Chapter 3: I’ll come back for you

549’s POV

"You’ll never return to us."

Twelve’s words echoed in my head. The dread tinged with melancholy made it sound more like a sentencing than a prediction.

I stood on the far end of the line, my gaze on the floor, my shoulders squared, chest pushed out—just the way we were taught.

My body was clad in a thin body hugging dress, the white material barely concealing my naked body underneath.

My blonde hair descended down my shoulders in waves, reaching just above my butt.

This was it. My first auctioning.

The door pushed open—

And the air shifted.

A presence filled the quiet room, something dark contrasting against the brightness of the room.

The air itself became thicker, harder to breathe.

The Alpha had arrived.

My pulse quickened, every nerve in my body reacting in a way I didn’t understand.

“These are the newly passed candidates, My King.”

My king?!

No.

No.

I shut my eyes, praying to the moon goddess that I was hearing things.

That I wasn’t standing in the presence of the King.

If he answered, I didn’t hear him.

Instead, I heard footsteps.

I had braced myself for this moment, practiced alone in my room. But in that moment, everything disappeared. My limbs felt like paper, my insides growing hot.

The closer he got, the faster my heart raced.

Please goddess, don’t let him reach the end. Please don’t let him pick me.

I balled my fists, trying to stop the tremble. I can’t be picked. I don’t want to be picked.

A strong pressure pressed in on me, so dark and heavy, it made goosebumps rise on my skin.

I caught the intoxicating scent of pine and amber, making my skin tingle.

The closer he got, the stronger the pressure became.

He took his sweet time, the sound of his shoes against the polished marble echoing louder, and louder.

Closer, and closer.

My heart threatened to explode. My knees threatened to give out.

And my breathing ceased.

Finally, a pair of dark men shoes came into view.

I shut my eyes, and opened them.

This was it.

Please walk past, please walk past, please—

The shoes disappeared from view.

My eyes stung, and I finally let go of the breath I was holding. He walked past, he didn’t—

“Everyone, get out.”

A smile curved on my lips, and I turned to leave with the others, a spring in my steps.

Till his dark, rich voice spoke again, shattering my very soul.

“Not you, smiley.”

Smiley.

Before I could think twice, a strong hand wrapped around my wrist, pulling me back harshly till I was flushed against a hard chest.

My heart sank to the bottomless pit of my stomach. The tears of relief bled into helplessness and pain.

“Look at me,” he commanded, his voice cold.

I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

My body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t obey me.

He pressed two fingers underneath my chin, and tilted my head up till I locked gaze with a pair of stormy grey eyes.

In that instant, something sizzled between us, something sharp that made the hairs on the back of neck stand.

My breathing stopped completely, and I was sucked in till the world melted away and it was just the two of us.

For the first time, I noticed the electricity his touch ignited, the pure fire beneath my skin.

His grey eyes bled into a shade I couldn’t recognize, those beautiful orbs swirling with something ugly.

Hate.

He pushed me away like I burned him.

I stumbled back, whatever trance I was in shattering at my feet.

“No fucking way!” He roared, his eyes blazing with unrestrained fury.

“No fucking way a human is my mate.”

MATE.

The tears had started flowing by now. A choked sound escaped my throat.

“What is this?” He hissed, “a cruel joke?”

I’d like to know too!

I’d like to know why the goddess had been cruel enough to pair me with a wolf! To pair me with—

“I—I,” my voice trembled.

His gaze shot to mine, and I almost lost my train of thoughts, almost lost my courage.

But I needed to do this. It was the only way, it was a long shot but I had to try.

“I reject you.” I said through clenched teeth.

Silence stretched between us.

He stood unmoving, his grey eyes somehow growing darker, his face twisting into something animalistic and his aura—

It choked me.

Yet, I didn’t waver.

My heart pounded against my ribcage, sweat rolled down my back, yet I didn’t falter.

His eyes—slowly—drifted down my body, down my barely concealed chest, down my tight stomach, stopping briefly at my core and—

Sniffing.

Before his eyes snapped back to me.

This time, something swirled in those eyes. A primal desire that made me shudder.

He closed the space between us in one long stride.

“I don’t want you,” he declared darkly, his body towering over my trembling form. “But make no mistake,” he leaned in, till I could smell the mint on his breath, could see the white rings in his eyes.

“You don’t get to reject me.”

His gaze traveled to my lips, and for a moment I thought he would do it, for a crazy—reckless— moment I wondered what it’ll feel like if he did.

He straightened, his expression going blank.

I knew what was coming next, braced myself for it.

“You’ve been picked.”

Bike rose up to my throat, and this time, I couldn’t force myself to stay upright.

I crumbled to the ground.

“I’ll come back for you.”

He turned, and walked out the door, leaving me a broken mess on the floor.

And just like that, my fate was sealed.

I’ve been picked.