Sold To Rogue

Bella's POV

Cold water poured over my head, forcing me awake from the restless haze I had fallen into.

I lifted my head weakly and found Peony standing before me.

There was murder in her eyes.

Her jaw was clenched tightly, and hatred twisted every feature on her face. If looks alone could kill, I would have died countless times beneath her gaze.

"What do you want, Peony?" I managed to ask.

Even I was surprised by the courage in my own voice.

It was courage I hadn't possessed for years.

For as long as I could remember, I had lived as though I were nothing more than her servant.

I walked on eggshells around her, shrinking myself so I wouldn't provoke her anger.

I endured every insult in silence just to avoid Father's punishments.

But none of that mattered anymore.

Being obedient had taught them only one thing.

That I was disposable.

A living stain they believed could be discarded whenever they pleased.

"Did you know," Peony said suddenly, the corners of her lips curling into a smile, "that it was Father who had your mother killed?"

The words struck me like a physical blow.

I slowly raised my head to look at her, confusion flooding every corner of my mind.

What was she talking about?

My mother had died in a fire.

How could Father possibly have been responsible for that?

As though she could see the disbelief written across my face, Peony laughed.

"He sent rogues to burn down the hut where your mother was hiding," she said casually, as though she were discussing the weather. "He wanted both of you dead so his reputation would remain untouched."

Her smile widened.

"But you survived."

"And because you survived, he was forced to bring you into our home."

She leaned closer, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.

"Did you really think someone like you deserved to live after bringing nothing but shame and embarrassment to this family?"

The dungeon around me faded into silence.

Her voice became distant.

My thoughts screamed louder than anything else.

My mother...

She hadn't died in an accident.

She had been murdered.

Everything I had believed for years shattered in an instant.

Before I could even process the truth, a blinding pain exploded through my body.

A knife plunged into the side of my stomach.

A cry tore from my throat as warm blood immediately soaked through my clothes and spilled onto the dungeon floor.

Peony calmly watched me bleed.

"Jaxon is getting mated to me this evening," she said without the slightest trace of remorse.

"He's finally going to mark me as his Luna."

Her smile grew even brighter.

"Just as I've always wanted."

"Why?" I whispered, tears blurring my vision as agony spread through my body.

My voice trembled beneath the weight of everything I had just learned.

"Why, Peony?"

I wasn't only asking about the knife buried inside me.

I was asking why she had hated me for so many years.

Why my existence alone had been enough to earn her cruelty.

"You don't deserve to live, Bella," she hissed. "Not as my stepsister."

Her eyes narrowed with venom.

"And certainly not as Jaxon's mate."

She bent closer until her lips were near my ear.

"Sadly, I can't kill you myself."

A disappointed sigh escaped her.

"Jaxon would suspect me."

Then a devilish smile slowly spread across her face.

"So I came up with something much better."

She stood and walked toward the dungeon entrance.

"She's just an omega," Peony told the guards waiting outside the cell. "She should have passed out by now and won't wake until you've left the pack."

Her tone remained disturbingly calm.

"Sell her to the rogues Father contacted."

She paused before adding,

"And make sure she's taken to a brothel so she lives out the rest of her days as a whore. They're already waiting outside."

A soft laugh escaped her lips.

"By the time Jaxon realizes she's gone, she'll already be broken."

Her smile carried nothing but cruelty.

"A prostitute trapped in some filthy place, forced to satisfy strangers for the rest of her miserable life."

Satisfied with herself, she turned and walked away.

She never realized I had heard every single word she whispered.

Pain consumed me.

Not only from the knife Peony had driven into my stomach, but also from the brutal beating Jaxon had ordered his warriors to inflict on me earlier.

Every inch of my body ached.

Every breath hurt.

Yet somehow...

I didn't lose consciousness.

My weak omega body was healing.

That alone left me stunned.

I had been stabbed with a poisoned blade.

Someone like me should have died long before now.

When I heard footsteps approaching my cell, I immediately forced my eyes shut.

The guards had come to carry out Peony's orders.

They were taking me beyond the borders of Moonstone Pack to sell me, just as she had planned.

I allowed my body to go completely limp.

They believed I had already passed out.

Without suspicion, they lifted me from the dungeon floor and shoved me into a rough sack.

The coarse fabric pressed tightly against my face, stealing the air from my lungs and making every breath feel impossible.

Still...

I endured it.

I remained perfectly still, ignoring the burning in my chest and the blood slowly soaking through the sack as the servants carried me farther away from the only home I had ever known.

The sharp, rhythmic sound of drums can next, causing my heart to clench.

Without needing anyone to tell me, I knew we had left the dungeons. Jaxon and Peony were getting mated tonight after all.

“What is that you’re carrying?” a voice suddenly demanded.

My body froze.

Inside the sack, I struggled not to breathe too loudly nor give myself away. Fear crawled into my throat.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was getting out of this pack alive and having my revenge on all these enough ruined my life.

I began counting in my head, praying silently that the servants would come up with a convincing lie for the guards who had stopped them.

When the sound of the drums faded behind us, I relaxed slightly knowing that we were out.

Peony must have planned to use the coronation ceremony as a distraction to get me out unnoticed. But Jaxon who was ever desperate to maintain control, had stationed warriors everywhere.

“Where are they?” one of the voices asked sharply.

Panic surged.

I clawed at the inside of the sack with my nails, desperation fueling me as my chest tightened.

If only I had my wolf.

If only I weren’t wolfless, I would have torn through the sack without effort. But I wasn't.

As my vision began to blur from lack of air, a loud noise suddenly rang out,followed by a scream.

My body jolted.

The sack was ripped open violently, cool air rushing into my lungs as I gasped desperately for breath.

Standing before me was Sumi.

“Are you alright, Bella?” she asked urgently as I sucked in air, coughing, shaking.

“What are you doing here? How did you get here?” I forced the questions out of my mind all at once, my thoughts tumbling over themselves as I stared at her in disbelief. How had she known?

“I overheard what Peony told you earlier at the cell and decided to keep watch. We need to go, Bella. We can’t keep talking instead of escaping,” Sumi responded, her voice sharp but laced with urgency.

I forced myself to stand, but my legs wobbled under me, weak and trembling from the beatings Jaxon’s men had rained on me earlier. My side ached in a hot, sharp line from Peony’s knife, blood soaking through my clothes, dripping down like slow betrayal.

“Go, Bella. I’ll stall them while you get far. We can’t go together,” Sumi whispered when she noticed how hard it was for me to walk.

I shook my head in disbelief. She was the gamma’s wife, yes, and powerful—but she was alone. Alone against a dozen servants Peony had sent with me. Even with the strongest wolf, how could she fend them all off?

Was she planning to return to the pack after this? I could see the bruises covering her body, dark and angry like a map of the abuse her mate had inflicted, the same mate who had marked her, broken her, yet she stood to help me anyway.

“No, Sumi. We need to leave together,” I whispered again, shaking my head fiercely. I refused to let her fight alone. She had never abandoned me before, not when my world had collapsed under Jaxon’s cruelty. Why would I let her do it now?

Before I could think of what else to say, a sharp, aggressive push slammed into my back.

I fell face-first, tumbling over the edge of a cliff I hadn’t noticed.

“No!” I gasped, reaching desperately for the roots and rocks that jutted out from the cliffside, my fingers scrabbling for roots but none held.

I rolled helplessly, out of control, the air whipping past my face as the sound of Sumi’s grunts echoed behind me, fuel and terror blending into one.

Then I plunged into moving water.

Sumi’s agonized scream pierced the air, and my chest tightened. I struggled to stay afloat and reach her, but the current was stronger than my arms, dragging me down as panic clawed at my lungs.

I thrashed, desperate, until the air left me and I was sinking, believing my death was imminent. My eyes shut tight, anticipating the end, and for a moment, I thought all her sacrifices had been in vain.

I opened my eyes when a scent hit me. My eyes shot open, and in the darkness, I struggled to focus. I couldn’t tell whether I was alive or already in the next world.

The scent grew closer and slowly, I shifted my gaze to my side. Two large, bulging eyes glowed in the darkness. My chest froze as I realized they were Lycan eyes.

How had I come to their cursed lands? My mind raced as the darkness pressed in.

A voice cut through the night before I could even think of anything else.

“Run, Bella. This is your end. Run!”

The words froze me, chilled me to the bone.