Chapter 1

Morwenna's stance.

"Let go of me!" I snarled, struggling against the man yanking me by my hair, his grip merciless.

Treated like a commodity to be bought, I was dragged into the dark hall. The torches burned wildly as though they were mourning the pain I felt inside of me.

I fell to the floor, the light revealing my face and other Omegas with the same fate, my wrist bound in golden chains that glittered under the touches burned against my frail skin. The dress they had forced me into; thin and frail like my soul, pure white, a symbol of everything I couldn't be and far too revealing, clung to my trembling body like a second skin.

The shadow of the torches dances around, revealing nothing more than a glimpse of the nobles seated and ready to purchase us, Omegas, considered nothing but a commodity that can be purchased and disposed of.

“How could this have happened to me? How did I end up here?” I thought to myself with my gaze fixed to the ground. “My life… It had been nothing but pain until he came along. He made everything beautiful until…"

“Lot one, one thousand gold!” The auctioneer's voice came as a roar, sharp and urgent, jolting me out of my thoughts.

The auction had begun and the girl on the first line had been dragged to the spotlight, ready to meet her fate as whatever her buyer deemed her fit for.

“Two thousand gold!”

My gaze shifted to the girl, trembling in her dress as she sobbed and pleaded for help.

“Please, don't sell me off. Please, I'll do anything you want.” Her tiny voice echoed in my head, longer than I expected, reminding me of the date that awaited me.

The man who had dragged us out approached the girl, slapped her causing her to slump her face against the cold stone floor. “Shut your mouth while I'm still being nice.” He warned in a clear and harsh voice that left no room of options.

But the girl, never giving up, sprawled, her hands jammed together. “Please, just let me go. I won't say a word.” Her face had now been bruised, tiny blood dripping from it.

“Five thousand gold!” An Alpha's voice cut in before the man could hit her again.

“Sold!” The auctioneer's voice roared with excitement. It must have been a good sale to him.

“Lot two, going for two thousand gold!” He announced, grasping my attention as I looked at the girl.

Compared to the first one, she was older with a sexy curve that made the dress on her, though flirty like rags, made her outstanding.

I guess the better, the good price.

Heat scorched through my cheeks as the eyes of the Alphas, nobles and Lycan lusted around me. I could feel their eyes roam over me, stripping me bare without so much as a touch. The lust in their talk, their gaze, the way they giggled… It all was disgusting to me that I felt the need to puke. But it was all over now.

All that little privileges I had enjoyed in the Pack; walking around free, being allowed to eat with others though it was all because of Alpha Aedric, the one who had filled my life with so much joy, as much as the sadness and doom he had brought upon me, it was all over as soon as it had come.

A year… That was the most I could get to being close to being treated like a real wolf.

The mating ceremony would have gone well… But I'm an Omega without any worth.

“Five thousand gold!”

“Seven thousand gold!” The second voice was as fast as the first one.

“Ten thousand gold!” The first noble responded, smirking slyly as he scanned the girl.

Unlike the first girl, she looked completely calm and collected, as though nothing wrong was happening.

“How can she be this calm when her life is being taken away from her without dying?” I fought the question within me, but I got no answer.

“Sold!”

Tears filled my eyes as the second girl was dragged away to her owner. It was my turn… My turn to be humiliated… AGAIN! It was my turn to be paraded as a commodity to fulfill the lust of those who ought to protect us.

Humiliation… I think we make a good team. Barely have I lived a day without it.

“Lot three.” The auctioneer's voice boomed, his oily tone making my stomach churn. “An Omega of pure lineage, untouched and fertile.”

As I dragged my feet into the stoplight and the flames of the torches dancing to the gentle songs of the breeze, I saw my family seated at the back of the hall, wanting to see another humiliation of mine. Their faces, marred with a scornful look that I grew up with, they stood there with no remorse of what they had done to me.

As my eyes locked with my twin sister's, Liora, the one Alpha Aedric had chosen over me, a sly smile tucked on my lips. I knew they were there to see me break, to watch the only Omega in their family beg to be saved, but I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. I wouldn't cry. Not here. Not in front of the family that had failed me. There, I decided I would survive.

“Oh! What revenge it would be, Liora.”

“Two thousand gold!” The auctioneer announced. As though they were waiting for me to be priced, the men adjusted their sitting, some licking their lips as they looked through my revealing dress.

“Five thousand gold!” An Alpha from a nearby Pack uttered, his voice filled with excitement like he was about to win a trophy.

“Ten thousand gold!” Another countered.

“Twelve thousand gold,” the Alpha said, his voice telling the others he wasn't going to back down.

The bids came so fast and with my gaze fixed on the floor, I wandered in my thoughts.

“If I'm truly worth this much, why did they treat me like that?”

“If I was worth this money, why did my parents hate me so much? Why did Aedric pick Liora over me, his mate?”

My wolf whimpered inside me, powerless, just as I was.

“Fifteen thousand gold!” Another raised his voice.

“Twenty thousand gold!” The Alpha roared with rage.

“Sold!" The auctioneer swiftly said, trying to avoid the war already brewing up.

“Twenty thousand gold, that's what I'm worth. That's what my life, my freedom is worth and that's all I'd ever worth to my family.”

The Alpha who I had been sold to smirked as he leaned back in his chair, cruel and fulfilled. My stomach twisted as I saw the lust in his eyes.

And then the doors opened.

The hall went silent for a second, though it felt like ages. All gaze turned to the person walking through the doorway.

Leofric Thaddeus, the Lycan King who didn't value the life of anyone, like the rumors had carried.

He walked further into the hall with slow and steady steps. But unlike the rumors, he was the opposite of what was being said. His smooth skin, elegant dressing, his broad shoulders and his wolf cut hair that fell slightly before his face, was nothing like he was rumored.

A ripple of unease swept through the crowd as he walked. No one dared to speak.

He stopped in the center of the room, inches away from me, his gaze sweeping over the assembled nobles before settling on me. His lips curved into a slow, predatory smirk and I recognized that look. It was the same look that each noble had when they looked at me, like I was a good item to be bought.

“This one is mine,” He said, his deep, sexy voice echoing through the hall.

The Alpha rose to his feet, stammering as he spoke. “B-but Your Majesty, I've already bou...”

A swift breeze swept through my face and I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. Opening my eyes, a strangled gasp cut the Alpha off as King Leofric's claws shot out, slicing through the Alpha's throat. The man crumbled to the floor, his blood pooling beneath him.

King Leofric stepped over the body as if it were nothing, his boot echoing against the floor. He sprinted back to me, towering over my trembling body.

The rumors… were true; he's a monster.

For a moment, we simply stared at each other. His gaze raked over me as if he were already claiming me.

“Untouched,” he murmured, his voice low and rich like dark velvet. His fingers reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my face. His touch sent a jolt through me, as though I had been reawakened, my breath hitching despite my desperation to remain cold.

“You think I'll submit to you?” I whispered, my voice trembling but steady.

“You will,” he smirked, glancing at me as though he had found something intriguing, his tone leaving no room for argument.

His hand cupped my chin, tilting my face up to his. The warmth of his breath burned against mine, and I hated the way my body leaned into the contact, craving more.

“You'll fight me,” he continued, his voice a dark promise. “You'll curse me, hate me. But in the end, little Omega, you'll beg for me.”

I should have spat in his face, but his thumb brushed over my lower lip, and my lips blanked. My wolf stirred inside me, yearning for his touch even as my mind screamed in protest.

He straightened, broke the spell, and turned to the auctioneer. “Unchain her,” he commanded.

The cold metal fell from my wrists, but the freedom felt hollow. I wasn't free. I had simply traded one cage for another.