All Chapters of Alpha Alvar's Runaway Bride: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

RyleeI wake up before the sun every day and trek through the snowy forest to the packhouse by 6 a.m.From 6 to 9 a.m., I'm stuck cleaning the kitchen and doing hard labor. They won’t let me handle food because they think I'll make it dirty. Only when Marta, the kitchen manager, is too busy, she’ll let me help make flour for muffins.Greenvale is far up north, so mornings are late here. By the time I finish in the kitchen, it’s just getting light outside.At 9 sharp, I head to the laundry room. Doing laundry in winter is brutal since we don’t have washing machines. The pack's finances are tight, and sometimes our heater doesn’t work. If I want hot water, it’s all about luck—which, unsurprisingly, isn't on my side today. Happy birthday to me.I turn on the faucet. Great. No steam. Just icy cold water.I soak my hands in the biting cold and struggle to wash the clothes Alpha and Luna have piled up over the past week. My fingers quickly freeze and turn purple. Other werewolves might not m

RyleeThe pack’s prison is an old warehouse that used to be a chicken pen. It still smells like chicken poop and feed. My hands are tied behind my back, and whip marks cover my body. They dumped me on a stiff, musty pile of hay. Tiny stalks of grass dig into my skin, stinging and bleeding.I want to scream, but I don’t. I’m pretending to be unconscious.In Greenvale pack, thieves get 40 lashes, executed by Gamma. Anto, that brutal dog, loves to play dirty. I fainted and woke up in pain several times during the torture. At the 35th lash, I thought I was going to die. But then I saw Syd rush over and pull Anto’s whip. He got another 10 lashes for that.Thanks to Syd, I survived. Then I thought pretending to be unconscious was a good idea. Anto likes to see the look on my face when he tortures me. If I don’t react, he might give up sooner.“Go see if she’s dead,” I hear Anto say to his men. Footsteps approach me, and I hasten to make my breathing soft and even. A hand comes up to my nose

RyleeI used to wonder what "fated" meant. How can you fall in love without knowing each other and stay together forever? Now I get it. It's a soul-deep pain, like a part of you is being ripped away.I have to stuff straw in my mouth to stop myself from screaming. Syd looks in worse pain. He can't stay human, shifts into a wolf, and collapses. The brown wolf convulses, his mouth opens wide, looks about to cry, but he only whimpers silently. After ten minutes, he stumbles up, giving me a deep look. Then, he turns and disappears into the darkness.I breathe a sigh of relief, wipe my tears, and collapse onto the haystack.It's over.Great, one step closer to leaving this pack.Syd is tall, handsome, capable with a pretty-boy face. We grew up together. He’s the only one who cares about me. If I wasn't Rylee Green, I might fall in love with him so easily and deeply. But our bond is doomed. He has a bright future, and I'm the pack's sinner.18 years ago, my birth took away my high-blooded m

RyleeSometimes I want to applaud fate. Even on my birthday, it mocks me with its cruel sense of humor.Falsely accused, imprisoned, and then caught so easily after escaping. The man who caught me was so swift and powerful. I was tackled to the ground before I even had a chance to react.Fugitives go straight to death row. It's an eternal rule in the werewolf world. Blindfolded and shoved into the backseat of a car, I wait for my fate.Sometime later, the car door creaks open, and a man sits next to me. The space instantly feels cramped. Even though I’m blindfolded, his presence is enormous—definitely not one of Greenvale’s 67 werewolves.The man doesn’t speak. I can feel his intense gaze piercing through me. His heat is overwhelming, making me shiver. My teeth are chattering, but a small hope flickers: If he’s not from Greenvale, not killing me right away, could he possibly let me go?I clear my throat. “Sir…” As soon as I speak, he leans in, his body heat almost burning me. His hand

RyleeEating the bread and bacon Ruth hands me, I think about how to get out of this mess. Steve sold me, and now I’m Alvar’s sex slave.Being his sex slave won’t end well.After the meal, I look around the deck. The sea is beautiful. The waves roll in, big and small, and the sun is warm and comforting. But I can’t enjoy it. I think about jumping off the boat and swimming away, but we’re far from shore. There are about seven or eight werewolves on board, all big and strong. They’d scoop me up before I even hit the water.No chance. I have to wait.Clouds start to thicken, and the sky gets cloudy. Ruth shooes me back to my room.“Looks like rain’s coming. Damn winter rain and wind, it’s gonna be cold.” Ruth grumbles, pulling a wool coat from the closet. She says Alvar had my previous clothes and package sent ahead to Dark Moon Pack, and the ones I’m wearing are new.Whoo. Efficiency.I don’t feel cold. In Greenvale, it gets to -10 or -20°C in winter, and I’m often out in the wind and s