Marked For His Salvation

Chapter Two

LIRA

Two guards pulled me off the floor like I weighed nothing. Their hold was tight and rough, like they wanted to inflict pain on me. I didn’t fight. I had learned somewhere around the fourth or fifth time I'd been dragged through these halls that fighting the escort was pointless. Save the energy for what actually mattered.

I just needed to play my cards closer to my chest now.

They dragged me upstairs to my room. The only place I had ever been allowed to call mine but the truth is, it never felt like it. Four walls, a bed, a door I couldn’t lock. It wasn’t a room, it was just a prettier prison.

Two maids were already there waiting. Their eyes met mine, and for a second, I saw pity but they stayed quiet. The guards were still in the room, their eyes watching my every movement like a hawk.

“Can I at least get some privacy please?” I asked.

Both maids shared glances. “I’m afraid we can't leave, Lira,” One of them answered carefully. “The Luna instructed us to get you ready for your… company.”

Lira. Not my lady. Not even miss. Just my bare name, stripped of everything. How quickly titles disappeared when you stopped being useful to people.

“Do I look like I can't wear a gown or tie my shoes properly?” I sneered, but only met with silence.

I knew why they were really here. It wasn’t just to keep me from running but to make sure I didn’t try something else, something… final.

And honestly, the thought did cross my mind but just for a moment.

My eyes traveled to the window, just one jump, one clean fall, and that would be it. No Kael Draven, no pain, no begging. Just silence, peace, maybe even freedom at last.

But then I thought of her.

The woman who had died just to get me here, into this world, into this specific stubborn body. I was not going to throw that away because my father was a coward who solved his problems by selling them.

I couldn’t throw that away. Not like this. If I went down it would be fighting, not falling.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms. The tears came, but I blinked hard and forced them back.

Before long the maids started dressed me up without a word. As the older one fastened the back of the gown, her fingers slowed for just a second.

"The man they're sending you to," she said quietly, her eyes on her work, not on me. "Don't fight him. Not at first."

I went still. "What?"

But she stepped back, her face devoid of any emotion. “You look presentable,” she said aloud.

My brows furrowed in confusion and before I could find the words to push further, the door creaked open.

I didn’t have to look. I already knew it was her. The maids flocked out immediately even without her dictating a word to them.

She stood in the doorway in that way she had, perfectly still, perfectly composed, like she'd been assembled rather than born. Her eyes ran over me slowly, taking notes.

“Stand straight,”Rosa said, her voice calm and sinister like always.

I straightened. Not for her but because I refused to be hunched when I walked out of this house.

She closed the distance between us and adjusted something on my collar, her fingers precise and cold. Up close I could smell her perfume. Expensive and suffocating as usual. The smell of everything I was never allowed to have.

Her eyes ran over me slowly, a cheeky smile creeping to her lips as she nodded.

“You look presentable enough,” She said, arms wrapping around each other.

“High praise,” I scoffed. “I’ll have it engraved my kind lady.”

Her expression didn't change. "You have always had that mouth. Even as a small child." She tilted her head slightly. "I used to wonder where you got it from. Your mother was apparently quite docile."

Her words were designed to hurt me and it did. I felt it in my chest like a dull pain. But I kept my face straight.

"Apparently," I said. "You'd know better than me."

“You don’t need to take anything with you. Kael has promised to provide everything you’ll need.”

A cynical smile crossed my lips and I held her gaze. “You think you’ve won, because you’re finally getting rid of me?”

Her expression faltered, just for a second. Surprise flickered in her eyes like my words had hit her, but it vanished just as quickly.

Then her face twisted with a sneer, her lips curling. “You should be grateful, you little t**t. It’s what you’ve always wanted,” She spat venomously but there was no mistaking the smile behind it.

“Grateful?” I scoffed. “For selling me to a monster?”

“Your sacrifice is for the betterment of the pack.” She smirked.

If only he had sold me to a nearby pack, one whose alpha might have shown some mercy with time. But instead, he had given me to the one person who would never care, who would never stop, who would never let me go in this lifetime.

Maybe that’s what he really wanted. Not just to get rid of me, but to break me completely.

“I hate you,” I gritted, my voice raw. “And I hope you burn alive.”

She raised her hand and lurched at me but suddenly stopped, mid-air. I didn’t blink. “Go ahead, hit me. Oh wait, you can’t. Wouldn’t want to risk angering the beast by leaving a mark.”

Something flickered in her eyes, not entirely fear, but surprise. As though she didn’t expect me to still have any fire left. But I did. Just enough.

“You think Kael will keep you alive for long?” she sneered. “You know the stories.”

I chinned up, tucking the fear beneath a cocky smile. “Who knows, I think he might enjoy me more than you could ever possibly imagine.”

And just like that, she snapped and grabbed my wrist, nails digging into my skin as she tugged me forward. I forced down the pain her grip caused.

“You won’t be able to escape your fate!” She sneered to my face, “We’ll see how long you keep up this little farce.”

Then without warning, she moved, dragging me out of the room with her and down the stairs.

Soon, we arrived at the main hall and I froze the moment my eyes caught sight of a group of men all dressed in black, looking like death itself. But one of them stood out. He didn’t smile. He didn’t speak. He just stared at me with cold, quiet eyes like he was assessing the goods he was about to receive.

I lowered my gaze slowly, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, that’s when I noticed his chopped middle finger and I immediately knew who he was.

Kael’s right-hand man. The man who was just as ruthless as his leader.

My father's voice came from somewhere behind me. "Move."

But I couldn’t. My legs wouldn’t move. My entire body froze up and wouldn’t listen to me. Fear washed over me, crawling through my veins.

Then before I knew what was happening, I was shoved hard, so suddenly, that I hit the floor, my hand scraping against the hard floor. The sting was instant and hot spreading through my hands but I barely had time to react.

Because a loud yelp filled the room and it wasn’t mine.

My head snapped up just in time to see my father being suspended in the air, blood spraying as his lip split open.

Kael’s right-hand man held him by the throat firmly. “You were told she was to be untouched,” he said, his voice dripping with anger. “No harm, no marks on her or did you think that was a suggestion?”

My father held his hand firmly, struggling to release himself from the man’s grip, his face already red with panic.

“Please” my stepmother pleaded, falling to her knees. “Let him go. It’s not his fault, it’s that wench over there. Please I beg you.”

I watched, frozen, tongue-tied, and stuck between shock and disbelief because I’d never seen my father look so… pathetic before. He always seemed bigger than life but never roughed up like some toy.

And strangely enough, I felt nothing. Not fear, not pity, not even satisfaction. Just silence inside me like something had finally gone still.

Then our eyes met.

He looked at me like I was the reason his whole world had gone wrong. Like he would rather see me dead than breathing. I almost rolled my eyes at his cowardliness.

Then the man let go. My father collapsed to the floor coughing, gasping for air.

The guards immediately moved to help me up and I let them, still quiet, still trying to figure out if what I felt was power or just the last piece of me breaking.

My father groaned, slowly getting up with my stepmother’s help. He didn’t look at me.

“How about the rest of the payment?” he asked, his voice rough, as he massaged his throat.

Silence reigned in the room as Kael’s right-hand man stared silently at him for a few seconds. “You will get the rest if my alpha is satisfied with his goods when he sees it.”

Goods.

Bile rose up in my throat at the word and anger washed over me, my hands clenched on their own accord. Was that all I was now? Just a product to be checked and approved.

I looked at my father again hoping maybe he would flinch or look away or act like this wasn’t easy for him.

But instead, he smiled. Tight and proud like he was sealing a good deal.

“She’s everything he asked for,” he said. “She will serve her purpose.”

At that moment I hated him even more. I wished I could inflict intense pain on him but I was powerless, all I could do was hate and wait.

Then he turned to me and extended a hand. Not roughly. Almost formally, the way you'd help someone up at a formal occasion. I stared at it for a second, then took it and stood.

I looked back once as they led me toward the door.

My father had straightened. Fixed his collar. Already the transaction again, face composed, no trace of what had just happened.

At the doorway I paused and glanced back one last time hoping for anything that would help me live through this but what I got shattered me more.

“Don’t even think about coming back,” My father said coldly. “The only way you return to this house is in a coffin.”