1. Arrangement

Aella

21 Years Old / Alpha Heir

(Pronunciation: Ay-lah)

The door to my father’s office creaks open, the sound warning me that my life is about to change. The study is a warm space filled with dark wooden bookshelves that reach towards the ceiling like ancient trees. The room smells of aged leather and paper; a scent I’ve always associated with wisdom and guidance.

Usually, being summoned here means I’m in for a new learning experience with my father since I am his only Alpha heir. Maybe a discussion about pack politics or perhaps a lesson on the importance of our history. Today though, the air feels different—dense.

My eyes catch sight of a stack of formal papers neatly arranged on my father’s mahogany desk. Official pack seal… That can’t be good.

“Aella, come in,” Father’s voice reverberates from behind the desk, where he sits with his usual composed demeanor. He’s Alpha and Capo of Chicago; an Italian mafia sect that controls the city.

“You wanted to see me, Father?” I say, moving close to his desk and trying not to show how I’m trying to make out the pack seal on the envelope.

He sighs deeply, gesturing to the leather seat opposite him. “Sit down, Aella.”

Confused but obedient, I sank into the leather chair across from him. I haven’t seen him look so lost in a long time and he takes another moment before he speaks.

“Aella, you are to be betrothed to Alpha Roman of the Black Veil Bratstvo,” he says, the weight of his words falling like a sledgehammer. 

I’m speechless for what feels like an eternity, then I leap to my feet again. Alpha Roman? The Black Veil Bratstvo, a ruthless sect of the Russian Bratva, are known for their bloodthirsty ways as well as their cold-blooded tactics in war and politics.

Alpha Roman, their Pakhan and leader, is the worst of them—or so the stories go.

“Are you serious, Father? Alpha Roman is… We’re in a war with the Russians!”

He shakes his head. “That will soon end with this,” he says, gesturing to the papers in front of him.

“You can’t possibly mean that! What about my training? My ambitions?” I scoff, shaking my head in disbelief. “I’ve shown leadership qualities, haven’t I? Aren’t I being prepared to be a future Alpha female?!”

“Aella,” he cuts me off sharply, the familiar resolve hardening his eyes. “This is not up for discussion. An alliance with the Black Veil Pack will strengthen our pack’s borders, not to mention end this bloody ten year war. Our future as a pack depends on solid alliances, and right now we cannot let this gesture of peace from their side go.”

Anger boils inside of me, my heart pounding like a war drum. My own father, the man who taught me to value freedom and strength, is trading me like a pawn for political gain. 

I’ve become a commodity, a thing to be bartered like a prized sheep.

“So that’s it?” My voice trembles, not with fear but rage. “I don’t get a say in my own future? You’re going to marry me off to a man known for his cruelty?”

He looks at me, his eyes glinting with emotions I can’t fully make out. I am his only daughter, his only blood heir who he has trained to take over from him in the future and yet… 

“Aella, sit down,” Father commands, his eyes shifting to Alpha red and pointing to the chair opposite his desk again. 

When he looks at me again, his eyes are the color of dark soil, deeply rooted in centuries of tradition and authority. Alpha by blood, he has ruled out pack for years, just like his father did before him.

I obey, my eyes still fixed on the stack of formal papers before him. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“I am,” he says, the word solidifying in the air between us like an invisible wall. “An alliance with the Black Veil Pack is a strategic necessity. They have resources and warriors that we lack. Combined, our packs would be unbreakable.”

“Strategic necessity? Father, we’re talking about my life. My future. How can you gamble that away so easily?” I scoff, my voice quivers, but I steady it, not wanting to show too much weakness… Then my eyes widen as I realize something. “There’s an outside force, isn’t there? Another power bigger than our pack and Alpha Roman’s.”

My father chuckles sadly. “It seems I have trained you too well, but you should know that sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good,” he says, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t necessary, Aella; I wouldn’t trade your life if it wasn’t the only thing that could help us all.”

“Sacrifices?” I say sadly. “So now I’m a sacrificial lamb for the pack’s stability. Just tell me why this is really happening, father, and perhaps we can think of an alternative—”

“Aella, you are my daughter, and your well-being is the most important thing to me,” he interjects with a growl and silences me. “But you are also a member of this pack, so your life isn’t completely your own. We all must play our part, and unfortunately, yours has become a chess piece to be moved.”

I blanch at his words, betrayal piercing my heart with each syllable. A chess piece to be moved? I gave up living a normal life when I turned ten years old! Devoted my life to training and understanding pack politics and strategy. 

Now he’s telling me something different?!

“My life should be my own enough to decide who I marry, who I spend the rest of my life with,” I say sadly, biting back my anger. “You taught me to fight, to lead. Was that all just grooming for me to be some sort of bargaining chip?”

Father leans back in his chair, his face a puzzle of conflicting emotions. “You misunderstand me, and perhaps that’s my fault. You were taught to be strong so you could handle whatever life threw at you. Including this.”

My chest tightens and my heart pounds against it as if demanding to be let out. I don’t know whether I am angry or hurt. “I can handle challenges, Father. What I can’t handle is being traded off like livestock.”

He leans forward, his gaze pinning me to my seat. “You will do this, Aella. You will marry Alpha Roman,” he says, eyes blazing red. “You will be his Luna, bear his children and you will do it knowing it’s the best thing for our pack to be aligned with them.”

A silence falls over the room, dense and heavy like a storm cloud. Father’ eyes have hardened, set in a conviction that I know won’t break. The regret from earlier has all but drifted away, so I know that anything I say won’t make a difference.

I have fallen from future Alpha to reluctant Luna.

“I’ve always trusted you,” I whisper, almost to myself. “I thought you would always have my best interests at heart…. I guess I was wrong.”

His eyes narrow, and for a moment, he looks as though he might say something—apologize, maybe, or offer some sort of comfort. But the moment passes, and the patriarchal, stubborn Alpha returns.

“Your best interest, Aella, is to do as you’re told for the sake of your pack and family,” he says, rising to his feet and leaning his palms on the desk in front of him. “Have I made myself clear?”

It’s my turn to hold his gaze, to let him see the turmoil swirling in the depths of my eyes. My voice is a hushed tremble when I speak. “I can’t believe you’re willing to trade your only daughter’s happiness for land and soldiers.”

“I do what I must for this pack, as will you,” he says, his voice a low growl, screaming with finality.

And I know, with chilling clarity, that this is a battle I cannot win. Not here, not now. My heart pounds with a ferocious blend of dread and defiance as I push back the chair and rise to my feet.

“Very well, Father,” I say, each word laced with a resentment I can no longer hide. “If that is your command.”

“It is,” he replies, but his voice is softer now, attempting to hide an emotion he won’t let himself show.

I turn away, hand on the doorknob, pausing for just a moment as if expecting him to say something more, to undo this nightmare with a wave of his hand. But the room remains steeped in a heavy, wordless tension..

“Fine,” I say, my voice laden with a bitterness I’ve never felt before. I exit the study, leaving the door slightly ajar, as if in quiet protest. 

But the click of the door behind me feels final, locking in a destiny I never chose.

As I walk down the hall, my heels tap against the wooden floor, each step echoing my mounting defiance. My heart still races, but now it’s fuelled by a different kind of energy—a wild, untamed fury that claws at the walls of my soul, begging to be let out.

For the first time in my life, I thought the unthinkable. I consider running away, leaving behind everything I’ve ever known. My thoughts, as forbidden as they are, rush through my mind like a torrential river breaking through a dam.

And I can’t help but think, maybe it’s time to follow the current.