Prologue

It’s weird.

I feel nauseous. I have eaten nothing for the past week, so maybe that’s why. But this was no ordinary pang of hunger I was feeling. It’s as if… someone drugged me.

“Argh,” I grumbled as I struggled to open my eyes.

I must’ve passed out a while ago since the last thing I remember was being dragged from the dingy storage room that I call home. I tried to move and my wrists throbbed in pain as the rough rope tightly tied around them chafed my skin.

Judging from the way everything shook and the revving of an engine beneath me, I was most likely in a moving vehicle. It was difficult to sit up because of the bumpy road and the way my hands were secured behind my back, but after mustering barely enough strength to push myself from the hot metal floor, I managed to do so.

My throat was scratchy and dry. Parched, I wanted to scream to demand a cup of water, but my voice wouldn’t work, and I only ended up producing soft whimpers.

Suddenly, the truck halted. I heard the driver’s door open, which was then followed by my owner’s heavy footsteps against the ground. Not long after, the doors opened, letting the harsh sunlight stream into the compartment. I squinted my eyes instinctively and tilted my head away from the light.

“Come on,” I heard him command impatiently. I could almost feel the painful whips on my thighs and back from the times when I was desperate enough to be disobedient, so I attempted to stand up.

With the little strength that I have, I wasn’t surprised that I fell face-first instead. My chest, nose, and forehead stung, and I groaned in pain. The hot metal burned my exposed skin.

“What a pain,” my owner complained, followed by a string of unintelligent words mumbled under his breath. After climbing into the compartment, he wasted no time and dragged me violently out of the vehicle by the collar of my tattered dress. I was thrown onto the asphalt with a painful thud.

“Ah!” I screamed. My bones were on fire, but thankfully, I didn’t seem to have fractured one anywhere. My breaths shallowed, and I shut my eyes tightly as my body ached.

The doors of the back of the truck were then closed and locked, the metal loudly slamming against each other.

“Is this the one?”

The low, unfamiliar voice made me curious, so I slowly opened my eyes once more. I still haven’t gotten used to the sunlight yet, so the back of my eyeballs pulsated, and my vision blurred. Everything was out of focus, but I knew I was on a residential street with colorful houses of different sizes adorning either side of the road.

“Yes, sir,” my owner replied.

I rolled a bit to my side to look up at the other person. Through the haziness, I spotted a pair of bright golden eyes staring down at me coldly—a werewolf’s. There was no mistaking it.

The situation suddenly made sense: I was being sold.

Being a slave until death was no better, but at least I would get hot meals every day from then on instead of a block of cold tofu once a week. It was fortunate that a few werewolves cared enough about us puny humans that a law that required such existed.

“Here,” the werewolf said, handing the other a thin wad of green cash. It was degrading that my life and service were only worth so little.

I closed my eyes to rest. Moments later, I heard the truck drive away, and when it was out of earshot, I felt the man step closer towards where I lay on the pavement.

“You,” he called out in a stern voice, scaring me into looking up at him. His unwavering golden orbs stared at me in a way that sent chills down my spine. He then knelt down, and my stomach immediately lurched, tempting me to vomit.

I forced myself to take shallower and fewer breaths despite the raging pain all over my body as his dominant pheromones invaded my system. My heart pumped loudly and my lungs burned due to the lack of oxygen. I buried my face into the asphalt. It wasn’t enough to block off the smell, but it did get my nose a little further away from him.

The man took notice of my discomfort upon sensing his pheromones, and his frown deepened. With a finger on my chin, he tilted my head up to force me to gaze into his eyes.

“From now on, you will be serving me—Dylan Hayes.”