Arranged For The Cruel Alpha

ANNABELLA'S POV

' You have always wanted to leave this pack and I guess this is it. I should have known how cheap and desperate you are. Who the hell did you think you were? '

'I'm sorry Summer, it's my father's decision and not mine '

' I hope you will be happy with that ruthless beast. You both deserve each other '

I turned on my back to face the ceiling with tears stuck in my eyes as I recalled my conversation with Summer earlier. " I wish this whole madness would stop," I whispered, clenching my fingers tightly on the surrounding sheet.

' I have decided to marry you off to Alpha Roman instead of your sister because the pack will need her and her mate', were my father's exact words when he called me to his office.

I pulled down the sheet from my body, stepped down from the bed, and walked slowly towards the window in my white night dress, my long black hair falling smoothly behind my back. The cold night breeze raced inside the room. Immediately, I pushed the window open, my skin feeling the coldness and my bleeding heart turning hopeless in my chest. Why me and not Olivia? I thought, my hand pressed against my chest in pain.

'But father, I also have my mate, and we are planning to get married. '

'Summer is a beta wolf, and he doesn't need a wolf-less mate.' Father's words hurt, and besides being wolf-less has never been a problem between Summer and me, but why now?

I shut my eyes to let down my heavy tears. It couldn't have hurt any less. The pain was ripping my heart out of my chest and I wish I could just make it stop. It hurts a lot to be told the truth, especially by the people you love.

' You will only get him killed if you mate him. Summer is a good kid, and I am planning on handing the pack over to him and making Olivia his mate, so better make up your mind'

I ran my hand on my aching chest while standing by the window with tears wailing down my face as I recall every conversation I had with my father concerning this marriage thing.

' Did Summer know this?'

' Summer is aware, and you are the only person standing in the way '

I lowered my head painfully and just then a soft knock came through the door. I turned back before cleaning my face to receive whoever it was. " Come in," I said, folding my hands on my chest. " Anna, a parcel has arrived for you." One of my pack's omegas informed me.

" Is my name written on it?" I asked with a nonchalant face. " Not really, but it fits your description," she said, and I frowned as I ordered her to leave it on my bed.

I heard the door shut, back, and I sighed, letting myself turn to look at what it was that was sent to me and who it could be from. " My Bride" I read it out loud with a deep frown on my face. I took off the tag angrily and shredded it into pieces before shoving the red box under my bed for good. I still can't believe I am getting married tomorrow.

I sat on my bed with tears welling up in my eyes. How could I get married and forget all my promises to him? I shut my eyes painfully and the door just opened.

I cleaned my face and stared up at the uninvited guest" What do you want, Olivia?" I asked coldly, and she grinned" I can see how prepared you are for the wedding." She teased" Am sorry to cut your fun, Mom and Dad request you join us for dinner since it's your last dinner with us" Olivia said still having that stupid smile on her face. " Before I forget, Summer and I will be having a date for our four-month anniversary," she said, and I stilled, not knowing what to think. Four months what? My eyes widened." Oh, sorry to be the one to break the news to you. Summer was supposed to tell you everything" she mocked," Why are you doing this?" I asked, and she strode in, closing the door behind her. " Summer and I are meant to be together, don't you get it?" Olivia said angrily.

" Summer doesn't like you". I told her, we both knew how much he hated her because of her arrogant personality. Throughout our years together, Summer has not for once looked at her. The only time he talked to her was when he saw her bullying me in front of the whole pack.

" You think he will tell you if he is interested in me, how naive?" She rolled her eyes and turned to leave. " I don't believe you." I let her know. Anyone in my shoes wouldn't buy any word that comes out of her mouth.

She was no better than a bitch, she grabbed every opportunity to make me look stupid, and I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction she wanted. " Don't forget your last dinner," she pulled the door closed and once again I was left to battle with my thoughts.

If there was anything, I knew Summer would never do that to me. He wouldn't betray me for anything, not the Summer I knew.

I strode down to the dining room and sat on my seat without uttering a word." Alpha Roman sent a message for you" Father broke the silence and I stopped chewing whatever food was in my mouth, the mention of his name brought a sour taste to my mouth just like it did with everyone else. My hands felt heavy as I could feel Mother and Olivia staring at me. " He sends his apology for his absence from tomorrow's event." Father added, and I felt my heart tighten in my chest." He said he had something important to deal with before your arrival" he finished, and my fingers unconsciously tightened around the fork, I could feel my tears threatening to leave my eyes, but I held them back with the last strength in me" It seems he is getting ready for his mate" Olivia said sarcastically and father hemmed in response as if impressed" He sure will be better than we expected" mother said with a smile shoving food in her mouth as she glared at me from the corner of her eyes with a smile.

I lost my appetite.

At this point, there was no single doubt in my head that I was a burden to them.

They seemed to be very okay with the fact that they were pushing me to my death. Alpha Roman wasn't your typical sexy alpha because rumors said that he was nothing good for the eyes. They say he was a giant and ugly as a beast, they say his face was decorated with numerous horrifying scares.

Others say he was cursed because of his cruelty and others say because he killed his uncle who was good to him. It was a fact that his pack was the strongest with gold and diamonds, but I guess that wasn't enough to make him attractive. It was Olivia who was supposed to be prepared, she was the one who was supposed to be in my place because he chose her and not me. He demanded Olivia to be his bride and not me, the Wolf-less Anastasia, daughter of alpha Christopher.

But I guess my parents loved her more to see her run into such an uninterested fate. They appreciated her too much to let her marry such a beast.

It has always been her, Olivia. Even when we were kids, they preferred her more, yet everything became worse when I didn't shift on my eighteenth birthday. My wolf failed to show up even though the pack seer claimed nothing was wrong with me. She said I had a wolf in me, yet I couldn't feel it, and neither could anyone. Things I thought I had crumpled to my face and the only person who held me and told me it was okay to not have a wolf was Summer, our beta's son and my fated mate.

He never abandoned me like my family did, he made me feel important even when my parents were acting all ashamed of me.

I never felt this pain because I had Summer by my side.

I blinked back my tears.

They never took me to parties. It was always Olivia, the better one. I wasn't allowed to leave the alpha space and whenever a new alpha was visiting the pack they would lock me up in my room like I was some smelling piece of trash. Olivia was the one they introduced as their daughter. No one cared about how I felt just because my wolf wasn't showing up.

" Ana, eat your food. It's getting cold" Mother said, and I slammed out of my thoughts. " Summer and I will be going out on a date, so I don't want to eat too much," Olivia said, staring teasingly at me.

I didn't want to believe her, but I was scared she might be telling the truth. Summer was angry with me because he heard I was getting married to alpha Roman, but would he go as far as being with my sister? I wanted to discard the thought and call it stupid, but somewhere within me, I sensed some truth in Olivia's words. Olivia was the biggest snob, but she would never make up stories like that if there wasn't any truth in them.

And Summer, he might hate Olivia for many things, but there was no doubt she was beautiful.

Short black hair, pink lips, beautiful gray eyes, and her slender figure were quite a great catch. I could feel my stomach boiling in fear. I didn't want it to be true, but Father did say he had plans to make Summer the next alpha of the pack.

I didn't know why but I was scared.

" Annabelle!"

" Yes, mother...." I replied, biting on my lips. " What are you thinking about? You have been out for more than a minute", mother complained.

" I don't want to get married," I said, staring at my father and at that minute I felt Summer's presence. I noticed him walking towards us from the door and his pretty eyes fixed on me. My stomach twisted and tightened at each step he took. His short brown hair looked disheveled like always with a strand lying on his forehead.

" We have already discussed this," my father said, and my eyes moved from Summer." No Father, we haven't" I said, shifting my gaze back to Summer, who was helping Olivia out of her seat, so they could leave for their stupid date.

" It's tomorrow and that is final" Father slammed his hand on the table before standing on his feet.

My heart hammered in my chest as I stared at Summer and Olivia stepped out.

Were they going to deprive me of my mate too?

ANNABELLA'S POV

I texted Summer and asked him to meet me at the small park near the border and I was happy he agreed.

I hope he agrees to leave the pack with me because I couldn't imagine my life without him, and the fact that he went out with Olivia made me want to pull her hair out, it set my heart ablaze and it hurts seeing mate with another.

I walked out of the house carefully making sure no one was around to stop me, with my small bag hanging on my shoulder, making sure to empty my savings box. We would need the money once we were out of the pack. I got out of the house in no time and set off towards the park, happy to meet Summer.

I ran my way through the darkness as I couldn't wait, constantly looking back to be certain I wasn't followed. I finally found myself in the huge clearing, the same place I used to play with Summer when we were kids.

So many beautiful memories.

Summer and I had been together since I could remember, and I was glad to be chosen as his mate and not only his best friend. A smile tagged on my lips as I recalled those days when I would spend the whole day with him on this field. He wasn't entirely mean to me when we were kids because he would scold anyone who bullied me, even though he was my biggest bully.

I stared around and noticed him walking towards me from the other edge. He was dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt with his hair looking like usual.

My legs just couldn't wait as I ran into his arms, wrapped my arms around his waist tightly and my head rested on his broad chest. I had wanted to do this the moment he showed up at the dinner" Summer". I moaned his name, closing my eyes. Back then, my only fear was that Summer would leave me because I was Wolf-less, but now it was my father and Olivia.

" Why did you ask me to come here?" He asked impatiently as if he couldn't stand my present, but that wasn't possible because he loved me too much to hate my present. " Summer, I am sorry about everything. I know I had always wanted to leave this pack, but not without you. Believe me, when I say I love you" I said, and he pulled away, slightly unwrapping my hands from his waist," Let's leave this pack, I know it's crazy, but that is the only way we can be together" I pleaded, staring up hopefully in his eyes. His eyes widened a little as he glared back at me. " Yes, I want us to leave this pack and settle somewhere. I don't want to live without you, I don't want to get married, I don't want to stay in this pack, I'm tired of being the other daughter, I want to find a new life with you, I just want to be happy with you like we used to" I teared up.

I missed those days when he would spend the entire day with me on this field and constantly remind me how much he loved me.

He was the best thing that ever happened to me and just like I loved him. He loved and cherished me unconditionally despite me being Wolf-less. The kind of love I never got from my parents was given to me by him and I would appreciate it for the rest of my life. "Just agree and let's leave together. I want us to settle somewhere else" I took his hand as I looked up at him." You think it's okay" It wasn't a question but I nodded, willing to take the step "I promise we will be happy together "

" Stop it, Anna". He cut me off before I could finish.

"How can you be this selfish? I thought you promised me you would stay in this pack" he said angrily, and I lowered my head." Do you want to leave your family and run away? I never thought you could be this heartless?" He accused me, and I felt tears in my eyes. What was he talking about? He just called me selfish when he knew I wasn't the problem here.

" The pack is going down, and you think it's alright to leave?" he sounded as if I was the bad guy here." Wait, did you expect me to agree to marry him?" A part of me wanted to know his answer while another part wished I didn't ask'' It's okay to make some sacrifice for the people we love'' he replied coldly, and I trembled back" You can't possibly be serious" I shook my head with a painful smile on my face." My family doesn't care about me and you know it. You are not blind to not noticing how much the pack hates my guts." I was only safe in this pack because the alpha was my father. I couldn't tell how long they would keep their claws off my flesh because now it was obvious my family didn't care about me, since they were willing to sacrifice my life for the betterment of the pack and that of Olivia. What about me?

" Please do this for us. Let's leave this pack together. I'm sure we will get another pack to join once we are out of this place" I have always wanted to live somewhere else, somewhere far from this pack, but not like this. I wanted it to be a journey, not a run. I stared pleadingly at him while holding onto his hand.

"Let's get married somewhere," I said desperately, and he gently pushed me aside and turned to stride back." Summer!" I ran after him, leaving my bag on the ground. I was determined to make everything right, I understood he was angry with me because I didn't tell him about the marriage thing, but that was because I didn't want to hurt him." Can you hear me out first!" I yelled, and he stopped.

I grabbed his shirt from behind, and he stopped." Summer, I don't want to marry him," I said, with tearing eyes. I couldn't imagine myself with that ugly beast." Am scared, Summer". I was terrified, not like there was anyone who would be happy being in my shoes. Alpha Roman wasn't a good man. The rumor of him killing his uncle wasn't a good one. I couldn't imagine myself married to that said beast. " Summer...." Murmured, pleadingly.

" Annabella" he called my name in full and my lips hung open. My wet teary eyes stared back at him in confusion.

During my years with Summer, he only enjoyed calling me by my nickname. He never once called me by my full name, just like right now." Don't you get it?!" He growled. Startled, I trembled back." Your marriage with that beast is the easiest way to save the pack from going south."

What?

" Summer" Someone called sweetly, and my eyes flew to my side and frowned the moment I saw Olivia walking towards us with a familiar smirk on her face. I watched quietly as she paused beside Summer and grabbed onto his arms tightly.

Her smell hit me and the frown on my face deepened. She smelled just like him and Summer smelled exactly like her! Were they together?

" What are you doing here?" I asked, my heart racing in my chest." Isn't it obvious?" She leaned more against him with a smile that brought fear to my face." I should be asking you that because you ruined my night with my mate" Olivia accused, and my gaze shifted to Summer who was letting Olivia touch him in front of me without any attempt to stop her." He is my fated mate, Olivia" I reminded, frowning as she shamelessly slipped her hand into his.

" As if he thinks the same", she rolled her eyes and my eyes slowly went to Summer's cold face.

I was expecting him to pull away from her or ignore her just like he usually did, but he didn't do any of it.

He seemed calm as if it was okay for my sister to hold hands with him, tears threatening to leave me. " He will soon be declared the alpha of this pack, so learn to accord him some respect" Olivia scolded, and my lips parted with tears running down my face."Alpha?" My gaze flickered to Olivia who was clutching onto my boyfriend like a second skin.

" Tell her the truth, Summer, unless you want me to tell her," Olivia threatened, and I sniffed, wiping away my tears.

" T-tell me w-what?" I asked, confused." I can tell her if you won't tell her..." Olivia sang out with an evil smile" I'm sorry, Annabella" Summer started, wrapping his hand around Olivia's shoulders" Olivia and I are getting married soon" he said nonchalantly, and I blinked, tears running down my cheek.

I felt my feet shaking and my chest hemming. " You promised me you would never break our bond", I murmured pitifully and painfully, my heart shattered into a million pieces. His words were like a digger struck in my chest, right into my heart.

" Promises are meant to be broken, dear Annabella'' Olivia teased, and I shook my head in disbelief. The Summer I knew wouldn't do this to me. He would never hurt me like this because we were mates." Summer will never hurt me" I protested and grabbed her hand angrily to pull her away from him, but he pushed me to the ground instead." You have no right to touch Olivia. I won't warm you again" he threatened, sounding like a different person. He was no longer sounding like the sweet and loving mate I was willing to live the rest of my life with.

" Did my father force you to do this?" I asked with tears stuck in my eyes. I didn't understand why he could change and forget everything so quickly. He promised we would be together till death. He told me he would never stop loving me no matter what, but now, tears slipped out of my eyes." Don't be naive, Annabella Summer is done with a wolf-less she-wolf like yourself." Olivia said dryly, but my attention wasn't on her. I was trying to wrap my head around what just happened even though it was hard for me to take it in.

He used to protect me from Olivia, but now it was the exact opposite.

" Let's leave, Olivia" Summer, my best friend of fifteen years and boyfriend of three years, said to my sister and, just like that, they started walking away. I felt pain in my heart as I watched them walk hand in hand like love birds. It was as if my heart was on fire.

Seeing him leave with Olivia felt like a goodbye, something I never thought would ever happen. Was it so easy for him to just let everything go?

Did Summer mean what he said?

I felt my throat dry up as I fought so hard to not break down.

3

ANNABELLA'S POV

I didn't know how long I stayed in the park crying, but there was one thing I was sure of and that was, I was hurting. I never expected it nor did I want to believe it because he loved me.

What if he was forced by my father to do this? What if he didn't mean what he said? So many things ran inside my head as I found it difficult to believe he was getting married to Olivia. I knew Summer too well. He would never hurt me on purpose.

He might have said that, so I would stay in the pack. He promised me he would protect me no matter what, right? He told me he would never let anyone hurt me, including my father and Olivia. Maybe that was his way of fulfilling his promise.

I stared down at my palm, which had a small bleeding cut and my heart squeezed in my chest as I realized I was hurt because of him.

I felt my heart pulling apart at that instant just at the thought of the possibility of him telling the truth.

Hurt and broken, I stared up at the path they took. I didn't think for once that Summer would do this to me, to us, after everything we shared.

He told me he loved me. He promised me he would never neglect me or be ashamed of me like my parents did, but he eventually did. Just like everyone else, he also went for Olivia.

Everyone seemed to like Olivia more. First was my parents, and now Summer. Why couldn't I be the one? I have lived in her shadows since we were kids and still do. I was always compared to her because, in my parents' eyes, I wasn't good enough to be their daughter. Just like I had never been wealthy enough to be called their daughter.

Everyone in the pack, including my parents, thought of her as the better one. I was ignored throughout my whole life like I didn't exist. They never gave me a reason to see myself as good enough, as I have always blamed myself for the way the pack and my family treated me.

The special moment of my eighteenth birthday when his wolf recognized me as his mate greeted my memory and I felt like running after him.

We were both excited as he kept thanking the moon goddess and praying I wouldn't leave him.

The moment when he begged me to never leave him brought enough pain to my chest as I walked slowly toward the entrance of the park.

He told me I was the center of his life. I pushed my hair back and at that instant, I felt pain in my chest and a weird noise coming from behind one of the trees. I paused, cleaning my face with the back of my hand.

Curiously, I took my steps closer, and to my surprise, it was Summer and Olivia!

I didn't know if they did it on purpose, but I felt pain.

His face was buried deep in between her legs while his hands held tightly onto her naked thighs to push them apart. I gaped and trembled back in shock, feeling my feet numb. They were having a moment, and they seemed to be enjoying each other. ' Summer' I thought, as tears blurred my vision, and as if he heard my thoughts, he stared away from Olivia, who was busy moaning her throat out. His eyes turned black like his wolf was pushing forward. And I guess it recognized me, he shoved him away and went back to suck Olivia's pussy like he couldn't stay away from her. My lips parted in shock.

My face paled like a thousand times.

Summer and Olivia? My legs started shaking as if they couldn't take my weight. I shook my head in tears as I remembered what Olivia said to me earlier 'Sumer and I would be having a date for our four-month anniversary'

How could he do this to me? Why did my life seem difficult? I turned back to run, feeling like a fool. Could it be that Dad knew Summer and Olivia were together and that was his reason for wanting to make him the alpha of the pack when he knew he was my mate?

So many years with him and he did this to me. He lied and deceived me. He treated me like a fool, just like everyone else.

Rain suddenly started pouring as I ran into the woods with tears and silent sobs leaving my mouth.

It hurt a lot. I could feel my chest wailing in pain.

After running for a few minutes, I stopped by the lake and fell on my knees as my sobs resounded in the quiet night.

What about me? Why was I always the one hurting?

Summer was mine but I was the one hurting.

Since when have they been fooling me? Was it their plan to hurt me? When did Summer change this much? I couldn't grab hold of my senses anymore. Nothing was making sense to me, the only thing that I understood was the pain in my chest.

" Why did it hurt this much?" I whispered to myself, touching my chest. Was it because we were fated mates? I could feel the heat of his fornication. I could feel unending tears in my eyes, but I couldn't cry anymore because I was tired and drained.

My hand climbed up to my chest and grabbed hold of the necklace around my neck. It was a gift from Summer for my eighteenth birthday, the night we discovered we were not only best friends but mates.

Back then I thought nothing would ever separate us, because I believed him when he told me fate had declared my position in his life.

How easy it was for him to forget all that. I smiled painfully, squeezing the necklace in my hand.

I let him do this to me.

I pulled the necklace from my neck and shoved it in the lake with a heavy heart. Summer has made a choice.

It should be over for me by now.

I turned to head back to the pack. There was no future for me anywhere, everything was gone.

The moment I pushed the door open, I came face to face with my father, Alpha Christopher. He seemed furious and angry, beside him stood the disgusting Olivia" You dare try to run away. How dare you try to disobey me!" He growled as he pulled me by my hair and shoved me onto the cold floor." You planned to get us all killed, didn't you?" He asked furiously, and I shook my head immediately with tears running down my face. I was already exhausted." You ungrateful child, did you think Summer would need a useless she-wolf like you? Did you possibly think I would hand this pack to you?" He growled, and I covered my head with my hands in panic, curling myself on the floor." Why can't you be a little considerate towards your parents and this pack?" He scolded me and I felt like laughing. What was there to be considered? They never loved me, and now he wanted me to be considerate and sacrifice myself for them.

Wasn't he being selfish by asking me to do that for the pack?

Olivia was the one he wanted, but instead, he chose to protect her by using me and why was that? I parted my lips as I felt breathless. The pain in my heart was becoming unbearable. I was betrayed by my parents, my fate, my sister, and my pack.

How did I end up like this?

" Lock her up in the cell until she comes back to her senses," Father ordered, and I felt myself being pulled up from the floor. I was dragged out of the living room in the dark and into one of the pack's cells.

I was hurt, broken, and betrayed by everyone I grew up knowing. I felt alone and abandoned and, at that moment, I felt there was nothing left to fight for. I realized there was no point fighting. I felt my eyes heavy as I drifted off to sleep.

I picked up the clicking sound of the opening cell and I flipped my eyes.

" Have you made up your mind?" He stepped inside the cell with his cold nonchalant face, " Good morning, alpha Christopher", I said, pulling myself from the floor and I saw a scowl on his face. " Does that answer my question?" He demanded, and I sniffed, pushing my hair back. I could feel my eyes swollen from the heavy tears I heard last night but does it matter?" Do I have a choice?" I asked, sitting up straight and his silent gaze lingered on me, and for a second I thought I saw something like regret in his eyes, it was as if he was having second thoughts, but that wasn't it. Just my imagination." Get inside your room, the pack will be waiting for you in the church" he said coldly, and I nodded with my back leaned against the wall." I have a favor to ask, Alpha Christopher" He was about to walk out when I spoke.

" What do you want?" He turned back toward me and I smiled bitterly. He was indeed ready to use me as a bid for the peace of the pack, how unfortunate life could be. I wished he would protect me like he did with Olivia, but that would always be my dream." Can there not be a wedding?" I asked and he narrowed his eyes. I mean, what was the point? I was sure the pack members wouldn't even attend it, so why waste the money? " If that is what you want, then fine" he agreed, a tear slipped down my eyes.

It's settled.