Marry the Slave or become the Slave?

Chapter Six

Callister’s eyes snapped open to the sound of murmuring voices. The scent of wolves filled his nostril and he knew where exactly he was.

In the pack hall. Why was he in there?

He was seated at the center, dressed in ceremonial robes. The heavy weight of expectation pressed against his shoulders before he even turned to his side.  

Eileen was there. Silent. Dressed in a white gown... a Luna’s gown and a crown resting on her head. 

His stomach twisted.  

Were they being serious? Did his father plan to marry them? Did he think he'd marry her? Did he think...

His father stood before them, his face cold, and unreadable.  

“You’re awake.” His voice was deep, final. “Good.”  

Callister gritted his teeth and tried to stand. 

The hall was full. Packed. The council of elders sat in their high seats, their aged faces impassive as they watched him keenly. Every ranked member of the pack was there. All eyes were fixed on him.  

He knew what this was. Maybe he could talk to his father. His father allowed him when he locked himself in his room for years. He gave him everything he wished for. One time, they asked everyone to be indoors because he wanted to go for a run and didn't want to see any werewolf around. 

"I request to speak to my father in private." He requested, hoping to at least be entitled to that. But before he could get what he wanted, his father was calling one of the elders to join them.

Callister didn't care. His life was on the line.

“What the hell is this?” Callister growled.  

His father clasped his hands behind his back. “It's your wedding.”  

Rage flared hot in his chest. “I’m not marrying her.”  

His father’s gaze sharpened. “You already did the deed. Now, you will lay in the bed you made. You marked her, son.”  

Callister’s jaw tightened. Why would his wolf mark someone without discussing it with him? He had refused to mark Lilith even when she was alive. What was so special about her? Did he not know that because she had no wolf?

There was no way out now.

The eldest council member who joined them, cleared his throat and talked before he could interrupt his father. “The council has spoken, Future Alpha Callister. You are to take responsibility for your actions.”  

“I did not choose this,” Callister spat.  

“Neither did the pack,” his father countered. “But here we are.”  

A tense silence settled. Then, the elder spoke again, his voice grim.  

“You should also know this, Alpha." Why was he calling him Alpha? He wanted to ask but the man barely let him think to himself. "The council has begun discussions of your abdication.”  

Callister stilled.  

The elder continued, “If you step down now, before your reign even begins… you will be stripped of everything. You will become a slave. And your bloodline—” his gaze flickered to his father, “—will serve the new Alpha for generations to come. No descendant of yours will ever take the throne.”  

Callister’s fingers curled into fists.  

"My father is still the Alpha." He defiantly reminded them.

"You father had to step down for you or else, you were going to be punished greatly." 

"Punished? For what exactly?" He could not believe this.

"You were eloping with her. With a slave who was branded as a traitor." His father almost yelled.

"Who was eloping, and with who? I have always wanted to leave this cursed pack but mistakely saved her. And if eloping with a traitor was a sin, how is marrying her and giving her a title isn't?" He didn't understand. That didn't make any sense.

"Yes it's true. However, she still has royal blood in her." His father spoke and he could tell he was withholding something from him.

"You have to be kidding me, father. If she had a royal blood in her, why was she mistreated?"

"Callister, you slept with her. Though she maybe a servant and a daughter of a traitor. She was a virgin and the whole pack thinks you two were eloping to protect her and keep her safe."

"Simple. I will go and tell them I wasn't trying to protect her or anything."

"And that is even worse. What were you going to do carrying her along with you? Were you going to kill her." The elder disbeliefly asked and he was close to saying yes. 

"Ask her how we were found together. Just go and ask her."

"The council has decided. If you marry her and become Alpha and Luna, then you and your father would be saved. The throne is yours."

He didn’t care about the throne. Didn’t care about power or the politics of this damned pack.  

And the way they were forcing and trapping him made his blood boil.  

His gaze flicked to his father, asking for help.  

He stood there, emotionless with his hands resting tightly on her waist.  

His teeth clenched.  

They expected him to tie himself to her? To a nobody? A servant girl who had nothing but bad blood and treason?  

He hated this. Hated them for forcing him

And, he hated her the most. This was her plan all along and his father was forcing him to do it.

He didn't want to be married and certainly not become the Alpha but that changed overnight and it was all her fault. 

He was going to make her regret it. By the time he was done with her, she'd wish she had remained a slave.