Chapter two

I smooth down the skirts of the purple dress with my shaky, sweaty hands as I stare at myself in the mirror. My dark blonde, nearly brown hair is up in a bun, pulled away from my pale skin, making my unusual blue eyes look like they are glowing from the reflection of the light. I look nothing like most wolves or like anyone I’ve ever met and a part of me wishes I did. My parents disowned me the moment they realized I was a no claim wolf, but I see them around the pack sometimes and they never once let me speak to them. As a child, I used to try everything and anything to get their attention… and I only got beatings from Lucy for it. I look like neither of my parents and for that, I’m thankful. I don’t want to look in the mirror and see the people that abandoned me. My entire pack has black hair, brown eyes and tanned golden skin. Some of them have slight tints of blonde in their brown hair in the summer, but in the winter, that is gone, too.

My looks just make me stand out more than not having a claim does. If I could wish for anything, it would be a claim. See, in this world, being claimed is everything. When any female is three years old, they meet all the male wolves of similar ages in a gathering. Then the females find their mate. The males make a claim on them, and then they are protected until they turn eighteen and become mated. When they can be with their mate for life.

Except that never happened for me. I went to five gatherings, and at seven, it was decided I was a no claim. Trash. A disgrace. Disgusting.

I wish I had people around me who cared enough to protect me but my parents stepped aside. My no claim status means anyone that has anything to do with me is trash as well and they didn’t want that. They didn’t love me enough. No one has or ever will do. I’ve always dreamed of moving to another pack in the world, hoping they would see me differently but it’s a foolish dream I only allow myself to think of in the dead of the night when I’m alone. There are four packs in the world, and three of those packs have an alliance with each other due to the wars that killed over a hundred pack’s way before I was born. We are the smallest of the three allied packs and the nearest to the oceans.

The fourth pack, they live on sunny islands off the mainland and have nothing to do with the inland packs. I’ve only heard rumors of the heartless alpha trio that run the pack with an iron fist. They don’t have morals, they don’t have rules or no claims like me. They only have blood and honor… and those who betray them find a death which makes them wish they had never been alive in the first place.

A knock on the door shakes me out of my thoughts, and I climb over my bed in the tiny room to open the door. Lucy stands with hands on her hips, her black hair curled into a bun and her brown eyes flashing with tension. She looks over my dress, nodding to herself before straightening her back. Lucy, despite being a elder female wolf, fits into the soft cotton cream dress she is wearing well and it’s clear why she was chosen for alpha female so many years ago. She is very beautiful, far more than I could ever hope to be. I don’t have her soft complexion, no my cheekbones are high and my lips too big, and pouty compared to her.

“It will do very well. You look normal at least,” she dryly comments and steps back. I go to hurry past her and get to the kitchen to starting serve food, but she roughly grabs my arm as I pass.

“You will behave tonight. This is a very, very important night for the Dawn pack. I will kill you myself if you act out of character,” she hisses at me, her nails cutting into my arm and her hot breath blowing against my cheek. “Remember, anything you do tonight is a reflection on us. You be a good girl and listen to your alpha.”

“I—I won’t do anything,” I stammer, and she lets me go, wiping my blood off her fingers on a cloth she gets out her pocket. She throws the cloth at me when she is done, but I just let the blood pour down my arm, pretending it doesn’t hurt until it naturally heals, leaving only dried blood and scars that won’t heal.

“Clean that up, and get to work,” she snaps and walks away. Some part of me wants to cry from her treatment, but I don’t cry anymore. They broke me a long time ago, and they don’t deserve to see my tears anymore. Or that is what I tell myself, so I can have a scrap of hope left. Before I run down the corridor, I wipe my arm and slide the cloth into a pocket. I leave Lucy’s house and run next door, using the back alley so no one sees me and heading into the kitchen through the creaky wooden door. I finish cooking the starter and leave it plated up on the side just as the door slams open. The alpha female walks in, her eyes running over my dress and then to the food. The alpha female is the prettiest wolf in the pack. She has perfect black curly hair, light green eyes and a skinny frame. Though just because she is beautiful on the outside doesn’t mean she is in her heart. No, her heart is black and corrupted like Lucy’s is.

“They are ready for starters to be served. Get on with it, freak,” she says in a disgusted tone and walks back out. I take a deep breath and lie to myself that everything is going to be okay. It has to be. I just have to do this perfectly and then I can leave this house. I have cooked the food right, and everything is going well so far. I slide the four small plates onto a tray and pick it up. Luckily, I have some strength of wolves, so it isn’t too heavy to carry all of the plates. I rush to the door and use my back to push it open, and pause when I turn around as it swings shut.

The whip crashes down once. Twice. My skirts are ripped away and the harrowing laugh of the alpha echoes in my ears over and over as I stare at the blue flowered wallpaper.

I forget how this place scares me with the memories that come with it, but as I look at the hallway, the cream carpets I lay on for hours, it all comes back, making my skin run cold. Even though there is no sign of my blood on the carpet now, I can still picture it. I can still feel the pain, I can still remember every moment of that night like a picture I can’t forget.

“Where is that damn no claim with the food? If I have to show her a lesson again in how to behave, I won’t be impressed.”

Alpha Bishop’s frightening, deep spoken words and low grunt after that make me snap out of it and rush down the corridor, the plate wobbling in my hands. I walk into the dining room slowly, keeping my eyes down to avoid eye contact like I have been taught. You don’t get to look the alpha in the eye, not unless you are challenging him.

“This is your no claim?” A male I have never heard asks; his voice is raspy. His deep voice sends shivers across my skin, and I curse myself for the reaction.

“Yes, what of her? Don’t you keep some no claims as slaves. They are useful,” Alpha Bishop snaps, and I slide a plate in front of the alpha female before moving to serve my alpha.

“Speak to me like that again and I will end this talk now by ripping your tongue out. My brother will be here shortly, and this is a fair warning that he won’t be spoken to that way,” the male smoothly replies and there is a confidence in his voice that he means every single word. And threat.

To my shock, my alpha coughs and blurts out an apology. “Sorry.”

I firmly decide that serving the food and getting out of here is the best idea. I don’t want to be in the middle of this when it goes wrong, and it’s going to. I’m going to end up getting the wrath of Alpha Bishop’s anger when this meal is over, I suspect, anyway. I slide the plate in front of my alpha and move over to the two strangers in the room, on the other side of the table. I feel their gaze on me, pressing against my skin like a touch.

“Look at me as you serve me,” the male demands as I slide a plate in front of him. I force my gaze up, locking eyes with a hauntingly dark blue pair staring at me. The man is huge, at least twice the size of me, and has messy brown hair that falls onto his forehead. His skin is deeply tanned like he spends a lot of time in the sun. He is handsome. More handsome than anyone I’ve ever seen, and it takes my breath away until I feel like I can’t breathe in front of him.

“I hope you enjoy your food—” I softly reply, cutting off my sentence as I don’t know his name.

“Alpha Letric. What is your name?” he commands, albeit tenderly and his unusual accent has me questioning who he is. He’s an alpha. My gods, I’m staring at an alpha.

“We don’t allow no claims to converse with our guests. If you wish to have her sent to your bed later on, that is fine. Though I will warn, no one has broken her in yet as I was saving her for a special pack sharing occasion. I will, of course, offer her as a gift,” Alpha Bishop states, and a cold wash of fear fills me. I straighten my back and look down, walking around the table to the last guest.

“Do not break her too much. My betas are looking forward to keeping her as their pet.”

“I prefer my women to be willing. Begging for me, in fact,” Alpha Letric smoothly replies, and the other man in the room clamps his hand on my wrist after I put his plate down. I gasp as he pulls my hand to his face and sniffs my wrist. I don’t move, not knowing what to do as I look at this other male holding my hand. He has golden hair, cut short, and his features are similar to Alpha Letric’s. When his light blue eyes meet mine, I can’t pull mine away. I saw the sea once, when I was nine and traveled with Lucy to the beach to collect special salt with other wolves. I didn’t think I’d ever see any color of blue the same as the sea until now. I have to stop staring before he thinks this is a challenge, not that I would ever want to challenge him. He is as big and frightening as my own alpha.

“I don’t care about willingness. I will make her beg and purr for my cock,” he grumbles, rubbing his thumb into my wrist, and I shiver. His voice is seductive, like a wolf calling a sheep into its lair, unaware the sheep is about to be eaten alive.

“Now that seems like a challenge, dear brother,” Letric darkly chuckles, like it’s some inside joke between them.

“It was,” his brother smoothly replies, never breaking eye contact with me, and I’m frozen in fear.

“I suppose it all depends on what our oldest brother suggests we do with her,” Letric muses, though it sounds like a warning to my ears.

“I said you could borrow her for a night. I am not giving her away,” Alpha Bishop growls. “Not without a promised alliance. I honestly thought you would ask for something worth much more.”

“Worth is something that usually can’t been seen by someone who has none,” the male holding my wrist coldly states and finally lets go. I almost miss his touch when it’s gone. What is wrong with me?

“Very true, brother,” Letric gruffs, and stands up from his chair. My alpha stands too, both of them staring at each other in a show of dominance. I find myself stepping back until the backs of my shoes hit the wall, and I press my back against it, willing myself to be as small as possible. This is not going to end well.

All of us are so engrossed in watching the two alphas stare each other down that none of us notices when another male steps into the room, stopping just behind Alpha Bishop’s back. I can’t see all of his features, only waist length black hair and a massive muscular build that makes him the tallest male in the room.

I gasp as a hand bursts through Alpha Bishop’s chest, the movement slow to my eyes, as I can’t quite believe what I just saw. Blood splatters everywhere, even on my shoes from across the room, and there is a tangy scent in the air. My alpha female screams, and oddly enough, Letric is eating his food at the table like nothing happened.

He doesn’t even care that blood is all over his food now. I stare quietly at Alpha Bishop’s heart in the other alpha’s hand as he pulls his arm back from the body, letting it fall. It hits the table with a sickening thud before sliding off to the floor, taking the tablecloth with it and most of the food, except for Letric’s plate, which he holds up. Letric’s eyes catch mine as he licks his spoon, and he winks.

By the gods.

“NO!” my alpha female cries, running from the room, and the three alphas let her go. The one with the heart looks at me in that moment, still holding the slightly beating heart in the air. The sounds of wolves howling and screams fill the night around me, making me more frightened than I could have been before. I make the mistake of meeting the alpha’s clear blue-eyed gaze, which I can only just see through his mess of dark wavy hair that looks so soft as it falls down his chest. I shouldn’t be attracted to the monster in front of me, but my body doesn’t follow those rules.

Everything about the three alphas in here is desirable. It’s their nature after all, although I never found Alpha Bishop attractive. I guess that’s why he liked to beat me. Every other female in the pack would submit to him without a thought.

“I want to keep her and so does Alaric,” Letric states while still eating, but I never break contact with the true alpha in the room. I can feel his power rippling across my skin like a heat wave that makes me want to cry and run out of the room, but I won’t. The benefit of not having a wolf to shift into is that I don’t have to argue with my wolf on whether to run or not. I can just stand here, accepting that my death is coming, and I will not run from it.

“She is a good cook as well as beautiful,” Alaric comments. “I want her to cook us dinner and then fuck us. Don’t kill this one."

I hope he is joking. I’ve been a slave my entire life… I don’t want to be one for much longer.

“What is your name?” the alpha asks me; his voice is gravelly and deep. He also has an accent I have never heard before, meaning he isn’t from the two other packs in the alliance. I’ve served enough meals to recognize their accent. Where are these alphas from?

“Elodie Masters,” I reply to his question straight away, not leaving a single breath between the end of his question and my answer.

“Come close to me, Elodie,” he commands, the room rippling with his power. My whole body shakes from both fear and a nervous kind of desire as I step away from the wall. Each step towards the alpha is filled with equal parts dread and curiosity because I want to know why he wants me close. I pause a few feet away from him, and he stares down at me. “Closer.” The one word is a complete demand, and I move without question until I am stood right in front of him, feeling his breath moving the hair on the top of my head.

“What is your name?” I ask him, regretting it when I arch my head so I can look into his eyes. Alpha Bishop’s heart is right by my head, blood dripping from it onto the floor and hitting my hand that I move closer to my body. I block it all out, the blood dripping, the other alphas who I can feel staring at me, and the awful sounds from the rest of my pack who are being slaughtered outside.

“Alpha,” he replies like the single word like it is all I am allowed to know.

“Just Alpha?” I question and gasp as he suddenly wraps a beefy hand around my neck, holding tightly, but not enough to really hurt me as he leans his face down to inches in front of mine.

“You call me Alpha. You do as I ask—without question—or I will dispose of you,” he warns me, and I don’t doubt for a second that he would kill me.

“Yes, Alpha,” I gasp, his hand tightening ever so slightly before he lets go. He keeps his face close to mine. Our lips inches away and his scent wrapping around me. Forest pine, sea salt and a masculine musky scent that is all him. He brushes his large finger over my lips, leaving a smear of blood in his wake.

“Now kiss me as your pack dies outside, and the blood of your former alpha drips down your pretty little dress,” he demands. A part of me is so shocked that I don’t move for a moment… until I listen to the screams outside. I don’t want to die tonight when a kiss can save me. I do as I am told without a second thought. My lips press against his cold ones, and he pulls back before the kiss can really be counted as anything. “Keep her close, Alaric, while I finish this. No one touches her until I say.”

Alaric stands and I catch his eyes rolling over me as he answers. “Yes, brother.”