Dangerous Guest!

There are five of us in the room—me, dad, his brother and his daughter and a man. The right hand of the pack Alpha. The most cruel wolf in our city.

“A hundred gold coins,” my uncle continues to haggle, curling his fingers with excitement.

This is standard procedure for selling a half-breed daughter to another purebred wolf. No, they do not offend us; they take us as wives and even take care of us. But the marriage is temporary and can be terminated at any time by reselling the girl to another wolf who wants to get himself a new female.

“Sixty,” answers Deegon, who has come to buy my sister.

The hair on his temples is silver, and his black eyes sparkle with pleasure. He is already forty-one, but he still has not entered into a full-fledged marriage; he has no children, only temporary wives, replacing each other with a frighteningly frequent frequency.

“Mr. Deegon, be ashamed of God. At least make it ninety,” my father’s own younger brother shakes his head defiantly.

“How many times has your daughter been married, Elion?” The Beta asks coldly, throwing impudent glances at me at this time.

“Four,” my uncle raises his eyebrows and frowns; he does not like this uncomfortable question.

I feel sorry for my sister at this moment because she is my age, twenty-one years old, but she has already been married four times. If her fourth husband had not been so noble, it is not known where she would have been resold. And as it is—she is lucky to be back in the family. Not for long. Until Uncle finds a new buyer.

I look at her and hardly recognize her as that cheerful girl who was my confidante in all games, my best friend and my beloved sister. Her gray face, the wrinkles around her lips, her dull hair and expressionless eyes.

“You know how likely it is that she will be my Luna. And I’m at an age when I’m not averse to having offspring,” Deegon drums on the table and looks around our quartet with an arrogant look. “After so many wolves, the probability of conception is reduced, so fifty gold is a red price.”

Gold is the measure by which the quality of brides is judged. If Dalila was a purebred, she would be valued at three hundred gold coins; only then her opinion would be taken into account, because, according to the pack law, forcibly marrying a purebred is a crime and a shame that is washed away only by blood.

“But if you want money so much, I’ll give you two hundred for the second half-breed,” the impudent wolf immediately casts a glance at me.

After the men’s words, I take a step back and hide behind the chair in which my dad sits. I feel all eyes turn to me, but my dad is the first to react.

“You won’t get Danika!” he immediately growls, puffing up and clenching his fists.

His eyes are filled with blood, and he leans forward. It is customary for us to live in small flocks, so my uncle and sister live with us. But Beta Deegon is wrong, thinking that we need money. Only my uncle needs it.

“You said that we would consider all options, Elion,” the male buyer does not react in any way to someone else’s aggression and looks at my father’s brother with a displeased look.

Silence. Even my sister finally reacts to what is happening and tosses her head, taking her eyes off the floor.

“Listen, Rehan, two hundred gold coins is a lot for a half-blood; think about it. You know what problems I have now,” Uncle turns to dad and tries to persuade him.

I’m shaking all over, standing in my place. I place my hands on my father’s shoulders, unable to hide the trembling that causes his hand to rest on top of my right hand in a gesture of support.

“You are a disgrace to our family, Elion. If you solve your financial problems by selling your daughters, you are right. I won’t give my blood. Get out of my house, Mr. Deegon, you will not get my consent,” my father gets up from his seat, pointing to the front door with his hand.

At that moment, I glance at my sister and recoil. Such hatred burns in her eyes that it even starts to make me sick. What did I do wrong?

“Calm down, Rehan, no, no. So, are you buying my Dalila, Mr. Beta?” Uncle immediately backs down and again fawns in front of Deegon. “I agree to fifty gold coins.”

“I’ll think about it,” the man smiles harshly and gets up from his seat. “I give you two days to think, Rehan. You know me. I always get what I want.”

And on that note, he turns and leaves. But after the slam of the door, two men of our surname—Whitehead—jump up from their seats and rush at each other with their fists. I bounce closer to the wall, afraid that this wave of aggression might hurt me too. My sister follows suit and grabs my elbow.

“Ouch,” I jerked. “You are hurting me, Dalila, let go.”

But my sister continues to press her fingers and then hisses in my ear:

“You bitch,” her voice is full of poison and rage. “Just try to steal Deegon away from me; I will have you burned!”

She speaks softly and dangerously, like a rattlesnake.

“Dalila, what are you doing?” I look into her eyes with bewilderment; I don’t recognize my Dalila, my sister at all. “I’m not for your...”

I wanted to say, “not for your rival,” but she interrupted and said something that caused me great pain:

“Do you think that since you are a virgin, you are all so clean and better than me? Well, don’t flatter yourself, men love experienced ones, and you, scum, don’t expect that you will lay your eyes on my Deegon,” her eyes burn furiously, her lips are like a thread, and her chest heaves.

I swallow, feeling bitterness and pain.

“But…” I try to say that she has nothing to worry about, but she interrupts again.

“Don’t you dare look at me with such arrogance. I’ll look at you when you go hand in hand. Everyone has the same fate, so you don’t have long left.”

Uncle and father are already simply growling at each other, not paying attention to us, while I lean against the wall with my back and cover my eyes. Sister is right. I am just a woman in our world, moreover, just a half-breed. Father will never sell me to the unworthy, but lately, his health has been deteriorating, and the next head of the family will be my uncle, who will sell me to the first man who gives the most gold.

Such is the order, our world order. You will be resold until you lose your luster and youth. And only one percent of the lucky women manage to find a permanent couple. The chosen one, who is lucky to become a true couple to the wolf and combine with the highest marriage. Become untouchable. Beloved. But the women of our family have never been so fortunate. Not even everyone has had the honor of becoming the mother of another half-breed who will meet the same fate.

***

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