Chapter 1

RILEY'S POV

"You are a shame to this Pack, Riley Cooper."

Alpha Nate's gruff tone, cold eyes searching my feeble frame made it clear this man didn't want me.

Why humiliate me?

"You don't want me. Why bother?" I dared not talk back to the Alpha of the southern territories, but not when I was on the brink of death.

Stripped and bruised to the floor with nothing but a ripped brown dress and the ache in my soul to be freed from all this.

"Why don't you just kill me?" I spat the blood in my mouth to the floor, pinning my gaze to the floor, not daring to look at Alpha Nate in his beautiful dark eyes.

His commanders looked quite impatient, glancing at their wristwatches now and then with heavy sighs as though waiting for someone to meet them at the Pack borders.

"I still think we should give her at least a last chance..."

"Oh fuck it Lance," Nate snapped at his second in command, "This whore is plainly an impostor. She has no roots whatsoever to the Wyel bloodline..."

He went abruptly silent, tossed his Cuban cigarette to the floor, stepped on it before taking large strides toward me. Nate took a fistful of my pecan hair yanking me to my feet. The pain it caused, inexplicable.

"Did you offer the goddess some sacrifices just to get fated to me?"

What? No!

I fought to say but my body fought to overcome the pain his grasp rendered to me.

"Fifty million dollars is what I'm making off of your goddamn head, you try to act smart then I'm not going to hesitate to send a silver bullet through your fuckin' head."

"What if the Northerners realize we've fooled them?" Beta Lance tried to reason, "We lied she's a listener, it's why they're buying her but this runt has no wolf."

"We didn't lie, Lance, the test results don't lie," a sly grin tugged the edges of Gamma Dane's lips, "The Northerners get to run preliminary tests. They have what they pay for, just that she'll never play the role because she has no wolf."

"She becomes their headache." Nate chuckled amusedly.

The Northern territories were known for their malevolence, cruelty, and barbarism. There certainly was no way the commanders of my Pack were heartless enough to want me off with them.

This had to be another punishment.

Nate hated to think I was fated to him. The hate and resentment I received from HornSide Pack members seemed to double the second they realized their Alpha had rejected me a few months ago.

The moon goddess never missed a beat to be funny. How in the hell did she expect an ugly and unworthy runt to be accepted by this handsome and strong Alpha? And everyone thought the goddess was smart.

The shiny cars zooming towards us at the border brought a sheer sense of accomplishment perceptible in Alpha Nate's bright eyes and broad grin.

The commanders of the HornSide pack took on a more defensive stance, their hands surreptitiously on the concealed Glocks clipped to their waistband, with their jackets over it.

My heart thumped wildly. Unsure of what was going on, with Nate's grip on my hair hardening, threatening to rip off my scalp.

They waited until the two trucks came to a halt before them and three young men, not any older than Nate and his commander, came out of the car.

The blazing sun highlights blinded my blurry vision making the approaching men appear like a perfect silhouette of three cowboys. Their hats, boots, and scarf gave an air of trouble around them.

My eyes dropped on the duffle bags in their possession as they edged closer, standing right before us.

"Prince Norman wants the girl." The man in the middle announced. His accent is quite sexy.

"You have her," Nate tugged my hair painfully making me fight to break free.

If I could escape this second then my freedom was guaranteed. But who was I kidding?

"The money?" Nate asked, greed heavy in his tone.

The guy with the duffle bags tossed them with great throws and they landed at our feet with a loud thud.

Taking wary steps, Gamma Dane approached the Goyard duffle bags. He leaned slightly over to confirm the contents of the bags.

He nodded to Nate and hoisted the bags with so much money in them one after the other to their car.

The whistle from the man in the middle had Nate shoving me in their direction.

They caught me. Before I could react, silver cuffs and chains to my neck seized and rendered me weak.

"My regards to the Prince."

Was all I heard Nate say before these men bundled me into one of their waiting cars.

Whatever they were going to do me was up to the Goddess to decide. The phone in the car rang and chimed loudly in my ears but none of them cared to answer it.

"Please don't hurt me." I sobbed in the backseat of the car, my heart thrashing erratically.

"Just go to sleep, come morning light, you'll be safe and sound."

Safe and sound?

What the heck did that even mean?

I glanced back to see if Nate and his commanders had a change of heart if they were coming for me.

Every bit of hope in me dissolved as I saw their cars disappear from my vision in the opposite direction. They didn't care.

They had quite a lot of money and they couldn't risk trouble with the Northern territories.

Prince Norman wanted me? Whatever for?

I knew who Prince Norman Edelman, son of the Lycan High King was. A brute and cruel ruler. This deception from Nate and his team was only going to cost me my life.

They absolutely were going to pay back every bit of the money they just got because the Prince wanted a Listener. I came from the Wyel bloodline, a bloodline with extraordinary hearing humanoid ability.

But I was wolfless and giftless but Prince Norman wanted me.