Chapter Three.

A truck load of migraines struck me as I opened my eyes, trying to sit upright on the bed. After two attempts I was successful. I looked around my room, it was quiet, no one was in sight — not even the handmaidens. Judging by the sunlight that crept through the window, I could tell it was dawn. I couldn't remember how I'd gotten to my bed, the last thing I could remember was being in the garden with Alpha Alexander. 

Oh, no. "That douchebag," I mumbled as I remembered snippets of the events that went down between us while we were in the garden. He was a snake and he had revealed to me what his true colors were when he bit my neck. "That bastard."

With my hand on my neck, I immediately stood up from my bed and ran towards the direction of the large mirror hung on the wall in my room. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, looking closely at myself, especially my neck. There weren't any bite marks on my neck and I sighed in relief, knowing fully well that my wound could have closed up overnight.

I continued to stare at my reflection and I couldn't miss the fact that I looked horrendous. My face was a bit puffy and I had tired eyes. My lips were a bit chapped and I was only wearing my white undergarments. I really couldn't remember what happened after I left the garden. . .I honestly couldn't even remember leaving the garden. The last thing I remembered was falling into Alpha Alexander arms. 

Shaking my head, I decided to get rid of all thoughts concerning him. Instead, I decided to make a report of his acts to my father. Alpha Alexander needed to be punished for all the derogatory words he said to me, and not only that, he committed an act of felony against father. 

I moved away from the mirror, went into the bathroom and took a bath. After a long, needed, bath, I left the bathroom. I dressed up myself before untangling my curls, packing it into a messy bun. I didn't bother checking the mirror before leaving my room because I knew I was the most beautiful, and no one could compare. Even if I were dressed in rags, I would still be the most beautiful woman alive. 

The hallway was busy as I passed. It was mostly occupied with handmaidens who were placing colorful decorations all around. There was no upcoming festival, the next festival — iubilaeum of cessi, was three months away, so decorations couldn't have started. I wondered if my father was planning something special. I knew it couldn't be my birthday since It was two months back. 

Most of the maidens in the hallway stopped their work to bow down to me as I passed, but I paid none of them my attention, I couldn't be less bothered about their existence. 

Father's quarters was two blocks away from my quarters, so I had to quicken my pace if I needed to get there on time. Upon getting to my father's quarters, I barged into his chambers, and thankfully I met him seated on his bed looking through some papers. 

"Father, I have something to say," I closed the door behind before stepping further into his room. "and it is of utmost importance that I speak to you."

He looked up from the paper in his hand, a huge smile adorning his face as he stood up, burying me in a tight hug. My father was acting weird. I knew he loved me, but he wasn't one to give a hug without a proper reason. In Fact, I could remember the last time my father hugged me, and that was two months ago. On my birthday. "My darling Annalisa, you've finally woken up," his voice was filled with relief. "You must be tired due to preparations for your wedding."

Wedding? I quickly broke the hug. "What wedding are you talking about?"

Father held my cheeks, pinching it lightly. "Your wedding, Annalisa. Or have you forgotten you? After coming back from the garden with Alexander you told me that both of you already picked a date for the wedding."

"What?" To say I was dumbfounded would be an absolute understatement. I had no memories of consenting to a wedding. Even if I was to get married I couldn't marry Alpha Alexander, he was a douchebag. A snake under the disguise of a werewolf. He wasn't even a werewolf, he was a monster — a cannibal that needed to be put in his place. "No! No, no, no. That wedding can't happen. I can not marry Alpha Alexander, papa."

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" It was father's turn to be dumbfounded.

"I can't Marry Alpha Alexander. That man-"

Father raised his palm up, shushing me up. He moved away from my front and walked to the desk at the far corner of his room, I followed closely behind. He picked up ten white envelopes and showed them to me. "Do you know what this is?"

I shook my head in declination. I knew from the color of the envelope that they were probably good news, but I knew not the content. "What are they, Papa?"

"These are letters of acknowledgement for your wedding invite from the six packs under Trinigad," then he picked out four separate white envelopes. "While these four envelopes are from the four other kingdoms. The kingdom of Lothal. The kingdom of Cessi. The kingdom of Selenium. And the kingdom of Eortí. They've all sent in gifts and their good wishes for your ceremony, they've even promised to grace it with their presence. You know how important the wedding of an Omega is in this world, right?"

"But Father! I never consented to this wedding."

"It's been four days, why didn't you say anything since then?"

"What did you just say, Papa? Four days?" I was getting lost. The math wasn't mathing. I didn't consent to a wedding, and wasn't it just yesterday that I met Alpha Alexander for the first time? "What are you saying, Papa? I met Alpha Alexander just yesterday."

Concern dawned on father's face as he looked at me, slamming the envelopes on his desk. "Yesterday? Are you hallucinating, Annalisa? Are you by chance fed any medicine that's messing with your reality? It's been four days since you last met Alpha Alexander."

"No," it couldn't be. I definitely met Alpha Alexander yesterday, it couldn't be up to four days already. Something was wrong somewhere. "Papa, you have to listen to me. I can't marry Alpha Alexander."

"But why? You were so happy the other day, squealing about how you couldn't wait to follow him to his pack to rule beside him as his Luna."

I didn't remember doing any of those. Damn! Alpha Alexander was definitely pulling some strings. I didn't know what was wrong with my father, but I could tell that something smells fishy. "Look papa, Alpha Alexander isn't who you think he is. That man doesn't love me. He hates me, not only that, he threatened to take your life, Papa. Please you have to believe me. He is a monster, a cannibal."

Father looked at me dead in the eyes before closing the gap between us. He placed his hand on my forehead. "You don't seem to be running a fever," then he held my hand, checking my pulse. "You seem perfectly healthy. But I believe I can't say the same for your mind, did the maidens give you any drugs, Annalisa? You don't sound sane."

"Papa, no one gave me any drugs. I'm perfectly sane." I went ahead to tell him everything that went on between me and Alpha Alexander while we were in the garden. I gave him every single detail, not leaving any out. 

"Alexander bit your neck, Annalisa?"

I nodded. "He did. But the bite mark has closed up."

"You know what, Annalisa? I believe you're just having pre-wedding jitters. Even when I was getting married to your mother, I had them," Still, father didn't believe me. I was out of ways to convince him into believing me. I only had one option left, and that was to confront Alpha Alexander himself. That man was up to no good and it was left to me to play the role of a detective. "Just go to your room and rest. I'll send over some maids to help massage your body and tomorrow morning you'd wear your wedding dress and get married -"

"The wedding is tomorrow?" 

"Yes, tomorrow," Father replied, placing his hand on my shoulders. He turned me around, pushed me towards the direction of his door. "Now, go take a rest."

He opened the door and kicked me out of his chambers. I wasn't mad. I was more unhinged, disoriented, with everything that was happening. A sudden wedding that I didn't consent to. Spending four days in a state of incognito. Father not believing my words — everything was making my head boil. 

Argh! With a loud thud, I kicked the door to my father's chambers, wishing it fell, but it didn't; instead, I felt a shock through my body due to the impact of the kick. It made my bones ache. I cringed. I left for my quarters as I thought of what to do to call off the wedding. In all honesty, I didn't know what to do. But I knew I needed to take action because I didn't want to marry Alpha Alexander. I needed a way to stop the wedding. Anything. Or perhaps I should make a run for it to forfeit the wedding?

But I was only fooling myself. I couldn't make the run because the palace was heavily guarded under my father's jurisdiction.

The next morning came faster than I expected, and I was standing in the ballroom by the altar in a white dazzling and glamorous wedding gown — it was an off-shoulder with a fit-to-flare silhouette, in the presence of the people of Trinigad and four other great kingdoms. Alpha Alexander stood as my groom on the altar with the most bogus smile on his face. A smile I so much wanted to punch off his face. 

I couldn't believe it; I was getting married to a dipshit, a scumbag. . .a monster.