BOUND BY CRUELTY

Selena

"You belong to me now."

Lucian's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. The words echoed in my mind as I stood in the center of the Bloodfang Pack's courtyard, my hands locked into fists at my sides. The pack members surrounded me, their eyes wide with interest, amusement, and, in some cases, sympathy.

I was just an object here. A substitute. A weakling brought in to repay a debt. Everyone knew it.

Lucian strode in front of me, his piercing blue gaze never leaving mine. "From now on, you will do what I say, when I say it. There’d be no questions, No hesitation."

I swallowed hard and nodded. I didn't trust my ability to speak.

His lips twisted. "Pathetic."

A murmur spread through the crowd. I could feel the weight of their glances and silent giggles as they watched the show. The powerful Alpha Lucian is putting his new 'property' in her place.

"Take her to the servants' quarters," he told one of the guards. "She will work alongside the rest of them. No special treatment."

I felt my stomach drop, but I forced myself to stay still. There was no point in fighting. Not now.

As the guard grabbed my arm and hauled me away, I received a final sight of Lucian. His demeanor was unreadable, but his eyes—those wicked, piercing eyes—showed nothing but scorn.

---

Days passed, and I did what I was told. Cleaning. Cooking. Serving. A shadow of a human moved through the Bloodfang Pack's hallways as if I did not exist.

And then it occurred.

Everything changed at that moment.

I was taking a tray of food to Lucian's office when a sharp ache surged through my chest. It wasn't just pain; it was fire, scorching through my veins and blurring my vision.

I gasped and grabbed the tray as the plates wobbled. The air became heavy and stifling, and suddenly I smelled it.

Sandalwood. Dark musk. His fragrance is unmistakable.

Lucian.

I staggered back, my breath catching. No. No, no.

This cannot be happening.

The door to his office flung open, and he appeared. His face scrunched in uncertainty, and his eyes darkened as the same conclusion struck him.

The tray fell from my grasp, crashing unto the floor.

Lucian's nostrils flared and his jaw tightened. "No."

I could not move. I could not breathe. This was not possible. Fate couldn't be so terrible.

"You—" His words came out choked, full of something I couldn't identify. He shook his head, took a step forward, and then stopped. "No."

I wasn't sure what to say. What can I say? That I felt it, too? That my entire universe had just crumbled around me?

He hissed quietly and dangerously. "You can't be my mate."

I winced, the words cutting deep into my chest.

"You are weak. A useless beta from a pathetic pack."

Tears seared the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them flow. "Lucian—"

"Don't say my name," he demanded. "You mean nothing to me."

The room swirled. My stomach turned. I knew he despised me, but this? This was worse than I had imagined.

He turned to face the assembled pack members, his voice booming out with finality. "This doesn't affect anything. She's still only a servant. She is still nothing."

The murmurs changed to laughter. The weight of their mockery devastated me, yet I held my head up high.

Lucian returned my gaze with a stone-cold face. "Get out of my sight."

I bent my head and turned to walk away before the first tear dropped.

But as I walked, the weight of everything struck me at once. The stinging whispers, laughing, and cruel comments did not hurt as much as the truth I now had to accept.

Lucian was my mate. And he despised me.

My mind was racing with questions that I had no answers to. Why was fate so cruel? Why? After everything I'd gone through, was I handed to a man who only wanted to see me suffer?

I had a childhood dream of finding my mate. It was the only thing that had offered me hope, the only way out in my darkest days.

Alpha Adrian had beaten me down, Lilith had harassed me, and my own sister, Helena, had accused me of murdering our parents due to my alleged cursed nature. I'd spent my entire life unloved and undesired.

But I still hoped. I hoped that when my mate found me, he would take me away from everything. That he would see me for who I was, rather than what the world had made me.

And now this.

I bit down hard on my lip, determined not to cry or shatter. Not here. Not in front of them.

Lucian's enmity sealed my doom.

But was this really it? Was there hope at all?

I continued going, but one thought persisted in my mind: a query that clawed at me fiercely.

Will Lucian ever accept me?