Chapter 2

SOLD BEFORE MIDNIGHT

"I said I'm not going."

My voice was calm, which surprised me almost as much as it seemed to surprised Selene.

She walked into my room like it belonged to her. In many ways, it did now. Her eyes moved over my tear-stained face, then to my bare wrist where my bracelet had been. A small smile flashed across her lips before she quickly hid it.

"You're going," she said. "because this family doesn't survive on your feelings, Aurelia. It survives because of opportunities, and tonight is one I'm not letting you ruin just because some boy hurt your pride."

"This isn't about Rowan."

"Really?" She tilted her head. "Your eyes are swollen from crying. Forgive me if I don't believe that."

Heat crawled up my neck. I hated that she was right and that she could read me so easily. "I don't want a mate. I don't want a king. I just want to be left alone.”

Selene gave a cold and short laugh. "Left alone? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds coming from a girl with no title, no dowry, and no future in this pack? You think the world owes you peace? It doesn't. It owes you nothing." She drew closer. Her voice became quieter, almost gentle, which was oftentimes worse than her anger.

"But if the King notices you tonight, if he shows even a bit of interest, this family could rise again. Do you understand what that would mean? We'd gain trade, protection, and a future that doesn't involve surviving on your father's fading influence."

"So that's all I am to you?" I asked. "A way to make money?"

"You're an opportunity," she corrected, as though that sounded better. "Accept that, and life will become much easier."

I looked past her and saw my father standing in the doorway with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on the floor. He hadn't said a word since Selene came into my room. He never did.

"Papa.”  I called, almost crying, small and hopeful in a way I despised myself for. "Tell her. Tell her I don't have to go.”

He glanced at me for a second and there I caught a glimpse of guilt... maybe even the father who used to tuck me into bed and tell me stories about my mother. Then it was gone.

"Selene knows what's best for the family," he said finally and walked away.

My heart shattered into pieces. I didn't cry. I'd already used up my tears on Rowan to have any remaining for my father's cowardice. Selene wasted no time. She snapped her fingers toward the wardrobe, and two servants pulled out a dress I hadn't seen in years. It was pale blue silk embroidered with tiny silver stars stitched along the hem. The fabric was so familiar that my knees nearly gave way.

"No," I whispered, reaching for it. "Not that dress."

"It's beautiful," Selene said, running a hand over the sleeve. "It'll fit you perfectly. It's a waste to let it sit in a closet collecting dust.”

"That was my mother's dress." My voice shook. "She wore it the night she met my father. She told me she'd save it for the day I found true love. Not... this. Not for situations such as this, not for some auction.”

Selene didn't react. "Memories don't pay debts, Aurelia. Put it on."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to grab the dress, lock myself in my room, and refuse to leave. But two servants were already holding my arms, and my father was gone. There was no one in the house who would fight for me except myself, and I was too broken to know how.

So I let them dress me in my dead mother's gown and I cried the whole time. Hot tears rolled down my face while Della, bless her, tried to fix my makeup after each wave of sobbing. She never uttered a word. She just kept dabbing gently at my face, her own eyes shining with unshed tears. She knew words wouldn't help.

I remembered my mother's voice as she brushed my hair before bed years ago.

True love can never be forced, little moon. It finds you when you least expect it, and it never asks you to change who you are.

I wondered what she would think if she saw me now, wearing her dress, being taken to a palace like I was livestock to be sold to a king who might not even glance my way.

By the time our carriage reached the palace, my tears were gone. I wiped my face clean, lifted my chin, and straightened my back.  I refused to let anyone see me fall apart twice in one night. Selene sat across from me, perfectly composed, and chatting in low tone with my cousin, Wren, who had come with us for reasons I still didn't understand. I caught pieces of their conversation over the rattle of the carriage wheels.

"...if he even looks at her," Selene was saying. "we start negotiating immediately. No delay. We ask for the best deal possible."

"And if he doesn't notice her?" Wren asked.

Selene shrugged. “Then we've lost nothing. She was never worth much anyway. Just a girl to dress up and show off. If it works, good. If not, we'll try again with someone more useful."

I turned to face the window before they could see the hurt on my face. To them, I wasn't a daughter. I wasn't family. I was an investment, an object to be displayed or thrown away. I held tightly onto my mother's dress. It was the only thing in that carriage that still felt like it belonged to me.

The palace came into view long before we reached the gates. Its tall towers seemed to touch the sky, golden light poured from every window, causing the whole place to glow like it was on fire from the inside. My stomach twisted. I thought I might throw up right there in my mother's dress.

The carriage rolled to a halt. Selene squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and wore the smile of a noblewoman, as if she hadn't spent the journey discussing my future like I was cargo. Wren adjusted her gloves, completely unconcerned.

I stayed seated in that spot for one last second, one last deep breath. Because once those doors opened, there would be no turning back.

True love can never be forced.

I gently wiped under my eyes, careful not to ruin the little makeup Della had managed to save. Then I straightened my back the way my mother always did whenever she entered a room that frightened her.

A footman opened the carriage door and the cool night air rushed inside, carrying the sound of music, laughter, and the voices of hundreds of guests waiting behind those huge palace doors. I climbed down onto the stone path. Selene placed a firm hand on my back, steering me forward whether I wanted to move or not.

The palace doors slowly began to open.

Warm golden light first spilled outside, revealing a grand hall filled with the most powerful wolves in the kingdom dressed in expensive jewels and fine clothes, watching every new arrival like hunters studying their prey.

Elevated above everyone else was a powerful presence that pressed heavily on my chest before I even passed the threshold…

The Lycan King himself.