001.

*19 Years later*

~Hades’ POV~

I woke up in an exceptionally good mood today.

The first thing I saw when I got up was the beauty beside me in bed. Her soft auburn hair cascaded down her head, shielding her face like a veil. I watched her for a moment, reveling in the bliss that came with having her around. She was Savannah, my fiancée and she was just perfect.

Almost as soon as I awoke, Savannah stirred in her sleep. She slowly fluttered her eyes open and when she caught me staring at her, she smiled.

“Good morning, baby,” She drawled sleepily, and I smiled, placing a soft kiss on her lush surgically enhanced lips.

She regarded me with a grin and bristled when I gently caressed her face. “Good morning, beautiful,” I greeted back before strutting off to my bathroom for a warm shower.

I was halfway into my shower when I heard my phone ring. I frowned;

“Who’s it?” I yelled out to Savannah.

“Baby, it’s Winifred!” She replied and just like that, my mood was deflated.

I was half expecting it to be one of my brothers as today was our birthday but I was wrong. As usual, they were nowhere to be found. A sad smile tugged at my lips at the thought of them. I missed them terribly but sadly, they never cared.

As I resumed scrubbing my skin, I couldn’t help but wonder why Winifred couldn’t shift this meeting to another day. I needed the day off but sadly it was already too late to back out now. I sighed again.

Today was going to be a long day, I could already feel it.

+~~¥~~+

I scrunched up my nose in disgust at the smell of booze wafting through the air as I pushed my way through the crowd of excited men shouting amongst themselves in groups.

“Alpha!” Winifred, my business associate, called excitedly as soon as he laid his eyes on me. He walked up to me, and to my surprise, hugged me.

“What the hell is this place?” I asked Winifred in anger as I plopped into the chair behind me. I was glad that he had at least chosen a space for us at the end of the wide room.

“It’s an auction house.” He answered, looking around.

I was about to make a sarcastic comment about the place when he quickly interjected me, “I chose here because it’s one of the most discreet places I could find on such short notice.” I nodded in understanding.

“What do they sell here?” I asked, watching closely at the crowd of excited men who yelled at the top of their voices.

“Well…” Winifred drawled, “…they sell people, girls or girl slaves, depending on what the buyers decide to use them for.” He replied offhandedly.

As soon as he said that, I shivered. I was disgusted at the thought of buying a person for my pleasure. The idea infuriated me so much that I had to clench my hands into tight fists to prevent myself from lashing out.

Immediately reminding myself that I was only here for Winifred, I looked away while willing my anger to dissipate. Winifred easily shifted my attention from them though as only a few minutes later, I was absorbed in our conversation.

I had been so engrossed by it that I at first didn’t notice the sweet smell that wafted through the air, and into my nostrils.

“What was that?” I growled, momentarily stunning myself and Winifred.

Feeling embarrassed, I shifted in my chair, refocusing my attention on what I was doing earlier before the interruption. Again, the mouthwatering smell attacked my nostrils, and this time I looked around frantically, in search of whatever it was that caused my discomfort.

“Are you okay, Alpha?” I heard Winifred ask worriedly beside me but I ignored him as I searched the crowd.

Suddenly, a figure at the podium caught my eye. She was so beautiful, she looked like an Angel fallen from the sky. There was something about her that attracted me and drew me in until all of my attention zeroed in on her beautiful face.

From the discomfort I felt, I instantly knew that she was my mate, but that wasn’t the main issue. Something about her felt oddly familiar but I wasn’t sure if it was her wild ginger red hair and glassy blue eyes, or the aura that surrounded her, but I instantly knew that I knew her… and that I wanted her to myself.

“Twenty-one-year-old Miss Hailey Levine, princess of the fallen Starlight pack is next for auction…!” The auction host screamed excitedly, making the crowd erupt in a wild frenzy.

As soon as the name left his lips, I felt my body freeze in shock. He had to be kidding me! I blinked my eyes severally, but each time I looked at her, I saw the uncanny resemblance she shared with the person I knew and abhorred.

But how did I not notice at first glance?

I heard the host say something, but I paid no attention to it until he said something else that caught my attention.

“…bidding price starts at two thousand US dollars…!” He yelled, making me glance up quickly to stare at the crowd of leering men who were openly ogling her.

“Five thousand!” One of the old folks yelled from the frontline, making me grind my teeth in anger.

“Are you okay Alpha? you seem carried away.” Winifred asked, but I brushed off his question with a wave of my hands.

I felt my anger skyrocket as the bidding continued, with each person calling a price higher than the last. I didn’t care about the ridiculous amount of money being mentioned though, all I cared about was the fact that she was my mate and that right now, she was standing in a glass box while men mentioned extravagant prices just to have her.

“Fifty thousand!” Someone yelled in the crowd, making my heart race momentarily. I wanted them all to name their prices before I named mine. I wanted them carried away before I struck.

I gnashed my teeth together as the prices continued skyrocketing, but then a lot of bidders had suddenly lost interest. They probably felt she was a little too expensive.

“Two hundred and fifty thousand!” A young prince yelled, making the entire room go quiet. It was suddenly becoming a tough game.

“Five hundred thousand!” Someone else yelled, making me snap my head upwards to stare at him.

“One million!” The prince yelled again and this time, I stared pointedly at him in annoyance.

Almost immediately, our eyes met, and then he flashed me a proud grin, one that made my blood boil with rage.

The crowd had long gone silent. The prices were fast becoming outrageous, but I didn’t care. I desperately wanted to see the end of this, moreover, I couldn’t allow one of these scumbags to buy my mate.

“Five million!” The prince yelled again after someone said two million, and from the look on his face, I knew he couldn’t go further. I decided to strike.

“Hailey Levine going for five million!” The host yelled happily, casting a proud look at Andrea who stared into nothingness with tears brimming her eyes.

“Going, going…”

“Twenty million!” I yelled suddenly, making everyone, including Winifred, turn to look at me. I smiled inwardly when the microphone dropped from the host’s hand and the prince’s jaws practically dropped to the floor.

“Hailey Levine is going for twenty million dollars! And she’s… gone!” The host yelled, making the excited crowd erupt suddenly in wild cheering.

Before Hailey was ushered away from the podium, our eyes met and held. Blue eyes met Green ones.

For a minute, I could almost swear that I saw recognition flash in her eyes before it simply disappeared like it never happened.

I smirked as I watched her leave, wondering how I got to meet with the enemy’s daughter on my birthday. What came more as a surprise was the fact that she was my mate but I didn’t care.

It was time to exert my revenge, and to me, that was all that mattered.