CHAPTER ONE

Elara’s POV

The cold ground scraped against my knees as they shoved me forward. My hands and legs were bound in shackles, and it was throbbing from the pressure that had been applied to them. 

It wasn't even a silver chain—the slight mockery telling me that I don't deserve to be treated like the rest but they were right. 

Every breath I took was mixed with blood, fear and shame. I tried not to lift my head and I didn't need to. I already knew what was waiting for me. 

As I entered the huge hall, I could feel all sets of cruel eyes on me. I stepped on a weighing scale, and someone took my weight like a piece of meat that was to be sold. 

Maybe that was because I was being sold–like a piece of property to be owned. 

The thick scent of alcohol and testosterone that filled the room clung onto me like air. I could feel the greedy and dirty stares which lingered on my body. 

My silver hair fell like a curtain, which hid the bruises on my cheek. It helped me protect what little of me was remaining. 

“Next!” The auctioneer’s voice rang out across the hall and just like that I was pushed up to the stage and the hall erupted into a fit of laughter. 

The auctioneer’s hammer sounded across loudly and it brought the room to a still. 

“The next purchase for you able gentlemen is a steal. She is an omega, twenty-five, she is also pure–is a virgin….”

“Ohhhh……” the hall erupted with dirty snarls coming from the most powerful people from the state. 

I looked up to see the auctioneer smirk, as he continued, “and to add to all this, her wolf hadn't awoken.” 

The hall erupted into laughter. I heard someone scoffing hard , as I raised my head I felt something thick and liquid landing on me. 

Someone spat on me and his voice followed, “you are useless….”

“She can't even shift. What is the point?” Another barked out.

“She is worthless.” another said 

I bit on my tongue as I tried to stop myself from crying here. It would only give them the satisfaction they wanted. 

After all the insults and mockery, the auctioneer continued, “ she belonged to the bloodridge pack.” the auctioneer walked towards me, yanking my chains towards him. His hands lifted my chin up, roughly, as his fingers brushed through my bruises, making me flinch in pain. 

“She was the property of Alpha Cole and his son was to be her fated mate but she was so worthless, that he rejected her and now she is here–she is dead weight, so you don't have to worry about anyone coming to look for this one.”

The hall erupts again into another fit of laughter and mockery. 

Jackson’s face flashed through my mind and the way he had looked at me. It was like it wasn't more than the dirt on his boot and when he said those words, “I reject you, Elara Moonridge and you will never be mine.” 

My heart dropped so hard when I heard it and prayed the rejection would kill me there and there but for Astrid sake, it didn't. 

“Opening bid…” the auctioneer’s voice brought me back to my cruel reality.

It was silence…..no one moved an inch to bid and I felt truly useless and as the moment passed, then–

“Five hundred silver coins,” I heard a cracked voice. 

The crowd gasped and my head unintentionally jerked up and it was my life that went from bad to worse.

Alpha Ragnar—of course he would want me. 

Terror coiled around my gut like a life snake. Everyone knew what Ragnar did to his little Omega slaves. The ones he brought back to his pack and never survived, 

He used them as sex slaves and the mere thought of him underneath me made me want to throw up. 

The auctioneer smiled, “do I hear more?” 

But it was silent–no one spoke, nothing. 

It was like I could hear the heartbeat of my own heart. I could feel the acid taste of helplessness on the tongue. 

“Going once—” the auctioneer said out loud 

“Two thousand silver coins.” A little quiet, razor–edged voice from the back. The voice sliced through the room like a blade. My head turned and my breath was caught.

My crowd parted and it revealed a man in a dark cloak. He stood up and walked forward, not in a hurry, taking his sweet time. He got to the counter top and dropped a bag filled with coins.

Everyone in the room gasped as he pulled down his hood. I felt my world shift. My day went from bad to worse.

Alpha Kael Draven—The Cold Wolf. He was the Alpha of the biggest and most feared pack in the state, the midnight Fang pack. 

Why would will someone like that want me?

“Wait, what? That’s three times the value?” Someone's voice rang out from the crowd. 

“She is a cursed wolf…” another person said. 

“Her wolf is dead, Alpha Kael.” Another said but Kael said nothing as his eyes lingered on me. His cold golden eyes made me shiver.

“Chains..” his cold voice rang through the hall.

The auctioneer blinked back, his shocked expression seen, “what?”

Kael’s gaze didn't waver, “Tighten the chains. She belongs to me now.

The chains tightened painfully around my wrists, biting into my bruised skin as Kael’s enforcers stepped forward. The crowd was silent now, breath held, unsure if they were witnessing a purchase or the beginning of a war.

Kael’s cold eyes never left mine, and as he stepped onto the stage, towering over me, he leaned down, his breath brushing my ear.

“I didn’t buy you to save you, Elara,” he whispered. “Get ready to experience the horrors of life.” 

A sharp tug pulled me to my feet, my legs trembling beneath the weight of fear and chains. Kael’s grip was ice on my skin. As he turned, dragging me behind him, the hall split in silence.

Then a single voice rang out—

“She’s not yours, Kael. She’s mine.”