Chapter 14 #2
I had to stay calm. I needed to figure out where I was before I did anything drastic.
There was a glass of water on the nightstand table, along with a bottle of over-the-counter pain relievers.
I grabbed both of them and climbed off the bed, padding into the attached bathroom of the bedroom I’d found myself in.
I dumped the glass of water, rinsing it several times before I filled it with water straight from the tap. For all I knew, it could be poisoned.
I investigated the bottle of Tylenol, taking note that the seal inside it was untampered.
I ripped it open and popped two of them, swallowing the pills with a gulp of fresh water.
I took another steadying breath. The wolfsbane had burned my skin, but there wasn’t any more evidence of it on my face or anywhere else.
They’d already healed. My lungs no longer felt like I was breathing fire, so that was good too.
Other than the pink marks on my wrists, nothing else hurt enough to alarm me. I left the glass and the medicine on the counter and made my way back in the bedroom and to the window. The inside of the bedroom wasn’t familiar, so I quickly opened the curtains in order to take in my surroundings.
I was in the center of the Malkovian clan compound. I’d been here several times as a girl, but I’d never stayed for long. Today though, there was only one reason I could be here and that was my own flesh and blood.
I growled fiercely when someone knocked at my door. I’d always hated this place.
“I’m glad to see you’re finally awake,” a very prim woman said as she walked in.
She hadn’t even paused to wait for my permission to enter.
She’d just come in. Immediately, the scent of vampire assaulted my nostrils, but I had been groomed not to react to it all my life.
I smiled politely, all while imagining the various ways I could tear her heart straight out of her chest with nothing but my bare hands.
“Who are you? Where am I?” I demanded.
She smiled tensely, running her eyes up and down me in the most judgmental way possible.
“You wolf shifters are always so impatient,” she drawled, and I stood a bit taller.
My gaze bored into hers and she eventually sighed.
“You’re here so that the alliance between the Crimson Shadows, the Malkovians, and the Venuti can finally be secured.
It took time to gather the resources so that we could retrieve you and put you in your rightful position beside your future husband’s side. ”
“Future husband?” I asked, furrowing my brow in confusion.
“Vincenzo Venuti,” she answered, peering back at me like I was stupid for even asking the question.
I took a deep breath, quelling the desire to gouge her eyes out with nothing more than my fingers.
Of course. My father was going through with the alliance he had planned.
What I wanted didn’t matter to him. He’d decided I was going to marry a vampire and he’d do everything in his power to ensure that marriage took place.
To him, I was nothing more than a pawn that he could use to further his own position in the world.
“Where is my father?” I asked.
“He is in a meeting with Augustus and Vincenzo. They are finalizing the alliance agreement as we speak. You will dress in something more fitting of your station and meet them for dinner shortly,” she explained, looking down at my jeans in disgust. With a flourish, she opened the closet doors. “I am here to prepare you.”
The concept of an attendant wasn’t foreign to me. I’d had them all my life. I lifted my chin and slipped back into my old persona, becoming the person I’d abandoned the night Elijah carried me off.
“Which one is the most expensive?” I asked and the aristocratic vampire grinned enthusiastically.
She pulled out a deep purple gown that would leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that I was my father’s daughter. It was a dress that was also befitting of an alpha’s mate.
The bond between Elijah and me pulsed. There was no way in hell he’d allow this wedding to take place. He’d burn the whole place to the ground first.
* * *
Several hours later, I found myself seated at a table with my father, the leader of the Venuti clan and my future husband to be, Vincenzo, as well as the Malkovian kingpin Augustus.
They talked like I wasn’t even there. They were supremely overconfident in the way they spoke to one another, letting several important details slip out right in front of me about the upcoming attack on the Rising Sun pack and my Elijah.
I knew what kind of weapons they had, how many of their followers they planned to show up with, the exact time and date. I took mental notes of everything.
I stared at Vincenzo when he wasn’t looking.
All my life, I had been groomed to marry a powerful man like him.
I’d just never imagined him being a vampire.
I had woken up every day knowing that as the daughter of an alpha, I would one day marry someone that would strengthen the power of my pack, but now that he was right here sitting in front of me, it felt like a hollow pipedream.
The whole thing left a bitterness on my tongue that I couldn’t shake no matter how hard I tried.
With Vincenzo, I would never find happiness. As a vampire, he would live forever, and I would live a normal life. When I died, he would find another and never look back. I would be nothing more than a possession to him, a wife he’d let out of the cage only when he desired.
I would never be able to have a family. Vampires were by nature infertile.
They could not sire children, so Vincenzo would never be able to give me one.
I wouldn’t be able to conceive on my own either.
Wolf shifters could only have children with their own kind.
IVF wasn’t an option for me either. It never took for female wolves.
We needed the additional component of a mate bond to start a family and there was only one man who could ever give me that now.
This was what I’d been promised, the life of a kept princess that I’d dreamed of ever since I was a little girl.
I would have all the riches I could ever want. Clothes. Gems. Jewelry. Travel. Shoes. Whatever I wanted, all I’d have to do was ask. I could have it all, but it would mean nothing without Elijah by my side.
“She is a beautiful female, Amir,” Vincenzo murmured, and my gaze flicked to him. I lifted my chin haughtily. His compliment made my stomach churn.
“She is quite a prize,” my father replied without emotion. I glared back at him. He didn’t know anything about me.
“How is this going to work?” I asked, sitting back and taking a bite of the dinner that had been put in front of me. I was vaguely aware of the fact that it was steak, but I could hardly even enjoy the taste of a prime cut of filet under current circumstances.
“Tomorrow, you will be taken to a fitting for your wedding dress. When that is complete, we will be taking a trip to Switzerland together to deal with the problem that is Elijah,” my father explained.
“What are you going to do to him?” I pressed protectively.
“You will convince him to surrender and offer his territory to us in exchange for the continuation of his people’s life.
If he listens to you and goes willingly, he will survive the day.
If he doesn’t, well then, he will suffer,” Augustus explained.
His red eyes flared with excitement. It was clear he was looking forward to the prospect of battle.
“You would use me to force him out,” I replied. My disgust was very clear this time.
“Yes,” my father said arrogantly. I licked my lips and stood back up.
“I’m sorry. I’ve lost my appetite,” I declared.
“Fine. Be sure you’re ready in the morning,” my father said, his exasperation and annoyance painted all over his face.
I pushed in my chair, following the basic expectations of decorum in my father’s court. I bowed my head and walked out of the room, knowing with absolute certainty that Vincenzo was feasting on the vision of me walking away from him. I gagged with overwhelming disgust.
I had only just turned the corner before someone rushed up behind me. They grabbed me and covered my mouth with their hand before I could make a sound. Quickly, they thrust me up against the wall and I cried out into their palm.
“It’s me, Ashleigh. Please don’t scream,” the male voice pleaded gently.
I recognized him and relaxed slightly. It was one of my favorite teachers growing up, a man who went by the name Ronaldo.
He’d always been especially kind to me and there were several times that I knew he’d shielded me from my father’s anger and expectations.
In many ways, he’d been one of the important figures in my life that had actually meant something to me.
When he pulled his hand away from my mouth, I stayed quiet. Slowly, he uncurled his arms from me, and I turned to face him. He said nothing but cocked his head in the direction of the room where the heads of the families were still discoursing noisily. Their voices carried, even outside the room.
“Cheers, men! To long time alliances. We will conquer the world together!” my father roared, and I turned my head, listening more closely. “Tomorrow we will end the Rising Sun pack and punish Elijah for daring to stand against us.”
“Ashleigh will be the means to an end. Elijah will burn before the day is done. His death will secure our growing power here in Europe,” Augustus chimed in.
“What if she dies tomorrow and I never get to enjoy her in my marriage bed?” Vincenzo whined a bit grumpily. I tensed at his sordid suggestion. The need to vomit slammed into me and I swallowed hard.
My father laughed out loud. “No matter, Vincenzo. We will find you another,” he replied.
“I have many more women at my disposal for you to choose from,” Augustus confirmed, and I stilled.