CHAPTER 1

EMILY'S POV

It was the eve of my eighteenth birthday - the most important day in the life of every girl at Royal High, the day I would say goodbye to the school i had been trained in for the past seventeen years, and finally become the star I was born to be.

I could still remember Lady Marigold's words to me at our last music rehearsal a few hours ago.

"You're the greatest asset we have here, Emily," She had whispered in my ears. "Tomorrow is the day you will become a star."

I just couldn't wait for the day to be done. I rolled and turned in my bed, lost in my daydream of life as a star. I could already see myself on stage at a sold out concert, with hundreds of thousands of fans screaming my name. The thought of everything made me giggle in excitement, and I stood up from my bed at once.

I stared down at my reflection in the mirror hanging from the wall and I smiled. At seventeen, I was easily one of the prettiest girls that Royal High had ever produced. All the lords and ladies that instructed us daily never failed to remind me of that fact.

I combed my long, jet black hair for a while and applied light makeup, just as we had been taught to do. It was a few minutes to 7 and it was time for our dinner.

I looked up to see that my best friend, Karen was still snoring lazily on the bunk bed on top of mine. She was drooling saliva all over my bed and I sighed at the thought of having to wash my sheets a third time in just two days.

"Karen!" I called.

I grabbed her arm and pulled it in an attempt to wake her up but she did not budge. I was not surprised however as I knew Karen was a very deep sleeper.

Deep down, I felt a bit of pity for her. Lady Marigold always spoke to me about Karen. According to the lady, she had a lot of potential to become a very big star as well, but she was being very adamant and unwilling to learn.

Karen had too many unladylike manners to be a star. She chewed with her mouth wide open, drooled, slept like a log of wood and didn't even know how to apply her makeup properly.

Lady Marigold had tried to get her to learn through me but she never showed any interest.

"Karen!"

I pulled harder this time and she woke up with a start.

"It's time for dinner. I've been trying to wake you for hours!"

Karen muttered something inaudible before jumping off her bunk and down to the floor.

"Yeah, let's get going," She muttered, rubbing her eyes.

"Wouldn't you have a bath first or - "

Karen ignored me and made for the door, and I followed her without another word. We got to the dining hall in a few minutes and as we settled down to eat, I saw Lady Marigold walk in, beaming with smiles.

I knew she was headed for my table as usual. Of course, I was her favorite student. When she stopped at my table eventually, I held my head up high with pride as I expected her to laud me with praises as usual. I was shocked however, as she didn't even spare me a glance. She whispered something in the ears of a little girl on our table before making her way out of the dining hall.

That was strange. Lady Marigold never missed an opportunity to have a word with me, to remind me that I was Royal High's brightest gem, and to encourage me to keep behaving very well.

I rose up from the table at once and I went outside the dining in search of the lady. She seemed to be in a serious discussion with some people that I could recognize very well. Most of them were the Lords and Ladies that instructed us at Royal High, while a few faces were unfamiliar.

"Lady Marigold!" I called.

She looked up at me and I noticed that her face got clouded immediately.

"Emily!"

She rose up to her feet and excused herself from the meeting before coming over to meet me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I - I - I thought you wanted to see me," I stammered.

She shook her head and patted me across my back.

"You're all set for tomorrow, I presume?" She asked.

I nodded glumly and she smiled at me.

"That's great. You should have your dinner and go to bed. You'll need all the energy you can get for the party tomorrow."

My eyes lit up immediately. "Party?"

"Did you really think we would let our brightest star go without a send forth party?" She said and chuckled.

I blushed at her words and deep down, I felt a bit relieved. However, a part of me still felt like something was not right.

"I noticed the new girl at my table," I muttered. "I hope she's not giving you any trouble. You know I can mentor her if you liked and - "

"Emily!"

Her face was red with anger now and I realized that I had crossed the line.

"I would not hear a word from you again!" She thundered. "Now, go and have your dinner!"

I tried to apologize but she wasn't having any of it. She hushed me with a finger to her lips before heading back to the meeting.

I remained rooted to the spot for a few seconds. I couldn't believe my eyes. In all my life at Royal High, this was the first time that Lady Marigold was raising her voice at me.

Something was not right.

I couldn't concentrate throughout dinner. I tried to eat, but I had lost my appetite. All the excitement I had felt for my birthday was gone in a flash, and it was now replaced with a gnawing feeling that something was not right. But what exactly?

Karen noticed the shift in my mood and she tapped me gently.

"What's wrong, Emily?" She asked. "Where did you go?"

"Lady Marigold," I muttered. "She's mad at me."

Karen glared hard at me like I was crazy.

"Lady Marigold gets mad at everyone!"

"Except me, remember?" I frowned. "Something seems off about her today."

Karen shrugged and continued dissecting the chicken on her plate with a knife, but just then, a crazy idea hit me - I was going to spy on her.

I so badly needed to know what had caused the shift in her attitude towards me, and it was my curiosity that drove me out of the dining hall and to the door of the council room that night.

I placed my ears on the door and listened. The room was quiet for a while and just when I decided to give up, I heard a faint laugh.

"Don't you think your little pet is a bit overpriced?"

It was one of our teachers, Lord Helsing. He was one of the few teachers who for some reason didn't seem to like me.

"She's not," I heard Lady Marigold argue. "The starting price for her auction should be a hundred thousand dollars and nothing less!"

Auction? What were they talking about?

"Emily's a good deal really," Lady Marigold continued. "She has the body that every Alpha would want in his bed. Don't get me started on her angelic voice. That whore would make us rich!"

My hands trembled and my breathing quickened as I heard them talk about me. They were planning to auction me off as a breeder to some Alpha? All the promises of becoming a star upon turning eighteen were all lies!

I felt a sharp pain in my chest and I crashed to the floor. The weight of the betrayal was too much for me to bear. I had been deceived all my life.

The door swung open immediately and my eyes locked with Lord Helsing's. He chuckled when he saw me and he motioned for the others to come.

"I think you'd like to see this, Lady Marigold," He sneered.

She walked up to me and I could see the shock on her face when our eyes met.

"Your million dollar pet has been eavesdropping on our conversation," He said.

Lady Marigold's eyes were burning with anger now and that was all I needed to confirm the truth - they were actually planning to auction me tomorrow.

"Guards!" She barked. "Lock this girl up in the cellar at once. I want your best men watching her all through the night. Make sure she doesn't escape."

It all seemed like a dream to me. I flailed and kicked wildly as the guards dragged me away.

"You lied to me!" I screamed. "You lied!"

But my voice was drowned out by the excited chatter of over a thousand girls in the dining hall.

The guards tossed me like a rag doll into a room and shut the door.

"Try to stay alive till dawn," One of the guards said before walking away.

I screamed and cried for help but it was useless. No one could hear me. In just a few minutes, my life had taken an unexpected turn, and now I was no longer counting down to my eighteenth birthday, but to the beginning of my life as a breeder.