I Married a Cold Alpha and Turned Him into My Puppy

The first thing my future husband ever handed me was not a ring.

It was a binder. Thick. Black. The kind lawyers carry into court.

"Read it before tomorrow," Dorian Voss said. "Sign the last page."

I stared at the title. *Pack Household Stability Agreement.*

"Hello to you too," I said. "I'm Briar Calloway. Your bride. We've never met, in case you forgot."

"I didn't forget." He didn't sit. The Alpha of the Voss Pack just stood by the fireplace in his study, tall, dark-suited, his gray eyes as warm as a frozen lake. "Page four is the important part."

I flipped to page four.

*Article 7: Marital relations shall occur once per calendar month.*

*Article 8: Each week, the parties may choose ONE of the following: an embrace, or holding hands.*

*Article 9: All other physical contact must be requested in advance and approved by both parties.*

I laughed. It came out wrong, too high and too sharp.

"Is this a joke? Did your Beta write this for fun?"

"I wrote it."

I kept flipping. My fingers went cold on the last page.

*Article 23: Neither party shall fall in love with the other.*

"You put it in writing," I said slowly. "That I'm not allowed to love you."

"And that I won't love you." He finally looked at me. Really looked. "Let's be clear, Miss Calloway. Your father's pack and mine have been one bad night away from war for ten years. This marriage stops that. That's all it is."

"So I'm a peace treaty."

"You're a stabilizing factor."

"Wow." I closed the binder. "That's so much worse."

"Affection makes people reckless. Reckless Alphas get wolves killed." His jaw set hard. "I won't be reckless. Not for anyone."

I walked up to him. Close enough to smell cedar and cold air on his collar.

Then I slapped him.

The crack echoed off the bookshelves. His head turned with it. For one second, nothing moved in that room.

He touched his cheek. He didn't growl. He just looked at me like I'd broken some law of physics.

"You're afraid of losing control," I said. "Fine. Then you should've married some sweet little she-wolf who'd bow her head and say *yes, Alpha*. You picked the wrong girl."

"I didn't pick you at all."

"No. You picked a contract." I tossed the binder onto his desk. It slid off the other side and hit the floor. "And I'm about to tear up every page of it."

"Briar—"

"Oh, first name now?"

His mouth tightened. "You don't understand what's at stake."

"I understand you're lying." I tipped my chin up. "Your pulse is going crazy. I can hear it from here. So can my wolf."

"That's adrenaline. You hit me."

"Then prove it."

I grabbed his lapels and kissed him.

He went rigid. His hands came up and caught my shoulders, and he pushed me back half an inch.

"This isn't approved," he said, voice rough. "Article nine."

"I'm requesting it. Right now."

"That's not how—"

"Yes or no, Dorian."

His grip didn't loosen. It didn't push me away either. His thumbs pressed into my collarbones. I watched his eyes flicker, silver bleeding into the gray. His wolf, clawing at the surface.

"This is a mistake," he said.

"Then make it."

He made a sound low in his chest, half curse, half surrender. Then his mouth crashed down on mine.

It wasn't gentle. It wasn't polite. It was ten years of cold discipline cracking straight down the middle. He backed me into the desk, and the edge hit the backs of my thighs. His hands tangled in my hair.

"Fuck," he breathed against my jaw. "You're going to ruin everything."

"Good." I yanked his tie loose. "But you want this."

"Briar."

"Stop writing rules. Touch me."

He hesitated. I got his shirt open, buttons scattering across the rug. His skin was burning hot under my palms, his heart slamming against my hand.

"Tell me to stop," I said, my mouth at his throat.

He didn't. He lifted me onto the desk, and his papers went flying, his neat, careful rules scattered under us. When he finally pushed into me, he said my name like a prayer and a curse at once. I dug my nails into his shoulders and held on while the cold Alpha of the Voss Pack came apart in my arms.

Afterward, he stood at the window and buttoned what was left of his shirt. His back was to me.

"That counts as this month," he said.

I laughed so hard I nearly fell off the desk.

---

The wedding was the next afternoon. Two packs sat on opposite sides of the aisle, staring each other down like it was a funeral.

The officiant was a nervous gray-haired elder. He read the vows fast. Then he closed his book.

"By the power of both packs, I pronounce you mated and wed. You may now—" he checked a card in his hand, "—turn and face your guests."

No kiss.

Of course. Dorian had cut it.

I looked at my husband. He stared straight ahead. Perfect posture. Perfect ice.

I grabbed his tie and pulled.

His eyes went wide a second before my lips hit his. Somebody in the front row gasped. Somebody on my father's side whistled.

I kissed him long enough to make a point. Then I let his tie slide out of my fingers.

"Article nine," I whispered. "Consider this my request."

"You didn't wait for approval," he murmured.

"You kissed me back."

He said nothing. His face stayed stone cold as he turned to the crowd.

But his ears were bright red.

I smiled at two hundred guests like I'd just won a war.

---

The reception was loud and stiff at the same time. Nobody from either pack danced.

I was halfway through my second glass of champagne when a broad-shouldered man in a charcoal suit stepped beside me. Garrick Holloway, Dorian's Beta. He'd been standing behind my husband all day like a shadow with a jawline.

"Luna Voss," he said.

"Still getting used to that."

"Get used to it fast." He lowered his voice. "Change of plans. The Alpha's parents want you at the estate tonight."

"Tonight? It's our wedding night."

"I'm aware." His mouth twitched, like he knew exactly what had happened in that study. "Lady Voss insisted."

"Insisted on what?"

Garrick hesitated. That was what scared me. A Beta like him didn't hesitate.

"She said," he told me carefully, "she can't wait to inspect her new daughter-in-law."

My glass stopped halfway to my lips.

"Inspect," I repeated.

Across the room, Dorian met my eyes. For the first time since I'd met him, my cold husband looked worried.