Sold To The Alpha King: His Son's Forbidden Mate

CHAPTER 2: THE Alpha's PROPERTY

Sera POV

The back of Dante's armored SUV smells like leather and pine and something distinctly wolf that was his scent, I realize. It's not unpleasant, just overwhelming. Everything about this situation is overwhelming.

I'm sitting in the far corner of the backseat, as far from him as possible, still in my blood-stained wedding dress. He's in the front passenger seat, phone pressed to his ear, conducting pack business in that commanding voice like he didn't just spend five million dollars on his son's ex-mate.

Like we're not connected by an impossible bond that shouldn't exist.

"Handle it," he says into the phone, his tone brooking no argument. "I don't care what excuses Beta Thomas has. If he can't control his sector, he's out. Find someone who can." A pause. "Good. I'll be back at Blackwood Castle in three hours. Have Marcus meet me in my office."

He ends the call and the silence that follows is suffocating. I stare out the window as we leave the city limits, watching the buildings give way to forest. We're heading north, toward the Northern Territories. Toward his home.

My new home, I suppose. The thought makes my stomach churn.

"You should eat something," Dante says without turning around. "There's food in the compartment beside you."

I glance at the small refrigerated compartment built into the side panel. Inside are bottles of water, protein bars, and fruit. My stomach growls traitorously, I haven't eaten since this morning, before the wedding that destroyed my life.

But I don't reach for the food. "I'm fine."

"That wasn't a suggestion." His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, grey and intense. "You're in shock, you've been injured, and you haven't eaten. Eat something. Now."

The Alpha command in his voice makes my wolf whine submissively, but I grit my teeth against it. "You can't command me. I'm not your pack member."

"No," he agrees, his voice dropping lower. "You're my mate. That's a much stronger bond than pack hierarchy, and we both know it. So when I tell you to eat something, you eat."

The mate bond pulses between us, agreeing with him. My body wants to obey, wants to please him. I hate it.

But he's right about one thing,I am hungry, and I need my strength. Whatever's coming, I'll face it better with food in my stomach.

I grab a protein bar and a water bottle, eating mechanically. The food tastes like ash, but I force it down anyway. Dante watches me in the mirror until I've finished, then nods with satisfaction and turns back to face forward.

"Good girl," he murmurs, and I absolutely do not shiver at the praise.

We drive in silence for another hour. The city is long behind us now, replaced by dense forest and winding mountain roads. The landscape grows harsher, more beautiful pine trees stretching toward steel-grey skies, rocky outcroppings jutting up like teeth.

This is the Northern Territories. The wildest, most dangerous region, ruled by the most powerful Alpha in existence. And I'm being taken there like… like what? A prisoner? A mate? Property he purchased?

All of the above, probably.

"Why did you buy me?" The question bursts out before I can stop it.

Dante doesn't answer immediately. His hands tighten on the steering wheel, he's driving now, having dismissed his driver somewhere along the way. "Why do you think so?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking." I lean forward, grabbing the back of his seat. "You paid five million dollars for your son's rejected mate. That's insane. So why? To punish Kyle? To punish me? Because of this…" I gesture between us, at the bond we can both feel, "...this impossible thing that shouldn't exist?"

"All valid reasons," he says calmly. "Pick whichever one helps you sleep at night."

"That's not an answer."

"No," he agrees. "It's not."

I want to scream. I want to rage at him, at Kyle, at the Moon Goddess who thought it was funny to bond me to my ex-mate's father. But what good would it do? I'm trapped in a moving vehicle with an Alpha King who could snap me in half without breaking a sweat. Screaming won't change anything.

Instead, I sit back and cross my arms. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Blackwood Castle. My home. Your new home."

"I didn't agree to that."

"You didn't have to." He glances at me in the mirror again. "You became mine the moment I paid for you. Pack law is clear about debt auctions, the buyer owns the bought. Completely."

The word 'owns' makes my skin crawl. "I'm not property."

"Tell that to your ex-mate who sold you like a brood mare." His voice is harsh now, angry. "You want the truth, Sera? Here it is. You were about to be bought by Alpha Morrison, who collects young she-wolves and breaks them. I've seen what happens to the females he purchases. It's not pretty. So yes, I bought you. I saved you from that fate."

"How noble," I spit. "My hero."

"I never claimed to be a hero." The SUV takes a sharp turn, and suddenly I can see it. Blackwood Castle, rising from the mountainside like something out of a dark fairy tale. It's massive, built from black stone and grey slate, with towers reaching toward the clouds and walls that look like they could withstand a siege.

It's beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.

"Welcome to your cage, Sera," Dante says as we approach the gates.

The gates open automatically, and we drive through into a courtyard lined with guards. They all bow their heads as we pass not to the vehicle, but to the man driving it. The Alpha King returns to his domain.

We park in front of massive oak doors, and Dante finally turns around to face me properly. This close, I can see the details I missed before, the fine lines around his eyes, the grey threading through his dark hair, the way his jaw is constantly clenched like he's holding back words he doesn't want to say.

He's handsome, in a harsh, dangerous way. The kind of handsome that comes with a warning label.

And he's my mate. Somehow, impossibly, he's my mate.

"The bond between us," he says quietly, his grey eyes boring into mine. "I don't like it any more than you do. It's inappropriate, probably cursed, and definitely going to cause problems. But it exists, and we have to deal with it."

"How do you suggest we do that?"

His smile is cold. "We ignore it. You'll have quarters in the castle, you'll be provided for, but we don't acknowledge the bond. We don't act on it. You're here because I bought you, nothing more."

"And if I try to leave?"

"Then you'll learn very quickly why I'm called the Alpha King." He opens his door and steps out, coming around to open mine. "Now come. You need to clean up, and I have work to do."

I step out of the SUV on shaky legs, staring up at the imposing castle that's apparently my new prison. The mountain air is cold, biting through my thin wedding dress, and I wrap my arms around myself.

Dante notices and shrugs off his jacket, draping it over my shoulders before I can protest. It swamps me, far too large, but it's warm and smells like him. The mate bond purrs with satisfaction.

"Don't read into it," he says gruffly. "Can't have you freezing to death before I figure out what to do with you."

Then he turns and walks toward the castle, clearly expecting me to follow.

I stand there for a long moment, looking at the open gates behind me, then at the castle ahead. I could run. Could try to escape.

But where would I go? Back to Kyle's pack, where I was rejected and sold? To some other territory where I'd be alone and vulnerable?

No. I'm trapped, and we both know it.

So I pull Dante's jacket tighter around myself and follow the Alpha King into Blackwood Castle, into my new life, whatever that might be.

The oak doors close behind us with a sound like a coffin lid falling shut.