have. And I was supposed to be grateful.
He sighed then. A long, heavy sound that carried his complete irritation. "Finished."
He thrust the tablet toward me. Not offering it. Just pointing it in my direction like I should understand what to do.
I stared at him, confused.
"Read it."
I took the device. The screen blazed bright in the limo's dim interior, making me squint to focus on the text.
CONTRACT.
The word dominated the top in bold lettering. Below it, paragraph after paragraph outlined terms and conditions like this was a business merger instead of a marriage.
I looked back at him. "What is this?"
"My requirements for this union you forced upon me." He leaned back, arms folded across his chest. "If you want any semblance of peace."
I read.
The words blurred initially. Then they sharpened into focus, and I wished they hadn't.
He would provide his genetic material on our wedding night because he expected pregnancy immediately. No Omega servants would attend me. I would work at Ironfang like any other laborer. If I conceived, I would receive benefits during the pregnancy. I was forbidden from prying into his affairs. I could not question his decisions. I must never embarrass him before his pack.
The list continued. Page after page of demands and restrictions. Each more degrading than the last.
My hands began trembling. Heat flooded through me. Not shame. Not fear. Pure rage.
"You're completely insane."
I hurled the tablet at his head. Hard. Aiming for that smug expression.
He didn't even attempt to catch it. Just watched it sail past his shoulder and crash to the limo floor with a dull impact. The screen went black.
We stared at each other. The silence felt suffocating.
"Pick it up," he said. His voice remained calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that preceded violence.
"No."
"Pick it up, read it, and accept the terms before we reach my territory." He leaned forward slightly, those silver eyes pinning me in place. "Because I won't maintain this civility once we arrive."
"Civility?" The word emerged as laughter. Harsh and broken, nothing like my normal voice. "You call this civility?"
"Compared to what I'm planning for you?" His smile turned razor-sharp. Cruel. "Absolutely."
My heart hammered against my ribs. The mate bond pulsed between us, and through it I felt his fury. His revulsion. His complete contempt for my very existence.
"You want to treat me like livestock," I said. The words tasted like ash. "You want to humiliate me. Destroy me. Make me wish I'd never been born."
"Now you're understanding."
"For something I never did."
"So you claim." He tilted his head. "But all evidence points otherwise."
"The evidence is fabricated."
"Yet here we are." He gestured around the limo. At the space between us. At the bond connecting us whether we wanted it or not. "Married. Mated. Bound by divine will regardless of our preferences."
I wanted to scream. To weep. To launch myself at him and force him to see that I was innocent. That I'd been framed. That the real culprit was back in Willow Brook right now, probably celebrating with Cyrus while I was dragged toward my personal hell.
But looking at his face, I knew it wouldn't matter. He'd already decided my guilt. My character. No amount of truth would change that verdict.
"Pick up the tablet," he repeated. "Read the contract. Sign it. Or I'll make your existence at Ironfang so unbearable you'll be begging for rejection within days."
My hands clenched into fists. "I'm already begging you to reject me."
"Not yet you aren't." His smile widened. "But you will be."
The limo turned. I felt the directional shift, felt us heading somewhere foreign. Somewhere I dreaded going. Toward a life I never chose with a man who despised me for crimes I didn't commit.
I looked at the tablet on the floor. At the contract that would seal my fate even beyond what the wedding ceremony already had.
Then I looked at Kaelen. At the cold satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.
And I realized that regardless of my actions, regardless of my words, I'd already lost everything.
The only question was how much more I'd sacrifice before this nightmare ended.
But I refused to be anyone's property.
"No."