Chapter 2

Taylor forced her eyes open, blinking slowly. Her head throbbed with a dull ache as she tried to remember where she was.

What happened to me, she asked herself as she stared down at her bedroom floor.

Suddenly, the events of the last few hours came slamming into her; her stepmother's cruelty, her father, the alpha, planning on selling her to another alpha, Logan's evil plans for her body–

As if she summoned him with her thoughts, Logan's mean face crowded her line of vision and Taylor screamed when she noticed that his shirt was gone, baring his chest and muscled torso and his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped.

Logan clasped a huge palm over mouth, laughing when he saw the sheen in Taylor's dark eyes which signalled that she was close to tears.

"Aww, Don't Cry, Darling. I'll make you feel better." He crooned before taking his hand away from her mouth and caressing her cheek. His eyes held a perverted gleam that made Taylor break out in goosebumps.

"Please, don't harm me, Logan. I beg you!" She blubbered, shrinking away from his touch. The tears finally began to fall. Logan snorted at the sight of them.

"I know you're playing hard to get, whore. It's obvious you want some of this." He thrust his hips in a lewd gesture, barking out a laugh when Taylor sat up. He drew her back to him by roughly pulling her hair.

"Come here, baby. I'm tired of your games."

Taylor let out another scream, already clawing at Logan.

"Logan! What are you two doing in there?! I told you not to harm her!" Stella yelled, banging on the door.

Logan turned to the door to tell his mother, "We're just having some fun, Mum." 

Taylor took advantage of Logan's distraction to push him away and make a run for the bathroom. Logan's mocking laughter followed her all the way and she could still hear it even after slamming the door shut.

She gripped the small sink, trying to gulp in air but the taste of fear was still heavy on her tongue.

She was relieved when she heard Stella barge into her bedroom. Maybe, just, maybe, Stella would save her from Logan's advances.

"If you have hurt her, I swear I'll–"

"Chill out, Mum. I haven't done anything to her yet." Logan interrupted his mother's rant, his tone equal parts amused and bored.

Logan's words spurred Taylor into flipping the lock on the bathroom door.

"You know she has to be in one piece if we're to get a good price from Drago's Pack." Stella reasoned. 

I can't believe she's talking about me like I'm some animal to be traded, Taylor thought angrily. Her anger quickly transformed to dread when she heard what Logan had to say.

"The bitch needs to learn a thing or two about spreading her legs and I'm the man for the job."

"I'll have a word with her. Now, leave." Stella ordered.

"Fine," Logan acquiesced before raising his voice and yelling for Taylor's benefit, "But I'll be back to finish what I started." 

Logan left and Stella stalked to the bathroom door, muttering under her breath about how much of a burden Taylor was.

Stella turned the doorknob. When it refused to budge, she rattled it violently.

"Open this door, you fucking brat!"

Taylor quickly did as she was told and flipped the lock open. Stella crowded into the tiny bathroom, her face twisting into a mask of anger.

With no hesitations whatsoever, she slapped Taylor, the sound of palm meeting cheek ricocheting off the bathroom walls.

"How dare you try to spoil my plans by seducing my son?!" She screeched, her voice laden with accusation.

Taylor was flabbergasted. Her hand rose to massage the affronted cheek while she answered her stepmother.

"I didn't do anything! He was the one who came unto me!"

"Save your lies!" Snapped Stella. "Logan would never be interested in a fool like you. You must have enticed him in some way!" She insisted. In Stella's eyes, her son was an angel who could do no wrong.

"Now, we have no time to waste. I want you to clean that filthy body of yours thoroughly." 

Taylor nodded vigorously to Stella's instructions while she prayed hard that Stella would leave without inflicting bodily harm on her again.

"There's a dress on your bed. Wear it. If I wait too long for you, I'm sending Logan to drag you out!" With that threat, Stella turned on her heel, walked out and shut the door soundly behind her.

Taylor's composure broke and she fell to the floor, tears staining her cheeks. She was getting a bit of a headache because of how much she'd cried today but the tears couldn't stop falling. Nobody deserved to be treated this way, much more the daughter of an Alpha.

With as much dignity as she could muster, she picked herself off the floor and took off her clothes, taking care not to touch any of the bruises she had sustained from her parents' maltreatment. She then stepped under the shower and turned on the water. The shower gave a little creak before the steamy water cascaded down on Taylor. She gave a soothed sigh and grabbed the loofah, squirting some bath gel on it before she proceeded to scrub her body painfully to erase the feel of Logan's hands on her.

Stella couldn't believe the nerve of that stupid bitch. Had Taylor really accused Logan of coming unto her? 

"She's not even that beautiful!" She complained to her son. They were both standing outside Taylor's room in case the crazy girl decided to do something stupid like run away.

"I can go in there and deal with her," Logan offered, hands stuffed in his pockets, the shirt he'd discarded flung over his shoulder.

Stella regarded her son with distaste.

"Of course not! We've already made our guests wait, all thanks to you thinking with your penis!" She scolded.

Logan made a sound of dismissal.

"They can wait longer." He insisted.

"Then, I'll have to tail Beta Adrian that you made him wait. Then, he'll relay that to the Alpha and then we'll see what happens next."

She threatened, wearing a smirk of satisfaction when she saw Logan squirming in discomfort.

"Fine, whatever you say." He grumbled.

Taylor, who had turned off the shower and had been listening to their conversation, was surprised that Logan was so afraid of the Drago Pack's alpha and his beta. The rumours must be true then. The Alpha must be terrible.

"Taylor," Stella called, startling Taylor out of her musings. "Hurry up and get your scrawny ass out here!"

She took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom, toweling herself dry and carefully stepping into the dress that had been laid out on her narrow bed.

Logan burst into her room without any warning. His features transformed into an appraising grin.

"Well, well, well. You clean up well, Princess." He mocked. All humour was wiped from his face before he spoke.

"When this is over and the Alpha's had his way with you, you'll belong to me." His voice was hard, scaring Taylor.

He walked over to where she stood and grabbed her with a bruising grip to the mirror in the corner while Taylor struggled. Her struggles were of no use, Logan was twice her size.

She stopped when she saw her reflection in her mirror. 

The dress hit her knees and hugged all her curves beautifully. Its blue color did wonders for her complexion and gave her an ethereal glow.

She recognized the dress as her birth mother's. She had left it for Taylor but her father had entrusted it in Stella's keep. She had begged and begged to have the dress back but she had received beatings for her efforts.

The dress made her nostalgic and brought back the memories of her mother. She missed her touch, her smell, her love.

When she had been young, Taylor had dreamt of living a happy life as an Alpha's daughter and marrying a kind alpha of her choosing when she grew up. But the sad reality of her life was that her father didn't love her. In fact, it seemed he enjoyed beating her. Her stepmother was no better.

And now, as if she hadn't suffered enough, she had to put on her mother's dress and get married, not to the man of her dreams, but to an Alpha who had palms to use her and discard her.