MELANIE

It’s my wedding day.

I am walking down the aisle to marry the love of my life and my mate. The weather is just perfect and it’s happening near the sea as I have always wanted.

Just before I say I do, chaos happens. A pack of wolves break into the area and everyone panics. My mate pulled me behind him while he and his friends and family, bare their teeth and claws, ready to fight.

That’s when I see him - the man I saved ten years ago. We were teenagers back then and he had vowed to come back and marry me. I had no idea he was the Alpha Prince of a rival pack kingdom.

Now as the newly crowned King, he’s come for me.

Within a matter of minutes, my mate and his men were subdued and just as my mates’ life hung in the balance, I went on my knees to beg.

I remember the Prince's hand reaching for my chin and gently wiping my tears. I remember his irises being as white as icicles. “Did you think I wouldn’t come for you like I promised, my love?” He had said and my heart had plummeted to the depths of my stomach.

I thought it was wishful thinking. A promise made out of the spur of gratitude. How was I supposed to know that it would come back to haunt me ten years later?

“You’re ruining my life.” I remember saying to him in tears. “I love my mate and I want to marry him and if you want to thank me, then let me go.”

His brows had pulled together in resolute anger. “No.” He replied. “You are mine!”

And then he carried me over his shoulder, taking me away. I remember crying out, with my hand stretched out to my injured mate who also tried to reach for me and sometimes, in my dreams, he does. In my dreams, my mate suddenly gets strong enough to fight back and rescue me from this stranger.

The sound of a running engine woke me up and when I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the alarm clock reading 8:09 a.m.

Shit!

I threw back the covers, and sat up in bed, placing my feet on the rugged floor. Rising to my feet, I rushed to the window, but I couldn’t quite reach it. Something was stopping me and I looked down to see my right hand bound by a thick rope connected to the frame of my bed.

This is my harsh reality.

Alpha King, Alexander Trident kidnapped me on my wedding day and has kept me trapped in his villa for the past six months. At first, he treated me kindly but as time went on, and he saw that I refused to give him my heart nor body, he became mean and overbearing.

He locked me up in his villa, placing a female guard to watch over me. I had tried to escape several times but failed and that resorted to me being tied to my bed frame.

Aside from that, every morning, by eight thirty, his guard comes with an injection filled with a substance that renders me mindless and numb for the rest of day till I fall asleep again.

The only time I am ever sharp minded is in the morning and now I must attempt another escape.

A certain truck drives into the villa to bring food every month and I am counting on sneaking in this time to be able to get out. But first, I need to break out of the bondage and take out my guard.

Taking deep breaths, I tried to channel my wolf from the depths of where she’s been sleeping. Being drugged for the past three months did a number on her but I have been practicing channeling her every morning for the past two weeks and she’s been awaking faster.

Today, she comes to the surface quickly, elongating my teeth into sharp fangs and my fingers into claws.

“Good girl.” I stated.

Immediately, I put the rope between my teeth and began to chew. Twenty minutes later, I was free. Like clockwork, the door to the house opened, and footsteps began to head my way.

Quickly, I looked around for something to use as a weapon and when I found none, I unplugged my lampstand. Setting pillows in the bed, I covered it with a duvet before running to the back of the door.

My heart hammered fast as I stood behind the door, holding the lamp slightly above my head, ready to strike. My female guard was coming and I hoped to the Goddess that she wouldn’t hear the sound of my heart about to explode out of my chest.

If she did, it’s over for me and I’ll never be able to escape.

The footsteps reached my door and then I heard the sound of a key sliding into the keyhole and turning the lock. The guard opened the door, walking in with a tray carrying the injection. Immediately she walked in further, I hit the lamp over her head as hard as I could.

She cried out, falling to the floor, the tray clattering on the rug.

Without hesitation, I grabbed the injection, climbed on her and tried to stab her neck with it. She gripped my wrist, trying to stop me from piercing her neck and when I heard the truck preparing to leave, I put all my strength into my attack and stabbed her in the neck.

Once the injection went in, I pressed the fluid into her system and her body slacked against mine. Her eyes became unfocused and her hand slumped to the ground.

Happy that I was successful, I rose to my feet and rushed out of my bedroom. I was dressed in nothing but a night gown but that’s okay. The major thing is catching up to the leaving truck and climbing onto the back.

I reached the main door and flung it open and to my surprise, I found three young women standing at the entrance. Two were blonde and then the third one was dark haired like me and to my horror, she looked almost like me. Who were these people? And why were they here? Alexander never allows anyone in the villa except the guard.

When the dark haired girl saw me, her face twisted in anger while her friends gasped in shock.

“She looks just like you, Ariana!” One of them said.

“What?” I stuttered in confusion. “Who the fuck are you?”

Before I knew it, Ariana slapped me across the face and I stumbled back into the house.

Ariana came in, snarling in anger. “How dare you ask who I am when you’ve been trying to steal my life!”

MELANIE

I held my face in shock, hardly able to believe her words but most importantly, gradually missing my chance to escape. I rushed to my feet, pushing her out of the way as I headed for the door but the blonde girls held both of my arms, stopping me from going.

I tried to struggle out of their hold but Alex had kept me drugged and under a strict diet for a long while, so I didn't have much energy to fight back.

“Let me go!” I yelled in frustration as the truck moved out of sight, my heart breaking in the process. One of the girls closed the door and my knees went weak with pain. I had planned this escape for the past six weeks and now it was all for nothing!

“Trying to escape now, are you?” Ariana sneered as her friends whipped me around to face her.

“Fuck you!” I yelled in tears and earned another slap in the face.

“You foul-mouthed bitch! Do you know who I am?!”

I did in fact now know who she was but I didn't care.

Four months into my captivity, Alexander had grown ultimately frustrated with me and had found a girl who looked just like me to get by.

My maid was the one who first spilled the tea to me before Alexander took it upon himself, to take pictures and make videos of how he spoils and fucks Ariana and show it to me.

“This could have been you.” He used to say, when he plays the videos and forces me to watch.

Rather than feel sad, I had felt relieved that his obsession with me would reduce. What I don’t understand is why his substitute for me was here accusing me wrongly.

When I didn’t reply, Ariana gripped my hair, pulling hard. I winced in pain, staring into her cold, brown eyes. “I hate you.” She sneered. “I hate that he calls your name when he makes love to me. I hate that he talks about you everytime. Melanie would have loved this. Melanie would have loved that! I am sick of it!”

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked. “I don’t want him. He kidnapped me!”

“Liar!” One of her friends said, kicking the back of my knee. I cried out, falling to the hard, wooden floor.

“You bewitched him!” The other said.

“I didn’t!” I argued.

“You did!” Ariana released my hair and slapped me again. “His entire room is covered in pictures and artwork of you! The entire house has your portrait put up! Now he’s so sad, he drinks because of you. I hate you!”

An idea suddenly came to mind and I looked at her with hungry determination. “Then let me go.” I said. “He kept me here for months and I was trying to escape when you came in.”

Ariana narrowed her eyes. “How?”

So I explained to her. To confirm my words, Ariana went to my bedroom to confirm that my guard was indeed incapacitated.

When she came back she had a smile on her face. “Wow. I have to give it to you, you are feisty.”

I licked my dry lips. “So what do you say? If you help me escape, you’ll never have to see me again. I will disappear and you can have him all to yourself. How about that?”

A shift occurred in Ariana’s eyes as if she were contemplating my idea. Then she smirked. “No. I know the King very well. If you escape, he will spend every living breath hunting you down and I don’t want that. But,” she raised a finger up, leaning down to look at me with a smile. “If he thinks you committed suicide by hanging..”

My heart dropped as Ariana’s smile widened. “Then he will have no choice but to move on.” She raised her head to her friends. “What do you think guys? Great idea?”

“Brilliant!”

“Perfect!”

“No!” I shook my head, trying to look at her friends for mercy. “Please! Don’t do this! I have a mate who loves me. I have a family!”

“And I…don’t care.’ Ariana moved her lips to enunciate each word. She looked at her friends. “Get her up.”

They obeyed, dragging me to my feet. I watched Ariana looking around the quaint, living room, looking for a point to prepare my hanging.

“How much time do we have?” She asked absentmindedly. The blonde on my right looked at the watch.

“About two hours before he comes back?”

Ariana turned around with a beaming smile. “Good. That's more than enough time to kill her.”