Chapter 10

ARIEL~~~~

It's been two days since the Northerner came and I've done my best to avoid him as much as possible. Roseline has been keeping me updated about her relations with him and she seems to think it's progressing positively. I don't know what she aims to do but I have asked her to refrain from attempting to kill him.

The door to the room opened and Asher walked inside in all his glory. My 6'5 hunk with the dashing muscles and that stoic expression which softens when he sees me. The way his stoic and expressionless face lights up whenever our eyes meet makes my heart flutter every time I see it.

It wasn't happening today, though, as my Asher's face deepened into a frown as he saw me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

The cold tone in his voice hurt deeper than I could ever imagine. He wasn't being the Asher I've come to know and love.

I frowned and crossed my arms in anger. "I should be asking you that question. I was here first."

"You're in my room," he clarified. "What are you doing in here?"

"I came to see you," I replied.

"Why?" he asked as he took off his leather which he rarely never wears. It has become a regular component of his dressing like his outfit is never complete unless he includes a black leather jacket.

"Are you really asking me why I came to see my boyfriend?!" I asked, genuinely angry now. He was being a jerk and I wasn't used to this side of him.

"Boyfriend?" he scoffed. "Last time I checked, you are about to be engaged to the heir of the Moon Pack. Your father made it clear to me that you don't have a boyfriend."

"I do," I replied immediately, almost cutting him off. I let out a sigh and sat on his bed. "I'm not getting married to some guy I don't know."

He smiled at that. "You don't have a choice, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, you don't know because you've been avoiding me since my father told you about it."

He paused from whatever he was doing and looked up at me. "Don't know what?"

"Why should I tell you?" I frowned. "You already gave up on me while I've been busy trying to find a way for us to stay together. You gave up on us so easily."

"Be clear with me, Ariel," he groaned. "What do you expect me to do? Go against my Alpha? I would find myself as one of the Broken before I even know what hit me. Even worse, I would be dead."

"You could have at least talked to me once," I frowned. "You just left me alone like you never cared."

He stood still for a few seconds before walking over to seat beside me on the bed. "I'm sorry for abandoning you, Ariel. I was just so scared, confused and hurt. I had always thought I would be marrying you soon so it was a hard pill to swallow when I was told that our relationship has been ended with immediate effect. I didn't know how to react, so I decided to stick to my training and obey my Alpha."

"You should have at least tried talking to me once," I insisted with a pout.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he wrapped his large arms around my small frame. "Now, tell me what it is that I don't know."

"I switched places with Roseline," I smiled. "She's been meeting him as me and trying to make him think of her as the Alpha's daughter."

He was silent for about a minute before ta talking. "Do you both have an actual plan for this stunt or did you not think about what comes after?"

I frowned at his response. It wasn't exactly the reaction I expected. "You sure don't seem happy about it."

"I don't think I have enough context to be happy about this," he replied. "What happens if you both have to meet in front of your father? You do know that something like that would happen sooner or later, right?"

"Of course, I do," I rolled my eyes. "I'm not dumb."

"Good," he nodded. "So what comes next?"

"Roseline is helping me with this and she asked me to be a disrespectful bitch to him wherever we meet," I replied. "That way, when he finally realizes who I am, he would already have a bad impression of me. We could also frame him for being a cheater by producing pics of his time with Roseline. We'll try to make it as steamy as possible to provoke a reaction from my dad."

Again, he was silent but this time, for a little more than a minute.

"Are you sure this plan is foolproof?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the floor like he usually did whenever he was thinking.

"Of course," I nodded. "If he hates me too much to agree to the marriage then we won't have to get married."

He facepalmed with a sigh. "You do realize that this is a forced marriage, right? None of you has a right to refuse."

I frowned at his comment. Again, this was not the reaction I expected. "Your point?"

"Your plan is bound to fall at some point," he replied. "What would you do when that happens?"

"We'll find a solution when we get there."

"And what if it's too late?"

"Then what do you expect me to do, huh?!" I hissed, springing to my feet. "I'm doing my best here and all you can find are flaws. Would it be better if I just marry him? Are you giving up on me already?"

"Of course not," he replied, standing up also. "I don't want to lose you. That's why I have a better plan that is guaranteed to work."

"Then say it," I muttered. "I'll do it if it's better than ours."

"Let me mark you," he said, causing me to freeze in surprise.

"What?" I managed to say.

"Hear me out," he replied. "If you let me mark you, I can effectively claim you as mine and my mark on you would also disqualify any other suitor until I die."

"And you think my father will allow it?" I asked. "That's the only rule he's given me since I was young. I am not allowed to let anyone mark me until he blesses us in marriage."

"But he's not gonna bless us, is he?" he asked. "I want to be with you. We can elope together for a few years and wait until he calms down or dies. He loves you a lot so I doubt he'll ever disown you."

"Hell no," I hissed. "You're telling me to abandon my family!"

"Your family doesn't care about you!" he yelled. "They're selling you off to the North for this little charade they call peace! I won't allow that!"

I cupped his cheeks in my hands. "We'll find a way, Asher. We're already working on it."

"Don't tell me that," he slapped my hands away. "This is just like two girls playing dress up in order to fool their father. No matter what you do, in the end, he will find out everything and the game will end. I will lose you!"

I looked up at him firmly, making sure our eyes met. "I'm not gonna let you mark me without my father's permission."

"And I'm not gonna lose you," he said and grabbed me. He tossed me on the bed and pinned me as he glared at me. "Never in a million years will I lose you, Ariel. Never!"

"Stop this, Asher!" I yelled, making sure to keep my legs closed and move erratically so that he can't get a good enough grip on me to help him sink his fangs into me.

"Stop struggling!" he hissed. "I'm doing this for our good. You want this, don't you? You want to be with me, right?"

"Ari," a soft melodious voice permeated the room in the chaos of our struggle.

Asher's head turned in an instant and his eyes widened as he saw Denise standing at the door. She took one look at him and our position and then turned to look at me.

"Your father wants to see you, Ari," she said and then gave Asher a cold stare. He instinctively knew he had to get off of me.

"I-I'm sorry, Ariel," he stuttered. "I-I don't know what came over me."

"Just leave me alone!" I hissed as I wiped my tears and ran out of the room with Denise who took a second longer before closing the door behind her.

"Thank you, Denise," I said once we were a good distance away from Asher's room. "Thanks for not causing a commotion about what you saw. Asher is just desperate right now. He's not that kind of person."

"I don't care. You got yourself involved with him so that's between you both," she replied. "But the next time I see that kind of scenario again, I'll kill him."

I was about to reply when someone bumped into me, almost knocking me off my feet.

"Watch where you're going," the person said, and my anger exploded.

"No, you watch where you're going, you-!"

I looked up at the person and it was a seven feet man with brown eyes. There's only one seven-foot man with the ability to enter the palace right now. The Northener.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed.