LUCY.
I was on my way to the main kitchen from the main floor of the house when I heard Manuel’s voice looking for Stella as he entered the kitchen from the exit door, making me stop in my tracks.
I never liked Manuel. He was lazy as a pig but mated to a wonderful female. And I tried to avoid him as much as I could because we always clashed. And I was sure, if Stella was not around, I would have been kicked out of this orphanage a long time ago because of him.
"Lucy is ready for the Omega Feast. Make sure she has the proper clothing to attend the ceremony." Manuel blurted out as his footsteps sounded on the kitchen floor.
Stella was preparing dishes for the night’s dinner and I was supposed to come and help her. But instead, I hid in the walk-in cupboard so I could listen to more of their conversation.
"What? What did you do?" Stella asked, and I could only imagine the frown on her face.
"I listed her for the Omega Feast. They just checked her photo and she got accepted right away."
My eyes widened as my hands flew to my chest, clutching my shirt as if it was enough to stop my heart, but it was beating rapidly. I leaned my back against the cold wall, as I steadied my breathing. The spices and the mixing of too many scents would be enough for them not to smell me, but they would probably hear my heartbeat if I couldn’t control it.
The Omega Feast, where Omega females that had come of age, ranging from 18 to 19, were paraded to the public either for bidding or a duel, in case no one wanted to give up the bidding. And after that, the Omega will be owned by the winner and made a slave, mostly for pleasure.
I didn’t understand at the beginning why the need for an Omega Feast when males could just purchase a female they wanted for the night with the growing population of night and strip clubs everywhere, both for humans and shifters. Only when I heard some of Stella’s friends stating that Alphas and other billionaire shifters used this event to boost their egos, wanting to be the most powerful man in the North, which of course the organizer of the feast was taking advantage of.
"But she doesn’t have a wolf."
"But she’s eighteen already, right?"
"Yes, she is. But don’t those Alphas want an Omega with a wolf?"
"Well, she’s not the first Omega who will be chosen without a wolf in the feast, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem. They just need to be informed. And if no one wants her, I will throw her back here and she’s free to go next month. But they said, she’s beautiful like no other Omega at this year’s feast, so I'm sure she’ll be chosen."
"She’s a sweet girl..." Stella really liked me. I liked her too. She was the only adult in this place that treated me fairly.
"Sweet? She’s reckless and causing too much chaos here. It’s better if she goes somewhere where she’ll be useful and where we can earn from her. Besides, I’m sure one day she’s going to grow horns and boss around every other wolf here, so better throw her to someone who can tame her down."
I snickered quietly. Be careful what you wish for, asshole.
"I don’t know why you don’t like her. She protects the pups here, and if she throws a nasty attitude, it’s because she was protecting herself and them."
Check. Check.
"And I don’t know what she did to you that you liked her too much. I told you, never get attached to them. Did you forget that these young pups were just handed to us to be taken care of until they’ve come of age? Once they turn eighteen, then off they go on their own."
"But then, why don’t we just let her go like the others? Why do you need to list her to the Feast?"
Check again.
"Because we need money! Are you stupid? This feast happens once every two years! We’re lucky that we have an eighteen-year-old this year. We didn’t have any on for the last two feasts. "
"She knows she’ll be leaving this place next month." Stella sounded distressed while I kept hearing the knife clashing with the chopping board.
"Change of plans then, she’ll be leaving in a week."
Why did I forget that I was eighteen already according to the age I gave them when I arrived here two years ago? I guess I had too much fun, and now I was bound for doom.
With my back still resting on the walls, I let my hands ball into tight fists and closed my eyes, trying to stop my emotions from overpowering me. I was already on the brink of snatching my necklace off my neck, but I was able to restrain myself.
My name is Lucija (Lucia).
Or Lucy, the orphan omega to the shifters of this orphanage and the people around us.
But I had a secret that I was meant to keep as long as I could.
I was only half a werewolf, and the other half of me… was a demon. So the horns Manuel mentioned might grow on me, might actually pop out anytime soon if I can’t control myself.
Two years ago, on the very same day, I turned eighteen, I escaped from the underworld using the invisible cloak that I was able to obtain from a lovely witch that was residing in the netherworld and the necklace that I have never taken off from my neck since I stepped back into the human world.
The invisible cloak suppressed any demons from sensing my presence when I passed them, making it easier for me to reach the portals without anyone noticing me, especially the demon guards my father ordered to watch over me. But I could only use it in the underworld - the cloak loses its magic once it crosses other realms. So I left it somewhere near the portal that I used to transport to this realm.
While the necklace on my neck suppressed the power within me.
With my power suppressed, I would not be able to harm any living soul that belonged to the netherworld. And without my power, my father, the Prince of Darkness, would not be able to track me down in the human realm.
The Demon Royals might be the Gods of the Underworld, but we did follow the pacts and rules of other realms. We couldn’t just take living humans or anyone we wanted and takes them to our world unless they sold their souls to the demons or volunteered to visit the underworld.
And once they are there, they will be ours, body and soul.
Yes, my name is Lucija, Demon Princess of Chaos.
My father had spawned hundreds of demons, spanning over centuries, but they were all males. I was his first and only daughter. And it didn’t matter to him that I had werewolf blood running into my veins, which was the very reason I ran away the moment I turned eighteen and would be able to use the portal alone.
My father wanted to cleanse my blood and remove any trace of werewolf blood in me through rituals, offerings, and natural insemination of demons’ seminal fluids — in short, sexual orgies.
Although rituals and sexual orgies are a common sight in the underworld, I was not in for it. I didn’t want the blood that was my only link to my deceased mother gone. Besides, my body is mine. I would do as I pleased, and my father couldn’t tell me what to do with it.
And neither would these shifters. That was why I needed to get going and get out of this place before I could be thrown into a deeper hole.
I quietly exited the room and hurriedly made my way to my assigned bedroom. As soon as I was inside, I went into action and tossed my few belongings, including my life savings, in the backpack that I was able to get from hand-me-downs. The bag wasn’t big enough, but it would be enough for my necessities for a few days.
The cold weather had done nothing to me. My body temperature was built for all weather, so if I had nowhere to go, I could just find any cave where I could camp for the rest of the night before I could continue with my journey tomorrow.
But I had no idea where to go after that. I had chosen the North for the very reason that this place had no rules, no people governing the shifters running around. As an Omega, at least that’s what I pretended to be - I didn’t need a pack to adopt me. It was enough that I lived in an orphanage that sheltered minors until they came of age.
It was the reason I told them I was only sixteen when I came here two years ago. And without a wolf and no record of me everywhere, no one doubted my age. I was supposed to graduate from the orphanage next month. And I was already thinking of living as a human. But maybe a month earlier wouldn’t be that bad.
I just had to make sure I could get away from here as far as I could, at least until the feast, so no one would come looking for me anymore.
The door to my small bedroom opened, and my body jolted as I tried to cover my backpack under my blanket. But it was still not enough. My small dresser was open, and my clothes were scattered from the floor to my bed, like all the other things in my room, like someone had ransacked it and was searching for something.
"What are you doing?"
LUCY. "What are you doing?" Manuel’s eyes squinted as his gaze fell everywhere in my small, messy room while Stella was holding his arms to stop him from stepping inside. "I’m looking for some of my money. But I found it already. I just misplaced it." I answered nonchalantly as I began picking up my clothes from the floor and began folding them. "Stop with your lies. Were you in the kitchen earlier?" "What kind of question is that? Of course. I’ve been everywhere in this house. What’s going on?" I turned around and placed my hands on my hips as I tapped my foot on the wooden floor, my eyes shifting back and forth between them as if I was impatient to hear their replies. "Nothing, dear. I need help with dinner. Can you come down and give this old lady a hand before the pups come and attack me from hunger?" Stella spoke sweetly, but I saw worry and concern in her eyes. Something was about to happen. "Sure. I’ll just pick all these up and throw them on my bed, then I’ll go down. Ju
***FLASHBACK.***Underworld.Lucy - 13 years old. LUCY. My hands were too red and itchy now. I’d been doing target shooting using fire for the last hour and I was getting tired of it. I blew up the whole line of target range before I walked out of the pit where I was practicing. I reminded my mentor, Gargon, not to say a word to my father, or I would blow up his face next time. No. I was not scared of anyone. Despite my stubbornness, I was my father’s favorite. He doted on me and no one was allowed to touch me. But I didn’t say I didn’t get punished - I did. But only he was allowed to punish me. I jumped over the hurdles of fire before I was able to reach the fields that smelled like burned coals and grounds. Demons take pleasure in smelling anything that burns, especially flesh being burned, and although I didn’t fancy it, I was getting used to it by now. Another boring day. I wondered when my father would take me to see other creatures again. My father’s capacity to travel in
LUCY. "Wear that." A female gave me a paper bag and my eyes darted to it for a while before they went around the room. I was sharing a small room with nine other Omegas, and they were also handed paper bags. The others were excited as they chattered and compared the clothes they got — skimpy ones. I closed my eyes as I steadied my breathing. Why did I not run away in the last five days? Why did I think it would be easier to escape when a pack already owned me? Among the nine females I was sharing a room with, only one shared the same sentiment as me. We didn’t want to be part of this feast. The others were too excited. They said they had nothing to lose, so it was better to lose everything to an Alpha or a rich man. I wondered what they thought about mates because they never seemed to care about it. Whereas I would do everything just to be given a chance to find mine. "What are you two waiting for?" The older female named Cora, who gave the paper bag to me, shifted her glaring e
LUCY. My eyes locked with the darkest blue eyes I had ever seen in my whole life and I felt my whole world stop spinning. His eyes were mesmerizing, and despite the frown on his face, he looked like a god, frowning at me, making my core throb all at once at the fierceness on his face. "Move…" A female hissed behind me, pushing me forward, and I just realized I had stopped dancing. I jolted out of my reverie, my eyes darting around the stage at the other females, trying to figure out where we were in the dance. My heart was thudding loudly. I had never, in the life of me, lost focus, even in a time of danger, but seeing this man, in a split second, all my senses went out the window. My cheeks burned, not out of embarrassment but because I didn’t like the way that the attention was all on me now since I was just standing, not knowing what part we were dancing to. Until another Omega danced her way through me and took my hand, swaying it with her before she twirled me around, whisper
LUCIA. Dark Blue Eyes was approaching, but his eyes were on Mr. Asshole, a smug smirk plastered on his face. 1,100,000 Another flashed on the screen and the asshole cursed and brushed his hand over his hair before he started pressing his tablet again. All the while, all my hopes of being bought by Dark Blue Eyes flew out of the window. He had no tablet with him. He was not bidding. He might be the organizer. Or… Goddess, he might be Olivia’s mate. My heart clenched and I had no idea why I was hurting. My eyes watered as I dropped my gaze down, but I saw the screen move. Mr. Asshole bid over again. 1,300,000 "Getting frustrated, Ethan?" The deep baritone voice sent shivers down my spine, but this time, it was a shiver of pleasure. Even without looking, I knew it came from him. "Me, frustrated? Watch and learn, Stone." A cocky grin flashed across Mr. Asshole’s face. Stone. What kind of name was that? 1,500,000 The screen flashed, but I was wondering if Ethan - Mr. Asshole, sa
LUCY."I just want to know if you’re worth the fucking 1.5 million and worth putting my life on the line!" He growled at me.Instead of being terrified, something in me snapped. My eyes squinted and before I could stop myself, I was already yelling back at him. "But who the hell told you to accept the duel? We could have just walked away!"My anger surprised him, but I had no idea if it left him speechless or furious, because his face turned stoic as he stared at me.My hands clamped over my mouth before I was able to gather myself and apologize. "I’m sorry, Sir…""Alpha." His tone was too cold."I’m sorry, Alpha."He bought me on impulse, and now that he was given a chance to back out, he wanted to know if I was worth the 1.5 million. I needed to do something. I think I could tolerate his anger versus that perverted man out there.He was still not saying anything and was just looking at me. And I knew I should be acting terrified, but I was not acting this time. My hands were really
LUCY. "Don’t stop…" He said in a painful voice. I was confused until I realized he wanted me to grind on him, and so I did again. My hands tightened their hold on his forearms as I kept gyrating harder, my breasts bouncing with every movement, my lips parting as soft moans escaped my throat. If he kept me from doing this, I would come, and I didn’t think my already wet thongs would be able to hold my juices. "Do you want this cock inside you?" I nodded my head as I met his eyes. "Do you think you’re worth it?" I wanted to tell him I was sure I could satisfy him in bed, but I knew I shouldn’t. Instead, I stopped grinding on him as I swallowed hard before I opened my mouth to speak. "Alpha, don’t give me to him. I promise I will be a perfect Omega." He laughed heartily, and it made my heart flutter with the way his eyes were smiling. It was a rare and beautiful sight. This was too far from the face he was showing me the whole night. "A perfect Omega? Didn’t you just shout at m
LUCY. My hold on the Alpha’s jacket tightened as we entered the indoor arena. The place was deserted except for us and five more people. Alpha Stone and Ethan, who Beta Collin told me was also an Alpha, were standing in the middle with a man between them. "What are they doing?" I asked in a soft voice. "Discussing an agreement." Beta Collin replied as he crossed his arms against his chest. "What kind of agreement, like rules?" "I think they set no rules. Human or wolf form is okay. They are discussing now if the duel is a fight to the death…" "Until death?" I gasped, cutting his words. He chuckled before he continued. "Until death or submission." "And what have they decided? If they will fight to the death, then they’re both stupid! And I will walk out of here, run away, and they will never see me again. They’re wasting their lives for nonsense. Who even duels for a female these days?" "Hmmm… Alpha Stone and Alpha Ethan…" He answered, and I knew he was mocking me. I rolle