Weeping Bride (3)

Ophelia was taken away from the altar by Freya who smiled more than the bride. Freya had every reason to smile since she escaped a terrible marriage. 

Ophelia's tears continued as she was led to a room smaller than the one she woke up in. The servants around her ignored her cries since they had orders to fulfil. 

Ophelia was stripped of her clothes once more and roughly washed with rags as if the maids wanted to rip her skin from her body. She wasn't oblivious to what they were preparing her for. After a wedding came the first time a husband and wife would share a bed.

The sound of the door opening put a halt on the maids tending to her. 

Ophelia covered her naked body since the maids were yet to dress her. Instead of the young woman she spoke to earlier, Ophelia was visited by a man she once saw a long time ago but could not remember his name.

Joel Porter scrutinized the young woman before him who was now known to the town as his daughter. He examined her features, noting the details that would help her pass as someone of noble birth. 

Her looks were a crucial factor in the deception. Every inch of her would be under intense scrutiny so Joel needed Ophelia to be perfect in every way to execute his plan flawlessly.

Ophelia tried to shield as much as she could from his prying eyes. 

"Get out," Joel ordered the servants.

Ophelia feared what would happen with the servants no longer present. What did this man plan to do to her?

Ophelia dropped to her knees to plead to the stranger. "Please help me return home. I do not belong here. There is a mistake."

"There hasn't been any mistake here. You need to start acting like a lady. Your training will start in private before that bastard comes back to collect you tomorrow, but for now, you must mate with him. Do whatever it takes to seduce him," Joel advised the young woman. 

Joel couldn't have her among the women who were murdered by the alpha since Freya's hand would be asked for again.

Ophelia couldn't do that. They were asking her to sleep with a man she didn't know.

She felt hopeless. It was expected that the very people who took her from her home and shamed her in this way would not just send her home, but all she could do now was cry and plead. She wanted to save Alex but this was far too much. 

"You're not going to seduce him in this state," said Joel, annoyed by her tears.

All the women sent to the alpha's chambers always came out dead. This woman here wasn't going to be an exception if she kept up with this crying.

Joel couldn't allow that to happen.

Joel grabbed a handful of Ophelia's hair, yanking it so she would look up at him. "I can kill that man you're crying for or you can do as I say. Which would you prefer?"

Joel's day was going better after Freya informed him that Alex was the key to keeping Ophelia quiet. 

Ophelia yelped from his rough grip on her hair. She was meant to be the queen thanks to the marriage she was forced into, but it didn't feel like it. She was still a commoner, mistreated by those with status.

She was naked and in tears, before a man she did not know. Soon, she would be sent to a man she had to convince that she was his destined mate.

Death would be better than this, but Ophelia didn't have it in her to kill herself. She was going to get out of this alive and take Alex with her. 

Her fears grew as she imagined these people getting ahold of her parents as well. 

"I will do whatever you need me to, just please, don't hurt Alex," Ophelia cried. She could endure this much to keep her family safe, but she was terrified. She did not want to spend the night with a man she hardly knew. 

How was she to seduce a man who was disgusted by her trying to touch him?

There was some relief when her hair was released.

"Good. Stand up for me to see you," Joel said, needing a better look at her body.

Ophelia stood up, her hands still covering what she could.

Joel didn't have much faith in the woman before him, but it was too late for him to go back on what he started. "Until I say otherwise, you will play the role of my daughter and be his mate. You are to act like a lady. Your lover's life will be in your hands."

Joel continued, "He should be waiting for you in your wedding chamber. Listen," he reached for her throat, tightening his hold until she winced.

She was a runt just like Alex said. She would be easy to kill when this was all over. 

Joel touched the necklace, the key to making his plan work. "Do not step out of the room until you have mated with him. Understand?"

Ophelia frantically nodded her head. She did not understand why everyone was so certain the king would believe this trick. 

Joel left Ophelia so the maids could return to get her ready for her wedding night.

Ophelia went numb again as the maids came back to prepare her. 

Once dressed, Ophelia was escorted by maids, but this time it was to a dark room decorated with candles. It was suited to please a happy couple, but that was far from what she was with the alpha.

The dress she wore now was thin, barely concealing her body. Never in her wildest dreams had Ophelia imagined this would be how she would give herself to someone.

She jumped, startled by the sudden opening of the doors. Her panic intensified as her husband walked in, his chest bare for all to see.

The doors closed behind him and before they fully shut, Ophelia caught a glimpse of the people outside. There was an audience to this dreadful night.

Ophelia looked down at the floor, her hands trembling. Instinctively, she covered the parts she did not want him to see, but the earlier threats quickly came to mind. Alex filled her mind. 

Out of her control, tears began to fall again as she touched the loose string that held the dress on her shoulders. Since last night, all Ophelia had done was cry and she could not stop it. 

Just as she summoned the courage to pull on the string, her husband started to approach her.