The Cursed Alpha's Dark Obsession

Chapter2

The cold from the needle spread fast.

It started in my neck and crawled down my spine like ice water. My arms went heavy first. Then my legs. I tried to push myself up from the floor and nothing happened. My body just lay there, useless.

I could still see. I could still hear. I just couldn’t move.

Tears ran sideways across my face and dripped onto the concrete. I hated that I was crying. I hated that everyone could see it.

A soft laugh came from the cage next to mine.

She slowly walked up to me and crouched down so her face was level with the bars. She was pretty in the way that made you want to look away. Long dark hair. Perfect skin even in this dirty place. She smiled like she was enjoying the show.

“Look at you,” she said. “Crying already. You’re not special, little leftover. No one is going to want the weak one.”

I tried to tell her to shut up. All that came out was a broken whisper that didn’t even sound like words.

She leaned closer. “Madame Vex only took you because your stepmother paid her to get rid of you. You’re filler. The rest of us actually have a chance.”

One of the other girls in a cage across the room spoke up, voice small. “Selene, leave her alone. She just got here.”

Selene didn’t even look at her. “Mind your business, or you’ll end up on the floor next.”

I stared at the ceiling because it was the only thing I could do. The drug made everything feel far away and too close at the same time. My heart was still racing but my body wouldn’t listen to it.

My fingers twitched once. That was all. Then nothing again. Panic sat heavy in my chest. I tried to scream. Only a thin sound came out.

Selene laughed louder this time. “Even your voice is broken. Pathetic.”

A girl two cages down whispered, “She’s going to get us all in trouble if she keeps making noise.”

Another voice answered, tired and flat. “She’s new. Give her a minute.”

Selene turned her head toward them. “New or not, she’s lowering the value of the whole row. Alphas can smell weakness.”

I wanted to spit at her. I couldn’t even turn my head.

Time passed. I don’t know how much. The lights stayed bright and cold. My mouth was dry. My eyes burned from the tears that wouldn’t stop.

A worker came down the row with a cart. He slid thin metal trays through the slots at the bottom of each cage. The food looked like grey mush with a piece of dry bread on the side. The smell made my stomach turn.

When he reached my cage he pushed the tray in and kept walking without looking at me.

I couldn’t have eaten even if I wanted to. My hands still wouldn’t move. The tray sat there, untouched, while the other girls ate like they were starving.

Selene made a show of eating slowly, watching me the whole time.

“Not hungry?” she asked. “Or too weak to lift the spoon?”

I closed my eyes. It was the only escape I had.

Someone in another cage spoke softly. “She can’t move. Leave her.”

Selene snorted. “That’s the point. She’s useless. Tomorrow the alphas will walk right past her.”

The girl with the short hair from earlier spoke again. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” Selene said. “I’ve been here longer than most of you. I know what they look for. Strength. Beauty. Obedience. She’s got none of it.”

I kept my eyes shut. The drug still held me down, but the edges were starting to blur. My toes could move a little now. Not enough to matter.

Later the lights got brighter. Footsteps came again. More of them this time.

Madame Vex walked into the middle of the room like she owned every breath we took. She clapped her hands once.

“Listen up.”

The talking stopped.

“Tomorrow a group of powerful alphas will be here to buy. Some of you will leave this place. Some of you will not. I suggest you make yourselves worth looking at.”

A few girls went pale. One started crying quietly. Others sat up straighter, already fixing their hair with dirty fingers.

Selene’s whole face changed. She smiled like she had just won something.

“I knew it,” she whispered, loud enough for the cages near her to hear. “They’re going to want the best. And I’m the best.”

Madame Vex’s eyes landed on me for a second. She looked almost amused.

“Especially you. Try not to look so pathetic. It lowers the price for everyone.”

Workers came in behind her carrying baskets. They started handing out pieces of cloth through the bars. Tiny scraps that barely counted as clothes. Bikini tops and bottoms in cheap black fabric.

“Put these on before morning,” one of the workers said. “Look pretty. Smile if you can. Alphas pay more for girls who don’t look dead.”

Selene held hers up and laughed. “Finally. Something that will show them what I have.”

I still couldn’t move much. The cloth landed on my stomach and stayed there. My fingers managed to curl around the edge of it after a long time, but that was all.

One of the quieter girls in the cage across from me spoke in a shaky voice. “What if nobody picks us?”

Madame Vex smiled. “Then you stay here until someone does. Or until I decide you’re not worth the food.”

She turned and walked out. The workers followed. The heavy door at the end of the hall slammed shut.

The room went quiet except for soft crying and the sound of girls trying to change into the tiny clothes without much space to move.

Selene finished changing first. She stood in the middle of her cage like it was a stage, turning slowly so everyone could see.

“Tomorrow,” she said, looking straight at me, “you’ll still be here on the floor while I’m riding in a car with a real alpha. Remember that while you’re crying.”

I tried to move my fingers again. They twitched. Progress, but too slow.

A girl near the back started praying under her breath. Another one was throwing up into the corner of her cage. The short-haired girl just sat with her knees pulled up and stared at the wall.

Selene kept talking. She couldn’t seem to stop.

“I’ve waited for this. I’m done with this place. Some high-ranking alpha is going to take one look at me and that’ll be it. No more cages. No more grey food.”

Nobody answered her.

I managed to roll onto my side after a long time. The movement sent pain through my shoulders. The bikini top and bottom were still in a heap near my chest. I stared at them. The idea of putting them on made my stomach turn, but I knew they would force it if I didn’t.

Hours stretched. The lights dimmed a little but never went fully dark. Girls whispered to each other in the dark. Some made plans for how they would smile. Some just cried until they fell asleep.

Selene stayed awake longer than the others. She kept glancing at me like she wanted to make sure I was still suffering.

My arms finally started working enough that I could push myself up to a sitting position against the bars. My head spun. The food tray was still there, cold and untouched. I didn’t reach for it.

I pulled the tiny scraps of cloth toward me with shaking hands. Putting them on took forever. My fingers felt thick and clumsy. When I finally got the top tied, it barely covered anything. The bottom was worse.

I sat there in the dark, half-dressed in something that made me feel more exposed than being naked, and listened to the other girls breathing.

Selene’s voice came again, softer this time but still sharp.

“You’re going to stay here, leftover. Watch me leave. That’s the last thing you’ll see of freedom.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t trust my voice yet.

The drug was fading, but the fear was getting stronger. Tomorrow the alphas would walk through here. They would look at us like we were things on a shelf. Some girls would be chosen. Some would be left behind.

I pressed my forehead against the cold bars and closed my eyes.

Somewhere far down the hall a door opened and closed. Footsteps moved closer, then stopped. A low voice spoke, too quiet to make out the words.

Then silence again.

I stayed awake long after the others fell asleep, staring into the dark, waiting for morning and whatever came with it.