Sold To My Fated Alpha

Chapter 1: Omega

Sheena

When I was just a child, I used to sit at our tiny kitchen table and watch my mother’s hands. They were always warm, but never soft. I always wondered why.

Sometimes, her knuckles were swollen. Sometimes, there was a faint brush of dark purple along her cheekbone, or a trickle of blood at the corner of her lips that she would quickly wipe away with the back of her apron. But whenever she caught me staring, she would press her palm to my cheek, and smile.

"Mom," I asked her once, "what happened?"

She just smoothed my hair back, her gentle eyes holding a brightness that I knew now was forced. "Nothing for you to worry about, my sweet child," she told me softly. "Children should just be children. Let the adults carry the hard things so you don't have to."

I didn't understand her then. I thought she was just tough, invincible even.

Now I know better.

It was on my eighteenth birthday, the day her fragile body finally gave out, that I learned the truth. My mother was an Omega. She had been used, broken, and bought over and over until there was nothing left of her to give. And through all those years of sacrifice, she had kept one last secret.

I was an Omega, too.

Do I blame her for hiding it, or for not giving me a chance to prepare for a world this cruel? Never. She was right. A child deserves to live in warmth and safety before the world forces them to grow up. Reality catches up to you eventually anyway.

Now I’m twenty-four, and I live in mine.

"Hey, wake up!"

Ice-cold water splashed across my chest, stealing the air straight from my lungs. My eyes snapped open, a small gasp breaking from my lips as I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms tight around my freezing body.

Through my blurry, water-stung vision, I tried to make sense of the room. Unfinished concrete walls. A thin, stained mattress that offered no comfort. Standing at the edge of the bed was a man holding an empty bucket, a greasy grin spreading across his face.

Scared, I shoved myself back until my spine hit the wall. I dug my heels into the fabric to make myself as small as possible.

"Now, why don't you let out that sweet scent of yours?"

I couldn't answer him.

Slowly, he began climbing onto the bed, crawling toward the end of the mattress. Before I could pull away, his rough hands locked around my ankles, yanking me forward.

"Please don't..." I begged, the words small as I tried to pull my legs back. "Please."

He ignored my pleas completely. Holding my feet together with one hand, he used the other to struggle with his zipper. Desperate, I reached out, my fingers blindly scratching at his arms to make him stop. He only clicked his tongue, unbothered by my weak attempts to save myself.

The heavy door burst open, slamming against the wall.

"That’s enough, Ian. Don’t ruin the product."

Ian didn't stop.

The second man crossed the room, grabbed Ian by the back of his neck, and yanked him off the bed. "Hide your f*****g c**k away, or there will be nothing in those pants the next time."

Ian's grip broke. The second I was free, I scrambled into the furthest corner of the bed, grabbing the dirty sheet and pulling it all the way up to my chin.

Ian stood up, pulling his pants back up with a glare. "It's not like she hasn't been touched before. She's an Omega prostitute, for f**k's sake."

"And an Omega costs hundreds of millions, you i***t," the other man said. "One scratch or bruise on her skin, and the price drops."

Then, his cold gaze touched mine, his jaw clenching for a moment before he reached down and pulled me up.

"Come on now. We need to put you into decent clothing."

But the decent clothing they had in mind was anything but decent. It was just a white sleeveless dress that was completely see-through. They hooked my wrists into metal cuffs before forcefully pushing me along a dark, narrow hallway. Cries and soft weeping came from the closed doors we passed.

I let them push me. What else was I supposed to do? There was no place in this world where anyone could escape from loan sharks, not when I did not even have enough money to buy my freedom.

In this era, human auctions weren’t entirely illegal, especially for people branded as criminals. And in a way, I suppose I was one. I had lived off Helaena’s money for five years, money she had taken from the very men who prosecute those who cannot pay.

"Helaena..." I missed my friend. She had done nothing but care for me, but the lives of women who sell their bodies never really end in a good place, do they? My lips trembled at the thought of what had become of her, and what was about to become of me.

"Stop looking around," the man grunted, shoving my shoulder. "You're up."

He threw back a heavy red curtain and pushed me forward.

Blinding stage lights hit my eyes. Beyond the platform, a crowd was cheering, the air thick with smoke and the smell of alcohol.

"And now!" the auctioneer's voice boomed through the speakers. "The highlight of the night! Our very own Omega!"

My heart hammered against my ribs. Every instinct screamed at me to turn around and run, even if it was impossible. But before I could take a single step backward, a suffocating scent flooded the air from somewhere across the room.

It hit me all at once, pinning my feet to the wooden floor. My breath caught in my throat as my soul recognized what my mind couldn't comprehend.

A scent that belonged to my mate.

My gaze desperately searched the sea of faces, my eyes narrowing against the bright, blinding stage lights above. The glare hid almost everything from my view, but I knew he was out there. I could feel him watching me, the intensity of his eyes sending a strange heat crawling over my skin.

That was what being fated mates meant, an overwhelming, uncontrollable pull that defied every piece of logic.

Slowly, the harsh spotlights began to sway past my face, casting long shadows across the hall.

My eyes darted straight toward the dim far corner of the room.

There, leaning casually with his back pressed against the wall, stood a man.

He was breathtaking. He had short blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and dark, intricate ink trailing up the side of his neck. He was perfect in every way that mattered, simply because he was mine.

His intense gaze was locked onto me, ignoring the chaos and shouts of the auction around us, looking at me as if I were the only person standing in the entire room.

My lips parted, a soft gasp escaping my chest as I watched him silently mouth two words to me.

Found you.