SOLD

Valentina POV

The collar was too tight. It dug into the soft flesh of my neck, cold steel against my skin that hadn’t been touched gently in years. The chain attached to it clinked with every forced step. A reminder that I wasn’t a person anymore. I was a property, less than property.

I was now an Omega, broken, voiceless and now useless.

“Move faster, mutt,” one of the guards barked, jerking my chain. I stumbled forward onto my knees, the gravel scraping the skin off them, but I didn’t make a sound. That was the game here. You cry, they grin. You scream, they tighten the leash.

So I kept my mouth shut.

The scent of blood and smoke filled my nose. The auction block loomed ahead, metal planks darkened from decades of spilled fluids, sweat, tears, and probably worse. It was elevated, like a stage. As if any of this was a theater.

“Fresh Omega,” the announcer bellowed. “Unmarked. Virgin. Comes from a strong Alpha bloodline. Won’t shift, but that just makes her easier to control!”

I felt their eyes on me immediately.

Dozens of Alphas, watching from the stands. Clothed in rich furs, dark leathers, and greed. Some grinned, others licked their lips and my stomach churned.

How my life had suddenly turned from an Alpha princess to a worthless Omega, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder made me tremble.

“Stand her up,” the announcer commanded.

Two guards yanked me to my feet. My body was shaking, not from fear, no, fear had long since become my friend ever since my parents died, Instead it was from exhaustion.

I hadn’t eaten in two days. Water, maybe a sip this morning and now this. It was my turn to be sold today. Rumors had it that some one Omega's was lucky to be bought by good Alpha's and they end up becoming a mistress but I could sense that my own fate would be far worse.

The announcer’s hand slid around my waist as he turned me to face the crowd. “See the curve of her hips? Untouched. You won’t find another Omega with this kind of figure for months, gentlemen.” He bargained.

“Let’s see her eyes,” someone called out from the crowd, I had become a stock fr negotiation.

The man forced my chin up. I stared blankly past the crowd, past the stench of testosterone and arrogance of them, to the gray clouds above.

Let me die here, let me disappear before another Alpha buys my body. Oh please Moon Goddess…Please.’ I prayed fervently in my mind, wishing that perhaps, a miracle would happen.

“Starting at one thousand dollars!” the announcer called out. “Going?— ”

“I’ll take her.” A voice sliced through the crowd immediately.

That voice, I recognized it.

Everything seemed to still, It wasn’t loud, but it cut through the hall like a knifr slit across flesh. Deep, low, and cold. I felt it before I even turned my head. The shift in the air, a heaviness in my chest, they all made sense.

The crowd parted like the sea itself bowed to him as he walked towards the forefront and stood.

Alpha Ryker Blackthorn.

Tall, powerfully built. Dressed in pitch-black leathers that fit like they were tailored to wrap around death itself. His hair was midnight-dark, tousled like he hadn’t slept in days, and his eyes, gods, those eyes were carved from winter. No warmth, no flicker of curiosity, just ice and piercing. He was beautiful, sinfully handsome.

“Ten thousand dollars” he said coolly. “Now.”

The announcer sputtered. “Ten? Alpha Blackthorn, surely—”

Ryker’s gaze sliced to him and the man went pale, and just like that, I was sold. Not just to anyone but to very man I had dreaded not to meet. One whose hatred ran deep like sin itself, he hated my family and of course me!

In a split second, they dragged me behind him like a broken doll, my bare feet slapping against the dirt path that led to his transport. I didn’t fight, didn’t cry. I wasn’t allowed thoughts anymore, only submissive silence.

But as we reached the black vehicle waiting just outside the gates, he stopped. The guard holding my chain halted too.

Then Ryker turned to face me slowly.

The cook breeze lifted the edges of his coat like some cursed prophecy.

“You can look at me now,” he said but I didn't.

Who knew I might just die from his gaze.

“Look at me,” he repeated, voice like stone grinding against stone, calm but ruthlessly commanding.

I raised my chin.

And met the eyes of the very monster I feared who bought me.

He stared at me for a long, still moment. As if he were memorizing me, my skin prickled, something wasn’t right. His gaze didn’r hold the hunger of a man looking to use me for the night. It was entirely different.

It was personal. And although I knew I was going to be punished either to satisfy him sexually, yet I felt this strange sense that it would even be better if that was the case.

“You do remember me, do you?” he asked.

I blinked, my throat was dry. “No, Alpha.” I lied, knowing that it was best I acted oblivious to some certain things but his face was very vivid in recognition.

His lips curled, not into a smile but into something twisted. “ Don't worry, you will, Valentina Odessa Isolde” He called my full name, and shivers wracked through my body.

He opened the car door. “Get in.”

I did, I had no choice and we zoomed off.

The ride was silent. The vehicle was luxurious, black leather, tinted windows, a barrier between us and the driver but nothing about it felt comforting. I sat stiffly, my hands folded in my lap, still wearing the rags from the auction. The collar chain on my neck gleamed like a trophy around my throat.

Ryker didn’t look at me once. He leaned back, his legs spread, his arms stretched out on the seat behind him, relaxed like a predator after a fresh kill.

“Do you want to know why I chose you Valentina?” he asked eventually.

“No, Alpha.” I bit my lips even before the words escaped.

“Good,” he said, eyes flicking toward me. “Because your wants are now irrelevant and you're not allowed to be curious”

I flinched but he noticed.

“I’m going to break you,” Ryker said softly, almost tender. “And you’ll thank me for it.”

My fists clenched in my lap. “ I will try,” I muttered under my breath, dread already washed my body.

His eyes lit with something feral. “Oh, I intend to see you do that, it'll be my entertainment and even the Moon would be useless to your prayers” He said, turning back to the front.

In few minutes, we arrived at his estate after nightfall.

Blackthorn pack was less a home and more a prison carved from hard stones. Towering iron gates creaked open as we entered. The scent of rain filled the night air, but nothing softened the darkness of the structure ahead.

A fortress built by an Alpha who didn’t believe in mercy.

Inside, everything was polished and lit. Guards flanked every hall. No windows opened and not a single Omega was in sight.

I was led to a cold room with bare walls, a cold floor, a mattress without sheets.

“This is your space,” Ryker said, standing in the doorway.

“No bathroom?” I asked, confusion riling inside me.

“You’ll ask for permission.”

“And food?”

He smiled. “When you earn it, you'll get it.”

I stared at him, not blinking. “What do you want from me?” I couldn't help but ask.

He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell him, Sandalwood, caramel, smoke, God! he had a divine scent. His hand lifted, his fingers ghosting across my cheek, not touching, but hovering. Like he wanted to but he hated the urge.

“I want to see how long it takes before you beg,” he stated, deadly. “To be fed, to be touched, to be mounted.”

“Why don't you kill me first.”