Her Ruthless Alpha

"Zerra! Where the hell are you?!" Jared shouted for the third time now. He had just come back from his journey to the north, and he needed to tell his daughter about the news. But she was nowhere to be found, and Jared's temper was already bad. "B-beta, Jared, you're here!" one of the maids fearfully uttered. She looked terrified at the sight of him, but Jared was too furious to care. "Where is Zerra?" he asked angrily, which made the woman in front of him almost jump out of her spot. "She... uhm... she went to visit her mother's grave with her nanny," she stuttered, and this only fueled Jared's anger. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. His heart suddenly ached, remembering his dead wife, the love of his life, who only loved one person in the world – their daughter! He shouldn't be jealous of his own daughter, but he couldn't help it. He had hated that child ever since she was born! He had even plotted to kill her when she was a baby, but he knew it would only make his wife miserable. And he never wanted that to happen, so he swallowed his disgust at the child. He dialed her number, and the call connected after the third ring. He tried to suppress his anger, but he failed. "Go home right now! I need to tell you something!" he yelled at his daughter on the other line, instantly cutting the call. He waited for almost half an hour before Zerra arrived with her nanny. His eyes almost turned into slits, seeing his daughter. For some reason, he couldn't love his daughter! He just hated her so much. He begged the moon goddess for a male heir, but he was given a useless daughter! The only good thing about Zerra was her beautiful face and body. At least he could use her to marry someone wealthy and powerful to realize his main goal. "D-daddy, you're home," she timidly greeted him. He rose from his seat and went straight to his daughter and slapped her hard, hard enough that she fell to the floor. "Who told you to go out without my permission?!" he yelled at her, and was about to hit her again when her nanny blocked her. This has always been the case – Josie, Zerra's nanny, always protecting her from him! Jared pushed the old woman and pulled his daughter's hair. "D-daddy, please... it hurts!" she pleaded while crying. And he hated her more because of that. "You will have it worse if you defy my orders!" Jared said and hit her again. This time, the side of her soft lips was bleeding. Jared – feeling satisfied – stood straight and pointed his finger at Zerra. "Prepare your mother's room now, because Veronica will be coming tomorrow! We will be married on Sunday!" he ordered. Zerra was so shocked and hurt at the same time. Although her mother died five years ago, she still couldn't accept the fact that a new woman would be occupying her room. But she was too afraid of her father, so she just nodded. She just hoped that her new stepmother would be nice to her. Zerra thought that her life would be better once her father remarried. But that was never the case. Her stepmother, Veronica, was as cruel and abusive to her as her father. She could even manipulate her father to get what she wanted. Veronica was also hurting Zerra whenever she had a chance. It was as if she loved torturing her and showing her that she was the queen of the household. Even a single mistake would be punished severely. After one year of being married to Zerra's father, Veronica brought home her son. Zerra was so afraid, but to her relief, her stepbrother was nice to her and even defended her from his own mother. When Zerra turned eighteen, she was so frustrated that her mate hadn't come. She had her wolf at twelve; she shifted earlier than the rest of her age group in the pack, but her mate wasn't around. Three more years have passed, and she's still waiting for her destined mate. She really was hopeful because she wanted to escape from their house, her father, and her wicked stepmother. She wasn't asking for someone with incredible power or background. She just wanted a mate who would love her and take care of her for the rest of her life. Another reason she wanted to escape from their house was that her parents kept discussing marrying her off. They said that if she didn't find her mate at twenty-two, she would be promised to someone. That sent so much panic into her because she had promised herself that she would only marry her mate, or if not, at least someone she loved, like Apollo. Although her boyfriend was a human, he was very nice to her. But something worse than an arranged marriage happened. Her stepmother accidentally killed someone very important to the alpha, and she will be given away as a p*****t.