Alpha Prince and His Replacement Bride

Mia's POV Life isn't always easy. Well, it is never if you are the daughter of one of the most influential werewolf families, waiting for their turn for the royals to fail and grab their spot. It's a never-ending battle to be the best and to be ready. The rules are stringent, and the needs are political. My life, in short, is a mess. Or it was when I was in the Bloodmoon pack. My father, Thomas Hemming, is an overachiever to his credit. His father had handed him over a powerful pack. But my father made this one of the most fearsome and respected packs in America. My father now has the northern alphas working under him. His only other competitions are the Barbaras of the West and the Greybeards of the South. The royal family of Blacks rules Eastern America. And it would be a lie if I said he did not want that for himself one day. The Blacks have been ruling the werewolf world for over a century now. They had maintained the power balance so high that even someone ambitious like my father could not topple them. The Blacks are ubiquitous, and the alpha king is invincible. The rumor has this that the alpha prince, Ivan, is even more lethal than the current alpha king, Marcus Black. I always found Ivan Black to be rude, arrogant, and superficial. I have loathed the likes of him, who considers every woman desire them. Such preposterous wolves thought so highly of them that they believed they could get inside any female's pants. Ivan was no different in my eyes. As far I remember of him, he was always surrounded by girls, trying to show off how he was better than the rest. There was no particular reason why I hated him so much. It could be this one time when we visited his family when we were kids. All the other female wolves circled him while he picked on me to bully me for being different. He even made fun of me as an outcast. Or it could be this time when we were teenagers when he thought it was funny to pour cold water on me on a winter night to get my wolf out. Or it could be on my eighteenth birthday when he decided to make it about him by announcing that the alpha king had finally chosen him as the crowned prince. I had to run from my own party because I felt forgotten. They celebrated his success, thinking he was sick of something. Well, I was sick of Ivan. It was the last I saw of him, and I am glad. My little secret is that the royal family kids and the three influential family kids, except my sister and mother, always thought I was a late bloomer. But little did they know I was the first to shift. I am just not interested in being a wolf. I never felt fit in this world of power race. I would willingly exchange this pitiful sham with an ordinary, boring, mundane human life where I have to battle every day to make ends. So here, I, Mia Hemmings, am I standing in my new office, trying to fit in as a human in a faraway country where no one knows I am a wolf, nor do they need to find it out ever. Here, I do not have to please anyone, nor do I have to fit in to prove anything. I do not have to compete with other kids, including my cousins, to show that I deserve to be a Hemming as if the DNA wasn't enough. The constant pressure to prove myself, the unnecessary power shows and fistfights to be the better, faster wolf, and the unnecessary need to look good to woo the male alpha heirs had always bothered me. So, one day, I finally summoned the courage to ask my father to let me leave the pack and stay in a faraway country. I had expected drama and protests. But, perhaps my father had already had the same thoughts. I was the misfit of his family. Wherever he took me, some tragedy happened. Like after Ivan poured cold water on me, I didn't shift. But I took my revenge by making him fall from the stairs by spilling water on the stairs. In my defense, I knew he was a strong wolf. So he was only going to recover faster, which he did, unlike how everybody fussed about when he fell. He had it coming when he poured ice-cold water on me. The same hoard of people found it funny because he was the son of the alpha king, including my father and brother. They all wanted to be in his good books. Well, not me! I was happily sent off and forgotten over the years. I visit for a week every year. My vacation was planned at such a time that there were no events or no other pack was visiting us. I would not want it any other way. It was strange how my father and I agreed on every arrangement while we had an entirely different notion about everything. It worked out in my favor, so no complaints. I sometimes miss my mother, Clara, and my sister, Emma. But the internet worked in our favor. "Mia! You have finally got your own office!" Nancy barged inside my office to congratulate me. She was my best friend here. What clicked for both of us was that our situation could have spoiled us. While we could have spent our time trying to look good and marry an heir of some fortune, we worked to live a life on our terms. I won't say we had to struggle a lot, given the money our families owned. But it was still a different kind of fight to get out of that environment and try to carve our niche. Nancy knew my life inside out ever since we met in college and perhaps a little about my life back in America. But I had not told her about the wolf part. I wasn't going to scare her away. Nancy found it strange when I said I did not want to share a room in the hostel and later apartments. But later, she assumed it was because I loved privacy. Little does she know that I still need to shift from time to time to let my wolf run. I have a secret to hide since I can't get rid of it or bury it for good. It was essential to let my wolf out sometimes for it to stay in control. "I am glad you stopped by!" I welcomed her, smiling back. "I had to! The office boy had no idea where you had shifted. He dropped at my desk. Also, I had to see your new office. It is smaller than mine, but it has a much better view." Nancy grinned. She worked in a different department for the magazine. "You don't leave any chance to brag about your new office room!" I rolled my eyes as I took the neatly wrapped box from her hand. It said 'Wedding Invitation to Mia'. I had made a lot of friends here while I was studying. So, I was wondering who was getting married this time. "Who is it? I didn't receive one." Nancy probed. We had the same set of friends mostly, so it was odd for her not to receive one when I did. Whoever had sent this knew my style and had spent lavishly. Someone had ensured to wrap the invitation box neatly in my favorite pastel shade papers. When I opened the box, I knew it was from home right away. They filled the invitation box with my favorite chocolates. Inside it, there was an extravagant envelope that screamed money. "Is it from home?" Nancy questioned, getting closer. I wanted to hide the letter from her since it could carry words like wolves and werewolves. I did not want her to see it. But she was already standing beside me. "Yes, I think some cousin is getting married. I am not that close. So probably, I don't know," I whispered. No one had told me anything about any event that I had to attend. I had gone home a few months back. So, this was a surprise. "Open it!" Nancy was curious to find out more while I panicked. I opened the envelope to find the wedding invitation card. It blew my mind to see my sister's name printed on it- Emma. But it slipped off the ground beneath my feet when I saw the groom's name. It was Ivan. It was terrible to even stand with him for a second. Now, he was going to be a part of the family! How can I ever go back home and be myself if he would accompany my sister? It startled me to find those two names out of anyone. I would not be surprised if it were my cousins Samantha and Keira. They adored Ivan. But my sister Emma was just like me from the inside when it came to Ivan. She wanted to find her mate and marry him. And we both know Ivan wasn't her mate. We wolves can feel our mate bond only after our eighteenth birthday. She was a year older than me while Ivan was a year older than her. They should have found it if they were mates, at least at my eighteenth birthday party he ruined it, and I ran away to save my sanity. "It can't be true!" I whisper-yelled. I was sure my father was behind this. He must have somehow convinced the alpha king to marry off his beloved son to Emma. But why did Emma agree to this? Why did no one say anything to me before? Did they keep it a secret intentionally? "You aren't happy?" Nancy said, noticing my obvious distress. "Nancy, I must talk to my sister now. As far as I know, she does not love this man. I must find out what happened. The marriage is after a week." I explained to her whatever I could. "I will email for my emergency leave. Please handle." I asked Nancy for a favor, stopping for a breather before running out of my new office room. I headed back to my home to pack my luggage to fly. Only time will tell if I will be successful in convincing Emma not to marry Ivan, or if I will attend the wedding as a bystander and return to my life here never return. I can't be in the same place as Ivan if those two get married! Argh...