Her Arranged Alpha Husband by Alicia Banks

Chapter 6

Teri

She had to go along with what was in her future to do. Teri wanted to believe that she would be able to get away from Ben, that he would see her without makeup and nice attire, and he would leave her alone. It hadn’t happened, and Teri got to figure that it wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t get out of it, no matter how much she wanted to.

So, Teri took the time to stay longer in bed and talk to her family instead of fighting it all. She knew that not only did she have no choice but to get married to Ben, because she was now his, but Teri had to leave the valley and she wasn’t ready to go. Her eyes lingered on her surroundings a bit longer and she felt herself getting sad. She already missed home, and she hadn’t even left yet. Her whole life was going to change and there was nothing that she could do about it.

Teri showered with the travesty of it all on her mind. Teri knew that Ben was around, had seen him from a distance and heard all of the good things said about him, but she didn’t know him. She was about to get to know him, but it wasn’t the same when she had no choice. That always flipped it all in her head. What was she doing?

“Are you in here still, daughter?”

Teri groaned. She heard her mother’s voice, knew she was cornered, but didn’t want to talk to her. Maybe she could be quiet and pretend she wasn’t there…

“I know you are, so I am not going away.” Her mother said it like a threat and that was how Teri took it. She didn’t want to go there but knew that she had to.

Teri said something about moving slowly and her mother popped in. “You are actually getting ready?” She sounded shocked, which unnerved Teri. It wasn’t like she had a choice. Teri had seen others try to get away from the ceremony and none had been successful. It was always the guy’s decision, and the woman was made to go with it. Teri was finding it hard not to feel bitter about it all.

“Do I have a choice?”

Evelyn scoffed and pushed the same raven hair out of her face that her daughter shared. “Has it ever mattered before whether you had a choice? You would still fight it all till the end.”

Teri admitted that she had earned the title of being stubborn. She had done what she wanted most of her life, and the idea that she couldn’t do that anymore didn’t sit well with her. Teri wanted to run, sure enough, but it was Fate and obligation keeping her there, nothing else.

“I am tired of fighting this. You guys have known this whole time how I felt about it. I don’t care if Ashley is in some weird love her abuser vibe with her husband, I won’t do it. If the man I have to marry touches me like Justin does Ashley, I swear that I will poison him or something.”

Her mother looked alarmed, but then smiled, like she had remembered that Teri was just mad and ranting. She wasn’t going to do anything, that was the look that Teri got from her.

“You are going to meet him and that will be that. All of this fighting and carrying on that you’ve been doing the past few weeks is over now.”

Teri didn’t like the sound of that, the finality of it all. She was not down for that sort of thing, and the more Teri tried to focus on getting through it, someone said something like that and made her question all of it.

“Why do you think me meeting him is going to make anything change?” Teri wanted to know. Her mother just shrugged and grinned, like she had some secret that Teri needed to know about.

“You just need to keep an open mind. I know that you don’t like how this is happening, but after tonight you will finally be a woman and it will all make sense.”

Teri liked the sound of that even less. Every fiber of her being wanted to be anywhere, doing anything else, than getting ready for a ceremony that was going to essentially sell her off. It wasn’t at all what she wanted or needed, nothing like that.

“What if I want to come home?” Teri asked finally, her voice softer than she had intended. Why did the answer matter so much, like she was convinced that moving to the frozen tundra of Alaska was going to be a huge mistake? Teri felt like it would be. It certainly wasn’t where she was supposed to be. How could Fate drag her all the way up there? It didn’t make any sense to her, and Teri used that as the chink in the armor that made it all wrong.

Her mother sighed and told her that she could always come home.

“Dad would let me come back?” Teri asked.

Evelyn assured her that she would always be welcome there. She didn’t mention how her father would respond, but that it wouldn’t matter. Teri would have liked her father to say the same thing, but her marriage to Ben was going to be a huge pump for them. It was going to make them rich and to have the ear of a powerful Alpha. They would be a reason to be jealous, though Teri didn’t feel that. She didn’t see the honor or how it would honor them. To her, she was just being sold to the highest bidder, Fate and Elders be damned.

***

As the evening approached, Ashley came to see her sister. They eyed each other for a time, then finally Ashley spoke. Her words just made it all the more uncomfortable. “I wanted to talk to you before you went down the aisle.”

Teri nodded and said that it was almost time. The closer it came to the time she would come out and walk the aisle, the worse her anxiety became. It was hard for her to focus on anything, not when there was so much that had to be stopped. Her sister was there to give her a pep talk, but she was likely the worst one to do so.

“I think I left you with a bad impression the other day. I want to fix that.”

Teri didn’t know what her sister was talking about, but she didn’t really have a clue what to say to her. She didn’t want to be her sister, justifying such things. Teri couldn’t imagine, and she wasn’t sure if her sister had just lost her mind, was straight stupid, or some other reason that she simply couldn’t fathom. Either way, her presence and words were likely not going to help. Teri was already shutting down from it all when it came to her.

“Don’t worry, Ashley. I get it. You don’t have to say anymore.” Teri left out the part that it just made her look pathetic. She would never say that to her face, even if she did feel it to be so.

“I love my husband. I mean, I really do.”

Teri nodded, still feeling the guilt of what her sister sounded like. Would she sound like that one day soon? She cringed to think that a possibility. “Of course.”

“I mean, I really do. He makes me feel in a way that is hard to explain. I love everything about him and though he gets excited and gets rough, I push that. I like when he is so worked up that he can’t take his hands off of me…” Her sister’s words shocked Teri a bit and she didn’t know what to say. She could feel something coming from Ashley, but it had nothing to do with fear or any of the other feelings that she had always associated with her sister. She felt yearning desire and it almost choked Teri it was so strong. Had she really been a fool and not saw it? Was her sister actually happy?

“Ashley!” Teri started.

Ashley waved her off, and she was blushing profusely. “Trust me, Teri. This could be the best thing ever. You just have to have an open mind.”

Teri said that she would try, but she was more affected by the way that her sister had talked about her husband. There was palpable desire and need coming from Ashley. What would it be like to feel like that? Now, Teri was curious, maybe for the first time. Could she ever feel that way about Ben? Could Fate have really picked right, her true mate? It seemed impossible, but damn if her sister’s words didn’t make her question everything.