Sold To The Alpha Of Darkness

Chapter 3

Lilly’s POV

Fiona let go of me and raised her voice, wailing profusely.

I shook my head and took a step away from her as Festus marched toward where she was. For every step he took toward her, I took two away from them.

He bent beside her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. “What the hell!” He lifted her, his eyes raking over her blood-coated legs.

He cared for her, not me—his mate.

She winced, tears rolling down her cheeks.

My heart raced wildly as she opened her mouth to speak.

“All I did was check up on her. I thought to myself that we are cousins and we shouldn’t live in strife…” she whimpered in pain as Festus assessed her palms, which were smeared with blood.

He glanced at me, and I gasped at how cold and deadly his stare was. I opened my mouth to explain myself, but I couldn’t find the right words.

Aunt Billy grabbed a handful of my hair tightly, her claw-like nails scratching my scalp. I instinctively held onto her hand as pain tingled through my scalp and blood oozed from the scratches.

She smacked me hard, making my head whip to the side. My mouth stung as I tasted metal on my tongue. I tried pushing her hand away, desperately wanting to loosen her grip.

The fire in her eyes could have dried an ocean. I hadn’t seen her this angry since the night she broke my arm because she thought I stole from her.

“I promise I didn’t do anything, please.” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve pleaded with these people who are meant to be my family.

“Do you want to fight me too!?” she asked furiously, dragging me out of the kitchen, my feet scraping against the broken glass that pierced through my woven slippers.

“Please… I didn’t do it, I didn’t fight her… please believe me.” The sting in my soles was nothing compared to the pain I knew I was about to endure.

Aunt Billy shoved me, making me fall flat on my face while the Omegas gathered around the foyer to watch. I scrambled, trying to kneel, but a kick slammed into my ribs.

I fell backward, folding in on myself as I hissed in pain. My eyes were swollen from crying too much. “Please.” I tried kneeling again, but another heavy blow struck my ribs.

I heard the crack before the pain fully settled in.

My eyes rolled back as I collapsed onto the floor, curling into a ball while clutching my stomach.

She grabbed my hair, forcing me to look into her eyes. “You dare to repay my kindness by hurting my child? You dare betray me by almost killing my grandpup?”

I could only shake my head because I couldn’t breathe, let alone speak.

“Lock her up until she learns her lesson.” She shoved me back onto the ground before strutting away without a backward glance.

This wasn’t the first time they pushed me away, but something told me this time was different, that this would change everything.

I didn’t want to go back, but I had no choice except to embrace my new home— the dungeon.

**********

“Wake up.”

I heard the soft feminine voice repeat itself twice. I blinked slowly before looking around, too exhausted to move.

The aroma of soup filled my nostrils before my eyes landed on the plate in the lady’s hands.

Though I was hungry, days had passed, and I had only grown weaker and sadder, my wolf whimpering sadly within me.

I knew there wouldn’t be another opportunity for such generosity if I didn’t take it, so I crawled slowly toward the cage.

I grabbed the bowl of soup and drank it hurriedly.

“Drink slowly so you won’t choke,” she whispered, her eyes darting around in search of approaching guards. It was obvious she hadn’t been sent. She came of her own free will.

I couldn’t bring myself to slow down because I was too famished. Only after I finished did I finally study her face properly. I hadn’t seen her anywhere in the mansion before.

“Thank you,” I uttered, returning the plate.

The lady said nothing. She simply collected the plate and bolted out of the dungeon.

She came repeatedly every evening at the same time, but she never once spoke to me.

Then all of a sudden, she stopped coming.

I grew worried, not because hunger gnawed at me, but because fear settled in my chest.

What if they had caught her?

What if she was suffering because of me?

The only thing I could do was pray for her, and I did so repeatedly whenever she crossed my mind.

I lay on the cold cement floor with my eyes closed, counting my heartbeat to distract myself, when I heard that same voice call out softly.

“Lilly.”

I snapped my eyes open immediately and sat up. Relief washed over me the moment I saw her, and my eyes watered from it.

I rushed toward the bars and wrapped my hands around her. “Thank goodness you are fine,” I uttered before pulling back to look at her properly.

“What are you doing here? I was worried you’d been caught. Please leave, please go away.” I pushed her gently, urging her to leave. When she didn’t budge, I added desperately, “They will kill you if they find you here.”

“They are planning to sell you off. I overheard Alpha Festus talking to Beta Billy…”

I froze, trying to process her words, but the sound of approaching footsteps cut through the moment. She stiffened for a split second before darting away in the opposite direction.

I scurried deeper into the dungeon so I wouldn’t accidentally give her away.

For the first time since I’d been locked up, someone came to see me.

Festus stopped by the bars, staring at me.

“You are so stubborn,” he spat. “I expected you to have given up and died by now.”

I winced at the cruelty of his words. How could he go from promising me the world to becoming this heartless?

“Were you ever in love with me?” The question had plagued my mind for so long that I finally forced it out. “Did you only pretend to care about me because of my inheritance?”

“Since you already know the answer, why bother asking?”

“I don’t want to speculate. I want to be sure. I want to hear you say it.”

He smirked. “I didn’t have to pretend. You were so starved for affection that you accepted the crumbs I threw your way. You ignored every obvious sign because you desperately wanted to feel accepted.”

His words stabbed into me, making my chest tighten painfully.

“You knew I never loved you. You were just blind because you believed whatever we had was your happy ending…” He straightened fully, looking down at me like I was beneath him. “The moon goddess clearly made a mistake pairing you with me.”

“But you always said you loved me. You promised to be my family, to give me back the family I lost.”

“And I did, until you ruined it by hurting Fiona. I would have accepted you as my mistress, maybe even continued managing you if you had behaved, but instead, you chose to become a threat to your future Luna. Now it’s out of my hands, Billy will kill you if you stay.”

“This is my home too. I have nowhere else to go.” I stood shakily, moving closer to him and grabbing his hand. “You are all I have. Please don’t send me away. Let me stay with you.”

He pulled his hand from mine immediately. “You should have thought about that before hurting the mother of my pup.”

“She’s really carrying your child.” My voice trembled with disappointment, which he clearly noticed.

“Did you expect me, an Alpha, to seek your permission before handling my affairs?”

I blinked slowly, staring into his eyes. “Not that… I just…” I swallowed painfully, shaking the thought from my mind. “It doesn’t matter.” We can make it work, he’s my mate.

“You don’t get a say in this, because I can’t remain mated to you.”

“Festus, you can’t reject me,” I uttered weakly.

“Watch me.”

“Please don’t. I promise I’ll apologize. We don’t even have to wait until marriage to consummate the bond…” I pleaded desperately, thinking that if I offered him the only thing I had left, he would stay.

“You think you're handing over your virgin cunt would make me change my mind?”

My eyes glistened with tears that threatened to spill. At this point, I didn’t know.

He cut me off, placing one hand against his chest while lifting the other like he was taking an oath.

“I, Festus, Alpha of Greenveil, reject Lilly Rosette as my mate from this day forth.”