First dark night

Brenda’s POV

“Father, please don’t leave me! I’ll do better, I promise! Please don’t send me to Alpha Aaron. He’s a monster!”

My voice kept echoing in my head. I pleaded with my father desperately not to give me away, but it meant nothing to him.

And now, I stand in a bathroom filled with strangers as I get myself prepared for my doom.

The bathroom smelled sweetly of roses and honey. It looked like a place made for a Luna.

The walls were made of white marble streaked with gold; candlelight shone in every corner of the room. Everything was perfect. Too perfect. A cruel kind of beauty for such an ugly night.

I stood there in a long red robe. Two women in silver uniforms stood beside me. Their eyes looked cold and empty, with no emotions, like they had done this so much that it doesn’t affect them anymore. Their hands moved gracefully as they took my robe.

I watched it slip off my shoulders down to the floor, leaving me completely naked.

They guided me into the huge bathtub filled with petals, floating around me.

I felt like I was being washed for slaughter.

I wasn’t here as a guest. I was here as an offering. A gift. A sacrifice.

I could still see it — Father’s hand slipping away from mine as the guards dragged me from the palace gates. His face had no emotion. Not love, not mercy. Just cold determination.

“Forgive me, Brenda,” he had whispered. “This is for the kingdom.”

But what kingdom needed blood from its own child to survive?

I had screamed and fought until my voice broke, until the night swallowed my cries. But he never turned back. Not even once.

Now, as more women entered the bathroom carrying buckets of crushed ice, my stomach turned. They began pouring it into the tub. The warmth vanished, replaced by biting cold. I gasped as the icy water clawed at my skin.

I looked up at the head maid, a tall woman with silver hair and eyes that looked almost kind.

She saw the question in my eyes before I could ask. “This is necessary, my dear,” she whispered. “It will make your body tighter. The Alpha likes his women... tight.”

Her tone was gentle, but her words felt like knives.

I wanted to scream. To run. But my body refused to move.

The water was so cold that my bones ached. My lips turned blue. The maids worked silently, their faces blank, though I saw pity flicker in some of their eyes.

Two of them stood in the corner, whispering to each other.

“Oh, poor thing,” one said softly. “So young and beautiful... and her father sold her.”

“I heard his kingdom was crashing so he sold his daughter to save himself.”

“She’s just seventeen,” the first maid said again with fake concern. “How could her own father offer his daughter to the monster himself… moon goddess, please show her mercy.”

Their words stabbed me like knives. Every piece of pity only made me feel like another blade was twisting in my heart.

The head maid glared at them sharply. They stopped quickly and went on with their usual activities.

Finally, they helped me out of the bathtub, wrapping a warm towel around me. It warmed me a little bit, but I was still freezing. Then they began to fix my makeup.

They dressed me in white silky lingerie that was almost transparent. I smelled like fresh wine.

The head maid looked at me from my head downward. Her eyes were filled with concern, but then she took my hand quietly with a weak smile and said, “It’s time.”

My heart pounded so loudly I could hear it in my ears.

We walked through the hallway, which seemed like an endless tunnel. As we walked, some maids still whispered quietly behind me.

“I pity her,” one said. “But maybe she’ll be lucky. If she gets pregnant, she could become Luna.”

“Don’t be foolish,” another whispered back. “Alpha Aaron never keeps a woman twice.”

“What happens to them after?”

The maid touched her own neck and made a slicing motion.

The other gasped, covering her mouth.

The head maid stopped and turned sharply. “Enough.” Her voice was firm. “Leave.”

The maids scurried away like frightened birds.

And then it was just the two of us.

We stopped before a massive dark door — carved with wolves and moons, and the mark of the Alpha.

I froze. My legs wouldn’t move. My whole body shook.

The head maid turned to me and held my hands softly. Her warmth made me feel safe, even for a second. “No matter what happens tonight, just keep in mind—it will all be over. May the moon goddess be with you, my dear.”

She looked sad, but she managed a forced smile before she pushed the door open.

I walked into the room. It was huge and dark. Fear pulsed through my veins as I walked in deeper.

A fireplace burned in the corner of the room, and beside it was a figure sitting majestically on a throne-like chair.

My heart raced as I saw him.

Alpha Aaron.

He sat in a large chair near the fire, half in shadow. His black hair fell over his forehead, and his golden eyes glowed faintly in the dim light. He looked calm. Too calm. Like a predator watching his prey struggle before the kill.

When he looked at me, my knees weakened.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His gaze said everything.

Ownership.

Fear.

And the end of the life I once knew.

I wanted to scream, but my throat was dry. I wanted to run, but the door behind me was already closed.

So I stood there, shaking, trying not to cry.

Because crying wouldn’t save me now.

“Take it off,” he said in a commanding tone.

I froze. I clenched my trembling hands together. I didn’t want him to see me weak.

He smirked and then rose slowly from his chair.

I stepped backward with each step he took closer.

“Do I need to repeat myself?” he said in a low tone as he reached out and grabbed my hair painfully.

“I. said. take. it. off.”

My hands trembled. My legs went numb and struggled to keep me standing.

“No!” Those words escaped my lips. My heart raced even more now.

He paused, and then there were seconds of extreme silence.

I closed my eyes deeply, waiting for him to strike me dead.

But he didn’t; instead he laughed in a low, pleased voice.

“You are feisty,” he said. “This will be interesting.”

I opened my eyes slowly. His sharp gaze was fixed on me. His eyes looked like death itself.

He lifted my chin softly as his thumb rubbed slowly over my lips. He licked his lips slowly. He stared at me like he could undress me with his eyes.

His fingers moved slowly from my chin down to my chest until he settled, caressing the tip of my nipples.

Something inside me snapped. I wouldn’t let him have me without a fight. My anger burned in my chest, and without hesitation, I grabbed a jar on the dressing table beside me and struck him.

The jar hit his head, shattering with a loud sound.

For a moment everything went silent. I gasped in shock as I realized what I had done.

He staggered, pressing his hand to his head. Blood ran down his cheeks.

Without any more hesitation, I ran for the door, trying to push it open, but the handle would not move.

I froze. My breath hammered in my chest. I was trapped. And with a very monster.

Extreme silence filled the air as I turned back slowly. His shadow fell over me. Only then did I realize he was already standing right behind me.

There was no place to run. No place to hide. I was trapped.

He dragged me back angrily and then crashed me against the wall.

I screamed in pain. He pressed me against the wall. His weight felt like stone, draining me of all my strength.

I screamed until my voice broke, but that didn’t stop him; neither did anyone come to save me.

He bound my wrists with his strong hands and then pinned them above my head.

His other hand was busy ripping off my dress, leaving me completely naked and helpless. His legs pinned mine to the wall.

I struggled, but my strength was no match for his. Every muscle in my body was on fire. My skin hurt. My wrists already felt numb from his strong grip.

My face was wet with tears mixed with his blood.

I clawed at his shoulders, trying to push him off, but he only laughed like a monster amused with his game.

He pressed his lips against mine, forcing a kiss on me even though I resisted. He bit my lips. I screamed, pushed him away, but before I knew it, he was all over me again, kissing my neck, sucking me like he owned me.

His grip on me loosened a bit, and with that I pushed him off with all the strength I could gather, but before I could escape, he rushed at me again and this time he didn’t show any mercy.

His hands fondled my breasts and then pinched off my nipple like he owned them.

I screamed in pain and then hit his shoulder as hard as I could, but that didn’t stop him; it only made him angrier.

Without warning he lifted me off the ground, trapping my nipples within his mouth as he sucked on them like he could drain my soul from me.

I screamed, kicking and fighting, but he wouldn’t stop.

“Please!” I begged. This time I already felt defeated. I couldn’t fight anymore. But still he didn’t show mercy.

He forced me down on the bed. The mattress dipped. The room spun. I cried out. I screamed “No” until my throat was raw. The bed was a trap. He was a storm.

I looked at Alpha Aaron with all the hatred I had—for myself, my dad, the world, but most especially him. And I screamed at the top of my voice.

Finally, he finished. I do not know how long he stood over me. He breathed like the sea. He left me where I was.

I curled myself on the bed as I grabbed the mattress tightly. Tears flowed down, soaking the mattress.

My eyes darkened. I stared into empty space, clenching my teeth.

“I will kill you… I promise,” I vowed silently as determination burned in my eyes.