The Selection

The wagon smelled of wet straw and old blood. Every time the wheels hit a hole in the road, my back slammed against the wooden floor.

I lay curled up in a corner, trying to keep warm. My torn clothes did little against the cold air that slipped through the gaps in the walls.

The iron collar around my neck kept buzzing.

Each time I reached for my wolf, it sent a freezing shock through my body. The pain forced me to stop. All I wanted was to feel her, even a little, but there was nothing there. After the third try, I gave up.

The silence inside me was the worst part. Only a few hours ago, I had been standing in front of a mirror, smiling. Now I could still hear the laughter from the hall, and I could still see my father turning his back.

Why had my father done this to me?

I knew our family had money problems. I had heard my parents arguing about gambling debts and failed business deals. Sometimes I skipped meals so the food would last longer. But I never thought my father would sell me to pay for his mistakes.

I had worked for my family for nineteen years. I washed the clothes, cooked the meals, and cleaned the house. I never complained, because I thought that was how I earned my place. Yet my father had watched strangers drag me away, and his face had shown nothing.

He had never treated my brother, Jace, that way. Jace always got the best food, and my mother worried whenever he got hurt. When I was hungry, nobody cared.

I had always believed that if I worked harder, my family would love me.

I was wrong. To my father, I was only a way to pay his debt.

Tears slid down my face, but I wiped them away. Nobody was coming to help me, and crying would not change that.

The wagon suddenly stopped, and I held my breath. I had no idea where they had brought me.

A loud horn sounded outside, followed by the clank of heavy chains.

"Get out, wolf!" someone shouted.

The door opened, and torchlight flooded the wagon. A guard grabbed my collar and pulled me out. I fell onto the stone road and scraped my hands.

Above me, a huge black castle blocked out the stars.

I pulled my torn clothes over my chest and tried to stand. The guard looked me up and down.

"Look at this mess. The Kings won't want to see you looking like roadkill. Clean her up."

Two guards dragged me into a small stone room with a drain in the floor. Before I could ask what they were doing, one of them poured a bucket of cold water over my head.

I gasped as it soaked my hair and clothes. They pulled away what was left of my dress and threw it aside. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to cover myself.

One of them laughed.

I lowered my head and said nothing. My face burned. Once again, strangers were staring at my body and laughing, just like the pack had done. After everything that had happened tonight, I had no strength left to fight them.

A bundle of gray cloth landed in my arms.

"Put that on."

The tunic was rough and too small. It stretched tight across my chest and hips, and the hem barely reached my thighs. I kept tugging it down, but it kept riding up.

At least I was no longer half naked in front of them.

The guards led me into a large hall with black marble floors. Other prisoners already stood in a line. Some were shifters in iron collars. Others were humans whose families had sold them to pay their debts.

A young boy stood nearby, crying quietly. He looked no older than ten. Nobody tried to comfort him, and everyone kept their eyes on the floor.

I wanted to tell him everything would be fine, but I couldn't promise something I didn't believe myself.

I took the last place in the line. The stone floor was freezing under my bare feet, and the wet tunic clung to my skin.

A guard walked in front of us, dragging his whip across the floor.

"Listen carefully," he said. "Tonight is the Selection. The Six Vampire Kings will choose one slave to serve them in their inner sanctuary as their Main Personal Slave."

He stopped and looked at us.

"The rest of you will be sent to the mines. Nobody comes back from there."

The woman beside me began whispering a prayer. My hands started to shake. I pressed them against my legs, but I couldn't make them stop.

If I was chosen, I would serve six dangerous kings. If I was not, I would go to the mines and die. I didn't know which was worse.

Suddenly, the doors at the end of the hall swung open.

Six men walked in, and the whole room went silent. Nobody dared to breathe.

They wore long black coats with silver designs along the collars. They moved as if the world belonged to them. Their pale faces and cold eyes told me exactly what they were.

Vampires.

The Six Vampire Kings.

Everyone in my pack had heard stories about them. They were said to be immortal, older than anyone alive could remember.

The kings began walking down the line.

One checked a woman's teeth. Another lifted a man's chin and turned away, bored. They looked at us the way people look at tools.

I lowered my eyes and prayed they would pass me by. After tonight, I didn't want anyone to look at me ever again.

Their footsteps echoed on the marble, slow and steady. Each one sounded closer than the last.

Then something strange happened in my chest.

I felt a sudden pull, as if an invisible thread tied me to someone in the room. My breath caught. The collar buzzed louder, and sparks touched my skin. A strange warmth spread through my body.

I tried to ignore it. It had to be the collar. Nothing else made sense.

But the pull did not feel like pain. It felt like something calling my name.

The footsteps stopped in front of me.

Six pairs of boots stood on the marble floor.

I slowly raised my head.

The tallest king stood right before me. His dark hair fell across his forehead, and his face was cold and hard.

The king beside him suddenly went stiff. His eyes flashed red, and he quickly looked away. Another king clenched his fist. The others stared at me as if they had seen something impossible.

I didn't understand. A moment ago, they had looked at everyone else with boredom. Now they could not seem to look away from me.

I was a rejected wolf with a broken family and a collar around my neck. Why were they looking at me like that?

The tallest king studied me from head to toe. Then his lips twisted into a cruel smile.

"That one," he said.

The guard blinked. "My King?"

The king pointed at me.

"The heavy wolf stray. She will be our Main Personal Slave."

Gasps filled the hall. Some prisoners looked at me with pity. Others looked relieved that it wasn't them.

I stared at him, unable to believe it. My heart pounded so hard that I thought everyone could hear it. Out of everyone in that line, the six kings had chosen me.

Why me?

There were stronger shifters in that line, and humans far prettier than me. I was the girl nobody had ever wanted. Even my own father had thrown me away.

I wanted to ask, but fear locked the words in my throat. I could only stand there, shaking, while six pairs of eyes stayed fixed on my face.

The king stepped closer until his black coat brushed my arm. The pull in my chest grew stronger, and I fought to keep my breathing steady.

He bent down to my ear.

"Welcome to your living hell, little wolf," he whispered.

His voice was cold and cruel.

"Run if you want. We will enjoy the chase. In the end, you will still be ours.