Amelia stood near the window of her room, looking at the garden with a profound expression.
Today, she would marry the Alpha King, and her journey to fight back all the people who hurt her in the past and conspired against her and the king, leading to both of their deaths, would officially begin.
Things wouldn't be simple; she knew that. Even though she knew the truth and fake faces around her, these cunning people wouldn't stop at anything to get what they wanted.
Amelia looked at the bangle in her hand, remembering how it had glowed right before her death.
She had yet to decipher the mystery around this bangle that appeared on her hand when she woke up from that accident when she was ten.
Hannah liked this bangle when she saw it, but it did not leave her hands.
Her elder sister tried to break the bangle with a hammer when they were kids because she couldn't get it, but the bangle didn't.
This beautiful piece of jewelry was like another part of her body.
Amelia turned to the door when she heard some movement behind her.
"Hey, how are you doing? Are you feeling okay? I know you must be afraid," Hannah walked to Amelia with a fake concerned face.
Amelia didn't want to entertain any bullshit drama at the moment. She didn't smile.
"I am not," she said.
Hannah's smile faltered slightly as if she didn't expect that kind of answer.
"Hmm?" She asked.
Amelia turned back to the window.
"I am not afraid because I trust Alpha Killian will save me. You talked to him, right?" Amelia expectantly looked at Hannah through the reflection in the window, her gaze meaningful.
Hannah clapped her hands.
"Right. How could I forget about it? Yes, I talked to Alpha Killian, and he will get you out of there today," Hannah said, a fake smile stretched on her lips.
Amelia smiled this time. It was a genuine smile but full of mockery.
"I am glad that Alpha Killian is helping me," She said.
Hannah nodded and walked to her sister.
"Yes, I told you. You just need to be persistent with him. He will break down sooner or later and reciprocate your affection for him," Hannah placed her hand on Amelia's shoulder.
Reciprocate the love? Of course. He would reciprocate the love but not to her, but to Hannah. Amelia scoffed inwardly.
She knew that Alpha Killian wasn't a bad person originally. Hannah's tricks and words made her a bad person in his eyes, the reason he never accepted her love.
Then again, for an Alpha who would become the commander for the royals, wasn't he a bit too dumb not to understand things himself and see the truth?
Dumb people like such were even more loath-worthy.
"Let's meet at the ceremony," Amelia said dismissively, and Hannah nodded in understanding before walking to where her suitcase was.
Amelia turned towards the mirror to wear the earrings, pretending to be busy. She couldn't help but notice Hannah slipping something in her bridal luggage.
She shook her head.
"So this was when she placed the letter that the alpha king had found in her luggage," Amelia wondered.
Once Hannah left the room, Amelia walked to the suitcase and pulled out the letter.
She opened it and read its contents, a mocking smile appearing on her lips.
This was the same letter.
Every word matched perfectly.
When Alpha Killian and Hannah bailed on her at the last second, Amelia ran from the royal house because she was afraid of the monster that the alpha king was.
At that time, she hadn't taken the luggage with her, and this was the exact letter that the alpha king found in her luggage—or that was what she heard from the people gossiping about her.
It was a letter that talked about her love for Alpha Killian and how she couldn't help but want to stay with him, so she chose to run away from the king.
The alpha king was mocked a lot behind his back. Some even said that his wife cuckolded him on the marriage night.
Amelia sighed and walked to the dressing table before pulling a matchstick and burning the letter.
Once she checked her reflection, she nodded to herself and walked out of the room.
'You can do this,' She told herself.
As she passed by the corridor of the royal palace, where her family was taken for marriage, she noticed the little stage in the middle of the hall near where the alpha king was seated.
Her breath hitched as she looked at his broad shoulders once again. This was the man she was marrying.
She didn't know what the hell was wrong with her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped in her tracks, taking a moment to look at his back. She knew she wouldn't be able to do it before everyone else.
'Despite how much I hate you as your husband, I must protect you with my life,'
His words echoed in her ears, and she took a deep breath.
'Despite how much you hate me, I will stand by your side and protect you,' Amelia whispered.
It was as if the man heard her from the distance. He turned in her direction, and afraid of being caught by him again, she hid behind the pillar, her heart drumming against her chest.
What a fool she was. Anyone could make her silhouette because of the bridal dress she was wearing. Amelia smiled helplessly, shook her head, and was about to start walking again, but someone stopped her.
"So you are marrying the alpha king," Alpha Killian's cold voice came.
Amelia looked at the man she was head over heels for, and for the first time, her heart turned cold for him. All her earlier excitement vanished into thin air, something that even Alpha Killian could feel.
"I am sure the words have been spread," Amelia said.
"So it was always the power," Killian mocked.
"Hmm?" Amelia asked.
"I know my alpha's power always attracted you and the reason you tried so hard to capture my heart. You were after my position and the fame that would come with it, weren't you?" Killian said.
Amelia raised her brows.
Why was it news for her?
"Now that you got to be with an even more powerful man, you didn't waste a second jumping at the chance. After all, that was what you wanted. That love was all for the show," Killian scoffed.
She waited for him to finish speaking before she smiled, chuckling softly.
"I have seen many self-centered men, but not one like you, Alpha Killian. Around seven alphas were attending our school. If I wanted power, what makes you so special? Use your brain for once, will you? Besides, don't you know this is a punishment? Or are you dumb not to notice it?" Amelia asked.
Her innocent, unadulterated expression made Killian freeze in his place for a second.
Was she trying to say there was nothing special about him? And did she call him dumb?
Ha! How could that be the case? She was the same girl who proposed to him just a day ago, even kneeling before him in front of everyone with a banner.
Could it be that she was playing hard to get? That could be the case.
Killian nodded to himself.
"You are saying that because I rejected you," Killian said.
Amelia looked at the man before nodding.
"You are right. Now, get lost. I don't even want to see your face," she said before she walked past him, leaving the man frozen in his spot.
Amelia descended the stairs, her gaze falling on the alpha king standing on the stage now.
Her father walked to her and held the bouquet while holding her hand.
She kept her gaze down, unsure if she could look at him without tearing up because of what she made him go through in his last life.
"Amelia," Her father said to catch her attention, and she looked forward, looking at the man's hand that was extended towards her.
Amelia raised her gaze and looked into his blue eyes, feeling mesmerized.
Why did she never notice how beautifully handsome he was?
His scary eyes and dark aura, fearsome and unfathomable, gripped her heart in a clenching lock and were even more praiseworthy.
Cyrus Valentino. She said the name in her mind.
The priest said the vows for them, and she kept looking at his hands, unsure where to look.
"Amelia Everleigh, do you agree?"
"I do," Amelia whispered.
"Alpha King Cyrus Valentino, do you agree?"
"Hm," The alpha King merely hummed.
The priest looked at the king but didn't say anything, scared for life.
He didn't want to offend the monster.
Besides, everyone knew this marriage was a punishment for the Cooper family as bestowed on the healers' of the West.
Who knew how the monster would treat the bride?
People looked at Amelia with pity and sympathy. Though she was going as a bride, they knew her place wouldn't be more than a slave.
The priest stuttered at the following words.
"You may kiss the bride," he said.
Amelia's heart skipped a beat at the words, and she gulped.
What the hell was wrong with her? He will hear her.
Amelia felt his hand move to her chin before he grabbed it and lifted her face to look into her eyes.
"Do you want it?" He asked.
Amelia raised her brows.
Was he asking for her consent?
And what the hell was she supposed to say to it?!!
No? That would anger him.
Yes? That would make her look desperate.
Amelia blushed scarlet in embarrassment, and the man just smirked, looking even sexier even when wearing a mask to hide the upper half of his face.
"Weird girl," He commented and kissed the back of her hand before he walked out of the hall, leaving Amelia on the stage alone.
This was going to be complicated. She sighed.