CHAPTER 5 — Sold To Him For The Second Time
1928 Words
Violet’s POV
Dawn hadn’t even broken when I began packing my bags.
The sky outside my window hung dull and gray, the kind of color that warned something terrible was coming.
My hands shook as I stuffed clothes into the suitcase. I didn’t even care what I packed. I just needed to leave.
I would never be Merrin’s wife.
Never!
I’d rather die than wear his name.
Being with him isn’t marriage, it’s a slow death dressed in gold.
I could still hear my own voice from yesterday, raw and disbelieving.
“What…?” I had screamed, my eyes wide, horror and fury clashing like storms in my chest. “You can’t force…”
“I can,” he interrupted, his tone sharp enough to cut my skin. “And I will. You’ll live beside me… a slave hidden behind the word ‘wife’. You’ll wear my mark, sleep in my bed, and call me husband. And every morning, you’ll wake up knowing that the man you blinded… is the man who owns you now.”
The truth in his voice chilled me.
Merrin didn’t joke, that’s why everyone called him ruthless.
But I won’t let him cage what’s left of me. If running makes me a coward, then so be it. I’d rather flee in disgrace than die chained to him.
“Violet, don’t leave again.”
Zoella’s voice drifted from the doorway, soft, trembling, and pleading.
She stood there in her boyish pajamas, barefoot, short blue hair tangled from sleep, eyes wide with disbelief.
“Ten years,” she breathed, stepping closer. “I just got you back, and I missed you every single day.”
I zipped my bag without looking at her. “Then you should’ve begged me not to return.”
Zoella frowned. “You can’t mean that.”
I met her eyes. “I do. Coming back was a mistake. Father told me never to return. I should’ve listened. He was right, nothing good lives here anymore.”
Her lip trembled. “You were only twelve, and now you’re twenty-two… a grown woman. You didn’t make a mistake, you just wanted closure.”
I laughed bitterly. “Closure? Look where that got me.”
Zoella’s eyes softened. “At least tell Silvan before you go. He deserves that much.”
“No,” I said quickly. “Silvan can’t know. The more distance between me and this cursed place, the better.”
Before she could argue, the door swung open.
Lady Seraphina, my stepmother, stormed in, her gown dragging behind her like smoke. She didn’t knock. She never did when she was upset.
“Good,” she snapped, eyes darting to my suitcase. “You’re finally leaving. I was about to pack for you myself.”
Her hands were already moving, throwing my clothes in faster, angrier.
“Mother…” Zoella began.
“She’s a cursed child!” Mum barked. “Wherever Violet goes, chaos follows. She needs to go before Merrin kills us all.”
“Mother, stop!” Zoella shouted, rushing to grab the suitcase. “You don’t have to say things like that! She’s not cursed… she’s a victim too!”
Mum turned sharply, face flushed. “Victim? She blinded Merrin, Zoella! You call that being a victim?”
“She did it by accident!” Zoella shot back. “She was saving me, remember? Merrin was bullying me again, and she…”
“Enough!” I stepped between them. “Zoella, don’t talk to Mother like that.”
Mum froze, her chest rising and falling.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, turning to her. “You’re right. I bring nothing but trouble. I’m sorry for everything.”
Her eyes flickered, hurt, anger, maybe guilt, then she looked away.
As I bent to zip my bag, a memory hit me so hard it stole my breath.
Lady Seraphina wasn’t my real mother. My real mother had run away after I was born; running off because my father was too poor.
But Seraphina… She married my father and had taken me in.
She’d fed me with her own breast milk when I was a baby.
Worked beside my father until they built their fortune.
Brushed my hair every night until I turned twelve.
Even after having Zoella, she never treated me differently, until the day I left because of Merrin.
Now, she looked like a stranger standing in the ruins of my childhood.
I didn’t blame her. Maybe she was just tired of suffering… tired of me.
“Before I go,” I said quietly, “have you ever heard anything… about my biological mother?”
Mum stilled. Then, coldly: “Last year, a dead body was found in the neighboring pack. They said it was her. So don’t ask again. She didn’t care enough to find you while she lived. Let her rest now.”
My heart clenched. “So she’s… gone.”
Mum nodded once.
I bit my lip, forcing the tears back. “Then I guess even in death, she didn’t want me.”
“Don’t say that,” Zoella murmured.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ve always known.”
Silence. Only the light drizzle tapping gently on the roof.
Zoella finally broke it. “Are you sure Merrin is your mate? Maybe you’re confused… maybe it’s just your old crush resurfacing. You used to like him in school…”
“That was ten years ago,” I said sharply. “Whatever I felt for him died the day he became a monster.”
“Then what is it now?” she pressed. “Why do you sound so... broken when you talk about him? I don’t even believe in that mate-bond cr@p.”
I hesitated. “I know… but there’s something deeper. When I see him, I feel it… like a bond trying to drag me closer even when I want to run.”
Zoella’s eyes widened. “And you concluded he’s your mate?”
“I know he is,” I whispered. “And that’s why I have to leave before it’s too late.”
Mum and Zoella exchanged a heavy glance before Zoella pulled me into a trembling hug.
Her arms were warm, shaking. I held on tighter than I meant to.
“I can’t lose you again,” she whispered into my shoulder.
“You won’t,” I said softly. “Just stay here. Stay safe.”
That’s when I heard it…
The roar of engines cutting through the rain.
I lifted my face to the window. A convoy of sleek black cars rolled down the gravel road.
Zoella pulled away, eyes wide. “Who are they?”
Mum rushed behind me. “Are you expecting anyone, Violet?”
My pulse spiked. “No... no, it can’t be…”
The sound grew louder, tires screeching against the wet gravel.
I knew immediately. It was Merrin.
He was here for me. My pulse spiked as I rushed outside, Zoella and Mum hurrying after me, our footsteps echoing.
The guards rushed to the sleek car at the center. The door opened, and Merrin stepped out, every inch the Alpha King he believed himself to be.
He walked toward us like he owned the earth beneath his boots. Rain drizzled down, but one of his guards quickly raised an umbrella over him.
That wicked smile… it hadn’t changed.
“Violet,” he drawled, voice smooth and cruel. “Did you really think I’d let you run again?”
I froze.
He laughed, shaking his head. “I told you last night… I know where your family lives. You should’ve listened.”
Behind him, his men spread out, surrounding the house like wolves circling prey.
Mum gasped and dropped to her knees. “Alpha Merrin, please! Spare us. If you must take someone, take me, but leave my daughters.”
“Mother, no!” Zoella cried, kneeling beside her.
I stepped forward, voice trembling. “Merrin, please don’t hurt them. This is between you and me.”
He looked at me, eyes burning like molten gold. “Is it, though? Because last night, you said you’d never beg for your life.”
He leaned closer, smirking. “And now look at you… begging.”
“I’m begging for their lives,” I said, my voice shaking. “Kill me if you must, but let them go.”
His smile widened. “You sound different when you’re scared. I like it.”
“Coward!” Zoella screamed, standing tall despite her trembling. “You think you’re strong because you scare women? Try fighting a real Alpha instead!”
“Zoella!” I cried, but she was already shaking with fury.
Merrin chuckled. “You’ve got spirit. I’ll give you that… the same reason I hated you ten years ago, Zoella.”
“And the same reason you lost an eye for ever touching me,” she spat.
Merrin's jaw tightened, then relaxed into a slow smirk.
He walked past Zoella, closing the distance to our mother. Mum flinched as he reached down and lifted her from her knees with deceptive gentleness.
“Relax, Lady Seraphina,” he said smoothly. “I’m not here to kill anyone. In fact…”
He snapped his fingers.
A dozen men rushed in, carrying boxes. They dropped them on the floor, one after another.
When they opened, money and gold spilled out; jewelry, glittering stones that caught the gray morning light.
“Diamonds, silver, gifts from the royal trade,” Merrin said, watching Mum’s stunned face. “Enough to make you the richest woman in every neighboring pack.”
Her hands trembled. “Why are you… showing me this?”
“Because all of it,” he said softly, “can be yours.”
Her eyes flicked up, confused.
He smiled. “If you give me Violet as my fourth wife.”
The world went silent.
Zoella lunged at him, screaming, but his guards caught her midair. She kicked, fought, tears streaming down her face.
“You’re insane!” she shouted. “You don’t want to marry her… you want to own her! You hate her!”
Merrin’s lips curved. “You’re right. But love and hate are two sides of the same coin. I’ll take either.”
“Mother, don’t,” Zoella cried. “Don’t you dare agree to this!”
I could barely breathe.
I knew Mum loved the finest things in life… and this was a choice she’d struggle to make.
She stood frozen, eyes darting between me and the treasure glittering at her feet.
“Mum,” I whispered, stepping forward. “Please don’t.” Tears blurred my vision.
Her lips parted, trembling. “I just want you both to live, Violet. He's the Alpha king. If I say no, he’ll kill us all.”
“Then let him!” Zoella screamed, voice cracking like thunder through the rain. “I’d rather die than watch you sell my sister!”
Merrin’s gaze flicked to me, then Zoella. “Touching. Truly. But the choice isn’t yours, Zoella. It’s your mother’s.”
Time slowed.
The rain pounded harder, cold and merciless. My body trembled, from fear, not cold.
Mum’s eyes glistened as she stared at the mountain of gold… Then at me.
Her eyes shimmered with tears. “I accept.”
For a heartbeat, the world stopped breathing with me. The rain blurred into nothing. Every other sound vanished, only her voice kept echoing in my skull.
I’d been sold to Alpha Merrin, my most haunting nightmare.
Again.
- Writer
