Marked By The Vengeful Lycan

Chapter Four

For a second, I thought I had misheard him. I thought surely, even in this den of monsters, there was a limit. But the cheers of excitement that followed from the warriors and the pack members told me otherwise.

I couldn't move, my heart was frantically beating.

"Did you not hear your new master, girl?" My father asked in a sharp, irritated voice. "Stand up. Show Alpha Eugene that he hasn't wasted his gold on a sack of bones!”

“Father, please…”

“Shut up and do as you are told, Rhea!” he yelled. “Can you not be such a nuisance to me all the time? He's just offered three thousand gold pieces for you and yet you are stalling?”

The tears poured down my face and I looked at my mother again. Her back was rigid and she kept her face straight. How could she let this happen to me?

She was my mother and she was choosing to turn the other way in the face of my humiliation.

"Lucas..." I called, quietly.

Lucas finally looked at me. His eyes weren't filled with the love I had imagined for months. He leaned back, his arm sliding further down Elara’s waist, pulling her flush against him.

"Do as you're told, Rhea," he said, his voice indifferent. "You're no longer my concern. You belong to Eugene now. Don't make a scene and embarrass your father further."

Elara let out a small, tinkling laugh, the sound of glass breaking. "Don't be shy, sister. Show Alpha Eugene what he's paid for, he's not interested in your face so you may as well pray he's thrilled by your body.”

I reached for the first button of my bodice, my fingers fumbling and numb. I saw Alpha Eugene lick his lips, his twisted hand tightening on his cane. He looked at me with such filthy, transparent lust that I wanted to vomit.

As the first layer of my dress slipped from my shoulders, I heard someone speak up.

“Stop,” it was quiet but the voice was enough to silence the hall.

It came from where my father was seated. But it wasn't my father.

A figure slipped from the shadows behind my father and with easy, calculated steps, he made his way down, stepping into the light. I recognized Caden instantly.

He was my father’s special assassin, and in all the ten years Caden had been working for my father, I’d only seen him thrice.

“It’s Ghost,” someone said and the room broke out in excitement. Because they rarely saw him and his presence meant death, Caden was nicknamed ‘Ghost’

He stopped in front of Alpha Eugene. “For an Alpha, I didn't peg you capable of such a lowly display of stupidity, Eugene.”

My father stood up, his face reddening. "Caden! Back down. This is a private transaction. The Alpha has every right…”

“He is buying a concubine, Alpha,” Caden said, easily cutting my father off. “If Eugene wants a show then he can head to the local brothel for one. The property he's offering to pay for is not for the view of every low-life wolf here tonight. She's worth three thousand gold pieces, why should she strip and be on display for people who didn't pay a single gold coin for her?”

Eugene’s eyes blared with steaming fury. “And who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do?”

Caden watched him calmly before taking a step closer to him, when he spoke his voice was dark and dangerous. “If you want to see what lies beneath the lace, you’ll have to get through me first. And we both know that by the time you reach her, you’ll be too short by a head to enjoy the view."

The room gasped. This was open defiance—a servant threatening a High Alpha. But Caden wasn't acting like a servant, he’s never did.

Eugene's voice cracked as he pointed a trembling finger at my father. "Garrick, put your hound on a leash before I take my gold and my alliance elsewhere!"

My father stepped off the dais, his face a mask of rage. His hand moved toward the silver-tipped whip at his belt. "Caden, move. Now. If the Alpha wants to see the girl, he sees the girl. She is a commodity, and I am the one who sets the terms of the sale."

“Do you not see this is an affront to your bloodline, Alpha?” Caden asked him. “An Alpha’s daughter forced to strip in front of commoners.”

My father tilted his head, his eyes assessing me. “Fine! I'll leave Caden to handle this how he sees fit. He's my best warrior after all.”

“You can undress her in your lands, Alpha Eugene. Pay the gold pieces, and I will personally make the journey to Iron Ridge to deliver your goods.” Caden placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can have her walk naked from the gates to your Estate on full display to your men, that will no longer be our business.”

At Caden’s words, another round of excitement shot through the crowd. Whistles and laughter echoed through the hall and I felt tears prickle the corner of my eyes.

They spoke about me like I was an object of desire and entertainment. I doubted if any single one of them, Caden included, saw me as a person with feelings.

Alpha Eugene shrugged. “That is settled then. When I return to my pack, I’ll have the gold coins sent over. She must return with my men as soon as the payment is made.”

Caden bowed his head. “You have my word.”

“Now that all of that is over, let us begin the mating ceremony of Lucas and Elara, what a night!’ my father announced, laughing heartily.

I dragged myself from the floor without waiting for anyone to tell me that I'd been dismissed. Tears blurred my vision as I slowly returned to the Estate, the sound of celebration and happiness from the Grand Hall trailed after me.

“Thank you,” I quietly said to Caden as I walked past him.

He stopped and looked at me like I was something disgusting he’d stepped on.

“If you had stripped, he would've seen you weren't worth the money and left,” Caden said, his voice flat and dead. “I only stopped him because your father needs the gold. Once he pays, Eugene can have you dragged naked from here to Iron Ridge for all I care.”

His gaze hardened. “Do not thank me again.”