The Alliance of Wolves

, but there was no escape from what seem

daughter of the leader of the pack, raised to believe that nothing was more sacred than the pride and honor of their lineage, now found herself reduced to

e is no othe

d, to ask him that it was a bad joke, a nightmare from which she could wake up. But nothing

of another pack," he continued

she couldn't decipher. Elias, this man she didn't

step back, her voice shaking slightly, barely audible. "

his is the deal he made to cancel the debt and save our family. This marr

e knew what he was asking of her. He knew it would destroy her, but there was no alternative. The debt her father had incurred with Elias, fo

rds barely coming out. "You, Father, do y

ith pain. "Clara... I have no ch

What else could she do, anyway? To reject this offer would be to doom everything she had ever known. Her family, her brother, he

a legend among her kind, a feared and respected alpha. Clara had only ever heard rumors about him, and no one she knew seemed willing to share more specific det

d the cold air bit at her skin. Clara took a deep breath, her heart beating faster than ever. The moment she

in time, the walls covered with old portraits of ancestors, frozen in their steely gazes. The dim light only ser

ia

had imagined. He wore a dark coat, a serious look on his face, almost inhuman. He ha

nyielding. That was all. There were no greetings, no swe

earching every inch of his soul. The man seemed neither happy nor unhappy wi

s," she replied, her voice betraying the tens

answer. He took a step closer, his boots pounding on the cold gr

id, his voice as cold as the wind outside. "I'

ng more. Not for a moment had he taken her will, or even her disco

"are nothing anymore. There

no other option." His voice was cold, full of the certainty that he knew everything, knew

position." He paused, observing Clara with an almost cruel interest. "As for

out. She felt small in front of him, so insignificant. The reality of this forced marriage became more tangible, more suffocating. The man st

?" she finally asked, her vo

n a smirk played on his lips. "Now

ake. Her future. Her freedom. And everything she loved

her own hand, the contract that bound he