All Chapters of Fifty Gold For A Human : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Aradia's POV The rope burned against my wrists. I stood in line with the other humans, waiting for my turn on the platform. The blood moon hung in the sky like a wound, painting everything red. Around us, torches flickered in the darkness. The smell of smoke and unwashed bodies filled the air. Once a year, the werewolves held this market. Most of the humans here were prisoners, taken during raids when the packs attacked villages under the blood moon's power. They stood with empty eyes, already broken. But I was different. I chose this. My stomach twisted as I remembered Emma's face. My little sister, blind since the fever took her sight three years ago. The healer said he could fix her eyes, but his price was steep. More gold than I could earn in a lifetime of washing clothes and tending fields. So I found a slave trader in the next town. Signed the papers with a shaking hand. The gold was already with the healer. By the time the moon waned, Emma would see again. Tha

Aradia's POVI couldn't stop staring at his face.When he pulled back his hood, the moonlight had shown me features that looked carved from stone. Strong jaw. Sharp cheekbones. Eyes so dark they were almost black. He was young, maybe mid twenties, but something ancient lived in those eyes. Something that had seen too much.This was Alpha Xior. I'd heard the whispers in the market after he bought me. The Silver Star Pack. The boy who became king at eight years old.And now I belonged to him.My legs shook as his beta, Kade, led me through the forest. The camp appeared between the trees. Dozens of tents circled a large fire pit. Wolves moved in the shadows, their eyes glowing as they watched me pass. I kept my head down and tried not to stumble.Kade stopped in front of the largest tent. Black fabric, trimmed with silver. The alpha's tent."Wait here," he said, then disappeared inside.I stood in the darkness, my bare feet cold against the ground. Around me, I could hear the pack settli

Aradia's POV"Come in."Xior's voice startled me. I'd been standing outside the tent for what felt like hours, watching the camp come alive around me. Wolves moved between tents, their eyes tracking me with curiosity and suspicion. I kept my head down and tried to be invisible.I pushed through the tent flap. Xior sat on the edge of his bed, fully dressed now in dark leather and furs. Those black eyes found mine immediately."You will be very useful to me," he said.The words sent ice through my veins. Useful. Of course. I was a slave. A tool he'd bought at market. Whatever strange mercy he'd shown last night, this was the reality. I belonged to him now.I bowed my head. "Yes, my lord.""We're leaving for the capital soon. The maids will prepare you." He stood, moving toward the tent entrance. "Dress her in silk," he called to someone outside. "And pack everything. We leave within the hour."Then he was gone.Two older women entered moments later. They looked at me with the same curio

Aradia's POV The door clicked shut behind the servant, and the silence that followed felt heavier than the blood moon itself. I stood motionless in the center of the room, afraid that if I moved too quickly, the illusion would shatter. This couldn’t be real. Silk against my skin, the faint scent of lavender still clinging to my hair, the massive bed that looked like it could swallow me whole. A slave didn’t sleep in places like this. Slaves slept on floors, in corners, wherever their masters allowed. I crossed to the window on trembling legs and pushed the heavy curtain aside. The gardens below stretched out like something from a dream—silver paths winding between hedges shaped like wolves and crescent moons, fountains bubbling softly under torchlight. Beyond the palace walls, the capital glittered with thousands of lights. So many people. So much life. And here I was, dressed like a lady, breathing air that smelled of polished wood and fresh flowers instead of smoke and fear.

ARADIA POVThe afternoon sun beat down on the palace training grounds, turning the air thick and shimmering. I stood at the edge of the shaded colonnade, half-hidden behind a marble pillar, watching Xior spar with Kade. Shirtless. Sweating. Every movement a display of lethal grace that made my mouth go dry despite myself.Xior’s muscles flexed as he dodged a powerful swing, his scarred torso gleaming. The wooden practice swords cracked together like thunder. He moved like the predator he was—fast, unrelenting. When he disarmed Kade with a twist of his wrist and pinned him briefly with a boot to the chest, the watching warriors cheered.My traitor heart skipped. Two nights of being held by him, and now this. The memory of his body pressed against mine in the dark, his quiet plea, refused to leave me.He looked up suddenly, as if sensing my gaze. Those dark eyes locked on mine across the distance. The intensity there stole my breath. He said something to Kade, then strode toward me, ig