The king had chosen you.

CATHERINE 

I couldn’t stop pacing. This was madness. I didn’t belong here, certainly not in this dress, and I definitely didn’t belong to him.

“This is insane!” I snapped, twisting my fingers through the fabric of the ceremonial gown as Mia tried to pull it tighter around my waist. “I don’t even know him! How can I be forced into this?”

Mia’s eyes showed sympathy as she tied the last ribbon, securing the dress around me. 

“I know, Catherine,” she whispered as she adjusted the collar. “But the King, his orders are absolute. There’s no escaping this.”

“I’m not a prisoner!” I bit back loudly. “I don’t want to be mated to him! I can feel my real mate out there somewhere.” I pressed a hand to my chest, where a strange warmth pulsed.

I had felt it faintly for as long as I could remember, the presence of my wolf, trapped in silence. She was there, but distant, her voice always muffled, as if something held her back.

But that didn’t mean I belonged to Kane.

Durmas, the priest, entered the room then, his robe dragging against the floor like the whisper of death. I stiffened at his presence, hating how his cold gaze made me feel even smaller, like nothing more than a lamb being led to slaughter.

“Is she ready?” Durmas asked Mia, not even bothering to look at me. His tone was brisk, disinterested, as though I were just another chore to check off his list.

“No, I am not ready,” I spat, pushing away from Mia’s gentle hands. “I don’t want to be mated to your king. I’m not some piece of property to be traded off.”

Durmas finally turned to me, his eyes hard and unyielding.

 “You don’t have a choice, girl,” he said coolly. “The mating ritual will bind you to King Kane. You’re fortunate. Most would kill for the position you’re in.”

“Fortunate?” I laughed bitterly. “To be forced into this against my will? I don’t even know him!”

“And yet,” Durmas replied with a sickening calm, “you will be his before the night is over.”

My hands shook with anger, but there was something deeper, too. Fear. Not just of Kane, but of what he could do to me, to my mind, my body. 

What if he wasn’t just cruel, but dangerous? I could feel the raw power radiating off of him every time he was near, and it made my skin crawl.

“I know I have a mate,” I said through gritted teeth, staring Durmas down. “I can feel my wolf. She’s there, waiting for him.”

Mia’s hand rested gently on my shoulder, her fingers offering the smallest bit of comfort. 

“Catherine, I believe you,” she whispered. “But we’re in the Lycan King’s court now. You have to survive, whatever it takes.”

I wanted to scream, to tear the gown off and run as far from this castle as possible. But I couldn’t. Kane would find me. The monster would track me down.

Durmas took a step closer, his cold, calculating gaze locking onto mine. 

“Your wolf may be silent, but that doesn’t change your fate. The King has chosen you. The ritual will be performed before sundown, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

My heart pounded in my chest. I had to stop this. I wasn’t some voiceless object to be passed around. I had to fight back. But how? How could I fight a man as powerful as Kane?

Mia leaned in, whispering so low that only I could hear. 

“Catherine, please… just do what they say, for now. You have to live through this first.”

Live through this. Was that all I could hope for? Just to survive?

My vision blurred with angry tears, but I blinked them back. No. I couldn’t let them see my fear. I would face this, I would endure, but I would not be broken. Not by Kane. Not by anyone.

“Fine,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “I’ll go through with your ritual. But don’t think for one second that I will ever accept him as my mate.”

Durmas smirked, clearly unaffected by my defiance. “We’ll see, girl. We’ll see.”

Mia squeezed my hand as Durmas left. “I’m so sorry, Catherine.”

I swallowed hard, my throat tight with emotion. “So am I, Mia. So am I.”

But I wouldn’t let Kane have me. Not truly.

I hadn’t even recovered from Durmas’s cold words before he stepped forward again, his eyes scanning my face like he was studying me. 

“Catherine Lionheart,” he began, “I understand your anger. Truly, I do. But I urgent you to give the Lycan King a chance.”

I froze, my fingers still tangled in the fabric of my gown. 

“A chance? After everything that’s happened, you want me to give him a chance?”

Durmas nodded. “Things are not always as they seem,” he said quietly. “You may believe you are trapped, but there are ways forward. Kane is not... what the rumors make him out to be.”

A bitter laugh escaped my throat. “He’s a feral monster who murders people. How could anyone see him as anything else?”

“You know nothing of his burden,” Durmas said sharply, but his voice softened again as he continued. “Well...he seeks an heir to secure the future of his lineage. That is his only goal. You provide him with that, and you’ll be free. You could leave, start anew, away from the castle, away from him.”

His words felt like ice trickling down my spine. 

“So, I’m just supposed to what? Give him a child and then walk away like it never happened?” My heart pounded in my chest and my pulse rose with each word. “Is that what you’re suggesting?”

“If you bear him an heir, he will have no reason to keep you here,” Durmas said simply. “It is what you want, isn’t it? Freedom?”

My breath caught in my throat. It was a tempting thought, the idea of escape, of a life far from this nightmare. But it felt wrong.

 I wasn’t a tool to be used, to be discarded the moment I served my purpose. 

“That’s not what I want,” I whispered. “I want control over my own life. I want to be with my true mate, whoever he is.”

Durmas raised a brow. “Your wolf hasn’t spoken to you, has she? You’ve felt her presence but not her voice.”

I blinked, taken aback by his sudden change of subject. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything,” he said quietly. “You can’t be sure your true mate is out there if your wolf is silent.”

 “That doesn’t matter! I won’t be reduced to breeding for some king I don’t even know!”

Durmas sighed, a slow, tired sound. 

“Think about what I’ve said, Catherine Lionheart. Kane needs an heir. That’s all. Once you provide it, you can have your freedom. It’s something to consider...”

I shook my head, biting back the fury rising inside me. 

“I’m not doing this. I won’t be forced into this twisted bargain.”

But Durmas only looked at me, his eyes calm, almost pitying. “Just think about it.”