CHAPTER 004: Branding

˙❥ VALKYRIE

I didn't know when we reached another building. A different design from the ‘holding’ and the auction hall. There, seated and dressed in that same intimidating coat with a daunting look, was Him.

My heartbeat spiked.

I darted my eyes almost immediately but I wished I hadn't because it landed on the hot coal with a steel inside.

Nobody needed to tell me what it was.

I turned toward Doom, who had a playful smirk etched on his face, and back to the one man I now wish to kill; he wasn't smiling like Doom. No, his face was stoic, reserved and I wanted so badly to get into his head to see what he was thinking because no way an enthralling being could be this cruel.

As if to prove my thoughts wrong, his lips broke in a sudden, subtle arc.

“No, no, no!" I shook my head, unable to contain the long-held tears as reality finally dawned on me. A sob tore through my throat — raw and broken, making my whole body quiver in fear.

Doom pushed me forward, my head colliding with the sofa's edge. He cuffed my chain around a thick, iron pole that was situated in the middle of the room, a demarcation between where the cruel man was seated and the burning coal, but I didn't prepare for what came after as the hot, sizzling steel rod came in contact with my skin — on my neck. He was so swift, so smooth. So inhumane.

It was the slave branding.

An ear-splitting shout burst from my lips, sharp as a whip crack. I tossed and trashed, but I was held tightly until Doom was satisfied, until I couldn't scream anymore.

From my eyes that were weak and almost closed, I saw the small coal fire that had the rod in it, burning crystal red. My gaze shifted to see the smirk dancing on Alpha Ryker's face; a satisfying one.

The world blurred through my vision as I sobbed.

Removing the chain from the pole, Doom exited and the room was left to just the two of us. I stumbled back, trying to wedge the heavy robe over my shoulder and the chains that bit into my skin.

"Don't fret, girl," he whispered, like it was going to make me calm or make me hate him less. Writhing from the pain in the side of my neck, I tried to speak. “Why?”

"How do you have no wolf?"

“That's not the answer to my question.” My lips trembled.

“Why?” He asked, his voice almost a whisper. “Because you're mine. Mine to own, to care and to possess.”

Did he say care? I let out a shaking, muffled laugh. “You don't own me. I am not a chattel to be owned!”

"But you already are." His lips curved into a menacing arc.

Still on my knees, I trudged farther, farther away from him, from his daunting figure and mischievous smile but like when I was in the auction hall, the chains held me again.

“Why did you buy me?” My head moved in pain, shutting my eyes. There must be a reason I was bought by him. Why did he have to use so much money on me and not on other slaves that were auctioned before?

I'm a witch, a murderer, and wolf-less, yet he deemed it fit to spend ridiculously on me?

“You keep asking why, witch.” He stood, his eyes throwing dagger stares while he walked toward me. I felt tremors wash over me. The hairs on my skin stood erect.

He crouched to my level, sliding a finger beneath my chin, exactly how Jayden had done. “Do I say… I was intrigued?” He turned to his side as if asking someone else before staring back at me. “I heard you killed your mother, it must have been fun. Easy."

“I didn't. Kill. My. Mother, and if I were truly a witch, I would pluck your ugly eyes out, feed them to the creatures of the sky, and make sure your mouth isn't left out!" I seethed boldly, mucus dripping from my nostrils.

“Exactly what I love...” he chuckled, returning to the sofa, “A sharp tongue. More reason why I’m grateful I spent a dime on you.”

I gurgled loudly, tears filling my eyes and trailing down my cheeks.

I didn't speak, not when my neck was literally on fire, like the flesh was going to pull out.

The door burst open, revealing a muscular man with a long braided beard. He was Alpha Rheagor, the one Doom spoke about, the 'pleasure monger,' and now, I didn't know who to be more scared of.

Him? Or his son.

He walked slowly toward me, his hand grabbing my neck— the branding mark.

“Ahh!”

“You manipulative witch.”

“Stop!” The word echoed fiercely from Ryker that the window pane shook and Aloha Rheagor's hand left my neck. His nose flared, chest rising and falling at an uneven pace.

“Thank you for letting me buy this time," Ryker muttered wryly.

A loud chuckle rippled from Alpha Rheagor before he took two more steps toward his son, “You're welcome. That shows how one around me can be strongly influenced, including you. From being reluctant to coming with me to buying a slave after, you're no different from me, son.” He made sure to drag the last word.

Alpha Ryker didn't speak, but his fist clenched into a tight ball, veins popping out of his skin so that one could see the blood flow through.

"It's delusional for the pup to think it's any different from its father because it hasn't gone for its first hunt. My father used to tell me so before he died,” I butt in, my gaze moving between the two Alphas who stared at me; one in anger and the other, in amusement

“Even your slave knows,” Alpha Rheagor laughed. "Don't worry, by this time in the future, you won't know why you will keep coming here because this is just the beginning.” Alpha Rheagor stormed out of the room, banging the door, the hinges rattled.

Doom and another man stepped into the room, their head low in respect, walking to where I was.

“Hello, princess." Doom flashed me that cocky smile and I knew it wasn't a good one.

Behind him, a syringe — sharp and sleek — peeked out from between his fingers.

“Please.” I rolled back quickly, my shoulder slamming onto the sofa where Alpha Ryker was seated. My eyes bore into his brown ones. “Please, I beg you!” Cries burst out from my lips.

“Make it snappy,” Alpha Ryker coldly said and my eyes widened in shock, in fear.

Doom held my hands while the other, my neck, and just like lightning, the sharp edge of the needle burrowed into my skin, my body shaking fiercely and eyes fluttering involuntarily until I went limp.

“Take her to the carriage.” That was the last word I heard before black dots took over my vision.