Chapter 5

THE GIRL THEY SOLD

The ballroom had gone so mute that I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.

Hundreds of wolves watched as my stepmother shamelessly bargained over my future, and no one, not one single person in that crowd, said a word to prevent her.

"Land along the eastern border," Selene was saying. "The Ashthorne holdings have suffered for years. We want lots of gold to clear our debts and sufficient supplies to last three winters."

"Stop," I interrupted her. "Please, someone stop this."

No one attempted to. My eyes searched the crowd until they found my father standing near the platform. My chest ached badly, I could barely breathe.

"Papa." I pleaded in the voice of a little girl instead of the grown woman I was. "Please… tell her to stop. Tell them I'm not for sale."

He looked at me and I held onto hope that this time he'd rescue me, that he might finally be the father who protected me instead of the one who let Selene run our house into ruin. But then, he averted his gaze  from mine, and uttered nothing at all. He simply lowered his head again. A man who had given up fighting for anything ages ago.

Inside of me went cold. Even Rowan's betrayal hadn't hurt this much. Beside me, Kael was so stiff with anger that I could feel the rage coming from him.

"This is not a negotiation," he said, in a low and dangerous tone, cutting Selene off. "She is not a merchandise to be bought or sold."

"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Selene replied, dipping into another shallow curtsy, "the ancient laws are clear. When the King's mate comes from another pack, her family receives compensation. I'm only asking for what tradition allows."

"Tradition," Kael repeated.

I watched him war with himself and clench his fists. Part of me hoped he would refuse and that he might tell Selene what he thought of her greed in the company of the whole court. Rather, he took a slow breath and forced himself under control.

"Give them what the law requires," he directed at Roderic, not breaking eye contact with me. "The gold, land… whatever is needed to end this.”

"Kael." I called in disbelief. "You're doing it too. You're paying for me like I'm a commodity you bought.”

He faced me fully then. "I'm following a tradition I don't agree with, so that this ends and I can get you away from these people.

I'm not buying you, Aurelia. I'm making sure no one can ever say I took you by force.”

I didn't believe him. I couldn't, not with Selene's eyes lighting up like a woman who'd just won the only prize she'd ever wanted, not while servants counted piles of gold behind me, not with my own father avoiding my eyes.

When the last of the arrangements were confirmed, I snapped and wrenched my arm free of the guard steadying me and turned around towards the crowd, my whole body shaking with rage such that the tears I wanted to cry disappeared.

"I hate you," I shouted, and my voice rang out in the ballroom. No one could pretend not to hear it. "All of you. I hate this family. I hate this pack. I hate every single person who stood here and watched this happen without saying a word.”

No one answered. They dare not.

Kael unfastened the heavy royal cloak from his own shoulders, and draped it gently around me. The fabric was warm and impossibly heavy on my trembling frame. His hands lingered too long at my collarbone, careful, and tender.

"Come," he urged. "Let's get you away from here."

I let him guide me toward the doors because I had no strength left to fight him with, my legs moved on instinct alone while my mind  kept replaying the image of my father looking away from me.

At the threshold, I paused and looked back one last time.

Selene was now surrounded by servants who were counting gold into a chest, Wren was beside her, both of them delighted with satisfaction. My father hadn't moved. I searched his face for any sign of regret, any sign that some part of him wanted to call my name and tell me to come home.

He never lifted his eyes. The last thread connecting me to the family I used to believe cut.  I got to know then, that I no longer had a home to return to.

I let Kael lead me out into the cold night air, down the palace steps toward a beautiful royal. It was grander than any I had ever seen. My eyes burned with tears I refused to shed.

"I will never accept this," I said to Kael as he helped me inside. "I will never call myself your Queen and I will never forgive what happened tonight, not you, not them, not any of it.”

Kael studied me for a while. "I don't expect your forgiveness tonight," he said. "But I intend to earn it someday."

I faced the window, watching the palace grow smaller as the carriage wheeled away, and the lights of the ballroom fade into the darkness along with everything I had once called home.

---

From the shadows in the palace's western archway, a man watched as the royal carriage rolled through the gates and vanished into the night. He had witnessed the entire spectacle without being seen, exactly the way he preferred.

He let a slow smile spread across his face.

"So," he murmured to himself. "My brother has finally found his mate." His mind was already turning the night's events into an opportunity. His silver eyes glinted with mischief. "And she's going to help me take his throne.”