He simply watched as I was taken away with the same indifference he had shown throughout my entire life, as though he had finally found a convenient way to remove a burden that had been weighing on him for twenty years.
I turned away.
Perhaps this really was the end of my life in the Mills family.
Strangely, I wasn’t afraid anymore.
The helicopter was waiting on the lawn behind the estate, its blades already turning and sending powerful gusts of wind across the grass.
The force of the air whipped the hem of my dark wedding dress around my legs as I stood there for a moment, staring at the aircraft in disbelief.
This was really happening.
I was leaving the Mills Estate, but not as Sylvia, the woman Supreme Alpha had chosen to marry.
I was leaving as her substitute, carrying a lie that could eventually destroy me if the truth was discovered.
The guards escorted me aboard, and one of them secured my seat before taking the place opposite me.
Moments later, the helicopter began to rise, and I instinctively turned toward the window as the ground slowly disappeared beneath us.
The Mills Estate became smaller and smaller until the mansion that had dominated my entire life looked like nothing more than a distant structure surrounded by endless greenery.
I watched it disappear beneath the clouds, remembering all the years I had spent within those walls.
For twenty years, that place had been my prison.
Now, for the first time, it was becoming nothing more than a memory.
The helicopter continued climbing until we broke through the clouds, and the world below transformed into a distant landscape of forests, winding roads, mountains, and scattered settlements.
I rested my head against the window, allowing the steady vibration of the aircraft to fill the silence around me as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened in a single day.
That morning, I had gone to the hospital believing I still had time to decide what to do with my life.
Then I had been told I had barely six months left.
I had returned home and been beaten by my father, only to discover that I was being sent away as a substitute bride.
I had been forced into Sylvia’s wedding dress, accused of pushing her down the stairs, and handed over to strangers who were taking me to the capital.
And now I was on my way to marry a man I had never even met.
Supreme Alpha.
I had heard his name countless times, and everyone seemed to have their own story about the sovereign Alpha.
He was said to be cruel and ruthless, a man whose authority extended far beyond his own territory because he ruled over the entire werewolf Country.
Even powerful families treated his name with caution, while ordinary werewolves rarely dared to speak about him carelessly.
Yet none of those stories could tell me what kind of man I would actually find waiting for me in the capital.
I turned my gaze toward the clouds outside the window, my fingers tightening around the fabric of my dress as the reality of what awaited me became impossible to ignore.
I was going to meet Supreme Alpha.
And he believed I was Sylvia.
I closed my eyes and drew a slow breath, trying to suppress the uneasiness growing inside my chest.
I didn’t know what awaited me in the capital, whether the Supreme Alpha would believe my father’s story, or what would happen when he eventually discovered that the woman standing before him wasn’t the bride he had chosen.
Perhaps he would send me back, perhaps he would punish me for the deception, or perhaps he would simply refuse to accept me altogether.
Whatever happened, I had no idea how I would survive it.
Yet beneath all the uncertainty, there was one thought that brought me an unexpected sense of calm.
At least I was leaving the Mills Estate behind.
I opened my eyes and looked through the window once again.
After nearly two hours in the air, the distant outline of the capital finally began to emerge beyond the clouds.
The city stretched across the horizon in a magnificent expanse of towering buildings, sprawling districts, and enormous walls surrounding the royal territory at its center.
Even from the sky, I could see how different it was from the small city I had called home for twenty years.
This was the heart of the kingdom.
This was where the most powerful werewolves lived.
And somewhere within that vast city was the man I had been sent to marry.
My fingers tightened around the dark fabric of my wedding dress as the helicopter began its descent…..
I had never met him before, yet by the time my feet touched the ground, he would no longer be a stranger.
He would be my husband.
Soon, the helicopter finally touched down, and the powerful blades gradually slowed until the deafening noise faded into silence.
I remained seated for a few moments, unable to move, my entire body trembling from exhaustion while my heart pounded heavily against my chest.
The events of the day had left me completely drained, and the wounds across my back continued to ache beneath the dark wedding dress, reminding me that I had barely been given enough time to recover before being dragged into an entirely new life.
When the guards finally signaled that I could leave, I slowly stepped out of the helicopter, but I barely had time to steady myself before they seized my arms and began pulling me across the pavement.
Their grip was firm and impatient, forcing me to quicken my steps despite the pain spreading through my body with every movement.
“Can you slow down?” I pleaded, struggling to keep up with them.
Neither man seemed interested in listening.
They continued dragging me forward as though I were nothing more than luggage that needed to be delivered, completely ignoring the fact that I had been beaten only hours earlier and was still struggling to walk because of the injuries across my back.