Chapter 1

Selena's POV

"Father, please, I beg you it's me" I yelled at the top of my lungs with tears streaming down my eyes.

I ran from one part of the room to another as fast as my legs could carry.

"Selena, I do not want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice. If you do not come out right now, I swear I would not be so merciful" my father screamed.

I placed my hand against my mouth as I tried to hold back my tears. I was hiding out in the attic from my father.

He had come home drunk looking for the last cash I had to gamble away, but I needed it to apply for university.

Now he wanted it, and he was willing to beat me to death until I gave it to him.

My body was shaking with fear, my nose clogged, my heart plummeted. I was scared.

The air in the cramped attic felt thick with tension as I pressed myself against the dusty walls, trying to make myself invisible.

The dim light filtered through the small, dirty window, casting eerie shadows that danced around me.

"Lena, my darling, remember when I used to take you to school. Care for you. Daddy loves you, daddy just need some money okay."

I shook my head, biting my lips. If he takes my last means of escaping him for good, I would have to work another 5 years to get the money.

I can't let him do so. I held the envelope in my hand, praying to the Luna goddess that I survive this night.

The night air outside the attic window was cool as I pushed it open, cautiously peering into the inky darkness below.

My father's drunken ramblings echoed through the house, creating a dissonant melody of chaos. It was now or never.

Silently, I slipped through the window, careful not to make a sound. The old, creaking hinges betrayed me for a moment, but the cacophony from below masked the noise.

The shingles scratched beneath my fingertips as I lowered myself down, praying that fate was on my side.

Once my feet touched the ground, I darted into the shadows, the urgency of escape propelling me forward.

I had nowhere to go, I was an omega. And omegas are outcast within the pack.

Still, I needed to get away.

"Argh!!" I felt a firm grip on my hair, yanking me back into the attic.

"You thought you could escape, didn't you, you ungrateful wretch?" he spat, his words a venomous hiss.

Pain shot through my scalp as he dragged me by the hair, stumbling and disoriented, back towards the house.

His laughter cut through the darkness, a cruel symphony that drowned out my pleas for mercy. Each step felt like a descent into an abyss of despair, the weight of his disdain crushing my spirit.

In his room, he threw me to the floor with a brutal force that knocked the breath from my lungs. The dim light cast eerie shadows on his contorted face, twisted with rage and contempt.

"You're nothing, Selena. A worthless burden," he sneered, "Now give me the money before I kick it out of you."

Curled on the floor, I held my knees against my chest. Shaking my head.

"I can't escape," I whispered to myself, "I am stuck."

"What's that mad ramblings, huh? You disgusting whore!"

His bloodshot eyes fixated on the money within my hands and I instinctively pulled it closer, "Dad, I beg you," I stammered.

With a swift motion, he grabbed my hand, forcing my fingers to release their grip. The envelope slipped away, falling into his possession. "This will do nicely," he declared, his eyes scanning the bills with a calculating gaze.

"Dad, that's for my future," I whimpered, a futile protest as he counted the money, callously dismissing my dreams with a heartless chuckle.

"As a special gift, I'm giving you something in return," he declared, dropping a bag on the floor with a thud. Confusion etched my face as I stared at the mysterious offering.

"Open it," he commanded, a wicked gleam in his eyes. I hesitated, fear gnawing at my insides, but compliance seemed my only option.

Inside the bag lay a dress, "You better change into this within the next 20 minutes," he sneered.

He left me alone in the room, I sat there staring at the dress. I didn't know how to feel when I looked at it. My money as gone, my future shattered before my eyes.

I was alone once more. I choked on tears as I lifted the dress, walking sadly up the stairs to the attic.

As the attic's shadows embraced me, I unfolded the dress, the money, my ticket to freedom, slipped through my fingers, replaced by a garment that felt like chains.

Why was he giving me a dress, though? Was it my payment for forfeiting a life that I would once have?

What was I supposed to do with it?

The white dress unfolded in my hands like a ghostly apparition, its fabric delicate and pure.

Intricate lace adorned the bodice, cascading down in layers.

It was better to obey than to be beaten. Those were the things I have learned the hard way while living with my father.

I sat on the attic bed looking at my injured wrists, when I heard the door opened.

Being an omega, my senses were not as sharp, but I caught faint murmurs of voices beneath me—words like "welcome," "money" but I could not understand what they meant.

The door swung open, revealing my father's cruel gaze. "Behave," he spat, his grip on my arm tightening as he dragged me downstairs. The eyes that met mine in the dimly lit room were hungry, devoid of humanity.

Seated in a shadowy corner was a pot-bellied man, his leering eyes fixated on me as if sizing up a piece of property. My father's voice cut through the eerie silence.

"Virgin?" he asked. My father nodded.

A cold realization gripped my heart—my worst nightmare was unfolding before my eyes.

I was being sold. This was common here at crest haven, but who knew it would happen to me?

Fear and disbelief mingled as I stood there, frozen in the suffocating reality. The room seemed to spin, and I stumbled on my feet. It was happening too fast, this night felt like the night I had come home to see my mother's bloody head in my father's hand.

The pot-bellied man grinned, a sinister satisfaction in his gaze. "Is she obedient?" he inquired, his voice dripping with an unsettling excitement.

My father nodded callously,"Yes, very obedient."

"No! No, I am not obedient! I am your worst nightmare!" I screamed.

" Shut up!" My father's hand hit my face the moment he shouted at me, but that didn't break me.

"No! No, you can't do this!" I cried out, my voice breaking as I desperately clung to my father's hand.

I would rather be killed than sold to whoever would dehumanize my body. No, I cannot let that happen.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I could feel the panic welling up inside me. I didn't want to go. I couldn't bear the thought of being sold like property.

My pleas fell on deaf ears as a stern-faced man, one of my father's most trusted guards, forcibly pulled my hand away from my father's grasp.

I struggled against his grip, my heart pounding in my chest. "Please, Daddy, don't do this to me!" I sobbed, my voice quivering with fear and desperation. "Mother, think about mother, what would she say to you?"

But he didn't care, all that mattered to him was the cash he had just received.

With a heavy heart, I was dragged away, leaving behind everything I had ever known.