Chapter 3: Her Choice

Alora's POV

The light spilling from the curtains pulled me from my sleep.

"Tomorrow, you'll be touring around the estate. Come see me for breakfast."

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling with Conrad's words swimming around my head. Right. Last night felt like a promise until he shattered my dignity. Now, I was dreading the fact that I need to stand up and face another day.

Still, the scent of black orchids haunt me like the ghost of my past.

"Aw..." When my feet reached the ground, I immediately felt the evidence of what we did last night. After what he did to me, it was a miracle that I could still move.

I groaned and sucked the pain from my lower back and my swollen center before looking at my reflection in the mirror. When I finally saw the girl staring back at me, I almost wished that the earth would just swallow me whole.

"Oh my god." I gasped when I saw the aggressive marks that covered my body like a painted canvas. As I stared at the deep violet-red marks on my skin, the memories of last night made my face flush.

I covered my face in shame as if someone was there to see me.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Miss Alora, are you awake?"

A female voice coming from the other side of the door made me jump in surprise. It sounded elegant. Old but elegant.

"Y-yes." I uttered embarrassingly small words. At first, I thought she wasn't able to hear it but her response told me otherwise.

"Can I come in?"

"In a minute!"

---

I don't really have a specific expectation of the life I will be living the day after I was sold to a stranger, but I know that it's definitely not...this

"Close your eyes please..."

The woman who knocked on my door earlier did my hair in a loose up do in complete silence that I almost felt like I was being dressed by a wandering spirit.

"Oh, okay..."

She then dabbed a powder over my face as she applied final touches of makeup over my face.

"Stand up and hold your breath." She instructed with a poker face and I awkwardly followed. She pulled the ribbon-like fabric at the back of my corset. The force almost made me faint.

But it didn't seem to bother her.

"Remember this..." When she thought that she's finally done with me, her long and slender fingers lifted my chin up to force me to look at her.

"No matter what, do not show any signs of weakness to them. Do you understand?"

I furrowed my eyebrow at her cryptic statement. My lips parted but my words were trapped at the back of my mouth.

Before I could even form one coherent thought to ask, she stepped away and eyed me from head to toe before nodding to herself like she didn't say something strange.

"The master is waiting for you downstairs. You must wear your most pleasing face when you meet him."

She started packing her things quickly, as if she wanted to leave the place as soon as possible.

"Wait...Are you leaving already?"

"Just because he bedded you, doesn't mean you get to be at ease now."

My heart started racing. No, no. She can't leave me yet.

"But I think you'll do good. Better than me, probably." She cut my sentence short while the sole of her black, shiny shoes clacked over the tiled floor of the room.

"Wait. PLEASE."

As she was halfway across the room, she halted her steps and the room was once again filled with silence. The only thing I could hear was the loud rushing of my blood through my ears.

"Who are you? Can I at least know your name?"

She angled her body to the side and the pleats of her skirt sashayed ever so gently with her tiniest movement.

When our eyes met, I noticed the crow's feet on the corner of her eyes that I didn't notice before. There was a hidden kindness, a help that was oozing out of her. I could tell that she is trying her best to hold herself back.

But why?

"Elvira. I was just like you once."

---

Conrad's POV

"Shit. Fuck." I cursed under my breath when I felt the telltale sign of my orgasm leaking out of my system.

Up and down. Up and down. I pumped my dick fast and rough as the image of the omega I bought spreading her legs wide open on my bed made its way greedily in my head.

Lavender and peaches. I've never smelled anything as delicate as her pheromones before and it's driving me mad.

I've been with many omegas before but this is the first time that some sweet pheromones almost drove me into a rut.

"Hah! What t-the fuck did you do to me." I mumbled with my eyes closed and my jaw hung open while my right hand continued to pleasure me.

"Ah! Ah...Please, Alpha!" I imagined her moaning for me, begging for me to go faster and bury my shaft deeper inside her.

I stroked the spot under the head of my dick where I felt the most pleasure like electricity running up my spine. Just a little bit more and...

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Master? Miss Alora is ready."

"Oh, come on! Damn it!" I bit the inside of my cheek until it bled.

My orgasm receded when Elvira's voice from the other side of the door annoyed the hell out of me.

"Master, are you in there?"

"YES, YES! CAN'T YOU FUCKING WAIT?"

I angrily grabbed my pants and tucked my now half-soft dick inside my underwear. I swear, one of these days, a head will roll off the ground in this house.

How many times do I have to tell these fucking servants not to disturb me when I'm inside my room?!

"Is that any way to talk to someone older than you?"

I forced the door open to see her annoying stoic eyes silently lecturing me again. She's been like that since I was young.

"Tss...Who do you think you are, my mother? Need I remind you of your place, woman?" I seethed and narrowed my eyes as I stared at her.

But as usual, she isn't fazed in the slightest. I wonder why my father couldn't just throw her away and find a new head servant.

Elvira looked at me up and down.

"Your pants are all messed up. You were touching yourself in the thought of her, are you not?" She looked at me up and down, making me cower in shame like a horny highschool boy.

"If you're going to disrespect me like that, young man, make sure to wash your hands first." She turned around before I could even open my mouth and curse her.

I clenched my hands into fists as I stared at her back. But halfway through the hall, she stopped her movements and turned to look at me with an expression she couldn't quite explain.

"Miss Alora...She's..."

I raised one eyebrow in anticipation of what she's about to say about my new toy. But a few beats of silence have passed and she didn't speak any further.

"Never mind."

What a strange bitch.

---

Alora's POV

"So, how are you enjoying your stay?"

Conrad tilted his head to the side as he rolled up his sleeves and sipped his black coffee quietly. Just like last night, he wears the same predatory smile as he analyzes me with a smug expression.

"Is Elvira treating you nicely?"

I didn't speak.

Instead, I took a tiny bite of the fruit pie in front of me while I observed my surroundings. I couldn't swallow it. I can't breathe through the corset and the size of the mansion is suffocating me.

So this is the estate, huh? High ceiling, expensive dining wares, and a table as long as a bus with only the two of us sitting over both ends.

"Cat got your tongue? Where was the girl who was screaming my name last night?"

My face instantly heated up at his words. I cleared my throat and shook my head to will out the dirty images starting to crawl their way up.

"What do you want from me?"

He scoffed before bringing down his coffee cup and slicing a piece of bacon. "I told you, you are going to be my--"

"Slave. Yes! I know that. But slaves don't dress and wear makeup. They don't eat something expensive for free." I reeled back, the sound of the chair dragging backwards echoed inside the dining hall. My chest heaved up and down as adrenaline coursed through my veins. "Slaves don't have slaves of their own."

"Tell me, what exactly...is this?"

He stared at me with all seriousness for a good three seconds before he stood up and walked closer to where I stand...at an excruciatingly slow speed.

The sound of his leather shoes clanking over the tiles was torture.

"Hmmm. Did you know, your family owes us money."

"What?!" I felt a lump in my throat begin to form at the mention of my family. That can't possibly be true. Sure, we're poor but--

"And it's not just us. It's probably why they were hunted and killed in the first place." So he did check on me before buying me.

"L-liar." My voice sounded weak but determined. When Conrad reached the edge of the table, he leaned backwards and pulled me closer to him to stand between his legs.

"You were supposed to be a dead meat by now if it wasn't for me." He smirked, tucking a stray strand of my hair at the back of my ears. I swallowed hard, ignoring the fact that our faces are so close I could smell black orchids again.

"Get away from me." I protested weakly but he ignored me.

"This is how it's going to be. Yes, you are going to be my slave which means you will do everything I want. EVERYTHING." He made sure to emphasize his last word.

"And if I want you to wear expensive dresses and eat expensive food, and have a slave of your own, you will suck everything up and obey me."

Soon, I felt something sharp and long graze the skin of my neck. When I looked down, terror washed over my system when I realized that he's holding a knife over my throat.

"Or else, I will slice your throat open and let your blood paint my white walls red." He leaned forward and kissed me on my temples. "But I won't let you die. I'll nurse you back to life and repeat it over and over again."

This fucking psychopath.

"Or..." He suddenly pulled the sharp object away from my throat and laughed teasingly, hands in the air. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My strength left my body and I collapsed on top of him.

With such irony, Conrad soothed my back and cradled my head despite the dagger that is his words.

"...you could pretend to be my fiance and let me fuck you hard until you're pregnant with my pups."

My eyes widened in shock and I looked up to meet his gaze. "What?"

"And give me your whole life."

He chuckled low, kissing me on the forehead. It was a curse, a symbol of my suffering.

"The choice is yours, baby."