The Cursed Alpha's Dark Obsession

Chapter4

The alpha who had been laughing still stood there with his arms crossed, watching Kael like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He shook his head and laughed again, louder this time.

“You?” he said. “Buying a slave? Never thought I’d see the day. What happened to all that talk about not needing anyone?”

Kael didn’t smile. He didn’t even look at his friend. He just held out his hand for the papers Madame Vex was already pushing toward him.

“Sign here, Alpha Draven,” she said, voice sweet as poison. “And here. Full payment now, of course.”

Kael took the pen and signed without reading. Then he pulled a thick envelope from inside his coat and dropped it on the table. Madame Vex’s eyes lit up like someone had handed her the moon.

I stood there with the chain still on my ankle, heart slamming so hard it hurt. The word “bought” kept echoing in my head.

“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said. My voice came out rough but loud enough. “You can’t just buy me.”

No one looked at me.

Selene’s face had gone white, then red. She stared at Kael like she wanted to claw his eyes out. When he still didn’t look at her, she turned that hate on me.

“You?” she hissed. “You half-dead little leftover? He walked past me for you?”

The laughing alpha wiped his eyes, still grinning. He glanced at Selene, then at Madame Vex.

“How much for that one?” he asked, pointing at her with his chin.

Madame Vex named a price. He paid it without blinking.

Selene’s mouth fell open. “What? No. I don’t want—”

“Too late,” he said, cheerful. “You’re coming with me.”

She tried to pull away when a worker grabbed her arm. “I was supposed to go with him!” She pointed at Kael. “Not you!”

The alpha just laughed again. “Life’s full of surprises.”

I tried again. “Listen to me. I said I don’t belong to anyone. You can’t do this.”

Kael finally looked at me. His eyes were cold and steady.

“It’s already done.”

Workers unlocked the chain on my ankle. The second it fell I stepped back. One of them grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise.

“Move,” he said.

I dug my heels in. “Let go of me.”

Kael watched without saying a word. The worker dragged me forward. I twisted and kicked. My bare foot connected with his shin. He cursed and shoved me harder.

Selene was still yelling as they pulled her toward the doors. “This is wrong! He’s the Ironfang alpha! He should have picked me!”

The other alpha walked behind her, hands in his pockets, looking like he was enjoying every second.

I looked at Kael. “Who is he?”

Kael’s eyes flicked to the laughing man, then back to me.

“Ronan,” he said. “My problem, not yours.”

That was the first time I heard the name. Ronan. It stuck in my head even while the worker kept pulling me forward.

The big doors opened. Cold night air hit my face. Two black cars waited in the dark, engines already running. One for each of us.

They pushed me toward the first car. I grabbed the door frame and held on.

“I’m not getting in.”

Kael walked up behind me. He didn’t touch me. He just spoke, quiet enough that only I could hear.

“Get in the car, Rhea.”

It was the first time he used my name. It sounded wrong in his mouth. Too soft for someone who had just bought me like furniture.

The worker pried my fingers off the door and shoved me inside. I landed hard on the back seat. The door slammed shut. The lock clicked.

Through the window I saw Selene being forced into the second car. She was still fighting, still screaming. Ronan climbed in after her, still smiling.

Kael opened the front passenger door and sat down like this was any other night. The driver pulled away without a word.

My heart was racing so fast I felt sick. I pressed myself into the corner of the seat, as far from him as the car would let me.

The car smelled like leather and something cold. Kael didn’t turn around. He didn’t speak. He just stared out the windshield like I wasn’t even there.

I tested the door handle. Locked. Of course it was locked.

“You can’t keep me,” I said. My voice sounded smaller in the closed car. “I won’t stay.”

He didn’t answer.

I tried again. “I have a life. Had a life. You can’t just sign a paper and own someone.”

Still nothing.

The driver glanced at me in the mirror once, then looked away fast. Even he didn’t want trouble.

I shifted on the seat. The tiny clothes they forced on me did nothing against the cold leather. My bare feet felt frozen. Every bump in the road sent a jolt through my still-sore body.

That was when I remembered.

The spoon.

Last night, when the worker slid the food tray into my cage, I had taken the metal spoon and hidden it up my sleeve while everyone was watching Selene. It was cheap and thin, but the end was sharp where it had been cut wrong in the factory. I had kept it pressed against my skin this whole time.

My fingers found it now, cold and familiar.

I sat very still. Kael still hadn’t turned around. The back of his head was dark against the window. Broad shoulders. No tension in them, like he had already forgotten I was here.

The car turned onto a darker road. Trees blurred past the windows. No streetlights. Just black.

I curled my fingers tight around the spoon. My hands were shaking but I forced them still.

I thought about my father. About the way he used to hide money in his coat for me. About the kitchen floor where I had begged. About the cloth over my mouth and the way the world went black.

I thought about Selene’s face when Kael chose me. The pure hate in her eyes. She would have done anything to be in this car instead of me.

I was in it.

And I still had the spoon.

I knew I was too weak. I knew he was an alpha and I was nothing. I knew the second I moved he would stop me.

I still had to try.

The car hit a straight stretch of road. The driver sped up a little. Kael still looked forward.

I pulled the spoon free from my sleeve. The metal was warm from my skin now. I g

ripped it so hard my knuckles hurt.

One chance.

I lunged forward between the seats, aiming for the side of his neck.