The Cursed Alpha's Secret Wolfless Bride

Galilea's POV:

For twenty years, I was a charity project picked up by the Thorne family, a useless person without a wolf.

Until they forced me to marry Alpha Enzo Barnes of the Black Moon tribe-a monster cursed in the north, who was rumored to have torn his previous fiancée to pieces with his own hands.

I asked why they didn't send their biological daughter, and Eleanor slapped me across the face.

"You're nothing but a bastard we picked up from the mud."

I overheard the truth: I'm not family. I was a scapegoat; I was raised for twenty years just to die in Rosalie's place.

On my wedding night, that monster almost strangled me to death; the guards had to use silver chains to subdue him.

The Thorne family celebrated from afar, convinced they had delivered a lamb to the slaughter.

They didn't know who had been sent into the heart of the enemy camp.

They thought they were sending a lamb to slaughter. They had no idea they were sending a spy.

...

The scent of dried lavender and chamomile was the only peace I had left in the Thorne estate. My fingers, faintly green-stained from years of handling herbs, sifted through brittle blossoms as I ran through tonight's intelligence reports in my mind. Three noble houses had shifted their trade routes. The royal court was consolidating power. And Eleanor Thorne had been spending unusually large sums on something she refused to document.

I filed away the last detail just as the door slammed open against the wall.

My heart leaped. Herbs scattered across the wooden table. The mask I wore in this house slipped back into place-the docile, grateful orphan. The girl they'd trained me to be.

Eleanor Thorne stood in the doorway, face pale with fury, two hulking guards flanking her. Their presence sucked the air from the room.

I stood slowly, hands curling into fists at my sides.

"What's this about?" My voice was careful, measured. The voice of a girl who'd learned not to provoke the predators in her own home.

She gave a thin, cruel smile. "You are to be married. To Alpha Enzo Barnes of the Black Moon Pack."

The name hit me like a physical blow. Enzo Barnes. The Cursed Alpha. The Mad Wolf of the North. They said he'd torn his last fiancée apart with his bare hands. They said his episodes left rooms painted in blood.

"No." The word ripped out of me. "Absolutely not."

"You don't have a choice."

"Why me?" My voice shook-half real fear, half calculation. "Why not Rosalie? She's your real daughter. This honor should be hers."

Eleanor's face twisted. She crossed the room in three quick strides, and her hand cracked against my cheek. My head whipped to the side, skin stinging.

"Rosalie is destined for the Alpha Prince," she hissed, her face inches from mine, breath sour with old wine. "She won't be wasted on a cursed animal. You-a wolfless stray we pulled from the mud-should be grateful. An Alpha wants you. It's the highest you'll ever climb."

A stray. The word was meant to cut. Once, it would have.

I shoved past her, making a desperate break for the door. Let her think I was panicking. Let her think I was weak. A thick arm shot out. A guard slammed me back, my shoulder hitting the wall with a dull thud.

Eleanor smoothed her tailored dress, composure restored. "You will remain in this room until the wedding. You will be a good, obedient bride. It's the least you can do to repay twenty years of charity."

She turned to leave, the guards moving with her. At the door she paused, looking back over her shoulder, eyes glinting with malicious triumph.

"Don't worry too much about his episodes. The Black Moon Pack has plenty of silver chains to keep their Alpha contained."

Silver.

The word cut through my performance of panic. The ultimate weakness for any wolf, Alpha or not. A key.

The door shut with a heavy finality. A key turned in the lock.

I slid down the wall, trembling. But beneath the trembling, my mind was already firing.

I closed my eyes and reached out-not with my voice, but with my mind.

A faint, static-like whisper answered.

Shadow, do you copy?

The Whisper Net. My network. My creation. The thing the Thornes never knew existed right under their noses.

A cold, sharp smile touched my lips. They thought they were sending a broken orphan to die in a monster's den.

They had no idea they were handing their biggest secret a front-row seat to every Alpha council in the kingdom.

Stand by, I sent back, thoughts clear and precise. We're going hunting.

I was forced into a monster's lair. But that lair was closer to the center of power than ever before. I could gather intelligence on every pack in the kingdom, and perhaps even on the royal court itself.

This marriage will not be my grave.

It will be my weapon.

My mind is racing. To weave a web, I need resources. Funding. And I know where to get them.

The Thorne family thought they sold me for their own benefit.

It's time for them to pay for my dowry.