Chapter 1

Emma pov 

"Alpha Lucas will see you now." The guard at the entrance to his room said.

My heart jumped in fear as I realised he was talking to us. The beta grabbed me by the arm and dragged me forward to the door. The guard, whose face was grim and steely, looked away as we approached him. I looked up at him with desperate eyes, but he didn't meet my eyes. He wasn't ready to help me. Nobody would. I was stuck in this, all by myself.

The beta opened the door and pulled me inside, and for a moment I forgot my troubles. The room he dragged me into was 

nothing short of grand. I couldn't see much: the lights had been turned off and only low lamps illuminated the room. But from the little my eyes could garner, I knew that I'd stepped into the room belonging to someone powerful.

The several windows that punctuated the walls had been closed and the curtains drawn, giving the room a more gloomy look. I could see a four-poster bed in the far right: its curtains had been drawn too. Plush chairs surrounded a low, round coffee table at the middle of the room. And in one of the chairs, sat the man we were coming to meet.

He shifted as we walked in. A glass of wine was in his hands, and he raised it to his lips, taking a sip. I couldn't see his face either, only the general shape, made darker by the shadows in the room. The beta bowed. "Good evening Alpha." He murmured, then pushed me forward. I stumbled and quickly found my feet.

"I brought the girl you requested." The beta continued. 

"One of the war spoils?" The alpha asked in a deep voice. I almost shuddered as his voice bounced around the small room. 

"Yes, alpha." The beta answered. Then the man on seat grunted impatiently and waved his beta away. The beta gave another hurried bow and scurried out of the room. 

I looked at him as he rushed out of the room and wished I could grab on to his clothes and whisk myself from there. He didn't spare more than a glance in my general direction, and before I could say any word, he was out of the room.

I squeezed my eyes shut in fear, hoping against hope that all of this was part of a bad dream. I was the only one in the room with the alpha now. What did he plan on doing to me? 

I slowly turned back to him and clasped my hands before me. My eyes were lowered; I wasn't sure I could stand the intense stare I knew would be directed at me. 

He let out another grunt and I heard him finish up his drink Then I heard the creak of leather as he stood up from the chair. I still didn't look up. I stood rooted to the spot in to fear as I heard footsteps coming towards me.

And then he stopped walking. Why did he stop, I wondered to myself. I slowly raised my head and saw him standing a few feet away from me. It was as though he wanted to stay as far away from me as physically possible, like I was vermin. I kept my gaze somewhere around his midriff. I still couldn't look into his eyes; I didn't even know what he looked like. 

"Take off your clothes." He commanded suddenly. The sudden and unexpected command made me raise my head in surprise, and my eyes met his across the room. His gaze was intense and cruel, and I quickly looked away.

"Take off my—?" 

"Did I ask you to speak?" He cut me off mid-sentence. "I asked you to take off your clothes, not to speak to me. Take off your clothes."

I shifted on my feet and wrung my hands together. I already had an idea what he was about to do, and I wasn't ready to do it.

"I am going to say this for the last time. Take off your clothes." He growled. I could feel the menace and anger in his tone. It made my skin crawl; affected me like fingernails on a chalkboard. 

I looked down at the dress I was putting on. It was a white tiny-sleeved ankle-length dress, specially made for a princess of my status. i couldn't believe I was going to come out of that dress for a man to do whatever to my body.

Slowly I pulled the tiny sleeves of the dress down, exposing only a bit of my chest and my shoulders. I didn't want to do this: I'd rather die than give myself easily to this man.

I'd angered him by my reluctance. I could almost hear his heavy breathing across the room, and before I knew what was going on, the alpha walked across the bedroom and stopped in front of me. Only a few inches separated us.

I could feel his heavy breath on my face. Even in the near-darkness of the room, I could see every inch of his body: every inch that begged me to reach out and run my fingers over. I slowly dragged my eyes from his body and looked up into his eyes, half-hoping to see a bit of humanity in them. But the light that shone from those dark eyes were purely hostile, and I knew that my night was doomed.

He pulled me even closer to himself by the arm and grabbed the front of my dress. Then he forcefully yanked at it, tearing the dress into shreds. I almost let out a sob as the pieces of my dress fell to the floor. I was bare in his presence, as naked as a newborn.

I couldn't speak or move: all I could do was stand before him as he scrutinized my body. I was about to get laid by a man I didn't know, and I knew there was no escaping from this.