Bound To The Lycan King

CHAPTER 3: THE AUCTION

BELLA’S POV.

I looked up to see two of our pack guards blocking the path to my exit—Darren, the chief of security, who was built like a giant even in his human form, and his subordinate.

“What are you doing?… Out of my way now!” That was meant to be an order because I had the right to command them, but it came out more like a plea as they stared down at me as though I didn’t speak.

“You want to run? Scurry like your mother?” My uncle taunted me from behind.

At the mention of my mother, I turned sharply and snapped at him. “Don’t you dare bring my mother into this! If she were alive to see what you’re doing right now, she would have spat on your face because she held you in the highest regard.”

My mother, Rivera, was a rare gem—a Queen amongst shewolves, a Luna among Lunas. She and my father loved me very much and gave me the best life any pup could ask for. But sadly, death snatched her from us when I was just twelve.

She happened to be at the border alone without anyone’s knowledge when the rogues attacked. She couldn’t escape them due to a grievous wound, which she had not entirely recovered from, that slowed her down.

The rogues ripped her to pieces, tearing her limbs from her body before my father and his warriors could arrive.

At times in my sleep, I could still hear her screams, ringing in my ear like a never-ending echo. To this day, it remains a mystery to us how she got to the border or what exactly made her go there in the first place.

My uncle laughed scornfully as he prowled close to me. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “You’re just as weak and helpless as her.”

My blood boiled, rage like none other surging through me. I wanted to shift and tear into my uncle’s flesh, but my wolf refused to surface. For a fleeting heartbeat, my eyes glowed only for the light to sputter out just as quickly.

My wolf, Clarissa, had remained dormant inside me, growing weaker by the day due to the mysterious deaths of my mates.

“You want to rule, yet you can’t even shift. Can you be any more pathetic?” My uncle scoffed. Then, with a flick of his hand, he barked a command at the guards, “Seize her!”

At once, they gripped my hands and wrenched them back painfully, tying my wrist. I tried to struggle, wriggle out of the ropes, but it was no use. The ropes only bit deeper into my flesh, searing my skin with each movement, leaving a burning sensation.

“Your time in this pack ends today,” he declared with a note of finality as he roughly grabbed me by the top of the arm, pulling me forward to the centre of the stage.

“Let me go…” I tried to resist him, but he held me firmly in place, his grip like iron shackles.

“You should be grateful I’m making your life better. All that time you worked as a servant, I gave you the best life a servant could ask for.

Instead of acting all foolish, you should accept that this is your fate. You can’t change it.

If you behave and play your part well, who knows, one of these Alphas seated here will take pity on you and make you his Luna.

Then, at last, you might finally get to sit on that throne you’ve always longed for.” His tone dripped with contempt, and he cackled, his voice like claws scraping down a chalkboard.

Suddenly, he pushed me forward, and I lost my balance, crashing into the floor. A wince escaped my lips as I felt a sharp sting on my right knee. When I checked it, I saw that I had sustained a nasty bruise, the skin there scraped raw from the impact of the fall. But the pain was nothing compared to the pain I was feeling inside.

Tears welled in my eyes, clouding my vision as I glanced at the person I called family, smirking with sick delight over my sorrow, and the crowd of Alphas I thought would support me offered nothing but cold stares, showing no iota of care or empathy.

A wave of loneliness washed over me as I realised how cruel the world was. The only people who truly cared for me were my parents. And now, just when I needed them the most, they were no more. Ever since they passed, it all seemed like the entire world turned against me.

Uncle Axel reached forward and gripped my arm, forcing me up on my feet.

“Let the auction begin!” He announced, and a cheer erupted from the crowd.

“Going for 200 gold coins?” He asked, peering around the crowd in search of an opening bidder.

“200!” One of the Alphas seated in front raised his hand and stood up, keeping a stern, emotionless face.

“500,” I heard another say from the back.

“That’s a fair price,” my uncle commented, his eyes gleaming as he revelled in their eagerness to acquire me. “But can I get something higher? She’s still a virgin, untouched and unmated. And also a princess at that. Surely, she’s worth more. Can I get 800 gold coins?”

“800!” A stocky fellow yelled from the side of the hall, smirking as his eyes met mine. “Just how I like them…”

I quickly averted my gaze, unable to look at him, unable to look at any of them. I felt worthless. Used. Deceived. Every part of me was breaking as I struggled to accept what I had been reduced to—a hollow shell of the girl I once was, put on display like a prize to be won for a group of men who had become disgusting in my eyes.

“A thousand gold coins!” A voice boomed, and everywhere suddenly went quiet.

I looked up to see a man with a predatory grin and oil black hair slither through the crowd like a snake. The way he walked with his chin lifted and shoulder held high made it seem like he had already paid.

I recognised him as Alpha Damon. The newly crowned Alpha of the Redtooth pack, which was a few territories away from ours.

He was the only Alpha I could say I knew by name here. Uncle Axel used to be very close to his father. They visited each other’s pack often and did a lot together, especially business dealings and other secret stuff I didn’t know about.

I was expecting more bids, more resistance, but my uncle’s voice cut through the hall with a chilling finality as though he had been waiting for Alpha Damon to place a bid all this while: “Sold to Alpha Damon of the Redtooth pack!”

The crowd murmured, but that didn’t stop him as he ordered the guards to get the paperwork ready.

Alpha Damon mounted the stage. He walked up to me and did what I least expected: he pulled me close like I was his property and stamped a long kiss on the side of my face.

“I’ll take good care of her,” he purred, and from the way his eyes raked over my body, I could already tell his intentions weren’t good.

To say I was disgusted by what he just did was an understatement. My skin crawled like a thousand razor blades were dragging along it.

More than anything, I wanted to get away from him, get away from all of them, when a scent from nowhere suddenly hit my nostrils.

It was a rich, intoxicating scent of cinnamon and musk that took control of my senses, bringing a calming sensation even amid all the chaos that surrounded me as I inhaled it deeply.

Suddenly, my wolf, which had been dormant inside me all this while, screamed one word that made my heart skip a beat, “mate!”

I quickly became restless and almost breathless, paying no attention to anything else. I tilted my neck, my eyes roaming every nook and cranny of the hall as I desperately sought him. My mate.

And then, like a force pulling me, our gaze collided. My breath held, and time seemed to stop. Kane Blackwing, the Lycan king, was my mate.