Luna of the Alphas

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It made my stomach turn to think of all those poor slaves being torn apart by a wild wolf's claws. It wasn't about us in the end, though. That thing that happened was on a different street, probably on the other side of the market.

I said to myself, "That's pretty scary."

"You two up front!""One of the Aunts yelled!" "Stop that noise and pay attention to our guests!""

I wanted to say that we didn't have any guests yet, but having a fight with the Aunts never ends well for anyone.

After that, Ashley and I kept quiet and smiled at the empty streets.

All of a sudden, there was noise in the shop. The aunts stiffened up.

In the glass's reflection, I could see them. Their whole body tensed up as if they could hear a sound far away. They stopped what they were doing one by one and walked up to the front of the store.

When someone knocked, they quickly opened the door and stepped back, bowed their heads in a strange way to show they were humble.

I really wanted to look, but I knew I would get in trouble if I took my eyes off the window. I chose to listen instead.

I heard a noise. Something that made my hair stand on end that I had never heard before. A howl. Somebody is chanting. Talks and whispers. Suddenly, one word could be heard through all the noise.

A word that shivered through my body.

The letter alpha.

The Alpha was something none of us had seen. His name was always being thrown around, like a character from a fairy tale or a famous person who always makes a big deal.

The Aunts talked a lot about him, but their stories and rumours about the Alpha were just for fun. No one really thought they would meet him.

People said he was young. People said he was smart and good-looking. It was said that he would mate this year. When I last heard them talk about the Alpha, the aunts said that he was going to marry the princess of the northern Eclipse pack.

Now that I think about it, they should have been getting engaged soon.

There was more to the Aunts than just the Alpha. They used him to keep us in line. They would tell us, "You should be happy to live such easy lives." "Be thankful that the Alpha was kind."

Being thankful for the lives we were given was a silly thing to do. But the aunts were right; the Alpha was much nicer than the one before him.

Taking the throne from his father two years ago, he made a law that changed how slave shops worked. Every week, slaves were given meat and milk, and their shop masters were not allowed to hurt them physically. Female slaves were kept separate from men and were only managed by she-wolves.

It was sad to think about how things were before the new Alpha. I can't even imagine what slaves went through before the law. It was hard to tell if the new Alpha made choices out of kindness or because it was easier for him to do so. Some slaves saw him as a hero. In the end, the rate of change had gone down. It made a huge difference in his finances.

Slaves sometimes talked about the Alpha as well, but we only knew what we were told. We mostly made up rumours about each other. Some people saw him as a saviour, mostly silly girls who had crazy dreams about an Alpha king with white knights taking them away.

Ashley leaned forward, and her long blonde hair fell over her knees, which were crossed. "Heard them?"", she asked, raising the pitch of her whispers in excitement. "The Alpha is here!""

It's too loud. She made too much noise.

I made a face when someone yelled from behind, "You two!" Don't look up!"

Before Ashley did, I bowed my head. The Alphas didn't interest me. I wasn't interested in the dreams of romantic, loving bosses. I had no right to think about myself that way.

No one would be able to buy me.

I looked at my image in the glass and thought about my strange Magenta eyes and the dark spot on my neck that was a birthmark.

I was thinking when I heard noise coming from the front door. The Alpha came in first, then three big, muscular male dogs who were paying attention.

When the Alpha walked on the ground, it sounded like thunder. There was a loud, heavy step, and then another. The sound made me think of monsters walking—with heavy, strong steps.

I had to look.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that the Silver Moon pack's mark was sewn into the bottom of his black boots. He was a big person walking through a*****e full of much smaller people.

I thought that was the reason his steps sounded so heavy.

It wasn't overstated when the aunts talked about how good-looking he was. I almost got why the slaves were so interested in him. He was big and strong, and he was young and smart. He looked around the room with careful, calculated eyes.

He looked really good.

I forced a smile at a stranger walking by as I shivered and turned my eyes away. I didn't get their attention, and they walked along with their heads down.

Before they came in, I couldn't understand what they were saying. After that, the words were a lot easier to understand.

One of the aunts said, "Business has been...a bit slow."

"I see," the Alpha said. His voice was rough and smokey, but smooth. The sound of a man who knew how strong he was. "Luckily for you, that seems to be what most people in the market think." I'm not here to do business, though. The event that happened in the trade area last night is being looked into by me.

When I looked at Ashley, she looked at me with a look that was both interested and excited. He had come to look into the attack.

"Oh," said a second aunt. "That's a long way to walk from here. That was the first thing we heard about it late last night. But this is a terrible scenario, isn't it?"

The Alpha hummed, which was a low, deep sound coming from his chest. "I get it. Please keep an eye out for any...weird guest behaviour."

"Of course, my Alpha," said several aunts at the same time.

One told him how healthy he was, and the other told him how happy they were that he was going to marry the Northern Princess.

After that, he went behind us.

I heard his steps, one after the other, moving through me like a ghost. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped.

When I looked up at the glass, I saw his outline in the mirror. He stood behind me and looked at me with his eyes.

As I swallowed, my heartbeat slowly sped up in my chest as he moved again and got closer. More nearby. I looked up and saw his boots sweep in front of me. His eyes were on me, pressing in on me with an interested look. He didn't say anything. Not a sound was made. Not moved at all. But I could feel the strange feeling leaving him—maybe a sudden surge of anger or desire for blood at the sight of me.

I had no idea why he kept looking at me.

I held on to the sides of my seat and kept my eyes on the ground because I was too scared to look up.

We were told to smile at everyone who came in, but how could I when the great Alpha was staring at me from right next to me?

My heart beat shakily.

Did I bother him? Was it because I was too weird and ugly to fit in the box?

My breath was shaking. I almost cried.