Chapter 1: Olivia No Longer Exists

Olivia’s POV

​The moment I heard the quiet sobbing behind the bedroom door, I knew Princess Annabel was crying again. If I had known it would be the last time I would ever hear her cry, I never would have left her alone.

I slowly pushed the door open and found her sitting before her dressing mirror in her wedding gown, tears streaming silently down her face.

​She stared at her reflection as though she didn’t recognize the woman looking back at her.

​Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead, it felt like she was walking toward her own death.

​I had served her for six years, and Annabel had never treated me like just another servant. Every year, she remembered my birthday with a small gift or a cake. When I lost my mother’s wedding ring in the palace gardens, she dropped everything and spent the whole afternoon helping me search for it, even though her tutors were angry. She was truly kind, kinder than royalty ever needed to be. She didn’t deserve any of this.

​I walked over and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Your Highness."

​She flinched, then turned and threw herself into my arms. "Olivia..." she sobbed.

​I held her close while her body trembled. "I don’t want to go," she whispered. "I don’t want to die."

I wished I could tell her she wasn’t going to die. I wished I could promise her that everything would be okay, but the words wouldn’t come. How could I promise something I didn’t believe myself?

Three months ago, our pack lost the war to the Full Moon Pack. They crushed us brutally, and hundreds of our people died. During the final battle, Alpha Lucian’s younger sister fell into a coma. From that day on, the stories about him became even darker. Packs that stood against him were wiped out without mercy. Even his own subordinates walked carefully around him, afraid of becoming the next victim of his rage. Everyone said the same thing: Alpha Lucian was a beast who showed no mercy. He blamed our pack for his sister’s condition and hated us with every part of his being. Sending Annabel to marry a man like that felt like sending her to her execution.

​Yet, to save what remained of our people, our Alpha had no choice but to beg for peace. The price was Princess Annabel. She was to become Alpha Lucian’s bride.

​"I’ve heard what he does to people," Annabel whispered, gripping my dress tightly. "They say he enjoys watching them suffer. They say he never shows mercy." More tears rolled down her cheeks. "What if they’re right? What if he kills me?"

​I brushed the tears from her face. "Rumors are not always true."

​She let out a bitter laugh. "What if this time they are?" Her eyes dropped to her wedding gown. "This isn’t my wedding, Olivia. It’s my funeral."

​Those words broke my heart. I hugged her tighter, wishing I could fix everything. But there was nothing either of us could do. What could I possibly do to protect her when my own wolf had been silent for four years? I couldn’t even shift anymore.

​After a while, I pulled back and tried to smile. "You should drink some water. You haven’t had anything all morning."

​She nodded weakly. "Okay."

​I gave her hand one last reassuring squeeze before leaving the room. "I’ll be right back."

​She managed a weak smile. "Thank you."

​I closed the door behind me and hurried toward the kitchens. The servants were unusually quiet, moving about with sad expressions and lowered heads. No one wanted this wedding. No one wanted to send our princess away. But after everything we had lost, this marriage was the only thing standing between our kingdom and another war.

​I filled a crystal glass with cool water and placed it carefully on a tray. As I made my way back upstairs, an uneasy feeling settled over me. The corridor leading to Annabel’s room was strangely silent. My eyes searched for the two guards who had been stationed outside her door all morning.

​They were gone.

​I frowned. Where could they have gone? Leaving a royal bride unguarded on her wedding day made no sense. A bad feeling settled in my stomach, but I tried to ignore it as I pushed the heavy door open with my shoulder.

​"Your Highness, I brought your..."

​The words died on my lips.

​My eyes swept across the chamber, searching for Annabel. She wasn’t sitting in front of the mirror anymore. Instead, a dark red stain on the white marble caught my attention.

​Blood.

​My gaze slowly followed the red trail until it reached the motionless figure lying flat on the floor.

​The tray slipped from my hands. The glass shattered against the marble, sending water across my feet, but I didn’t even feel it.

​A few feet away lay Princess Annabel. Her beautiful white wedding gown was soaked in blood. A dark pool of blood surrounded her body, spreading farther and farther across the floor.

​"No..."

​I stumbled toward her and fell to my knees. "Annabel..."

​My trembling hands touched her shoulders. Her skin was cold. Too cold.

​"No... please..." I shook her gently, then harder. "Wake up! Please wake up!"

​Nothing. There was no breath, no movement.

​Sticky, warm blood coated my fingers as I pulled her into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "This isn’t funny," I cried, pressing her close to my chest. "Please... please wake up..."

​Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed through the corridor. Before I could react, the bedroom doors burst open and royal guards rushed inside with their swords drawn. Not one of them ran to help the princess. Instead, every eye landed on me: on the panic on my face, the blood covering my hands, and the red stains spreading across my dress.

​Our Beta’s expression hardened into a frown. He raised his sword and pointed it straight at me.

​"Bring her."

​I stared at him in horror, my heart racing. "What? No... I didn’t do this! She was alive when I left! I only went to get her some water!"

​"Enough," he barked.

​Before I could say another word, rough hands grabbed my arms and pulled me away from the princess.

​"No!" I screamed, struggling against their grip as they dragged me away from her. "You’ve got it all wrong!"

​Before I could utter another word, a heavy, leather glove clamped tightly over my mouth. It cut off my air and turned my cries into a useless whisper. The guards dragged me backward out of the blood-stained room, my feet scraping helplessly against the stone floor.

​They didn’t take me down to the dark dungeons. Instead, they hurried me through the shadows of the back hallways, leading me straight toward the Alpha’s private bedroom.

​The heavy wooden doors burst open, and the guards threw me onto the floor. I landed hard, my palms scraping against the polished stone before I looked up.

​Alpha Kenneth sat behind his large desk, looking completely miserable. The war had made him look ten years older; his shoulders were slumped, and his face looked tired and hollow. When he saw me covered in blood, a look of pure confusion crossed his face.

​"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

​Our Beta, the Alpha’s second-in-command, spoke, "Your Majesty... Princess Annabel is dead."

​The words hit the room like a heavy blow.

​"I didn’t do it!" I shrieked, the guards finally pulling their hands away from my mouth. The panic made my voice crack as I looked at the Alpha. "Your Majesty, please! I swear on my life, I didn’t do it!"

​"Quiet! Do not speak another word," Alpha Kenneth snapped, though his voice lacked any real anger. It sounded empty, shaking with shock. He stood up quickly from his chair, his hands gripping the edge of his desk tightly. He turned a haunted look toward his Beta. "Are you sure? Is she really..."

​The Beta nodded slowly, lowering his head. "She is gone."

​Alpha Kenneth sank back into his chair as if his legs could no longer hold him up. The silence in the room was suffocating. He swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically around the room before landing back on the Beta. "Who else knows about this?"

​"Just myself and the guards in this room, Sire."

​Alpha Kenneth pointed a shaking finger toward the entrance. "Lock Annabel’s door. Go lock it now. No one, absolutely no one, must find out what has happened in that room."

​A guard quickly ran to carry out the order.

​Alpha Kenneth finally turned his gaze down to me. The bright light of the room caught the tears forming in his eyes. "Olivia," he said, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "Tell me exactly what happened."

​Through heavy sobs, I forced the words out. I told him everything. I told him about Annabel’s fears, and how she had cried in my arms. I told him how I had only left her side for a few minutes to get her a simple glass of water from the kitchen, only to return to that horrific sight.

​"And the guards were gone," I added through my tears. "Both of them were outside her room when I left, but when I came back, they had disappeared."

​As I spoke, a single, heavy tear finally spilled from the Alpha’s eye and ran down his wrinkled cheek. He closed his eyes, letting out a long, broken breath. Looking into his tear-filled eyes, I knew he believed me.

​"She was so frightened," he whispered to himself, staring blankly at the desk. "It seems... it seems my daughter took her own life. She chose death over the monster."

​My heart squeezed in my chest. No, I wanted to scream. Annabel wouldn’t do that. She was terrified, yes, but she loved her people too much to doom them. She knew what would happen if she backed out. I didn’t believe for a second that she would take her own life, but looking at the broken father in front of me, I kept my mouth shut.

​"Your Majesty," the Beta interrupted quietly, stepping closer to the desk. His voice was filled with panic. "We cannot let anyone find out the princess is dead. Especially not Alpha Lucian. If he finds out his bride died or killed herself before the wedding, he will take it as a massive insult. He will bring a war that our pack cannot survive. We will all be wiped out by tonight."

​"I know," Alpha Kenneth breathed, rubbing his face with his shaking hands. "I know."

​"What do we do then?" the Beta pressed, his eyes wide with fear. "The Full Moon Pack’s guards are already at our gates. They are waiting for a bride."

​Slowly, the Alpha lowered his hands. The room fell into a dead, terrifying silence as he turned his tear-stained, desperate eyes away from the floor.

​He didn’t look at the Beta. He didn’t look at the guards.

​Alpha Kenneth looked directly at me. "Leave us," he ordered quietly.

​The guards hesitated for a single second before bowing. Within moments, the heavy doors opened and closed, leaving the room completely empty except for the three of us.

​Alpha Kenneth looked at me for a very long time. The silence stretched between us, heavy and terrifying, until he finally broke it.

​"So..." he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "There is only one way to save this pack."

​A sharp chill ran straight down my spine. I didn’t like the look in his eyes, or the sudden, desperate focus in his gaze.

​"Stand up, Olivia."

​Confused and trembling, I slowly obeyed, my heart racing.

​Slowly, he rose from his chair and walked toward me, every step he took making my stomach twist tighter. Why was he looking at me like that?

​A terrible thought suddenly entered my mind, but I pushed it away immediately. No. Surely he couldn’t be thinking what I thought he was thinking.

​His eyes slowly traveled over me, studying every detail. My face. My hair. My height. Even the color of my eyes. It felt as though he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was comparing me to someone else.

​He let out a slow breath.

​"You are close enough."

​My heart skipped a beat. "Close enough for what?"

​His eyes swept over me one last time.

​"The height... the hair... it’ll work."

​His Beta seemed to realize exactly what the Alpha was thinking. "Your Majesty..."

​Alpha Kenneth ignored him entirely. He turned back to his desk, opened the top drawer, and picked up Annabel’s royal seal.

​"From this moment on..."

​​He stepped forward and forcibly pressed the heavy royal seal into my trembling, blood-stained palms.

​"Olivia no longer exists."

​"What...?" The word gasped out of me.

​He looked me straight in the eyes.

​"You are Princess Annabel. You will marry Alpha Lucian in my daughter’s place."