Bought For The Alpha's Revenge

LILA'S POV "Get up." The bucket of cold water hit my face before I could react. I gasped, choking, my hands flying up before the chains jerked them back down. The silver cuffs tore open scabs that had barely formed. "I said get up, slave." I blinked water from my eyes and looked up at Beta Marcus standing over me, empty bucket in hand. I'd been scrubbing this basement floor for hours, trying to clean blood from the girl who was here before me. The one who "didn't make it." "I'm cleaning," I managed to say, my voice hoarse. I hadn't spoken in three days. "You're doing it wrong," Marcus said. "Alpha wants to see you. Now." My stomach dropped. "Why?" "Did I ask you to question me?" Marcus grabbed the chain between my wrists and yanked me to my feet. Pain shot through my shoulders. I bit my tongue because showing pain was weakness. "Move," Marcus said, heading for the stairs. I followed, chains rattling, bare feet leaving wet prints on stone. We climbed into the main house. Pack members stopped to stare as Marcus dragged me past. Their eyes held curiosity, pity, disgust. Nobody spoke. I was a property beneath their concern. We stopped at a heavy wooden door. Marcus knocked once. "Enter," came the voice from inside. Marcus shoved me inside and left. I stood dripping water onto expensive carpet, hands chained, every muscle screaming to run. Alpha Ethan sat behind a massive desk, writing in a leather book. He didn't look up. "You're filthy," he said. I looked down at myself. Three days of sleeping on stone, scrubbing blood, eating nothing. I looked like what I was. A slave. "I was cleaning," I said quietly. "I didn't give you permission to speak." My jaw clenched but I stayed silent. Finally, he set down his pen and looked at me. "Do you know why you're here?" he asked. "You bought me." "I bought you for a reason," Ethan said. "Do you know what that reason is?" I shook my head. "Your father," he said, something dangerous in his voice. "Daniel Harper. Tell me what you know about him." "He's weak," I said honestly. "He let my stepmother sell me to pay their debts." "Before that," Ethan said. "Ten years ago. What was he doing?" Ten years ago I was eleven. I barely remembered anything except my mother dying and my father remarrying within months. "I don't know," I admitted. "Of course you don't." Ethan stood and moved around the desk. "Murderers don't confess to their children." "My father isn't a murderer." "Isn't he?" Ethan stopped close enough that I could feel power radiating off him. Close enough that something in my chest pulled toward him. "Ten years ago, your father killed mine," Ethan said, his voice too calm. "Made it look like a hunting accident." "That's not true." "My father was Alpha James Black," Ethan continued. "Your father was nothing but he wanted what my father had. Power and territory." "My father isn't capable of murder." "No?" Ethan's eyes bored into mine. "Then explain why my nine-year-old sister is dead too." The room tilted. "What?" "Maya," Ethan said, emotion cracking his voice. "She witnessed the murder. So your father slit her throat and left her body for animals." I couldn't breathe. "No. My father wouldn't kill a child." "The same man who let you be poisoned for sixteen years? The same man who sold you? You think he's incapable of murder?" "I don't believe you." "I don't care." Ethan grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Your father took everything from me. My father, my sister and my family. Now I'm taking everything from him." His hand was warm. That strange pull in my chest got stronger. "You can't punish me for something my father did," I said. "Can't I?" Ethan smiled without humor. "You're his blood. The only thing he cares about. Hurting you hurts him." "So kill me then." "Kill you?" Ethan laughed. "Death is mercy. I don't want you dead, Lila. I want you broken." He released me and walked to the bookshelf and pulled out a photograph. "This is Maya," he said. A little girl with black hair and grey eyes smiled at the camera. Maybe nine years old. "She loved butterflies," Ethan said, voice cracking. "Your father took away every butterfly she'd ever see. Took her future, her life." He set the frame down carefully. "So yes, Lila Harper. You're going to pay for your father's sins. And when you're so broken you can't remember hope, I'll make sure he knows it was his fault." My hands shook. "I didn't do anything wrong." "Neither did Maya," Ethan said. "But she died anyway." He picked up a small bell and rang it once. The door opened and it was Marcus. "Take her back to the basement," Ethan said. "No food today. She needs to learn what happens when she talks back." "I didn't talk back!" "You spoke without permission. Twice." Ethan's smile was cruel. "No food tomorrow either." Marcus grabbed my chain. "Wait," Ethan said. We stopped. "Actually, bring her back in an hour. She can clean my office." Marcus dragged me out. As we headed toward the basement, running footsteps echoed behind us. "Alpha! Alpha Ethan!" A young wolf came around the corner. "There's someone at the border. He says he's here to see his daughter." My heart stopped. "Daniel Harper?" Marcus asked. "Yes. He's demanding entry, says he has money to negotiate her release." Marcus's grip on my chain tightened. "Bring him to my office," Ethan's voice called. "And bring the girl. Let's show Daddy what he's negotiating for." Marcus turned us around. My father was here after three days of selling me. I didn't know if I wanted to see him or spit in his face. Marcus pushed me back into the office and left. Ethan stood by the window. "Your father came faster than I expected." "Let me go," I said. "If he has money, just let me go." "No." "Why not?" "What I want is revenge and money doesn't give me that." The door opened and my father walked in and stopped dead when he saw me. He looked terrible like he hadn't slept since the auction. "Lila," he breathed. I said nothing. Just stood in my chains, dripping water and blood, letting him see what his choices brought me to. "What have you done to her?" my father demanded. "Nothing yet," Ethan said calmly. "But I'm just getting started." "I have money." My father pulled out a bag. "Twice what you paid. Name your price." "My price is your suffering," Ethan said. "She's the tool I'm using to collect it." "She's my daughter!" "Was she your daughter when you let Helena poison her for sixteen years?" Ethan asked. My father's face went white. "That's right," Ethan continued. "I know about the wolfsbane. How you watched your wife slowly kill your daughter to keep peace." "I didn't know," my father whispered. "Liar." "I swear!" "But you knew Helena treated Lila like garbage," Ethan said. "You knew and did nothing. So spare me the guilty father act." My father looked at me, eyes pleading. "Lila, I'm sorry. I never meant for this." "You sold me," I said, my voice breaking. "You signed the papers and watched them chain me." "I had no choice! The debts..." "There's always a choice," Ethan cut in. "You chose your comfort over your daughter. Now live with it." "Please," my father begged. "Let her go. I'll give you anything." "You have nothing I want." Ethan moved behind his desk. "Except your pain and I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer." "Ethan, please..." "Get out," Ethan said coldly. "And don't come back because next time you do, what I do to her will be worse." Marcus appeared and grabbed my father's arm. "Lila!" My father struggled. "Lila, I'll find a way! I'll get you out!" Marcus dragged him from the room. His voice faded down the hallway. The door closed and silence filled the office. Then Ethan moved toward me, and I backed up until I hit the wall. He stopped inches away. "Your father destroyed my family. Now I'm going to destroy his." His hand reached for the chains on my wrists. The second his fingers touched my skin, lightning exploded through my chest. I gasped. Stumbled sideways. Ethan jerked back like I'd burned him, his hand flying to his chest, eyes wide with shock. That pull I'd been feeling since he bought me suddenly made terrible sense. "No," Ethan whispered, backing away. "This is impossible."