Ivy’s POV
“Move!” A tall, thin werewolf barks at us as he shuffles us down the aisle.
I shudder. I’m on my way to the Omega Auction with a huge group of other lowly Omegas, and I’ve never been so scared.
As we move, the other Omegas glare at me, knowing full well that if not for my actions, Veronica never would’ve sent anyone to the auction. She’s hell-bent on destroying me, and doesn’t seem to care who gets caught in the crossfire.
The thin werewolf in charge of escorting us finally stops shuffling us down the camped dirty Omega tunnels and stops in front of a short, stocky werewolf–the auction employee, I assume. With a grin that makes my blood run cold, the thin werewolf points at me.
“Our Luna wants you to take good care of her,” he says to the stocky werewolf with a knowing glance, handing him a wad of cash.
The short werewolf nods, malice gleaming in his eyes as he takes the cash and looks me up and down.
The other Omegas are shuttled into cells to await the start of the auction, but the short werewolf grabs my arm and leads me away from the rest of them.
“We’re taking you to someone special,” he snarls to me.
“No, please!” I beg, struggling in his grasp, but he holds tight. “I haven’t done anything, it’s all Veronica, you don’t need to–”
“No choice,” he says with a grin that shows all his teeth. “We took the money. We have to do the job.”
All I can do is accept my fate numbly as he leads me to a cell not unlike the dungeon I’ve been residing in. When I see the whip, my heart sinks.
The stocky werewolf grabs the whip from the wall and snaps it a few times experimentally. Every time I hear the sound, I want to scream, but I have to stay strong.
For the sake of my father, at least, if not myself.
When the stocky werewolf finally raises the whip towards me, smiling like a madman, I look him dead in the eyes.
I’m well used to the feeling of lashes against my skin by now, but even still, I cry out with every sharp strike. Soon enough, there’s blood splattering the walls. When the short werewolf is finally done with me, I collapse to the ground heavy-limbed, shuddering as silent tears slip out past my eyelids.
“Why?” I ask quietly, voice hoarse from crying.
“Don’t worry,” he says, kneeling down next to me and wiping a tear away with the calloused pad of his thumb. I jolt at the touch. He grins sadistically. “We’ll heal your wounds before the auction. We’ll make sure to sell you for a good price.”
My heart feels like he’s shattering. Once I’m able to walk more or less on my own, the short werewolf leads me to the cell block with the rest of the Omegas.
“In,” he says harshly, shoving me into a cell with one other Omega girl.
The Omega looks me up and down carefully as I enter. She’s pretty, I realize, in a soft-spoken, subtle way.
“What could you have possibly done to make him so angry?” She asks. “And how stupid are you?”
I struggle to answer, but I’m too weak to manage the words.
“I’m Elsbeth, by the way. Huh,” she says suddenly, looking at me more closely. “You’re done for.”
“Wh… why?” I ask, voice weak and barely audible.
Elsbeth smiles sadly. “You don’t have a wolf, do you?”
I shake my head ever so slightly, and even that small motion causes pain to flare up all over my body. The wolfsbane has severed my connection to my wolf entirely by now.
“An Omega without a wolf is worthless,” she explains sadly. “Usually, the auction wouldn’t even take you. But you’re very pretty, so maybe that’s why they made an exception. See, this auction specializes in providing playthings and breeding wolves for powerful Alphas. Without a wolf, though…” Elsbeth shrugs, looking at me with pity. “Well, you’ll only be a plaything. Which is just about the worst thing you can be.”
My heart sinks in despair.
“Do you know who Alpha S is?” Elsbeth asks, leaning against the wall of the cell.
I start to shake my head, then remember Veronica’s words just before she sent me off. ‘Don’t worry, Alpha S will like you,’ she’d said.
“Who is he?” I ask, dreading the answer. But I need to know, for the sake of my own survival.
“He’s a sick, twisted Alpha,” Elsbeth replies, voice heavy with hatred. She nearly spits out his name as it passes her lips. “Absolutely disgusting. He likes to buy pretty, broken she-wolves like you and play with them until they die.”
She looks me up and down one last time, and I can tell that she’s predicted my fate already.
“You are definitely his type.”
Ivy’s POVOn the day of the auction, they dress me up like a seductive lamb leading to slaughter. True to their word, they healed all my wounds externally, but I can still feel the pain under my skin. I saw myself in a mirror as I was led into the auction hall. I’m dressed in an outfit almost identical to the one they had me wearing at the wedding–a strappy bra and short skirt. My long auburn hair has been styled so it cascades down my face in soft, luxurious waves, and my makeup is heavy, shadowy and sultry. I look, objectively, beautiful. Seductive, alluring, even. But I also look far too revealing than I’m comfortable with. As I walk up onto the stage, all the Alphas in the shadowy audience seating stare at me with lustful eyes that make my skin crawl. Yet, as an Alpha-blooded she-wolf, all I feel is humiliation. My gaze lands on Veronica, arm-in-arm with Erick, seated contentedly in a side box. Scratch that. I feel nothing but humiliation and loathing. “And now,” the auct
Ivy’s POVI wonder if the Lycan Prince can feel how much I’m trembling, because he seems to hug me even tighter. He carries me swiftly down the hallway, towards the hall’s exit. I look up at him nervously, not sure what to do–should I say something to him? Ask him questions. Every so often he glances down at me to check if I’m okay, but there doesn’t seem to be any real affection in his eyes as he does. I don’t know what to make of him.And that scares me more than I’d like to admit. Just as we’re about to leave, I hear a familiar voice echo through the auction hall, sending a shock of fear through my body. Still clutched tightly in Spencer’s arms, I look up ever so slightly to see Veronica rushing over to us. “Prince Spencer!” She calls out, heels clacking on the stage floor. My body tenses up nervously.What else can she do to me?Erick walks behind her. The two of them look up at Spencer, maintaining a polite and respectful distance, barely daring to approach. Their admiration
Ivy’s POVThe first thing I see when Spencer carries me out of the auction house is the incredible array of black luxury cars parked at the building’s entrance. Dozens of tall, burly men, all dressed in black suits, step swiftly out of the vehicles. They bow respectfully to Spencer, who barely seems to register their presence.They must all be Lycans. They have to be. After all, only Lycans could possess such a fierce, imposing presence. I know logically that Spencer, being a prince, must command entire armies of Lycans. But even still, seeing such a massive protective squad here at the auction house catches me off guard. Spencer’s Beta quickly opens the rear door of the second black luxury car in the lineup. “Prince,” he says, lowering his head respectfully Gently, carefully, with unexpected tenderness, Spencer places me in the seat. I feel dirty and impure against the sleek leather, still dressed in the horrible auction clothes I’ve been forced into. Spencer climbs into the seat
Ivy’s POVWhen I realize what Spencer is doing, my eyes snap open in shock. As his soft kisses trail along the length of my neck, making my heart catch and sputter, I glance towards the driver, worried that people may notice. Unexpectedly, the partition between the front and back of the car has already rolled up, giving Spencer and I absolute privacy. I let my eyelids flutter closed again, leaning closer into Spencer. The temperature in the car seems to be rising. My breath starts to quicken and become a bit more ragged as his kisses move unbearably slowly from my neck to my collarbone. The way he moves his lips, nipping and sucking gently, makes my heart pound in a way nothing has before. My one hand bunches the back of Spencer’s suit up in a fist, but I’m too gone to care about any consequences that may pose. I bite my lip hard, trying not to let out a moan.Just as Spencer’s lips are about to reach my chest, already mostly exposed from the auction outfit, I can’t help but gently
Ivy’s POVLuna?Is he referring to me?My heart starts to race. Startled, I wave my hands in denial, gesturing madly. “No, no, I’m not–”“She’s not my Luna,” Spencer says, glancing over at me and speaking casually. I let out a relieved breath and nod. The middle-aged man shoots me a probing look, then quickly averts his gaze and returns his attention to Spencer. “Apologies, Prince Spencer,” he says respectfully, then looks back at me. “And Miss…?”“Ivy.” I volunteer my name. “Ivy Bell.”As I speak, I can feel Spencer staring at me again. The weight of his stare upon me seems to be constant at this point, and I don’t know how to feel about it. Is this what my life will be like? “I’m Captain McAndrews” The man smiles kindly at me. “Please follow me, Miss Bell.”I look back at Spencer, wondering if he’s going to follow, but he seems to be chatting with a few members of his security detail. Silently, I let Captain McAndrews lead me into the palace. The massive double doors swing open w
Ivy's POVWithout wasting even a second, the maids push me into the washroom. “Wait!” I protest, trying to fend them off, but I’m still weak from the auction staff. “Take the jacket off,” the first maid commands.“I–what?” I fiddle with the hems anxiously. “No, you don’t understand, I–”The maids wrangle the jacket off of me. When they pull it away and reveal the clothes underneath, they burst into peals of mocking laughter. “Oh, I get it now!” The second maid exclaims. “You’re no one special. You’re just some whore who seduced Prince Spencer into bringing you back to the castle.”“I’m not a whore!” I protest indignantly. I reach for the jacket, but the maids pull it out of reach. “I’m an Alpha’s daughter.”“If you’re going to lie, at least make it convincing,” the first maid says, looking me up and down with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t even have a wolf. There’s no way you could possibly be of Alpha blood.”“I’m not a whore!” I argue again.“Really?” The second maid asks. “Which A
Ivy's POVEarly the next morning, before I even woke up, a crowd of maids rushed into my room.I gasp and sit up straight, but already the maids are tugging me out of bed. “What are you doing?” I ask, trying to pull the blankets tight and shake them off, but it’s no use.“Helping you,” one of the maids replies mockingly, pulling me onto the floor.The flurry of maids guides me through my morning routine, washing me up and dressing me in another fine gown–this one a pale green like lily pads. The bath is a bit better this time, and at least no soap bars are being pressed into my slowly-healing wounds. They’re not behaving like maids should, though–their movements are rough and pain-inducing, causing me to wince with every move they make. I have to bite back screams with every minute, knowing that any sound I make will only provoke more ridicule from the maids. I know they think I’m a whore, but I don’t think I could stand to hear it again. Once I’ve finished washing and getting d
Ivy's POV“Take off your clothes.”Prince Spencer's cold command rattles me to my core. I gape up at him in shock, touching the neckline of the leaf-green gown, completely unsure of myself. I know I might be humiliated by Spencer, but when the moment actually comes, I can’t help but tremble with fear. My hand slowly moves up my back, reaching for the delicate zipper, but I bite my lip to suppress my cry of pain as my arm seizes up. I cradle my arm against my chest, the pain from one of my wounds lancing through the limb, then reach back to try and unzip it again. I think Spencer notices me biting my lip, because he walks behind me, brushing his fingertips feather-light against my shoulder before taking the zipper from me. When our hands touch, I feel an unfamiliar sensation of pleasure start to spread through my body.I’ve never felt this way before. I can feel Spencer towering over me. His presence envelopes me as he stands behind me, an absolute force to be reckoned with. I can’