1- the replace bride

“What do you mean Sophia ran away?” Aurora asked her Aunt Karen, shocked  at the news she had just received. Her cousin Sophia is set to get married in three days. Even though Aurora doesn’t know who the groom to be is, she is sure he must be from a wealthy family or a high ranked official. 

  Since Aunt Karen's husband is among the elders of the Pack, he will surely not allow his only daughter to marry a low ranked werewolf or a pauper.

“Exactly what I meant. I came back home today to find a letter from Sophia stating that she is running away.” Aunt Karen sadly explained.

“But why will she do that? She would have just stated that she didn’t want to marry and I am sure Uncle would have canceled the wedding.” Aurora pointed out trying to figure out why her senseless cousin chose to run away when there could be other options available to solve the issue.

“O Aurora, if only it was that simple.” Aunt Karen cried out. “The man Sophia is going to get married to is the  Alpha king of the Crystal Blue Pack. The largest and most ruthless Pack in this region. Sophia is pregnant with her destined mate's child. If the Royal family of the Crystal Blue Pack finds out this, our family will be in big trouble as the Royal family are known for not showing mercy to whoever deceives them.” Aunt Karen further explained crying out her heart at this point.

Aurora consoles her Aunt as she now understands their situation. Although she doesn’t know much about the Royal family of the Crystal Blue Pack, she believes with no doubt that they won’t let this as werewolves in general hate being deceived and humiliated.

“Why will Sophia agree to marry at first if she has someone else as her mate already? Or moreover, why will she get herself involved with another man when she knows that she is betrothed to another.” Aurora lamented. 

At this first time, werewolves get to choose their mate and only because destined after the marking process and so she doesn’t understand why Sophia will put herself and the entire family at the risk of being the target fire of a powerful Royal family.

“The deed has already been done. There is nothing that can change that. Our problem now is to face the Royal family. They have already sent the bridal outfit to us and the wedding is in three days.” Aunt Karen cried out helplessly.

“what should we do then?” Aurora asked anxiously. Her forehead knotted in a frown, and she was on the verge of tears. She was naturally an emotional person. And seeing her aunt show such an expression in front of her, she almost could not hold back her tears. Her Aunt had helped them in so many ways. While here Aunt Karen is married to one of the elders of the pack, her mother married a poor Omega who just works in the pack’s farm. And so whenever they have money issues, Aunt Karen always gives them a helping hand.

Immediately those words left the mouth of Aurora, her Aunt stopped crying and Aurora could swear she saw a smile being formed. 

Aunt Karen suddenly grabbed her hand and pleaded, “Aurora, everyone always says that you look like Sophia. In Fact, you two were once thought to be twins. You can take Sophia’s place and marry him! You have to help me, okay?”

Aurora was stunned. Of course not!

Marry him? She hadn’t even graduated from university yet, so how could she get married? Moreover, that person was her brother-in-law! Even if she wanted to get married, she would only marry someone she truly loved. She had no romance in the past. Now her Aunt was asking her to marry a stranger. It was absolutely impossible!

“I am begging you,” Aunt Karen en cried. She actually tended to kneel down in front of Aurora. “The wedding will be held in three days. If you don’t marry him, we will be doomed to death.”

“Where is Sophia  now? Can’t we just get her back?” Aurora was very confused. Marriage was such a big deal. How could she replace the bride? At least they should ask the groom if he was willing. Aurora did not think that the groom would agree to that. Heck she is sure he won’t agree. Why will an Alpha agree to settle for a low life Omega like her?

“He is the head of the biggest family in the west. He is also the richest man in the western part of the country! However, he was assassinated three years ago. Then, he went into a vegetative state. Many famous doctors said that he might not be able to wake up in the future,” Aunt Sophia explained to her. “It’s just a pretense to get married. When things quiet down, I will personally visit the Queen mother and ask for a divorce.”

That man was in a vegetative state. No wonder her cousin wanted to run away before the wedding. If she really married him, she would live a widow-like life. Her cousin probably couldn’t stand that. Moreover, the man was from a mafia family. He must have many brutal brothers and sisters. Perhaps the parents-in-law were also vicious and stubborn. If she really became his wife, she might be bullied by his horrible family!

“But...” Aurora wanted to refuse. Aunt Karen's expression suddenly changed. She said with a strong attitude, “You know about your mother’s health condition. I helped with her medical fees previously. Now It’s time for you to repay me! If you don’t help me, you and your older brother will need to think of another way to pay for your mother’s medical fees in the future!”

Aurora ora did not expect that her aunt would suddenly turn on her and use her mother to threaten her! This dumbfounded her for a moment. She looked at the woman who took after her mother. At first, she was still trying to justify her aunt’s behavior in her heart, thinking that she said those crazy things due to anxiety. She did not expect that her aunt had this plan from the beginning!

“The Royal family of the Crystal Blue Pack has given us one million dollars as bride price. If you agree to marry him, I will give you 200,000 dollars to treat your mother’s illness,” Aunt Karen said condescendingly.

“200,000 dollars would be enough for your mother’s surgery. Don’t feel indignant. After all, without my husband’s resources, you won’t even have a roof over your head to talk more of the chance to marry into the Royal family of the Crystal Blue Pack . You should be glad that you look like my daughter! Cherish this opportunity! I mean you get to be a Luna of a powerful Pack. A common low life  Omega like you. You should be grateful for this lifetime opportunity to leave the life of royalty.”  Aunt Karen said, trying to convince  Aurora to accept the offer. Aunt Karen came here with a mission and she isn’t leaving until she accomplishes her mission.

   When she saw that Aurora was unwilling to agree, her attitude immediately changed. She was done playing nice. “I’m discussing with you because I hope that you will be sensible. Don’t get on my bad side.”  Aunt Karen harshly said to Aurora.

Aurora was taken back by the harsh tone that her Aunt used to talk to her. She could hardly believe that the woman in front of her was still her gentle Aunt? Why did she change a lot? Aurora broke down. Although she was willing to repay her aunt’s family for all the good deeds they did for her family, she definitely wouldn’t do it in this way! She also didn’t think that this was good for her cousin. Didn’t her aunt just say that man was from the most powerful Alpha family in the entire region? If he found out that they deceived him, wouldn’t he be angry? Wouldn’t his whole family be angry?

However,  Aunt Karen didn’t think so. Sophia ran away, but the engagement could not be canceled. She needs to have a connection with the Royal family of the Crystal Blue Pack. They are very powerful and associating with them will give her more power and earn her more respect not just in her Pack but among the entire werewolves community. And so the wedding had to be held on time. Aurora was the best candidate. She had to marry him even if she didn’t want to! Aunt Karen will do anything to make that happen.

“Don’t forget, your brother Adams is still in my husband’s company. His job is very important to him. If anything happens to him, no one can protect him!” Aunt Karen threatened, staring right into Aurora eyes making her tri shiver in fear. Aunt Karen smiled in satisfaction when she saw how shaken Aurora was. She had her just where she wanted her to be. Aunt Karen then looked at her newly manicured nails and sneered. “Think about it.” Having finished the sentence, she left arrogantly.

As soon as Aunt Karen left, her father walked in with a worried look and asked, “What did your aunt say to you?” 

When Aunt Karen came, she had asked Aurora's father to excuse them as she wanted to talk to Aurora alone. Aurora's father gave them room to talk alone but he was still very much curious to know what they had talked about. 

Aurora didn’t dare to tell the truth. Her father had done a lot for this family and he was too tired. As a lovely daughter, she didn’t want him to worry, so she smiled and said, “Nothing. She wants to introduce a guy to me.”

Her father heaved a sigh of relief and looked at his beautiful daughter in front of him. His eyes were filled with love. “Of course, you can date. You have to find someone who loves you. If you meet someone you like and want him to be your mate, remember to bring him to me. I will be happy for you.”

This sentence almost made Aurora cry. Her parents were the best in the world, but the reality was too cruel to her family. After comforting her father, Aurora went to see her mother. She looked exactly like her aunt Karen, but due to the torture of her sickness, she looked much older than her pampered aunt. This made Aurora feel even worse.

Her mother needed a kidney transplant. If she had 200,000 dollars, her mother would probably recover from illness. Her mother was struck with wolfsbane silver which affected her liver and she is just an omega, itt was too much for her body to heal on its own and so she needed to be operated upon. 

 Aurora couldn’t help but think about it. She didn’t agree with Aunt Karen's threatening her, but she couldn’t deny that she really needed money. Just then, her father got a call from the Pack prison cell that her brother Admas has been arrested as he is being suspected to be involved in embezzling money from the company he works for.

Her brother Adams, worked in her uncle’s company, but he was just a normal clerk who had no access to any kind of funds. Her father tried his best to explain to the officer that her brother Adams is not that type of person and he would never be involved in any fraudulent activities, but it was useless. The officers turned deaf ears to him. Only Aurora knew that this was just her aunt’s hand work. They wanted to force her to marry that man. She never knew her kind Aunt would scope this low.

Aurora remembered that before leaving, her aunt said to her, “Call me when you’ve straightened out your thinking. I’ve prepared the wedding dress and ring for you. You look so much like Sophia . You can use hers. I’ll give you the money after the wedding. If you run away, don’t blame me for being ruthless and for anything like that might happen to your family.”

Now Aurora knew that her Aunt wasn’t the angel she thought she was. Aurora was no longer sad and with a heavy heart, took out her phone and dialed a familiar number. “Let my brother go and clear his name, and I’ll agree to marry that man.”

“Good girl. I knew you would come around”. Her aunt Karen said and cut the call.

Adams was released that night. The company’s legal department said that it was a misunderstanding. They dropped the charges after paying the fine. However, Adams had already been threatened once in the detention center. Therefore, he knew that his sister had made a huge sacrifice for him and the family. For the first time in his life, he felt that he was too incompetent to protect his sister and family.

Once Adams went home, he comforted his sister. “Don’t think about lying to me. What do you promise to do that made aunt Karen’s husband drop the charges against me?.”

Aurora sighted in distress, “ I promise to marry the Alpha of the Crystal Blue Pack in place of Sophia.”

“What? You  can’t agree!.” Adam looked at his sister and said indignantly, “That man, Alpha Kai, is a complete pervert!”