01. Substitute Bride

Raquel's Point of View

The full moon shone brightly with its beautiful appearance, its light piercing through the thin curtains in the room.

I sat on the edge of the bed, gazing out the window calmly. However, my heart was beating very fast.

Afraid and confused.

How to say it, I shouldn't be in this place. I should still be in my small room, looking at a photo of my mother and my younger self, smiling brightly under the sunlight.

I shouldn't be here, sitting and waiting for that man to come.

Yet, I dare not leave, I have nowhere to go.

The sound of the bedroom door opening startled me, but I didn't dare to look back, only sharpening my sense of hearing. Firm and resolute footsteps approached.

Then the cold and dominant voice of the man sounded, piercing my ears, making my body tense.

"Stand up!" he said, clearly not accepting any refusal.

I stood up without delaying even for a moment. Facing the man, Isaac Kingston, who exuded a frightening and powerful aura.

"Lift your face," Isaac said again.

I followed his words, raising my face and accidentally catching a glimpse of his cold, handsome face, and those eyes with different colors that seemed to penetrate me deeply.

I quickly averted my gaze, but Isaac's hot hand gripped my jaw, forcing me to look at him.

Isaac's face came close into my view, and I immediately closed my eyes. His cold voice sounded slightly hoarse as he spoke into my ear, "It's the night of the full moon. Do you know what will happen next, don't you?"

"Mm... hmm," I answered with difficulty.

I could feel his large and warm hand possessively encircling my waist, making me think that even if this shouldn't be mine, I wanted to feel wanted by someone.

***

“My husband, you cannot send our daughter Saphira to that alpha from the Kingston family. What if that cruel alpha goes mad and kills Saphira like her fiancé before?” Beatrix, my stepmother, sobbed sorrowfully.

She sat slumped in a chair, covering her tear-filled face, repeatedly saying that all of this was her fault, she should never have made the agreement with Elder Kingston 15 years ago. Now, the Kingston family had come to enforce the promise and ask for her daughter to marry Isaac Kingston, who was known to be cruel and mysterious.

“My husband, you must find another way out and save Saphira,” she pleaded again, approaching the man referred to as her husband, who happened to be my father. “Didn’t you say Saphira is your pride?”

I felt my father’s gaze directed at me. It seemed like he finally remembered having another daughter. However, this didn’t make me happy at all, instead, I felt even more disappointed in him.

With my father’s gaze, everyone automatically became aware of my presence standing in the farthest corner, trying to hide from the center of attention.

I shook my head faintly and bit my lower lip.

“Yes, you have another daughter,” said grandmother. “Saphira cannot leave Welch’s family and marry the alpha of the Dark Abyss Pack, but Raquel can replace her.”

“I-I... Grandmother, I don’t want to,” I stammered. With fear, I looked at grandmother and then at my father alternately. My heart raced, I didn’t want to leave this home. Not because I felt comfortable here, but because I lacked the confidence to live outside the place I’ve known since childhood.

“Father, I don’t want to marry that alpha. I...”

“What are you saying? We are not asking for your opinion,” Grandmother interrupted with her usual cold tone.

I lowered my head, holding back my tears. After years of enduring verbal and physical abuse from my stepmother and stepsiblings, how could I stand up to them? I couldn’t even defend myself because my father didn’t care about me, let alone grandmother, who only saw Saphira as her granddaughter in her eyes.

I just hoped that my father would reject this proposal and not let me replace Saphira.

After a moment of silence, my father finally spoke. “The Kingston family is a large and powerful family in the Dark Abyss Pack, we cannot offend them by replacing both Saphira and Raquel.”

But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, Beatrix spoke again with her heartbreaking sobs. “My husband, Dark Abyss Pack is very far from here. If Saphira goes there, she won’t be able to meet us often. We also cannot ensure if her life will be good there. How can you be so heartless?”

My father frowned. I knew he was reluctant to let go of Saphira, even though, on the other hand, he was also afraid of offending the Kingston family.

Hearing the annoying cries, whether she liked it or not, grandmother also felt irritated. “No need to worry about offending the Kingston family because they don’t know what Beatrix’s daughter is like now that she’s grown up. I heard they are also in a hurry to find a mate for Isaac Kingston and ask him to produce an heir for the Kingston family.”

“Yes, yes!” Beatrix stopped crying, tightly holding my father’s hand and said again, “Mother-in-law is right. My husband, they won’t care about this small matter.”

Father sighed deeply and made the final decision, “Alright. It’s up to you.”

This small matter actually involved the lives of others, but no one seemed to care. Even I suspected that I might not actually be a part of this family at all.

I stared at my father with a complicated look. Hatred, disappointment, and anger were all directed at this old man. A man who had successfully made me powerless and desperate. I hated him, but I also depended on him.

If only mother were still here, maybe I wouldn’t have experienced all of this. Maybe there would be someone to defend and plead for me, maybe Father would be on my side.

But what? There’s nothing I can do. I have nothing, and no one wants me.

...

I stood in front of the Welch family’s house anxiously. Not because I was leaving the home I had lived in for 21 years of my life or because I was going to marry that cruel and mysterious alpha, but because the people from the Kingston family who came to pick me up were half an hour late.

Even if they don’t like me, they shouldn’t treat me like this, right?

Not far from where I stood, other members of the Welch family sat inside the house, talking animatedly.

Of course, what they were discussing was what was happening to me right now.

Even if I’m angry, even if I hate it, I can’t fight back.

After waiting for a few more minutes, the commotion of a group of wolves approaching was heard. Then, a guard made an announcement.

“The Kingston family has arrived!”

My body tensed, and I looked confusedly in the direction of the sound.

People inside the house one by one came out and stood to welcome the arrival of the Kingston family’s entourage.

Saphira, who was absent from the night’s turmoil, also stood with my father and Beatrix.

In everyone’s view, a large black wolf stopped not far from the entrance and transformed into human form.

The man was tall and stern, with a well-built body, a strong aura, and an air of aloofness throughout his untouched temperament.

I stared at the man, Isaac Kingston, the Alpha who would be my husband. It’s undeniable that he looked very charming and reliable, I admitted it just by looking at him from a distance. Unexpectedly, he also looked at me, making my heartbeat wildly for a moment.