Blood Bride: The Lament of the
Werewolf.
Chapter 1
The king told me to pick a mate from either
the vampires or the werewolves.
I was instantly drawn to Darian, the werewolf.
No hesitation, I chose him.
On our wedding day, Darian marked me in
front of his entire pack, binding us as
partners.
His childhood sweetheart, Finny, freaked out
and ran off. Stupid bitch wandered right into
the path of hunters who tore her to shreds.
Afterward, Darian showed up at the scene,
stared at Finny’s mangled body, and said
nothing.
Just scooped her up and buried her with his
own two hands.
Then he acted like nothing happened, playing
the loving husband with me.
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Until the moment he united the packs. That’s
when he jammed a knife through my throat,
his eyes burning with hatred.
“If your goddamn singing wasn’t the only
thing that calmed my people on a full moon, I wouldn’t have been forced to marry you!” “Finny wouldn’t have been so heartbroken
that she ran off and got herself killed by
those hunters. Now, I’m sending you down to hell to apologize to Finny!”
Agony. Then, I blinked, and I was back – back
to the day the king told me to choose.
- 1.
Two portraits were in front of me. On the left,
Darian was grinning like a goddamn maniac.
But all I felt was a bone–deep chill. The pain
of his knife ripping through my throat
slammed back into me.
Pale as a ghost, I practically leaped past his
picture and pointed at the vampire.
<
“Your Majesty, I choose Sylar.
The king hesitated. “Bella, you’re not
choosing Darian?”
“This alliance isn’t some game, Bella. Once
you choose, there’s no going back.”
The king knew how I felt about Darian. My
choice had to be a shock to him.
But this whole rebirth thing was way too
crazy to explain. I just nodded, firm.
“I won’t regret it.”
The king didn’t push. He carefully took Sylar’s
portrait.
“I’ll send for the shaman at once. Tomorrow,
we’ll have the ceremony, announce your
alliance with the vampires.”
Shamans could talk to the gods. Every inter-
species marriage needed their blessing and a
written contract.
I nodded, bowed to the king, and walked the
hell out of there.
My handmaiden, Ava, practically pounced on
me as soon as I left the palace. She wiggled
her eyebrows.
“Did you finally get your wish, your grace?”
I barely had time to shake my head when
Darian came storming up to me.
He stopped right in front of me, disgust clear
in his eyes.
“Bella, I already have someone I care about. I
can’t marry you.
وو
I stared at him. Last time, when the shaman
announced our engagement, he looked pissed
but didn’t say a word.
Now, he couldn’t even wait for the shaman to
show up before trying to dump me.
Looks like Darian remembered everything too.
He got impatient when I didn’t say anything.
“Bella, do you have any self–respect? I’m
telling you straight up, I don’t want you.
You’re not going to try and force me into this,
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are you?”
I just glared at him. “Who the hell told you I
was going to pick you?
“Relax, I didn’t choose you. Who you want to
bang is none of my business.”
Darian’s face tightened. He frowned.
“How could you not choose me? Bella, don’t
be stubborn. Go back to the king, pick
someone else. It’ll be too late once the
Shaman gets here.”
I was already beyond annoyed. The thought of
him tricking me last time, then stabbing me in
the back… It made my skin crawl.
I didn’t have time for this crap. I just snapped,
“Believe whatever the hell you want.”
Then I brushed past him and walked away,
fast.
Ava was bristling, ready to fight.
“Your Grace, Darian is such an asshole!
You’re always sending him gifts, and he takes
them all.
“You show him you like him, and he doesn’t
turn you down, gives you just enough to keep
you interested.”
“Then he suddenly says he’s got someone
else? He’s just playing you!”
I scoffed. Yeah, Darian had a million chances
to turn me down.
I wasn’t exactly the clingy type. If he had
someone else, I would have walked.
But he wanted my siren powers, wanted my
singing to calm his pack on the full moon.
And he didn’t want to upset his little Finny.
The best part? He was the one who needed
me, but he acted like he was doing me a
favor.
The werewolves weren’t exactly one big
happy family. The new leader up north, from
the Snowfang pack, was a badass. Darian’s
people were getting their asses kicked.
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And every full moon, all the wolves turned into
raging, mindless beasts.
Darian used my singing to keep his pack
calm, so they could ambush the Snowfangs
and unite all the werewolves.
The second he won, he didn’t even thank me.
He just murdered me to avenge his little
sweetheart.
This time, I’d watch him burn. I wanted to see
how he would win without my help.
