Chapter Four

Melissa

I woke up and the first thing I felt was the stinging soreness between my legs that reminded me of everything I had lost the night before. I lay still for a moment and stared at the high ceiling while the memories of Draven’s rough hands and cold lips washed over me. I felt dirty and used in a way that no amount of scrubbing could ever fix. I tried to sit up but my body protested with a sharp ache that made me gasp and fall back against the pillows.

My phone buzzed on the bedside table and I reached for it with a trembling hand. The screen lit up with a message from Aunt Leyla.

“Are you fine Melissa? We hope you reached safely and settled in well. We love you.”

I stared at the words and a hiss of pure venom escaped my lips. She had the audacity to ask if I was fine after she sold me like cattle to a monster. I threw the phone back onto the mattress and forced myself to sit up despite the pain.

The door opened and three maids walked in with their heads bowed low.

"Good morning Luna," the lead maid greeted me as she kept her eyes on the floor. "Your bath is ready and the Alpha has requested your presence at breakfast."

I didn't answer them as I dragged my body out of the bed and wrapped the silk sheet around me. They rushed forward to help me but I waved them away. I walked into the bathroom and sank into the hot water but it did nothing to soothe the burning rage inside me.

I stepped out twenty minutes later and the maids were waiting with a dress that made my breath catch in my throat. It was a floor-length gown made of deep emerald silk and the bodice was encrusted with real diamond stones that caught the light with every movement. I had never seen anything so expensive in my life let alone worn it.

They dressed me in silence and arranged my hair until I looked like a queen but I felt like a prisoner wrapped in glitter.

I walked out of the room and a guard escorted me to the dining hall where Draven and Briston were already seated. The table was laden with more food than I had seen in years but my appetite was nonexistent.

"Good morning," I greeted them quietly as I pulled out a chair.

Draven looked up from his plate and scanned me from head to toe with a possessive glint in his eyes while Briston just stabbed his fork into his eggs and ignored me completely.

"Sit," Draven ordered as he pointed to the chair on his right.

I sat down and placed a napkin on my lap. The silence at the table was suffocating. Briston glared at his food with a clenched jaw and Draven ate with a calm detachment that was even more unsettling. It was obvious that the father and son were still keeping the malice from the previous day alive.

The doors pushed open and Beta Luther walked in with a grim expression on his face. He bowed deeply to Draven before he straightened up to speak.

"Alpha we have a situation at the western border," Luther announced as he glanced at me and then back to Draven. "We caught a family of four from the Sun Rock pack trying to cross into our territory to hunt. They claim they are starving and begged for mercy."

I looked at Draven and waited for him to show some leniency. They were just a starving family trying to survive.

Draven wiped his mouth with a napkin and took a sip of his coffee before he answered.

"Did they have weapons?" Draven asked calmly.

"Just hunting knives for the game," Luther replied. "They have two children with them."

"Kill the parents and hang their bodies on the border trees as a warning," Draven commanded without blinking. "Take the children to the mines. We need small hands to clean the machinery."

I dropped my fork and it clattered loudly against the plate. I looked at him in horror.

"You can't do that," I whispered as the blood drained from my face. "They are just hungry."

Draven turned his head slowly to look at me and his eyes were void of any humanity.

"I can and I will," he stated coldly. "Mercy is for the weak Melissa and I am not weak. If I let them steal my game today then tomorrow an army will come to steal my land."

He turned back to Luther.

"Do it now."

"Yes Alpha," Luther bowed and turned to leave.

I looked at Draven and I knew then that I was truly dealing with a demon. He had no heart and no soul. He was a monster who killed parents and enslaved children without a second thought.

My phone beeped loudly in the pocket of my dress and the sound shattered the tense silence. I pulled it out to silence it but the notification on the screen made my heart stop.

“Breaking News: Alpha Heir Kelan of the Slytherin Pack officially announces his upcoming wedding to Cindy, the daughter of the pack Beta. The union is set to take place in two weeks.”

A picture of Kelan and Cindy smiling and holding hands filled the screen. They looked happy and perfect.

I felt the sweat break out on my forehead and the room began to spin. Kelan was getting married to the girl who stabbed me in the back while I was sitting here eating breakfast with a murderer who had bought me.

I looked up at Draven who was calmly buttering a piece of toast. I looked at Briston who was radiating anger.

I had lost everything. My parents were gone. My freedom was gone. My virtue was stolen by a cursed Alpha. And now the boy I loved was marrying my traitorous friend.

Something snapped inside my chest. The fear that had been consuming me since yesterday suddenly turned into something cold and hard.

I looked at my evil husband and realized that he was the most powerful wolf in the region. He was cruel and he was a monster but he had power.

If I was going to survive this hell I couldn't be the victim anymore. I wiped the sweat from my brow and sat up straighter in my chair.

I was going to make Kelan pay for humiliating me. I was going to make Cindy pay for betraying me. And I was going to make Draven pay for buying me.

I needed a plan. I needed to stop crying and start plotting.

I looked at the diamonds on my dress and then at the cursed Alpha beside me.

"Is everything alright?" Draven asked as he noticed my change in demeanor.

"Everything is perfect," I lied smoothly as I picked up my fork and forced a smile onto my lips.

I had to be smart. I had to learn how to play this game. And when the time was right I would burn them all down.