The Alpha's Contract Bride

ADRIANA CROSS

A groan slipped past my lips as I shifted against something soft. But I could still feel the slight discomfort in my bones. What the hell happened to me?

As the thought grazed my mind, everything came flooding my mind in a flash. I remembered it all. Visiting Zoey in the hospital. Dimitri's text. The brutal attack. And… Oh hell, Dimitri Castello was a fucking wolf.

My eyes snapped open at once and I shot up to a sitting position, ignoring the pounding ache in my head. I glanced around my unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a room and this definitely didn't look like any room in the mansion.

I couldn't stop my heart from banging so hard in my chest. Had Dimitri kidnapped me after I found out who he was? Who they all were?

This was so bad. And all I could think about was Zoey. She was in grave danger. I just hope Dimitri hasn't done anything to her yet. I had to get to her and we had to leave. I had no single doubt Dimitri knew exactly who I truly was. That could only explain why he approached me. He knew I was a witch, and he was just like everyone who came after me.

Surprisingly, the thought caused a strange ache in my chest and I had to blink back the tears in my eyes.

I got out of bed, and to my surprise, I wasn't wearing my clothes from the attack. I was in a white dress shirt which smelled like Dimitri, unfortunately, with no underwear.

I tried not to think of the possibility of what my lack of clothing might mean and instead hurried for the door. I lifted a hand to the ruby bracelet around my wrist, removing the bracelet, something I should have done a long time ago. My bracelet has always been spelled. Each bead held special properties that binded my magic, and wolf. As long as I wore it, I couldn't be tracked by any means, including magic, and my magic couldn't send some kind of beacon to those after me. But I had no choice now, desperate times definitely called for desperate measures.

I left the room, trying my hardest to remain unseen while I snuck down the hallway. I was about to take the stairs when I heard a familiar, angry growl from the office at the other end of the hallway. It was Dimitri's and strangely, against every muscle in my bones, I froze. Something was going on in there, almost like an argument.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I moved closer to the door until I could hear every word being said.

“Relax, Alpha. Killing Sabrina won't fix anything,” A woman muttered in a calm, controlled familiar voice. I met her last night at that weird party and Dimitri introduced her to me as Agatha.

“Someone has to pay!” Dimitri growled again and I could almost feel the heat of his fury. “Adriana almost died today. If I didn't get there at that precise moment, she would have been…” Another growl, and then I heard a bang against the wall.

“I am sorry, Dimitri—” Sabrina's voice filtered into my ears, her voice trembling in fear.

“It's Alpha to you!”

“Alpha,” She corrected. “I swear to the goddess, that wasn't my doing. I'd never jeopardize every one of our lives. I… I… just wanted to scare her because she insulted me yesterday. Believe me, I have no idea why those rogues showed up,”

“And now, because of your stupidity, you exposed us all. She knows what we are,”

“That entirely isn't a bad thing,” Agatha spoke again.

“No. Her knowing complicates everything,” Dimitri said.

“Maybe Agatha can use her magic and wipe her memories. Adriana wouldn't remember anything just like she can't remember what truly happened at the party last night,” Someone spoke up, and my hand pulled up to my lips in surprise. Agatha was a witch too.

My heart was racing fast. I was surrounded by witches and wolves. This was really bad.

And I knew I wasn't crazy. I could definitely feel something had happened to me last night. They did something to me and I couldn't remember. All the more reasons I had to leave this place, and fast.

“Alpha, maybe—”

“Silence,” Dimitri's instant word made the room go completely quiet, almost as if they could sense someone was eavesdropping.

Without thinking twice, I darted towards the stairs, going through the large kitchen which had a few people. They could all be wolves for all I care. Thankfully, they didn't try to stop me, and I managed to get out through the back door, racing out into the night.

I had no idea where I was going as the mansion was almost in the middle of the woods and my only source of light in the darkness was the bright moon hanging up in the sky. I just had to take my chances, darting into the woods barefoot.

I kept running, ignoring the pain from my wounded feet until I recognized I was completely lost, and approaching a dead end. It was then I felt the presence in the woods. Oh fuck, they had found me.

I took a careful step back just in time as a large black wolf stepped out of the woods. I remembered it to be Dimitri's. And it was even larger than what I remembered. Before I could take a step back, the wolf shifted to his human form, Dimitri, standing completely naked before me, and what was worse, he didn't even seem to be bothered by his nudity.

But I was, and unfortunately, the darkness did nothing to hide anything from my view. He was a masterpiece of the gods, sculpted in their very image. Every small detail of his body was beautiful, so beautiful I couldn't seem to peel my eyes away from him. My gaze trailed from his perfect abs all down to the v-line leading to his…

The sudden clearing of throat pulled me out of whatever insanity had plagued me for a second. I couldn't believe I was ogling at Dimitri Velaquez of all people.

I snapped my gaze back to him only to see an irresistible smirk playing on his lips, almost as if he knew exactly what indecent thoughts I was having just a second ago about him. Could he read my mind? That would make him even more dangerous than I thought he was.

I took a step backward again, and my action caused his smile to vanish, and for a second, I thought I saw a flash of hurt in his eyes. Then he pinned me with a stare I couldn't fathom.

“I'm not going to hurt you, Adriana, Never,” He stated quietly.

“Is that why I was attacked today, or you tricked me into this marriage?”

“I apologize for what happened today, but those were rogues. One of my own would never hurt you, let alone me,” Call me crazy, but for some strange reasons, I believed him. “And for our marriage, we had a deal. I help you out with Zoey, and in exchange—”

“We stayed married for six months,” I couldn't stop the rage that was slowly mixing with my blood. “Only that you forgot to mention you are a fucking wolf. You deceived me into this marriage. Why did you really approach me when you could have found any other woman, even your mistress could have happily agreed to this marriage, so why me? Did you know who I was? Is that it, how did you find me?”

Dimitri's brows furrowed in confusion as he regarded me. “Who you are? What are you talking about Adriana? The only reason I approached you was because it's you. I promise I will explain everything to you, but first, we need to get back to the mansion. It's late and—”

I scoffed, taking a step back. “No way in hell will I be going back with you. If you really mean no harm, just let me go now,”

“I’m sorry, I can't,” He took a couple of steps forward, and I kept going back. “Adriana you have to stop moving backwards,”

“Well, I'm sorry too. But you leave me no other choice,” I muttered under my breath ready to use my magic on him.

“Adriana, I said stop!” Dimitri growled. “It's dangerous—” Before he could finish his words, I took another step backward, and my legs slipped, causing me to fall down the cliff.