ANMELDEN549’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.Seven’s POV His mouth claimed mine like he’d been waiting for permission he never planned to ask for. Hard, certain, no gentleness in the first press—just heat and the salt of sweat and the sharp edge of whatever had been eating at him for days. I made a sound against his lips, half protest, half something far less controlled, and his arm tightened around my waist until there was no space left between us.The training yard, the dummy, the scattered straw—all of it disappeared. There was only the solid wall of his chest and the way his other hand came up to grip the back of my neck, tilting my head so he could take the kiss deeper. My heart beat thrummed faster in my chest. His tongue slid against mine and I opened for him without thinking, tasting iron and exhaustion and the low, dangerous hunger he’d been holding back.I didn’t pull away. This was a bad idea but fuck it, I wanted him. I fisted the damp fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer even as my mind tried to remind me w
Seven's POVThree days without Five, and the room had gone wrong.Her bed was still made. Her half of the window was still bare. Fifty sat cross-legged on the floor with a bowl of cold stew in her lap, staring at it as if it might tell her something."She hasn't sent word," Fifty whispered."She can't.""She could. She's clever." Fifty set the bowl down. "Which means either she's being watched too closely, or she's learning something she can't risk sending.""Or he's hurt her.""Elvis doesn't hurt people." Fifty's mouth twisted. "He makes them grateful."I pressed my palms against my knees."I can't sit here.""You can't walk into his wing either.""I know that.""Seven.""I know," I emphasized on the last part stubbornly, needing her to understand. Fifty watched me. She had grown quieter since Greywater, but her eyes had sharpened, and they missed nothing now."You're not only angry about Five," she observed.I said nothing."Everyone heard about what happened with the Beta.""Don't
Five's POV The companion arrived with the dawn. She had the usual stillness of every typical slave. But something stuck out to me. Her perfectly cut bob. Not a strand out of place, not even at the ends. It framed her face neatly, giving her an appearance that seemed almost too deliberate for someone in her position. She carried a tray with both hands. "My lady," she greeted, setting the tray down. I studied her. This was the one who had reported Seven's approach before it was finished, the one Seven had described. Elvis had assigned his most loyal servant. Of course he had. "Thank you," I smiled warmly. "Lord Elvis asked me to see that you eat,” her eyes flicked up, bright and wary. "He said you'd been on the road for a while. He worries for you." "Does he?" "He worries about everyone," she said simply, and I heard that she meant it. "He doesn't like people to go hungry." Her answer came without hesitation. There was no uncertainty in her voice, no attempt to flatte
Five's POV Elvis's wing smelled of lavender and beeswax. That was the first thing that unsettled me. I had braced for iron and damp stone, for a cell with a drain in the floor. Instead the guards left me in a corridor lined with pale carpet. A woman opened the door, dressed in a soft grey dress. "Your room, my lady," she bowed, as though I were a guest. I blinked, but hid my surprise. I didn't bother correcting her. It was a trap. I knew it was. I nodded and stepped into the room cautiously, that heat still in my chest, searching for an exit. The woman stepped out, shutting the door behind her and leaving me alone. The room was beautiful. It had a real bed with a quilted cover, a window with glass in it, looking over a walled garden. A washbasin with warm water already steaming, a tray of bread and cheese and sliced pears, a book left open on the writing desk. I crossed to it and read the spine. A pre-war herbal. It wasn't written in the old language like mo
Five’s POVIt was not close.Eleven of them were for. Four was against. Two abstaining. The chamber exhaled like a single animal.And I felt my heart squeeze painfully in my chest. Eleven.Eleven people had looked at me, considered what was to be done with me, and decided that I could be handed over like a piece of property.Just like that.No questions about what I wanted. No consideration for what might happen to me once I was out of their sight. No acknowledgment that I was a person sitting in the middle of their chamber, listening to them decide where I would spend the next few days, or weeks.I was simply Five-Forty-Nine.A slave.A problem to be temporarily relocated."The motion carries," the council’s speaker declared. His voice was steady, almost bored, as though he had just concluded a discussion about the allocation of land. "The slave Five-Forty-Nine is remanded to the custody of Lord Elvis, effective at once, for the duration of the inquiry."Elvis turned to me slowly
Five's POVWe reached the citadel at dusk, and the vote was already waiting for us.Theron met the vehicles at the gate. He looked at Lucien, then at me, then at the ground, and I knew before he spoke that the six days had been shortened."They moved it up," he informed. "It's tonight. Elvis invoked the emergency clause.""On what grounds?" Lucien asked, his voice cold."That the King was absent from the citadel during an active inquiry." Theron's jaw worked. "He called your journey evasion."Lucien said nothing. His hand tightened on mine, once, and let go."Stay close," he murmured, so only I could hear. "Whatever they say, you do not do anything Five." "I promise." The words came out of me easily. And this time, I hoped I would be able to keep it. ***The council chamber was full when we got there. It wasn't just the inner seven, it was the lords in their territorial colors, elders, Castellan at the far end with his face carved from stone, the facility's outer council in their
549’s POVIt was time. For the first time, I wasn’t clad in a white dress. I wore a black trouser and a black turtleneck top. It felt… thrilling, like my first real act of rebellion. I was getting out of here with my friends. We’ll find other humans, find that paradise I’d dreamed of. We’ll be
549’s POVI curled up in my bed, my head heavy, my throat sore from crying. The higher ups would punish me for not looking after myself. But I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not when everything was crumbling around me, not when my fate had been sealed. I hated it, hated the breeding facility, th
549’s POV “What did they say?” Twelve asked as she twisted the cap of her water bottle. I shrugged, trying to act casual. “I passed.” She froze, then her eyes snapped to mine. I looked away, unable to bear the pity that swirled in those grey orbs. “Oh five forty nine,” she sighed, droppin
549’s POV The buzz of my alarm clock brought me back to life. It was 6:45am on the third moon day. Which meant— My room door burst open, and a familiar head of brown hair walked in. My reaction was instant, almost instinctive. I wrapped my arms around my body, trying—but failing to cover my br







