2. From Nothing to Slave

Before I could utter a single word, the stranger turned and gave a sharp nod.

“Take her.”

Rough hands dragged me forward. I twisted and struggled, but it was useless against their iron grips. “No—please! Let me go!”

I was completely ignored and dragged through the dark woods back toward my pack. I had run away from Kael only to fall into worse danger.

The army did not stop at the border. They attacked at once. Howls filled the night as wolves from my pack tried to fight back. I watched everything from my knees, hands tied with silver chains that burned my skin.

I saw Kael shift into his big wolf form and charge at the invaders. Jace fought beside him. But the tall man with dark eyes, Alpha Lucian, met Kael head on. Their fight was short and brutal. Lucian was stronger and faster. He brought Kael down quickly. Blood covering the ground.

I felt sick. People I knew were killed or captured. Lucian stood in the middle of the chaos and gave orders without emotion. “Burn the rest. Take the weak ones as slaves. Kill the strong.”

By morning, my old life was gone. Soldiers tied me with the other captives and put us in a wagon. From a corner of my eye, I spotted Zara in one of the wagons and scoffed secretly wishing she had been killed instead.

The journey to Lucian’s pack took two long days. I sat in silence, thinking about the slap from Kael, the necklace he gave to Zara, and the way my ex best friend had laughed. The mate bond still pulled at me weakly, but now it mixed with fresh pain from the attack.

We got to the park and the slaves were taken in a different direction from where I was taken. I sat there in horror and confusion until we reached a big stone fortress, guards took the me inside.

They pushed me into a small, dark room with no windows. The door locked behind me. I sat on the cold floor and cried quietly. My wolf whimpered inside me, confused and hurt. I had lost my pack, my home, and now my freedom.

For days, I stayed locked up. They gave me small bits of bread and water. My only source of recreation was guards talking outside.

From them, I got to know that their Alpha was called Lucian the Ruthless King. He had conquered many packs before. He showed no mercy, killed alphas and took their lands. I wondered why he kept me alive.

On the third night, two guards opened the door. They blindfolded me and led me through long halls. When they removed the blindfold, I stood in a large chamber with a heavy bed and a fire burning in the corner. Lucian waited there. He looked tall and powerful. Scars marked his chest and arms.

He looked at me with cold eyes. “You will not die tonight,” he said. “But you have a choice to make.”

My mouth felt dry but I waited for him to continue.

“You will come to this room every night for thirty days,” Lucian told me. “You will pleasure me fully each time. If I am satisfied every night, you live. If I am not happy on any night, you die. If you make it through all thirty days, I will set you free.”

I stared at him. Shock hit me hard. Thirty nights with this heartless king. I thought about refusing, I was still a virgin so how was I to fully please him?

I kept quiet knowing he would kill me right away if I refused. The guards left and locked the door. I was alone with him.

“Take off your clothes,” Lucian ordered.

My hands shook as I obeyed. I stood naked in front of him. Lucian pulled me to the bed. There was no kindness in his touch.

He didn’t wait. The second our bodies landed on the bed , he forced her my apart.

I barely gasped “I’ve never—” before he thrust in hard.

A sharp cry of pain tore from my throat as he stretched my inside for the first time. Then the pain melted into sudden, overwhelming pleasure, pulling a helpless moan from my lips.

“Fuck… so tight,” he growled, already driving into her with rough, demanding strokes.

I expected to feel only hate. I waited for disgust to fill me. This man had destroyed my pack. He had taken everything. But as he moved inside me, something unexpected happened. Heat spread through my body. My wolf, starved for touch because of Kael’s rejection, woke up with strong need. Pleasure built fast. I bit my lip to stay quiet, but a soft moan escaped anyway.

I hated myself for it. How could my body enjoy this? He gripped my hips harder and went deeper. My back arched. The feeling grew stronger. For the first time in my life, I felt wanted. The pleasure shocked me. I did not fight it. My body moved with his even when my mind screamed that it was wrong.

After his release, Lucian pulled away. He looked at me with a small, satisfied smile. “Your body knows what it wants,” he said. “Even if you hate me.”

I turned my face to the wall. Tears ran down my cheeks. I felt shame burn inside me. The man who had just conquered my pack had given me more pleasure in one night than Kael had in two years. It made me feel weak and broken.

The guards came and took me back to the small room. I lay on the floor and cried until I had no tears left. My wolf still hummed with satisfaction.

I wanted to hate the feeling, but part of me craved it again. That truth scared me more than Lucian’s threat of death.

The next day, two guards came and led me through a quieter wing of the stone fortress.

A tall woman in fine dark robes waited inside a modest chamber furnished with a narrow bed, a small window, and a wooden chest. “I am Elara,” she said, her voice calm and steady. “Claus’s younger sister. He asked me to speak with you now that your first night is done.”

I stood stiffly, my body still aching from the night before. I nodded but said nothing.

Elara gestured for me to sit on the edge of the bed. “You’ve survived last night. That’s more than some. My brother… he is not the same man he once was.”

My throat tightened. “What happened to him?”

Elara sighed, folding her hands in her lap. “He lost his mate three years ago. She was killed during a raid, betrayed by those he trusted. When she died, something in Claus shattered. And he became cold, ruthless king you know now.

He tests every woman who catches his interest with these thirty-day contracts and he demands obedience and submission.”

I swallowed hard, memories of his rough touches echoing in my mind.

Elara studied me for a moment. “Be strong and do as you’re told. Keep pleasing him, and he will release you when the thirty days are over.” She paused, then added quietly, “You are not the first she-wolf he has made this contract with.”

A sharp pang of hurt pierced my chest, and I immediately recognized that feeling. It was how I felt every time Kael brought a she wolf into our home.

The words struck like a slap. I had endured the shame, the unwanted pleasure that betrayed my body last night, the guilt that clawed at me when I had gasped beneath him only to learn I was merely another in a long line of women he had tested and used.

My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, a low whine rising, tangled with fresh ache and confusion.

Why?