Under Contract with the Alpha

ed space. The air, heavy with a lingering smell of leather and polished wood, was suffocating me. A strange, slightly metallic scent also floated in the

lint that crossed his pupils, made me shiver. Perhaps some form of challenge, a secret promise, or perhaps something more sinister. But it didn't matter. I knew

had not chosen to write. The contract. It was there, on the table, between the two of us. His words, however simple, condemned me to a future that I

reath away. My father, the man who had always told me that family was sacred, was now at the mercy of a man whom he had, in his time, surely considered a mere rival. A man who now became my savior and my jailer. The poetry o

detached voice. His eyes remained fixed on me, waiting for my response. "T

own, he had no pity. Not for me, not for my father. Just a cold, calculated decision, like his whole life. The

d. If I had to do it, I would do it without regrets.

r my hand made me feel like I was a prisoner of my own decision. Every movement seemed meaningles

if seeing me for the first time. "You're not what I thought," he said finally

that mattered was my father, locked away in a place I had no idea about, ready to die if I didn't do

ting the afternoon light barely filter through. His back was straight, imposing, and for the first time since I had met hi

his marriage is not for you. It's not for us. It's a formality. A to

more. Or maybe it is, after all. Maybe this would eventually destroy me, but for now, I had no

well-sharpened blade. "You want to know why I'm doing this?

me, without haste, each movement perfectly measured. "Because I'm tired, Elena," he finally whispered, like a confession. "Tired of

efore him, suddenly seemed fragile, as if a veil of fatigue had settled over him, although he

single invisible line. "I'm not a nice man, Elena. You will quic

n. He didn't want it. He wanted a marriage that was as dry and functional a

had accepted was only a way to save what I could. And yet, a strange feeling of emptiness settled deep inside me. Something inexplicabl

admitted no hesitation. "Marriage is just the beginning

t a marriage contract like any other. It wa