ALPHA VALENTINO'S BRIDE

Rosalyn Ashbane

I waited.

Through rain. Through heat. Through snow. My lips cracked, my skin burned and then froze. Still, I waited.

"Henry..." I whispered again, my voice dry and broken.

He never came.

I had run away from the pack house just to be with him. My mate. The one I chose when I had no freedom to choose anything else. But like always, he didn't show up.

Not because he couldn't. But because he wouldn't.

Because every time, he chose her.

My stepsister. The one everyone adored. The one the world seemed to bend over backward for.

I stumbled back toward the pack house, cold and trembling, barely able to see straight. My head throbbed and I kept falling, catching myself on trees, the walls, anything. Snow clung to my clothes and my body ached, but I didn't stop. No one came looking for me. No one ever did.

The maids didn't greet me when I stepped inside. No one rushed to help me. That wasn't new. After my mother died, everything in this house turned cold. My father pulled away, remarried, and handed his love to a new wife and new children - as if I never existed.

I was the shadow daughter. The girl no one claimed.

I dragged myself up the stairs. My hands trembled as I clutched the railing. I just wanted to get into my room, to disappear into the dark and cry in peace.

But then I saw it.

My stepsister's door was slightly open.

I should've walked past. I should've ignored it. But something made me look.

There he was.

Henry.

My mate. The one I had waited days for. The one I had nearly frozen to death for.

Feeding my stepsister grapes, shirtless, laughing like nothing mattered.

My heart stopped.

I pushed the door wider and stepped inside.

"Henry..." My voice cracked. "What's going on?"

He looked at me, startled - not guilty. Not even surprised. Just annoyed.

My stepsister smiled slowly and leaned into him.

And that was the moment I realized... I didn't break in the snow.

I broke right here.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice flat.

I took a step forward, every part of me aching. "I waited for you," I said, voice trembling. "I left everything for you. I stayed outside the pack borders-for days, Henry. In the cold. In the dark. I thought we were going to leave together. I thought-"

"We're not doing this," he snapped, standing. "Not now. Not ever."

I stared at him, frozen. "But we're mates."

Seraphina, lounging in his shirt, let out a sigh of mock pity. "She still believes in that old fairytale."

"We are mates," I insisted. "The moon goddess-"

"I don't care about the moon goddess," Henry cut in sharply. "I don't care about fate. I don't want you, Rosalyn."

My knees nearly buckled. "But... but you said you loved me."

"I lied." He crossed his arms. "You were convenient. A distraction. You were always second best, and you knew it."

I couldn't stop the tears now. "You said you'd choose me..."

"Well, I've made my choice," he said coldly. "And it's not you."

"You can't say that," I choked out. "You're mine. I'm yours. That's how it works!"

Henry stepped forward. His voice dropped to a final, merciless tone.

"Rosalyn Ashbane," he said, "I, Henry Callow, reject you as my mate."

The bond snapped inside me like a whip.

I gasped, clutching my chest, as if he'd stabbed something deep and unseen. My wolf howled inside, screaming in pain. It felt like my soul had been ripped in half.

I collapsed to my knees. I couldn't breathe. My heart-no, my very being-felt like it was dying.

Seraphina crouched in front of me, her face inches from mine.

"You really thought you were chosen?" she whispered. "You were a mistake, Rosalyn. A broken, cursed thing pretending to be loved. And now? Now you're just alone."

She stood slowly. "You always said the snow felt like home. Why don't you go back to it?"

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My tears blurred everything. My hands shook as I tried to stand.

But she wasn't finished.

Her voice was low now, flat and dangerous.

"You were never meant to belong in this family. Or in this pack. Or in his arms. You were never meant to be anything."

I turned to leave, legs trembling.

And then she shoved me.

Hard.

My body hit the wall, and I collapsed to the floor.

The last thing I heard was Seraphina's voice behind me.

"You should've died out there."

And then-darkness.

I woke to voices.

Muffled at first. Then sharper. Clearer.

"-disgraced the entire family. I warned you she was unstable-"

Seraphina.

"-she threw herself at me. Right there in my room-"

Henry.

I blinked against the blur of light. My head throbbed. My body ached. I was lying on the hard marble floor of my father's study, surrounded by shadows and judgment.

Then I saw him.

Alpha Thorne Ashbane.

My father.

He stood near the fire, arms folded, face blank - but his eyes...

His eyes burned with pure disgust.

"Did you do it?" he asked coldly, voice low and sharp. "Did you really try to force yourself on Henry?"

"What?" I pushed myself up. "No, I-"

"She came into my room," Henry said behind me, his voice laced with false pain. "She started talking nonsense about fate and mates. I told her I wasn't interested. But she... wouldn't stop."

"She's obsessed, Father," Seraphina added sweetly. "We were worried about her. She's been acting strange ever since her died. We thought it was grief, but now-"

"I didn't do anything," I croaked. "They're lying. I walked in and saw-"

My father slammed his hand down on the desk. "Enough!"

The echo rang through the room like thunder.

"You think I don't know your reputation?" he said, stepping toward me. "You sneak out of the pack house, disappear for days, run off with boys behind my back, and now you dare to bring that filth into this family?"

"I waited for him!" I cried. "He was my mate-"

"Not anymore," Henry said coldly. "I rejected her."

That word. Rejected. It still stung like a blade to my ribs.

"I didn't seduce him. I didn't do anything," I whispered. "Please, Father, you have to believe me-"

"I don't believe whores," he said.

The words sliced through my chest.

He stepped closer.

"I should've killed you the day your mother died," he said. "She'd still be alive if not for you."

Tears blurred my eyes. "Please..."

"You've always been a stain on this house. An embarrassment. Dirty. Wild. Worthless."

I shook my head, trembling. "I didn't choose to be this way."

"You're not a daughter," he spat. "You're a debt. A punishment."

He reached for the sword resting on the mantle.

I froze.

My blood ran cold.

He unsheathed it slowly, metal gleaming under the firelight.

"Maybe I should end this now," he said. "Right here. Rid this family of your disgrace."

My heart pounded in my ears. I couldn't breathe.

Seraphina didn't even flinch. She stood beside Henry like she was watching a show.

Then suddenly, my father stopped.

He lowered the sword. Slowly.

A small, cruel smile curved his lips.

"No..." he said. "No, killing you would be too easy."

He turned back to the fire.

"I have a better idea."

I stared at him, heart still racing.

"The only useful thing about you," he said, "is your blood. And the trouble it can fix."

He turned, facing me fully now. His eyes held no warmth. No mercy.

"You're getting married."

"What?" I whispered.

"To Alpha Valentino of the Bloodhowl Pack."

"No..." I breathed. "No, please-"

"I should've cut off your head," he said. "But instead, I'll give you away like a lamb to the wolves. That's all you're good for now."

My breath caught. The room spun.

"And if you dare run again..." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll make sure your death is slow."