The Alpha's Cursed Virgin Bride

- Marked f

cry when t

ll's stone bench as the elders spoke over her head li

n said, his voice thin as ice. "The marriage will take

ria

roposal. It w

d," Lyra sa

m fell

he just let the words hang there

ingle touch," she added. "A

Thornveil," Rowan said.

n each other during patrols. The sickness was spreading, the madness bitin

y had n

apparent

hollow. "You give me to a monst

ot like

actly li

Because he hadn't spoken once since the council meeting began.

ll have been ca

, turning toward Rowan. "Wh

nned. "Because h

opped h

ha

n under the same cursed moon he was

ed. "How would he

e ans

. Methodically. As if every movem

t to him,

ch droppe

him a letter. I offered you in excha

d n

he ac

ecognize the man before her. "You of

pa

aw what wa

ogy. No

hecy. Jus

t c

his daughter first. She'd been a tool. A weight to move across

is simple: you marry, you stay alive, you keep you

nished. "We all

ers shifted u

. Not quite rage. Not grief. Something heavier. Something

ed to he

to you that even de

ve. "This isn't about wor

tepped

raid of what I might become. And now, you're m

a child, curled up beside her mother's grave, too afraid to shift. Or the time sh

n it wa

there," he said quietly

out waiting

ned. Ceremony planned. As if she were no

wide. "I'll come with you," she whispered. "

have a gift here. A life. Th

if he hu

t least someone will survive to

round her. For once,

burn. It didn't k

might be the last pe

-

g the ceremonial traveling cloak: deep violet, lined with

r-tight and sharp-and l

ted a sa

the eyes like a que

enforcers flanked the doors, wearing Thornveil sigils. A thir

k what the fi

't need

was inked

dge of the courtyard, t

ther d

ever

rom the only home she'd ever known, Ly

e, it won't

I'll make them reg