Chapter 1: Chapter 1

~Four years ago~

~Maya’s POV~

It rained on the day I died.

People die in different ways, mine was one of the most painful kinds. My heart was ripped out and shredded into a million pieces right in front of me.

“Alex, please don’t do this to me,” I begged running after him, “Please I am begging you. I have nowhere to go.”

He turned to me, his blue eyes now as cold as ice stared at me. Gone was the warmth that made me feel safe whenever he held me to his chest, whispering just how much he loved me.

“Alex,” I whispered his name again.

“You are starting to irritate me. Do not make me throw you out, Maya.”

Maya.

The sound of my name on his lips was another painful stab to my heart. He hadn’t called me by my real name in the three years we had been married.

My begging was getting me nowhere I realized. Standing to my feet, I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“You are really going to do this to me after everything we have been through together? After everything I gave up just to be with you?”

He didn’t say anything. He simply stared through me like I didn’t exist. Like I was nothing.

I stared at him. He looked the same. The same man I had fallen in love with. The same man I had turned my back on my entire pack for just to be with yet he was so different.

There had been so much whispers after the announcement of our engagement but the center of it all was that I was a gold digging stripper that had dug her claws into one of the most eligible billionaires in the city but neither Alex nor I had cared.

He kissed me two months after that and claimed me as his.

“You and I against the world silver.. Always and forever,” he had whispered just before he entered me for the first time.

We had both made sacrifices for love and I was not going to let him destroy it.

“You cannot just discard me like I am nothing to you,” I said finally, hoping to get a reaction from him but there was nothing.

“Do you have nothing else to say?”

Silence hung between us, almost suffocating me then finally he walked towards the table, grabbing a brown envelope and in that cold and detached voice, “My signature is already on it. Sign it and don’t let me see you ever again.”

“We can fix whatever is wrong. Tell me what happened. You can’t just leave then return only to tell me you are ending our marriage and then throw divorce papers in my face. Please let me fix it. Whatever it is.” I tried to step forward but halted in my step when I saw the flash of black in his eyes.

His wolf lunging to the surface reminded me of the most important detail of our relationship, “We are mates.”

His eyes darkened fully making me wish I hadn’t said that because the next words that came out from his mouth ripped my heart out.

“I reject you Amaya Stone and from this moment, you are nothing to me.”

The hit was so fast and painful, it had me falling back on my knees gasping for air. I had heard stories of rejection but none of them prepared me for this.

My wolf recoiled howling in pain as I struggled to see through the tears.

“Throw her out of my house.”

I felt two strong hands pick me from the floor.

“Alex,” I gasped out, “I’m.. I’m..”

“Don’t ever let me see her again.” Those were the last words that echoed in my head and that was the last time I saw Alex Thorne.

That night… It rained.

That same night.. I died.

***************

“It is time for you to come back home. I have found a man for you to marry.”

I paused trying to steady my breath when my father’s hard tone sounded through the phone again, “Amaya did you hear me?”

“Yes… Yes father I did.”

I should have known immediately I saw Daniel Stones’ name on my phone. My father hardly ever called and when he did, he wanted something.

“When will the wedding take place? Who is he?” I managed to get out after a long pause.

“That shouldn’t be your concern. I will send a car to fetch you before the week runs out. Be prepared and do not keep me waiting.”

Fetch me. Like a common dog.

“Yes father. Am I allowed to—“

He didn’t let me finish before ending the call and I let out a sigh.

I wished I had it in me to fight. To say no. That I wouldn’t be part of an arranged marriage to a man that I did not know but there was no fire left in me. It had all burned out after four years.

The only reason I opened my eyes everyday were Ivy and Nathan. I knew my father wouldn’t approve of me bringing them to his house. The bastard children to your bastard husband as he called them.

Thinking up solutions in my brain, I quickly scrolled through the limited number on my phone.

Natalia’s voice burst through the phone with an energy that could light up the whole city. “Amaya! I miss you so, so much! Oh my goodness, are you at my doorstep right now? Please tell me you’re here! Wait, no, wait a sec, I’m not even home. Let me quickly call Nate—”

“Natalia,” I chuckled, trying to calm down my ever-excited best friend, “Could you maybe give me a chance to talk here?”

“Oh, right, right, right! I’m so sorry. You know how I am—I just can’t help it. I get all hyper when you call, especially ’cause it’s so rare.”

“Natalia,” I interjected again, gently teasing her, “You’re doing it again.”

“Oh! Right, right! I’m all ears now. You have the floor, girl!”

Natalia’s excitement was infectious. Her words always poured out like an overflowing river, bubbling over with enthusiasm. It felt like she could fill an empty room with her energy, and I couldn’t help but smile even over the phone.

I breathed out a long, deep sigh, picturing Natalia’s face in my mind. I knew her eyes would have narrowed in concern.

“What happened?” Her voice flowed through the phone, laced with worry and curiosity.

“My father,” I began, hesitating as I felt the weight of his demand settling over me, “he wants me… he wants me to come back home.”

The silence on the line felt heavy, the space between her breaths seemingly long. Her silence spoke volumes before she finally broke it, her voice gentle but laced with concern, “What does he want you to do?”

I closed my eyes, the memories of my father’s call still echoing in my mind, the words sinking into my heart like heavy stones. “Make the same mistake again,” I whispered, feeling the sting of resentment, “get married, but this time, to a man of his choosing.”

“Amaya,” she breathed my name like a soft prayer.

We didn’t always need words. It felt like Natalia and I had honed this psychic connection from the very first day we met in college.

“I owe it to him,” I sighed into the phone, almost feeling her understanding seep through the line. “After everything I did… I turned my back on my entire pack, and he still took me back.”

“Sending you away to live in isolation isn’t exactly an act of reconciliation,” Natalia retorted, her voice a mix of frustration and empathy. “Your parents left you to raise the twins all by yourself.”

I opened my mouth to protest, to defend their actions, but Natalia cut in, her words gentle yet firm, “You did it for love. You loved him, Amaya. Don’t let anyone ever fault you for that.”

She didn’t even have to say his name for a new wave of pain to wash through me.

“I… I already said yes,” I whispered, the weight of my decision heavy in my chest. “He said he would send a car to fetch me before the week ends.”

She let out a laugh but it sounded hollow, “Fetch you? Like a dog?”

I could have laughed if the situation had been different.

“You know I wouldn’t bother you if I had any other option.”

“It’s fine. Will you bring Ivy and Nathan yourself? Please, please say yes. I’ve been dying to see you for ages. It’s been over a year and I really want to hug you and you don’t even have to stress about Nate. You know how much he loves you. Sometimes, I’m convinced it’s even more than he loves me, which is saying something. He misses you too and—“

“Natalia Jameson!” I chuckled softly, interrupting her rambling.

“Sorry….My excitement level shot to the top again.”

“Are you certain Nate won’t mind?”

“Natalia, you know him as well as I do. It used to be the three of us against the world, remember? I’ll take care of them for as long as you need. You’ve got a reliable babysitter in me,” she reassured.

She paused for a second and I knew what she was thinking.

“It’s fine Natalia. It won’t be challenging. A loveless marriage on paper is manageable because, to be honest, I hardly have any more love left to give.”

“I’m sorry your life turned out so shitty.”

“Me too.”

As we wrapped up the call, she left me with those words, “I love you.” Natalia knew almost everything about me, but there was a part of me she’d never truly understand – just how much I despised those words.

The week flew by me like seconds. Everything went as planned. Natalia had thrown her hands around me wrapping me in a bear hug when I went to drop my twins off and then finally after what stretched like an eternity, I found myself standing in front of my father’s study.

“Enter,” his voice called out when I knocked on the door.

He didn’t look up from the paper when I entered, I hadn’t expected him to.

“Father,” I greeted as I stepped in.

“You’re five minutes late, Amaya. You know how I detest waiting.”

“I apologize. I had something to attend to first.”

“The bastards?” His choice of words pricked at my inner wolf, who growled in frustration. She despised his term for them, as much as I did, but I would never grant her the authority to act upon it.

Seeking to divert his attention, I moved closer, hoping for even a glimpse of acknowledgment. Finally, he lifted his head, his disapproving gaze meeting mine.

“This is what you’ve chosen to wear to meet your future husband?”

“What? You didn’t mention I’d be meeting him today. Besides, I don’t even know who he is.”

I saw the flash of annoyance in his eyes before it darkened. He composed himself then cleared his throat, “You are familiar with him.”

Why did my heart kick up a notch at that?

Why did I desperately want him to call Alex’s name still?

My father, however bursted my bubble when he said the name, “Ivan McCall,” the ln continued, “The wedding will happen in two weeks but before that, there will be a family dinner. Do not embarrass me,” the last words were said with a note of warning.

I bowed my head, “Would that be all father?” No reply came from him so I turned on my heels to leave.

He stopped me with a call of my name and I turned back to face him.

I wished I didn’t have the ability to predict what people would say next because looking into his eyes, I felt dread wash over me and I was right when he uttered his next line of words.

“It won’t just be a formal wedding. There will be a mating ceremony after which you will allow Ivan to mark you and claim you as his mate.”