2. Collateral Bride

Chapter Two

Nina

“Nina, you should rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day for you “ was the only thing Nathan, my twin brother said with a grim face.

Nathan and I look almost exactly alike. Both tall with long legs with the exception of my boobs ,my curvy hips and long hair. He only senior me for 3 minutes yet he acts too serious and invested in the bloody affairs of the Moonlight Pack and its mafia associates which I have zero interest in,besides women are only meant to breed heir and pleasure their mate according to father’s words.

“How could you do this to me Nathan? You are my twin brother! You are supposed to be protecting me, can’t you fight for me?” I cried punching his chest.

“It is always the Pack before the family. You should know that's the law of Moonlight Pack and whoever goes against it will be tagged as a traitor and an exiled outcast immediately ” he said loudly while holding my hands away from his chest.

“Get out …” I barked at him feeling alone and dejected.What crime did I commit to be cursed with such cruel fate?

In our world , getting married for love is rare and almost impossible but I silently hope and crave for a taste of the romance I watch on tv and read in books.

I went to an all girls boarding school and lived a completely sheltered life. It's almost impossible to even meet men apart from family members but volunteering at the Clinic right after high school made me see life with a glimmer of hope. It's deeply satisfying to help and care for people when they are at their lowest and I am already making new friends too. Iwas secretly hoping to find love soon before my current predicament slapped me on the face.

You must be wondering why I hate Alpha Lucas this much right? He is quite a handsome man , wealthy and the heir set to rule the Moonlight Pack after his father. He seems like a good catch superficially but beside hearing the rumours of his wicked ways, I personally had to tend to 7 girls on different occasions that were badly sexually forced and abused by him leaving them with bloody bruises mostly in their private parts, chest area and even other parts of their body that led to some medical complications.

Alpha Lucas. goes ahead to even bite and injure some of the ladies with his claws which left scars behind, there were even two cases involving minor girls but being the Alpha heir ,no one dares to report him to the authorities .The few that tried to report and bring him to justice immediately got missing and their dead bodies were found later,brutally killed and left to rot.

I have also heard rumours of his sex slave clubs and his wild lifestyle too,the few injuries I tend to and saw with my own eyes have scarred a part of me for life and my hatred for him has no limit.

There’s no way I’m marrying that monster.

I Kept pacing up and down in my purple themed medium size room,thinking of a way to escape on my own without getting noticed before tomorrow morning when my phone blinked with a notification, it was a message from Nathan.

Twiny Nathan: So sorry Nina,had to act like that because Alpha Lucas left four of his sensitive delta werewolves to guard and watch over you. 2 of them at your door ,one at the front gate and the other at the back gate.

After reading his message, I went to open my door to check for myself and he was right, two ugly looking Soldiers were standing at alert on both sides of my door.

“Oh,no!” And I was being mean to my twin brother earlier on, I know and have hope that Nathan will always protect me and help me find a way out of this mess.

Me: Sorry , I shouted at you.What’s the plan now?

I quickly texted him back ,knowing that Nathan is the king of sneaking around. He started sneaking to go to parties and clubbing with his friends. Since he was only 14 years old, I always stayed up late reading romance books while keeping guard for him. I hope his sneaking skills will finally come to use today.

The 6 minutes it took for him to reply back to my message felt like eternity.

Twiny Nathan: Father also placed some soldiers guards.If we must do anything , it has to be tomorrow when it’s least suspicious.

Me: Okay,keep me posted and get me some cash ready just in case of emergency.

Twiny Nathan: Trust me Nina, everything is going to be alright.

I kept my phone on the bed and quickly picked a bigger sized school bag and put in my black jeans pants ,a black hoodie,some undies, some of the face mask I used for the clinic and all my three thousand and twenty cents allowance,ready to run away from home for good.

I got more frustrated and convinced that the universe is against me when I tried to fit some of my favorite hardcover romance novels into my escape bag and there wasn't enough space to fix even a single one.

I finally sighed ,tired of crying and went to take a hot bath , gently massaging the swollen injuries father inflicted on me while silently wondering and hoping he doesn’t hit mother in secret and makes her keep quiet about it.

*****

After tossing and rolling restlessly in my bed for hours before I could finally get some few hours of sleep, I still woke up with a banging headache hoping that all this was just a bad nightmare.

“Wake up Bridey, the makeup team are here!” My mothers high-pitched voice entered my room as she dragged my thick curtains open, making the bright sun shine directly on my eyes, almost blinding me.

“It will be nice for me to get blind from the sun and get rejected by Alphas Lucas” I said, closing my eyes and feeling helpless.

“We don’t have time to waste with such silly talks,we need to get you ready ” said my mother as she welcomed two young women holding several shopping boxes into my still messy room from the drama of last night.

“Alpha Lucas personally sent these ladies and gifts to help you prepare for your big day”

“Mother , we don’t have to do this' ' I whispered as she came to sit beside me with her face having visible eye bags too.

“It’s beyond me Nina, you will make a beautiful bride” she answered gently, squeezing my hands.

“Do I have to get married today ? At Least give me some time to invite some friends, to prepare…” and plan my escape but she doesn’t need to know that.

“ The Alpha King and his heir insisted, time is against us besides they were smitten by your beauty and they insisted on handling everything for the wedding ceremony “ I rolled my eyes and picked my phone to check for messages from Nathan before mother and the two ladies led me into the bathroom , to help me shower shampoo and shave thoroughly.

My body was lifeless and limp, following their movements and instructions like a zombie as they applied different kinds of cream and perfumes on me.

Still no message from Nathan , I peeked at the door and saw that the soldiers were still guarding my room. I sighed , my legs anxiously shaking as I watched the two women busy setting makeup kits and bringing out different clothing items and shoes from luxurious brands.

I looked at my mother who was busy directing them on what to do. I have so many questions to ask her but her aloof behavior towards the whole collateral wedding is annoying.

What political power is her and father talking about?

Isn’t there another way around this and setting the debts?

Why will Alpha Lucas choose me,a common omega when there are other younger and older ladies in the Pack with higher ranks?

What about my wedding night?

I am yet to have my first kiss and I don’t even know how to have sex, I don't even want to imagine having sex and loosing my virginity especially to that Alpha Lucas, a beast and maniac in bed .

I sighed for the hundredth time this morning,too tired to cry as the reality silently started kicking in. There is no escape ,I’m going to be caged to a beast for the rest of my life with the approval of my parents.

“Eat something and we can continue with the makeup and hair styling” said mother after she dragged me out of the toilet where I spent more than thirty minutes texting and waiting for Nathan to text me the escape plan.

I ate the delicious smelling cheese and macaroni till my empty stomach from yesterday was full. I will need as much energy as I can get to survive today.

“Some wine to help with the nerves' ' mother said calmly but her shaky hands spilling the wine gave her away, at least this showed that she feels some kind of guilt and pity for me in this mess. I might consider forgiving her if I make it out of this alive.

I sat down lifelessly as the ladies continued dolling me up ,dressing me in the most skimpy, lacy and transparent red lingerie I have ever seen in my life.

I felt like a whore being wrapped up as a pretty prey for some beast to unwrap.

My long ginger red wavy hair was straightened and flat ironed as they dropped softly on my shoulders.

The pearl bead crown on my hair matched with the design of the earrings.

The embroidery design of the wedding gown is simple yet elegant .The sparkling white body con bridal dress emphasized my hourglass shape and the fabric is soft. I would have been happy with the dress if this was in a different scenario or a different groom, more tolerable groom.

“You look beautiful Nina” mother said, cleaning the non-stop tears from her pretty face,she looks elegantly beautiful in her peach coloures dinner gown.Everyone around us kept saying we got our looks from her and the ginger red hair from father.

I nodded and didn’t say a word, didn’t shed a tear as I stared at the beautiful stranger looking back at me from the reflection of the mirror.

Can’t believe I’m getting married overnight to a stranger that I have never spoken to, with no friends, no plans , my dream of going to nursing school tarnished. It was so foolish of me to think there’s a chance for me to experience true love and have the wedding of my dreams to my fated mate.

“Alpha Lucas is here to see Nina” was the only thing father said when he came to my room without a knock.I haven’t seen him since our encounter yesterday ,he looks refreshed and is already dressed in a black suit. He gave me a stern warning look before leading mother and everyone out of the room.

I tried breathing in and out to calm my raging heartbeat ,the room suddenly feeling air tight when I felt his menacing cruel presence behind me.

“What piece of meat do we have here?”