Chapter 1

Rilla’s POV

"We finally hit the jackpot, Robbin. This bitch is a pureblood."

The voice drifted through the heavy basement door, landing on me like a weight. I lay still on a thin, stained mattress, staring at the gray ceiling. Through the cracks in the door, I could see the flicker of fluorescent lights from the room next door. It was a makeshift lab, a place filled with the hum of machines and the sharp scent of antiseptic.

Jackpot.

That was me. To them, I was just a paycheck. For the last six years, I had been many things. A nameless captive. A body to be used. A slave. They had thrown every ugly word in the book at me, but hearing them call me a bitch felt almost soft compared to the reality of my life.

The truth was, I had nearly forgotten my own name. I used to have one that sounded like a song, something sweet and light, but that girl died a long time ago.

"A pureblood? River, are you high?" Robbin’s voice was sharp with doubt. "Those don't exist anymore."

"I am dead serious," River replied. I could hear the excitement in his breath, the kind of awe a man has when he finds a chest of gold. "Her gene purity is off the charts. I ran the tests three times because I didn't believe the screen. Look at these numbers. It is unreal."

A heavy silence followed. I could imagine them leaning over a monitor, their eyes wide as they stared at my DNA.

"Holy shit," Robbin breathed out. "Do you know what this means? If the Alphas find out we have her, they will tear each other apart just to get to us. She is a walking fortune."

I closed my eyes. A pureblood she-wolf.

It was the same shock I felt six years ago when the truth first came out. My grandparents had raised me on a diet of lies. They told me I was a mistake, a weak hybrid between a human and a wolf who would never shift. They told me I was nothing so that I would stay hidden. They wanted to protect me, but the lie shattered on my sixteenth birthday. That was the day my blood woke up. That was the day my life ended.

Sometimes I wondered if things would have been better if the world knew what I was from the start.

Probably not. My grandparents knew exactly what happened to girls like me. If the Great Packs had found me, I wouldn't have been sold to traffickers in back alleys. Instead, I would have been a prize for the Alphas. They would have signed treaties over my body. They would have argued about who got to claim me first and who would father my first pup.

The only difference was the decor. Instead of a cold basement, I would be in a room with silk curtains and gold bars. I would be a breeder instead of a slave. In the end, I would still be a prisoner.

That is the curse of being a pureblood. We are legends now because the men of our kind were too stupid to keep us alive. They were cruel and reckless. They treated women like property until there were no pure bloodlines left to carry on the race. Now, the werewolves are dying out.

The Alphas are too strong for human women or half-breeds. Those women die in childbirth, their bodies unable to handle the power of a true Alpha heir. Only a pureblood can survive the mating. Only a pureblood can give them the sons they need to rule.

"We start the auction tonight," Robbin said, his voice reaching a fever pitch. "I want billions for this one. I am sending out the invites to the top packs now."

"Do it," River said. "I will go prep her. I’ll keep her drugged so she stays quiet. We don't need her screaming when her new owners show up."

________________________________________

The basement felt colder by evening. They didn't drag me out; they rolled me out in a wheelchair. My limbs felt like lead, heavy and useless from the sedatives they pumped into my veins. I could see everything, but I couldn't move a finger.

They parked me in a small side room. A large screen on the wall showed a live feed of the auction hall upstairs. It was a room full of men in expensive suits, men who looked like kings. Each one was an Alpha, and each one was there to bid on the rarest thing in the world.

"Look at them," a nurse whispered next to me. She was there to make sure I didn't choke or die before the check cleared. "They all want you. You should feel proud."

I wanted to laugh, but my throat was too dry. I didn't want to be a treasure. I wanted to be dead, but my blood was too strong to let me go that easily.

The door to the room banged open. River and Robbin rushed in, looking like they had seen a ghost. Robbin was pacing, his face pale and sweaty.

"What is the problem now?" Robbin hissed. "Those Alphas are waiting. If we mess this up, they will kill us."

River held up a tablet, his hands shaking. "I found more records. Old texts about her specific bloodline. It is a disaster, Robbin. She can only breed with her fated mate. If anyone else tries, she won't conceive. It won't work."

Robbin stopped pacing and stared at him. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady. "Listen to me. We know that. But they don't. By the time they figure out she isn't getting pregnant, we will be on the other side of the world with five billion dollars. We just need to get through tonight."

River looked at me, then back at his partner. He nodded slowly. "Right. It’s better than dying tonight."

My heart gave a painful thud against my ribs.

Fated mate.

The words felt like a physical blow. A face flashed in my mind, a memory I had tried to bury under years of trauma. I saw cold, dark eyes and a mouth curled in a sneer of pure hatred. He was the man who had looked at me like I was dirt beneath his boots.

Out of everyone in the world, why did it have to be him?

I thought I was empty. I thought the traffickers had beaten every feeling out of me over the last six years. I was wrong. I could still feel one thing. It burned in my chest, hot and sharp.

Hate.

I hated him more than I hated the men who held me captive now. I hated him for what he did, and I hated the bond for choosing him.

A loud voice boomed from the screen, snapping me back to the present. The auctioneer was standing on a stage, a wide grin on his face.

"The bidding is closed," the man announced. "The winners of the draw, with a staggering bid of five billion dollars, are the leaders of the Iron-Vail Pack. Alpha Philip and his four sworn mate-brothers."

Iron-Vail.

The room seemed to spin. I couldn't breathe. The air felt like it had turned to concrete in my lungs. I forced my eyes toward the screen. There they were. The faces of the men who had destroyed my life. The winners.

"Congratulations, honey," the nurse chirped, oblivious to the fact that I was suffocating. "You just made us very rich. You’re going to a very powerful home."

I didn't hear her. All I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears. The sedative was wearing off just enough for the panic to set in.

I can't go with them. I have to die. I have to run.

"Get her ready," Robbin barked, grabbing the back of my wheelchair. "The Alphas are coming downstairs to collect their prize."