Chapter 5: The Rogue Alpha’s Bride

Meredith

Kieran Croft.

The name wouldn’t stop repeating in my head. Stories came with it, the kind whispered across territories when people thought no one important was listening.

The Rogue Alpha.

The leader of Silverthorn who’d been accused of betraying the coalition. The man other packs avoided speaking about too loudly because his reputation alone made Alphas careful and on guard.

My father had let me sign the documents, seal the blood oath, and bind myself to this arrangement before telling me the truth.

I sat across from Kieran in the private hall, trying to keep my breathing steady while my mind raced through every rumor I’d ever heard about him. Most of them painted him as dangerous, ruthless, and unpredictable. None of them made me feel better about what I’d just agreed to.

“You knew.” My voice came out sharper than I intended. “You knew my father hadn’t told me who you were.”

Kieran’s expression stayed controlled, but something shifted in his eyes. Something colder, though it didn’t seem directed at me.

“Your father should have told you my name before you signed,” he said evenly.

I watched him carefully, searching for any sign of deception or satisfaction at having trapped me. But his reaction unsettled me more than reassured me. For the first time since learning his identity, I wondered if my father had deceived both of us, or at least kept us both partially in the dark for different reasons.

I didn’t let myself settle on that thought yet. Trust was expensive, and I’d already spent too much of it on the wrong people.

“Can the agreement be broken?” I asked.

Kieran didn’t hesitate. “It can be challenged, but not cleanly. House Benic would lose the alliance. Silverthorn would lose the political opening we came here for. And you would lose the protection your father claims your wolf requires.”

He didn’t threaten me or try to pressure me into accepting the situation. He just laid out the cost in a way that made it clear every choice I had would cut me somewhere.

I hated that he was right.

“Do you want me to leave?” Kieran asked. “So you can speak to your father privately.”

The question caught me off guard. I’d expected anger or commands or some kind of possessive statement about the agreement being sealed and therefore final. Instead, he asked what I wanted. It was the second time he’d done that today, and I hated that I noticed.

“Don’t leave yet,” I said. My hands were clenched in my lap, and I forced myself to relax them. “I want answers, and I want my father to face me while I hear what he has to say.”

Kieran nodded once, then settled back in his chair like he had all the time in the world.

I stood up and walked out of the private hall, my heels clicking sharply against the marble as I went looking for my father. I found him in his study, sitting behind his desk like nothing significant had just happened.

“Kieran Croft.” I banged the door behind me with more force than necessary. “You bound me to the Rogue Alpha without telling me who he was.”

My father looked up from the papers he’d been reviewing, his expression as calm as ever. “I made an alliance that benefits House Benic.”

“You lied to me.”

“I withheld information until the agreement was secured.” He set down his pen and folded his hands on the desk. “There’s a difference.”

“Why?” My voice rose despite my efforts to stay controlled. “Why let me bind myself to him without knowing?”

“Because you would have refused if you knew.” My father’s tone was matter-of-fact, like he was explaining basic arithmetic. “House Benic needed the alliance. Silverthorn needed legitimacy. And you needed an Alpha strong enough to stabilize your wolf.”

I stared at him. “You knew about my wolf?”

“Did you think I was stupid?” My father’s expression didn’t change. “I could smell how weak your wolf was the moment you walked through my door. You were weakening, and you needed a solution. I provided one.”

“You provided one that suited you,” I said coldly. “Every side gained something except me.”

“The arrangement benefits you too.” My father picked up his pen again like the conversation was already over. “You’re simply too emotional to see it clearly.”

The casual dismissal made something hot and furious coil in my chest. I stepped closer to his desk and planted my hands on the surface, forcing him to look at me.

“If this alliance was so important,” I said, “why wasn’t Clover ever considered? Why me?”

My father’s expression flickered, just barely, but enough that I knew I’d hit something he didn’t want to discuss.

“Answer me,” I demanded. “Why was I the one you chose for this?”

“Clover is not suited for a life tied to a territory like Silverthorn,” he said finally.

The words were careful and measured, but I heard what he didn’t say underneath them. Clover was protected from danger. Clover was kept safe and comfortable here where nothing could touch her.

I was the daughter he used. Not the daughter he shielded.

The realization settled over me like ice water, cold and clarifying. My father had never seen me as someone to protect. He saw me as someone useful, and useful things got deployed where they were needed.

“You may have used me,” I said quietly, my voice steady despite the anger burning through me, “but don’t mistake usefulness for ownership. I’ll honor the agreement because I chose not to return to Alarick, but from now on, no one gets to decide my future without me facing them for it.”

My father didn’t apologize. He didn’t even look particularly concerned. He just nodded slightly, like I’d confirmed something he’d already expected, then went back to his papers.

I turned and walked out of the study before I said something I couldn’t take back.

The hallway was empty when I stepped out, but I had the uncomfortable feeling I wasn’t alone. I glanced toward the stairs and caught a flicker of movement near the doorway leading back toward the private hall.

Kieran, maybe.

I wasn’t sure. The movement was gone too quickly, but the possibility that he’d heard enough of the conversation to understand how little choice I’d been given made my stomach turn. I didn’t want pity from the Rogue Alpha or anyone else.

“Well, well.”

I turned and found Clover standing at the top of the stairs, her expression somewhere between smug and pleased. She must have been listening or waiting for this exact moment.

“The Rogue Alpha,” she said, descending the stairs with slow, deliberate steps. “Father really outdid himself this time. Not a loving mate or a respected Alpha, but a feared rogue no decent woman would choose willingly.”

She expected me to feel ashamed or defensive. I could see it in the way she smiled, waiting for me to crumble.

I gave her a faint smile instead.

“You should be happy, Clover,” I said calmly. “You finally got the man you spent years chasing, while I got the one powerful enough to make everyone whisper.”

Clover’s smile faltered, her confidence cracking just slightly. She’d tried to make my situation sound like a punishment, and I’d turned it into something else entirely.

Before she could recover, the sound of tires on gravel cut through the tension. A car was approaching, the engine growing louder as it came up the long driveway.

I turned toward the window near the front entrance and looked out.

A black car rolled through the front gates, sleek and expensive and immediately recognizable.

Alarick.

My chest tightened, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe properly. He’d finally come back, just like everyone said he would. Just like Clover had promised. Just like part of me had been afraid of.

But everything was different now.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to find Kieran standing a few feet away. He’d followed me out of the private hall, and now he was looking past me toward the approaching car. His expression remained calm and unreadable, but I felt something shift in the air around him. Not anger exactly, and not jealousy, but something colder and more controlled.

“Do you want me to leave?” Kieran asked, his eyes still on the car.

I stared at him. Alarick was here. My father had trapped me. Clover was watching from the stairs. And Kieran was the only man present who kept asking for my choice instead of deciding for me.

I didn’t want to face Alarick alone. I also didn’t want Kieran to disappear just because my past had arrived uninvited.

“Stay,” I said.

Kieran’s gaze shifted to me, holding for a moment longer than necessary, then he nodded once.

The car stopped in front of the estate, and the driver’s side door opened.

Alarick stepped out, his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows and his face set with the kind of casual confidence that suggested he expected to be forgiven.

He looked toward the house like nothing had changed, like he could just walk back into my life and smooth everything over the way he always had before.

I stood beside Kieran and watched Alarick approach.

The man who had left me at the altar had finally come back.

And for the first time in five years, he was too late.