Bound by Shadows

Unwanted By The Alpha Heir, Marked By The Northern King

Evvie Foreman

I had been courting the Alpha heir for two years, waiting for the day he would finally propose and make me his Luna. But instead of a ring, he calmly informed me that he was using my family's massive financial donation to buy a noble title for my cousin, Carson. "Carson needs this title to be a suitable match for my future mate," he said, expecting me to gratefully accept being relegated to the shadows as a secondary mate. When I returned home, my own father and grandmother didn't defend me. They praised Carson and demanded I accept the humiliation, claiming my mother's vast merchant wealth belonged entirely to their Pack. When my mother and I refused to yield, my father threatened to sever their mate bond and exile my brother and me as hunted, Packless Rogues. For eighteen years, my family's consortium had funded their lavish lifestyle, yet they treated us like nothing more than a vault to be plundered. The man I loved and the family I trusted were willing to destroy my life and my mother's dignity just to feed their own greed and arrogant pride. I didn't shed a single tear. I immediately initiated the liquidation protocol, recalling every asset we had ever loaned them and stripping their grand manor bare to the walls. Then, I packed a priceless mythril sword and sent a letter to the one man who could help me crush them all: the ruthless Wolf of the North.

Werewolf Royalty Female-Centered Dark Romance

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(Isla POV)

The evening was intended to be just like any other.

I wore silk, my golden-brown hair perfectly styled, a glass of wine elegantly held as I exchanged smiles with men who shouldn't have been looking at me that way.

Yet, beneath the glamorous veneer of yet another Laurent gala, something felt amiss.

My father's smile appeared forced, his laughter lacked joy. He drank excessively, his fingers nervously clenching around the crystal glass as if trying to grasp something that was slipping away.

I had witnessed his reckless gambling before, always leaving with a sense of victory, oblivious to the dangers. But tonight, he seemed like a man on the brink of losing it all.

A wave of unease settled in my stomach.

I excused myself and navigated through the sparkling ballroom filled with women adorned in diamonds and men in finely tailored suits, heading towards the dimly lit hallway that led to my father's study. I meant to knock and confront him about the unsettling mood.

Then I heard his voice.

"I have nothing left to offer."

I froze, breath captured in my throat.

It wasn't just him. A second voice calm, low, and menacing responded. "Then you know what must happen next."

I shouldn't have stayed. I should have turned back, dismissed what I had heard. Instead, I pressed closer, ear against the solid wooden door, heart pounding in my chest.

"My fortune is gone," my father's voice trembled with desperation. "My assets, my businesses, everything. Please, Valenci, I need more time."

Valenci.

Dante Valenci.

Just hearing his name sent a chill down my spine.

I had never encountered him, yet I was aware of his notoriety. He was more than a man he was a legend, spoken of in hushed tones across New York, his power derived not solely from wealth but from bloodlines.

"I do not forgive debts," Dante replied smoothly.

My father gasped. "I I have something else. Someone."

Silence followed.

Then came Dante's voice again. "Continue."

I could hardly breathe.

"She's beautiful," my father stammered, his voice quivering. "Well-mannered. The perfect price for what I owe."

No.

A cruel laugh echoed back. "You're offering me your daughter?"

No. No. No.

"She's all I have left."

I recoiled, pressing a hand over my mouth to stifle any sound. The walls felt as though they were closing in, and the air was thick and suffocating. This was impossible; it couldn't be true.

My father had been many things a gambler, a deceiver, a man more devoted to money than ethics but he wouldn't stoop so low. He wouldn't sell me.

Would he?

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