Episode 2: Rejection

"We are going to die! We are all going to die!" a girl whispered, shivering with fear.

​Around me, five young women sat chained like animals, dresses ripped and faces covered in mud and tears

Looking at them I knew they were Omegas, the lowest rank in their pack.

They were women nobody would miss, the perfect sacrifices.

"Stop saying that," another girl whispered back "We are not going to die."

"How can you say that?" the first girl sobbed, "Don't you know about the demon Alpha, Vergil? They say no woman has ever survived a single night with him, his inner beast takes over and he rips them to pieces."

She peeked out of the small window. More than twelve armed horsemen rode behind us, guarding the carriage making escaping impossible.

"She is right," a girl with fiery red hair and bright green eyes muttered. "We are all going to die tonight. It is best if we just accept it, kill whatever hope you have left for a future. Right now we no longer exist as humans but animals meant for slaughter."

"Not me," I said, my voice steady as I looked at the redhead. "I am not dying tonight."

The girls stared at me and I could tell they recognized my face, but they were too scared to ask why I was locked up with the rest of them.

"You might have been a princess once," the redhead sneered, her voice cracking. "But right now, you are just like the rest of us, a sheep waiting to be slaughtered."

I squeezed my hands into tight fists.

They were wrong.

No matter what happened, I had to survive this night.

I had to go back and take revenge on my backstabbing brother.

"Please old gods have mercy," another girl wept, pulling her knees tightly to her chest. "The blood demon... he is going to eat us alive."

"Shut up," I snapped and the girls gasped, moving away from me as if I were a monster myself.

I did not care. Their crying was irritating, It was a useless noise that changed nothing.

Tears had not saved my parents and my people from being massacred by vergil ten years ago.

Tears had not saved me from betrayal and it certainly wouldn't save us from whatever was waiting at the end of this road

I stared out the window at the disappearing kingdom of Aries the land I had bled for.

"I will return," I promised.

Then, my eyes caught the beautiful man riding alongside the carriage in a bright red coat.

Eric.

My mate.

The mate bond was supposed to be the ultimate gift from the Moon Goddess, a partner who would love you, protect you, and cherish you above everything else.

But my mate was the Beta to the very monster who had destroyed my life.

He was the man who had just bought me for a thousand gold rubies and was willing to offer me as a sacrifice to the devil himself.

When our eyes met earlier, he had looked away and rejected our bond without a second thought.

What did I do in my past life to deserve a fate this cruel?

"Hey!" I called out but he ignored me keeping his gaze ahead.

"I know you can hear me," I said louder, gripping the cold iron bars. "Don't pretend you didn't feel it back there, you know exactly what we are to each other."

For a long moment, there was nothing but the sound of horses' hooves on the dirt.

I thought he was going to ignore me forever but then slowly, Eric pulled on his horse’s reins and slowed down until he was riding right next to my window.

"Be quiet, tribute," he said harshly. "You are drawing unnecessary attention to yourself."

"Tribute?" I let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "Is that what you call your fated mate? A tribute?"

A small muscle twitched in his jaw. It was the only sign that my words had hurt him.

He leaned closer to the bars and whispered coldly. "The mate bond means nothing in the lands of the Black Shadow pack only the will and law of our great Alpha matters and you belong him now."

"I don't belong to anyone!" I hissed burning with anger. "My brother sold me, and you bought me like a piece of meat. I know you feel it too, the mate bond, how can you just stand by and let your Alpha slaughter me?"

Eric’s expression did not change, but his grip on his horse's reins tightened a bit.

"You don't understand the world outside your little kingdom, Genevieve," he said, "Alpha Vergil is not a man you can reason with. His curse demands a price, and tonight is the full moon, nothing changes that, not even a bond."

"So you are a coward," I said, my voice dripping with pure disgust. "The great Beta Eric. Just a dog who does his master's dirty work, even if it means delivering his own mate to the slaughterhouse."

The girls inside the carriage gasped, staring at me in absolute horror.

To them, speaking to a powerful high ranking werewolf like this was an instant death sentence.

They expected him to draw his sword and kill me through the bars but Instead, Eric let out a quiet, heavy sigh.

"I owe Vergil everything," he said, locking his eyes with mine. "And I am not going to break my loyalty for a broken assassin who has slept with more men than I can count."

His words felt like a blade stabbing straight into my heart. Hearing those cruel words from the man who was supposed to protect me was too much to bear.

A single tear rolled down my cheek but I quickly looked away, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me weak.

Without another word, he rode away to the front of the line.

A few hours later, we finally arrived at Alpha Vergil’s castle.

It was a towering fortress of black stone that looked like it had been built in hell.

Guards dressed in pitch black armor stood at the entrance looking at us like we were objects, not people

One large guard walked up to me, his eyes mean and cold.

"What is your name?" he barked.

I stayed silent staring right through him, angered by my actions he thrust his spear forward, the sharp tip pressed against my neck, drawing a thin line of blood

"I said, what is your name?" he threatened.

"Genevieve," I answered keeping my chin high.

"Who is your father?"

"Derrick Aries. The late Alpha of the Silvermoon pack," I said, my voice shaking just a little but I stood as tall as I could.

The guard froze, looking shocked for a second. "Usually, packs send us slaves or low ranking Omega girls," he said, shaking his head with a dark laugh. "We have never had an Alpha’s daughter sent as a sacrifice before. Are you really that assassin we heard stories about?"

"It is not your job to ask questions," Eric’s voice boomed from behind.

The guard quickly cleared his throat, bowing his head. "Forgive me Beta." He turned back to me and shoved my shoulder. "Move!"

We were herded through the heavy gates like a flock of sheep into the castle.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die," one of the girls whispered again, her whole body trembling.

"Quiet, you ungrateful losers!" a loud voice boomed.

A woman in a tight black dress stepped into the hall.

"You are nothing but sacrifices for our great King," she said, pacing back and forth in front of us. "You will stay silent. You will not speak unless he tells you to and most importantly, you will never ever look him in the eye."

She stopped walking and looked right at me. "When your name is called, you will go to his room. You will do whatever he wants without complaining. You should feel lucky, It is an honor to serve King Vergil."

An honor? I thought, my blood boiling.

How is it an honor to be torn apart by a monster?

"No matter how much you scream, no one will help you," She continued coldly. "You will let him satisfy his hunger until your body stops moving."

Beside me, the girls began to weep and for the first time, my own courage started to crack.

When the girl next to me sobbed too loudly, She snapped her head toward her. "Don't bother begging for mercy. Alpha Vergil doesn't even know what that word means. Accept that you have been chosen for the greater good of the seven kingdoms."

She scanned our terrified faces. "The guards will take you to your rooms now but one of you is going to see the King tonight."

Everyone held their breath as the only sound left was the frantic terrified beating of our hearts

No one wanted to be the first chosen for the monster's feast.

The woman circled us like a wolf hunting its prey until her sharp blue eyes locked into mine.

I didn't look away If I was going to face a monster, I would do it with my head held high.

A cruel smile spread across her face recognising who I was.

Then she raised a finger and pointed it directly at my chest.

"Take this one first," she commanded. "She will be Alpha Vergil's meal tonight."

Out of the shadows, Eric stepped to my side and for a split second I desperately hoped he would say Say something and save me.

But he didn't.

He just grabbed my arm firmly looked into my eyes, and whispered,

"Prepare yourself, Genevieve. Make peace with death, because tonight, you will die."