The Alpha's Bargain Bride

Chapter 3 - The Waiting

Elara’s pov

One month had passed.

I wandered the halls tending to my needs as best I could. Nobody came to rescue me, so I resigned myself to my fate. I was not a part of that world anymore. Gareth had sold me and, in truth, Marina was glad to see me go. I was not needed there and, seemingly, I would never return.

I watched Ironpeak from the shadows, taking in the sheer order and control that marked this place. People came and went, mostly working or playing with the children who had been allowed to run free. The guards kept watch over the gates. Only the disobedient were punished.

Alpha Kaelen kept his distance, which was probably for the best. He was a harsh man with little patience for anything or anyone. He spoke to me little, what little he did say was clipped and to the point. He had not touched me or forced me to do what he wanted. He gave me space and I did not know if that was generosity on his part or if he simply had no interest in me. He shared meals with the others but only when he got the chance. Lord Darien always had a seat next to him, as did a burly man named Torin who had Samantha beside him.

Samantha, it seemed, was a frequent visitor to my side of the building. One day, as she sat down beside me, she spoke.

“You know, I was placed here in much the same way as you,” she said gently. “Only I had Torin to look after me. We became close and, eventually, I chose him as my mate.”

I looked at her, a strange ache in my chest. She had found someone willing to take her in, to make her feel safe and loved. I was still waiting. Waiting for someone to find me, to rescue me. Instead, I had been purchased and brought here to serve.

Elowen, the woman who had come from the Alpha’s private chambers, strode purposefully around the room. She was flamboyant, boisterous, and had a strange air of authority about her as if she belonged here.

She stopped in front of me, her dark eyes narrowing. “This is the woman we honor?” she asked, her voice disdainful. “How very disappointing.”

I kept my head down and said nothing.

Later, I asked Samantha who she was.

“His adopted sister,” she said shortly. “She was rescued years ago. That’s all there is to it.”

Nevertheless, I watched Elowen with a certain amount of distaste. She was too familiar with the Alpha, brushing against his arm as if they were old friends. She gave orders to the pack as if she had a right to do so and, strangely, he did not seem to object. In fact, he seemed almost… fond of her.

Days turned to weeks and, slowly but surely, the Alpha began to invite me to sit with him. To listen to him. He gave me a few curt words about the borders of his territory but little else. When I questioned him about why I was here, he only said that I needed to understand this world if I was to survive in it.

He never spoke of children, of the bargain, of anything that had to do with me. Only Samantha said something, telling me that he was allowing me time and that, perhaps, one day, I would stand as his equal.

I did not know what that meant. I did not know if he wanted me to be his mate or if he was merely humoring Samantha. He had given me space so far, making it very clear that he had no interest in me. And yet I could not shake the feeling that he was testing me.

It was only later, at dinner, that I realized what it was that he wanted from me.

Torin and Lord Darien spoke loudly as they always did, debating the merits of one supplier over another. Elowen, for her part, was openly antagonistic. I sat in silence, thinking of home and all that I had lost when I had been sold. I had not been able to stop the inevitable, no matter how desperately I had tried.

“Elara,” I heard my name being said and, instinctively, I lowered my head. My hands, which had been clasped together in my lap, tightened into fists.

“Elara.”

I felt his gaze on me and slowly raised my eyes to meet his. He was seated at the head of the table, his expression unreadable.

All eyes were on me. I did not know what he wanted but, somehow, I knew that it was time.

The Alpha said something across the table. “How do you fare?”

I looked up at him and, to my surprise, found that my hands were not shaking. “Beautifully, my lord,” I replied. “As you have seen fit to allow me.”

Kaelen only nodded, his expression stony. “Your days of waiting are over,” he said stiffly. “You will stand by my side shortly. You will sit with me in council. Be prepared, for I have given you leave only because Samantha asked it of me. That courtesy will not be shown again.”

It was hard to believe. This was it. The long, excruciating wait was finally over.

Across from me, Elowen’s lips curled in a tight line. She was clearly delighted by this turn of events, though her eyes were full of something else. Perhaps… jealousy? Resentment?

Samantha sat beside me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze under the table. She was trying to reassure me, but the truth was, I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t breathe. I could barely keep myself from crawling out of my skin. The moment of truth was at hand and, no matter how hard I tried to keep it at bay, it had finally come.

We finished our meal and I was led back to my room, where Samantha closed the door behind her. She came to sit beside me and asked, her voice quiet, “What troubles you?”

I stood by the window, staring out at the dark horizon. “I don’t want duty,” I said at last. “I don’t want to be bought and paid for like some kind of prize. I want what you have and what she has,” I gestured vaguely at Elowen who had left some time ago. “I want someone who will choose me, someone who will love me for no reason other than that they can.”

Samantha drew closer. “He treats you well enough,” she said softly. “Perhaps one day you will stand as Luna and he will choose you as his mate.”

I shook my head.

“Being bought and sold will always be a stain on me, no matter what anyone says. I’ll always feel like I’m in a cage, no matter how golden the bars are.”

I looked out at the fields one last time before speaking again. “What about the human world?”

That stopped Samantha cold.

“They don’t have wolves there,” I continued, my voice barely more than a whisper. “They don’t have pack or the forced choice of a mate. Everything is completely up to the individual. They have free will.”

Samantha was across the room in an instant, shutting the shutters and curtains with unnecessary force. She grabbed my arm, her face white. “Don’t ever say that again. It is forbidden,” she hissed. “Those who speak of the human world are not permitted to speak of it again. Nobody who goes there returns and nobody who comes from there ever goes home. Do you hear me? Never, ever speak of this again.”

She let me go and fell back against the wall, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Samantha was afraid. Not just for me, but for herself as well.

I kept my mouth shut for the remainder of the evening. For the remainder of the day, in fact. But the thought had taken root and, like any seed, it had begun to grow.

I stared across the horizon, willing myself to see what lay beyond it. Beyond Ironpeak, beyond the pack territories, beyond the stars that blinked lazily in the night sky.

Somewhere out there, there had to be a world that didn’t demand chains and debts be paid in blood. The idea filled me with a longing that bordered on the desperate. It was not a place for me, not really, but the sheer thought of it made something inside me bloom with hope. There had to be something out there for me, somewhere that I could belong.

I didn’t say it, of course. I barely dared to think it.

But I longed for the unknown and, for once in my life, a very small part of me almost wished I was someone who could walk that path.