Louisa's POV
The Red Box is used to refer to a secluded lounge on the second floor of the auction hall. It's like the box in a theatre, overlooking the whole auction hall. I stood at the edge of the box, holding the handles and leaning forward. I felt that I was like a little bird, flying across the entire venue. Alpha Lucas approached me from behind, holding a glass of bubbling champagne in his hand. He looked like a star walking right off the stage. But no performer had his dignified bearing, which didn't seem like something that people were born with. It must have taken years of a stress-free life to make someone behave in a certain sophisticated and confident way. "What are you looking at?" He looked down at me and stroked his face. "Was there something on my face?" "No. It's just... You look like a king..." I mumbled. He looked at me in surprise, paused for a brief moment, and said, "How do you know? Have you met LLouisa's POV "Are you taking his side, Louisa?" Will narrowed his eyes and said. "You don't know what kind of mistake you're making! Werewolves hate vampires! You're no longer one of them! They treat you like freaks, just like the way they treat Darren..." "Enough!" I raised my voice. I was so furious at the arrogance in Will's voice. "I'm not a freak! And if what you've just said is your real thoughts, I don't want to be your friend anymore." I picked him up, put him on my side, and stood up. I felt so angry that I didn't even know what exactly was bothering me. The effect of alcohol was still there and my mind was like a ball of twisted wires entangling one another. Whenever I wanted to think, I started to get a headache. After pacing back and forth for a few rounds, I heard Will's voice - "Louisa..." "Shut up!" I turned back and roared at him. "It's you! It's all because of you! You stabbed me and you changed me into a freak without my
Louisa's POV I cried myself a river in his arms. He lifted me, carried me back to the box, and placed me gently on the sofa. I leaned against his chest and wept silently. We stayed like that for a while without saying anything. I could hear the auction had already taken place with the auctioneer introducing some antiques and announcing the bidding price repeatedly. "I don't know why I've said those mean things to Will. All he wanted to do was to help me." I whispered. "I used to be regarded as a freak and retarded in my father's tribe. People didn't want to talk to me, because I was either too weak or too slow, too stinky or too skinny. Nobody would pay attention to me other than my old nanny and Uma the Shaman doctor." Talking about Uma, my heart started to throb again. "I don't want to be treated like a freak. But the way people look at me..." I covered my face and couldn't continue my speech. Alpha Zackery removed my hands from my
Louisa's POV "You don't have to pay me back. Money means nothing to me." He took another sip of champagne and said, "But I'm going to charge you for the interest rate. So you have to be the model of my art project for the rest of your life and you won't get paid." I bit my lips and didn't know what he was going to do with me in his so-called art project. But at the same time, I knew I had to take his offer, otherwise, I would never be able to get the money to save Darren. "OK," I said in a low voice. "Don't answer too quickly, because there's another string attached." Alpha Zackery smirked. "Once you've purchased him, you have to set him free. You can't keep him as a pet. He's even more lethal than a python. I won't allow you to hang out with someone like him. It's definitely out of question." I bit my lips again. I knew he wouldn't take no for an answer, so it was really an offer that I couldn't refuse. I didn't think twice and said, "OK. I promise that I'll set him
Louisa's POV "Is that a..." "Amazing, right? You just can't take your eyes off it." I looked at the image in the catalog. It was a headless statue made of precious moonstone. Decades ago, Alpha Shay from the Aberrant Canines sent seven maidens to blast the entire Kanz Mountain into an ocean of fire. From that one, the moonstone mines were sealed permanently, which was why moonstones were really scarce and precious. "But it's broken. Where's the head?" I asked. "It's lying in my treasury," Alpha Zackery smiled. "Such a beautiful sculpture. Look at the curvy wrinkles on its dress. Can you believe that it's made of the hardest stone in the world? You know, when the moonstone is unearthed, the chemicals on its surface get in contact with oxygen in the air and immediately lose its dazzling color. That's why unprocessed moonstones look a bit tarnished. But after processing by skillful craftsmen, the tarnished coat is gone and the inside chemicals of the stone are exposed to
Louisa's POV "Please don't..." I said in a whisper. "You don't need to say anything anymore." Alpha Zackery looked at me in surprise. "I've already known it isn't love that bonds us together," Feeling numb, I continued in a low voice. "He's incapable of love. The only reason I'm alive now is that I'm still useful to him. For someone like me, love is only an illusion. But even if it was an illusion, I would want it to be gone. That's how pathetic I am, dreaming of something that everyone takes for granted. Warmth, a meal, a gentle stroke of hair, kindness in a stranger's eyes..." I paused, trying to hold back the tears in my eyes. "You don't need to remind me that my life is a joke. If you want to humiliate me, you've done it. If you want to rape me, do it. But if you want me to leave Lucas, it's impossible. My father's in his hands. The moment I leave Lucas, he will peel off my father's skin and watch him die." "Why do you want to save you
Louisa's POV When I woke up again, I was lying on the ground, facing up a leaking roof over my head. It must be raining outside because I could hear the rumbling of thunder from a distance and there was water dripping down from the leak on my face. I tried to move my arms and legs, but I couldn't feel them. The drops of water kept falling on my face, so I had to turn my head away to take a breath. I tried to roll away from the spot, but my back must have been dislocated. I couldn't move at all. There must be some internal hemorrhage in my abdomen, which exacerbated whenever I tried to move. I couldn't remember what happened to me. There was a void in my brain. I made another painful attempt and eventually rolled away from the spot. Lying on the ground, I could see a dim light coming out of the barred door. Am I... locked up in a dungeon or something? I thought to myself. There was some buzzing soun
Louisa's POV I tried to calm down, but I felt that my whole world was collapsing in front of me. "Please... Help..." I whispered. I couldn't recognize my voice. The abrasion in my throat was excruciating. "I can't help you. You have to heal yourself." Lucian shook his head and said. "Help... Darren..." I gathered my strength and said. Lucian stroked my hair gently and said, "Louisa, you have to cheer up, so you can help him yourself." "No..." I shook my head and whispered. "I don't want... I can't live like this... anymore..." Lucian said, "Don't say things like that. You can't give up." I said in a trembling voice, "Lucian... He will... beat me to death... I can't... continue..." Lucian looked into my eyes and said, "He needs you to be alive. I need you to be alive. I don't care how painful you feel. You have to keep on going. You're not allowed to die. Focus on healing yourself, Louisa." "No," I said bri
Louisa's POV After Lucian was gone, there were only two of us left in an empty cell. The blood stains were drying up on the ground, while silence seemed to come drifting down like flakes of snow. Darren curled up in the corner of the cell while holding his knees. I knew he didn't want to talk to me, but I just couldn't sit there and watch his wounds bleeding like that. I took up my baggage from the ground and sat next to him. Pain gripped my chest. He was so badly hurt that there wasn't even one single inch of intact skin on his body. "Darren, please let me at least stop the bleeding for you..." I softened my voice and attempted to reach him. "Please don't touch me." He said while moving his arm away from me. I knew he was begging me to leave him alone. But the indifference in his voice was like a surgical knife, scratching my skull. Tears kept falling out of my eyes and melted in my tender voice, "Darren,