Chapter 3: Sold to the Alpha

After finding her clothes, Lacey rushed back to the Alpha's mansion. She had no idea who the other guy was, but he was obviously the Alpha of another Pack. Maybe the rogue Wildclaw Pack, for all she knew.

Although she was not happy about going home, knowing her stepfather would be there, she had to get home before that sadistic shifter caught up with her. She wasn't into dominance and submission, and she sure as h*ll wasn't going to submit to an Alpha from another Pack.

She walked in the door and maids waited with silk robes in hand for the shifters who hadn't taken clothes with them. In a Pack, nudity was no big deal... especially in a pack as big as her stepfather's, but it wasn't allowed in the mansion.

Stepfather.

Thanks to an extramarital affair of her mother, the Chief wasn't really her father... but he was the only father she knew. She just wished he felt that way. Even though the public saw her as Princess Taregan, the daughter of an Alpha, she was never treated as such. Or at least her father nor her siblings treated her that way. Her mother, on the other hand, had tried to shield her from her father's wrath, but couldn't always.

"Robe?" Cheryl, one of the maids, asked as she nervously handed Lacey a robe.

"No, thank you." Lacey waved her hand dismissively, wanting to hurry up the stairs, strip off her cutoffs and crop top, and take a shower. The sooner she could put this day behind her, the better.

But Cheryl stopped her, her eyes wide. "I suggest you... put it on." She shoved the red robe in her hand and then nodded across room. And there, on the other side of the Great Room speaking to her father, was the crazed Alpha, looking sexy in a black, silk robe.

"Fine." Lacey grabbed the robe out of Cheryl's hand, and slipped it on. Her stepfather expected a level of civility and decorum in the house. Hence, the robes. But at the moment, she didn't care.

Lacey tied the robe off, flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder, and marched across the room, stopping in front of the Alpha. "What the h*ll are you doing here?"

"Lacey!" Thorn Taregan, her stepfather, ordered, using his Alpha timbre voice that underlings had to obey... including his daughter. But she never was. Lord knows he never treated her like one.

"If you knew how he just treated me in the forest—"

"You mean, how I saved you from the Wildclaws?" the cocky Alpha asked.

Lacey rolled her eyes. "Papa—"

"Papa? Really?" Thorn raised an eyebrow. Then he plastered a fake smile on his face. "Lacey, honey...." He slid an arm around her shoulder as he looked at the wild Alpha and then back to her. "I just sold you to him."

Lacey scoffed. "You what? I'm your Warrior Trainer... I mean—"

"Which did you a lot of good today," the wild Alpha cut her off.

"Hey! I had it under control until you came along!" Lacey lied, folding her arms across her chest, raising an eyebrow.

The young Alpha gave her a cocky grin. "Because you didn't know who was boss yet."

"Maybe someone else needs to learn who's boss—"

"Lacey!" Thorn cut her off. "I've lost a lot of good men to the Wildclaws and I will not lose any more! Wyatt has agreed to take over your position as Warrior Trainer." Everyone in the room stopped and stared, but Thorn seemed not to notice. "I am your father and your Alpha, and you will obey my commands! Now. I have sold you to him to be the Alpha's Mate. You are an Alpha Princess after all—"

"Since when?" Lacey asked. "You've never wanted to be my father before! Why now?"

"As an Alpha Princess...." Thorn applied timbre to his voice, trying to force her to obey. "This is a good match. You will be the Alpha Queen of his pack one day and your children will be royalty. Isn't that all you ever wanted, after all? Isn't that why you stayed all these years?"

Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over. But she refused to cry before her father or this young Alpha. "I stayed all these years because I am your daughter and a part of this pack... whether you wanted to accept me or not."

"By the way, my name's Julien Grey, Alpha of The Harvest Moon Pack." He held out his hand as he gave her a cocky grin, ignoring their argument. She scoffed. But when she reluctantly gave him her hand to shake, he pulled her to his sculpted chest abruptly and whispered in her ear. "You may not obey your father, but you will obey me. I can promise you that." Then he released her, still wearing his cocky grin as if nothing had just transpired.

Her father shook Julien's hand, appearing not to have just heard Julien's threat. "I'm so sorry for her outburst. It's in her blood."

Lacey glared at her father and then said to Julien, still looking at her father. "Fine. I'll go get my things."

"Lacey, darling...." Her father leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "change into something nice. We are to have the Pledging Ceremony tonight before you leave." Then he pulled back, smiling. "After all, I will not let my daughter leave to join another pack without first being pledged."

Lacey was just glad that the wedding and Mating Ceremony wasn't tonight. But she knew that Julien wanted to make sure that she would be a suitable mate before he fully committed.

Lacey glared at the only man she had ever known to be her father, unable to believe that he had just sold her. At that moment, she knew he must have hated her more than she thought. "As you wish, Alpha."

But when she turned to walk away, a young woman with bright red hair standing to the side glared at Lacey as she walked past. Lacey had no idea who she was, but she was sure she was going to find out. But if the redhead thought Lacey would ever bow down to her, she had another thing coming.