Prologue: Sold To The Alpha

— Leia Steele —

“Get up, you pathetic child!” The shout came from my father, but I kept my eyes shut hoping that if I didn't wake up, he would leave me alone. 

But that would be too easy, and easy was never the case in my life ever since I lost my mother. 

“Don’t pretend you can’t hear me, you stupid girl!” He shouted once more before kicking me hard at the side of my body, hitting my rib. 

I yelped in pain as I crouched down and held that side, but he didn’t stop. Even when he knew that I was already awake, he still kicked me a few more times until he was ‘satisfied’. 

I remained frozen still, covering my body as much as I could, though useless. 

“Get dressed. We’re going out.” He ordered me before finally leaving me in the dark again. 

Back then I used to cry for hours. I used to beg for him to stop, to have mercy on me, but that was then. It was three months of continuous abuse until the tears no longer came, until I realized that he would never stop, and I had come to accept my situation.

I got up from my bed, which was really just a thin blanket on the cold floor as I was thrown to the dirty basement ever since my father could not bear seeing me. 

Grabbing a wet towel, I wiped my face and body clean as much as I could, and when I was done, I put on a torn white shirt and the only jeans I owned that still fit me. I haven’t had new clothes for over a year now and I had to make do with whatever I had.

When I walked up from the basement to the living room, my father was on the phone with somebody. 

“Yes, I’ll be there in about an hour with her. Are you sure your Alpha isn’t backing out on this? I need this deal to go through.” He said, seriousness in his voice. 

He nodded his head as he listened to whoever was on the phone talk. I wish I could hear what he was saying to understand what my father meant. 

What did he mean by his words? What deal and why do I need to be there?

Something in my gut told me that this wasn’t going to end well for me, and a part of me kept saying I should listen to it, but I was foolish enough to think that my father would not let any harm come to me… even if he had been cruel to me for many months. 

“Wh-where are we going?” I managed to ask him while we were in the car and we were passing through areas I had never before seen in my life. 

“Just shut up and wait until we get there,” he snarled at me.

I kept my mouth tight shut after that, only praying to the Goddess that wherever it was, it would not be as bad as the place I used to call home.

But the further we went, the darker and more daunting everything around us looked. I was scared as to where he was really taking me.

When the car stopped, a big man came to my side of the door and unlocked it. I stared at him wide-eyed and terrified. 

“Wh-who are you?” I asked, shaking and my heart thumping loud and fast in my chest.

He only gave me a glare that sent shivers down my spine before grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the car.

“No! What are you doing?! Let me go!” I protested, trying to get away from his hold, but the harder I fought, the tighter his grip became, rendering my actions useless. 

He dragged me further into the dark woods, my dirty shoes getting even worse as I tried to use it to stop me from moving, the wet ground taking in every filth. 

“Finally, you’ve arrived.” Another man spoke and when my head turned to the voice, I felt every part of me shake in even more panic. 

Two men stood with their heads held high and their arms crossed in front of their chests. They were somewhat identical, save for the expressions on their faces. 

The one on the left had sharper features and looked at me without emotion, scanning me up and down like I was nothing but an inanimate object. 

The one on the right looked at me with a bone-chilling grin as if he was pleased by what he was looking at; a good thing for him, bad for me.

My father appeared next to them and they passed him what looked like money in an envelope. 

Oh my god. 

Has my own father sold me?!

“Counting, really? Your money is all there or do you not trust us, assassin?” The man with the bone-chilling grin spoke, his voice deep and his stance towering over my father as he was much taller.

What the hell did he mean by ‘assassin’ though? Has my father been a spy this whole time? Is that how he knows whoever these men were?

My father shook his head and waved his free hand at them. “Nonsense. Of course I trust you and the Shadow Claws, Beta Calypso.” He chuckled rather nervously, and I could see he was also not comfortable around them. 

Shadow Claws, he said. Even their Pack name sounded vicious. I never knew other Packs, only ever having stayed in mine and ever since, I didn’t make any friends. My mother was my only friend… until that happened.

The man who was apparently the Beta gave him a bored look. “Whatever, it’s not like it’s much, anyway. You really must hate your daughter to go all this way for that amount.”

I saw my father’s jaw hardened. “Daughter,” he scoffed, like saying that word disgusted him. “Sure.” 

“Father… what… what are you doing…” I managed to croak out, the tears that I thought I no longer had were once again spilling out of me, streaming down my face and I could not stop it.

His head snapped towards me, a mix of anger and repugnance covered every inch of his face, and I no longer saw the man I could call my father, but then again, ever since I could remember, he never loved me the way my mother did. 

Maybe it was because he had always wanted a son, or maybe because he knew that there was something wrong with me, and while my mother loved me unconditionally, he barely tolerated me.

“Don’t call me your father. You do not deserve to be my child. Because of you, I lost the one person I loved the most. Beth may have loved you, but I cannot stand you any longer.” His words are venomous, like a sword stabbing my heart over and over. 

He didn’t believe me when I told him it was an accident, but who would have if they saw me drenched in my mother’s blood, staring wide-eyed at whatever was left of her? 

My father turned his head back towards the two men and waved his envelope with a gleeful smile. “Good doing business with you, Beta Calypso and Gamma Cane. I am sure that this pathetic wolf will be of much more use to you.” 

“Oh she will be,” the Beta said as he turned back to face me, the look on his face made my body tremble in fear.

“Won’t she, Cane?” He turned to his brother and the Gamma named Cane shifted his head to face me. 

I thought I was almost going to pass out from how fast my heart was beating, especially when the Gamma started walking towards me, his dark black eyes pierced into my soul like he was trying to peer inside of me.

An eerie grin then curved up his lips, and his once expressionless face now looked at me with a promise of something terrifying.

At that exact moment, I had never felt as much fear as I had in my life. 

But at the same time, there was also hatred in me. I hated my father for giving me up so easily. I hated this Pack for just easily buying women, like they were items for sale. 

But most of all, I hated myself because whatever I was, whatever my wolf is, it killed my mother and that is a guilt I will never be able to move past from and it will eat me from the inside until there is nothing left. 

My breath hitched as the Gamma reached me and his hand came up to my face, grabbing me by my chin and tilting my head side to side as if checking my features. 

His grin widened, sending shivers down my whole body.

“Our Alpha will certainly be happy with this new addition to his broken wolves. I hope you’re ready, Leia Steele, because he will not have mercy on you.”

Chills took over my body. 

I will never be ready for what awaits me in their Pack. 

But I do know that I do not have a choice. This is my fate now. 

The last thing I saw before someone covered my eyes was the heartless smirk on my father’s face. 

A thought flashed in my mind; I wish it was him that I had just killed on that horrifying day instead of my mother. 

And then there was darkness.