Chained to the Beast

The basement smelled wrong. Aria noticed it the moment her father led her down the stairs, away from the light and the noise of the Bloodmoon Pack house above. "Dad, where are we going?" she asked, her voice was echoing off the concrete walls. Marcus didn't answer. He just kept walking, his jaw was tight, and his shoulders hunched like he was trying to fold into himself. Aria had learned a long time ago not to push when he got like this. She was used to his silences, and used to the weight of his disappointment. He had never said it out loud, but she knew she was a disappointment because her wolf was weak, her instincts were slow and she was nothing like Celeste, her stepsister, who was beautiful and powerful and everything Aria could never be. They reached a heavy metal door at the end of the corridor. Marcus stopped in front of it and turned to face her. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his face was unshaven. He was wearing his best clothes, the ones he usually saved for pack meetings. "We need to talk," he said quietly. Aria's stomach dropped. Nothing good ever came after those words. "Okay," she said carefully. "Can we go upstairs? It's cold down here." "No." Marcus opened the door and gestured for her to go inside. The room was small and empty except for a single table and two chairs. Aria sat down, and Marcus sat across from her. For a long moment, he didn't say anything. He just stared at his hands like they belonged to someone else. "Do you know what a debt is?" he asked finally. "Yes," Aria said. "It's when you owe someone money." "Right." Marcus looked up at her. "and do you know what happens when someone can't pay their debt?" "They have to pay it back somehow?" Aria wasn't sure where this was going, but she didn't like it. "Sometimes," Marcus said. "But sometimes, the debt gets so big that there's no way to pay it back. And then..." He trailed off, rubbing his face with both hands. "Then what?" Aria pressed. "Then the person who is owed the money gets to decide what to do about it." Aria waited. She had a bad feeling about where this was heading. "I made some mistakes," Marcus continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "Bad mistakes. A long time ago. I owed some people money for... for some investments that didn't work out and instead of paying them back right away, I kept borrowing more. More and more. And the debt kept growing." "How much?" Aria asked. "Five million dollars." Aria's breath caught. She didn't even know that much money existed. "Dad, that's... that's so much." "I know." Marcus's hands were shaking. "I know it is and I couldn't pay it. I tried. I've been trying for years. But the interest kept adding up, and they kept charging me more, and I just kept digging myself deeper." "Who did you owe?" Aria asked, though she was starting to have a terrible suspicion. "Kade Silvercrest." The name hung in the air between them like a curse. Aria's wolf, weak as it was, immediately went still and small inside her. Kade Silvercrest was a legend in Shadow Peaks. He was the Alpha of the most dangerous pack in the territory. He was young, only in his late twenties, but he had built an empire through violence and fear. People didn't cross Kade Silvercrest. People didn't even talk about Kade Silvercrest unless they absolutely had to. "What did you do?" Aria whispered. "I contacted him," Marcus said. "I set up a meeting. I told him I couldn't pay. And he..." Marcus's voice cracked. "He said we could work out an arrangement." "What kind of arrangement?" Marcus couldn't look at her anymore. He turned away, his whole body shaking. That was when Aria knew. Before he even said it, she knew. "No," she said, shaking her head. "No, absolutely not. Dad, whatever this is, no." "You don't understand," Marcus said, his voice rising slightly. "You don't understand what it's like. The pressure, and the threats. They were going to hurt your stepmother. They were going to hurt Celeste. I had to do something." "By doing what?" Aria was standing now, her hands balled into fists. "By telling me what, exactly?" Marcus finally looked at her, and she saw the answer in his eyes. "No," Aria said again, more forcefully this time. "No. You didn't." "I did what I had to do to keep this family safe," Marcus said, and there was something hollow in his voice, like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. "What did you do, Dad?" Aria was shaking. "Tell me clearly. What did you do?" "Kade agreed to forgive the debt if I..." Marcus stopped. Started again. "If I gave him something of value. If I gave him someone." Aria felt the room spin. "Who?" "You," Marcus said quietly. "I agreed to give him you." The word fell into the silence like a stone into still water. Aria couldn't breathe and couldn't think. Couldn't do anything but stand there and stare at her father like he was a stranger. "I'll be leaving for Silvercrest," Marcus continued, his voice mechanical now. "You'll go with Kade. You'll stay with the Silvercrest Pack for five years as compensation for the debt and after that, if you're still alive, you're free to go." Aria felt like she was watching this happen to someone else. Like she was standing outside her own body, watching a girl she used to know getting torn apart by a man who was supposed to love her. "When?" she asked, and she was proud that her voice only shook a little bit. "Tomorrow," Marcus said. "He's coming tomorrow. You need to pack what you want to bring." "What about Mom? What about Celeste? Do they know?" "Your stepmother understands this is necessary. Celeste doesn't need to know the details. You can tell her you're going for training if you want." "Training?" Aria laughed, and it sounded hysterical even to her own ears. "I'm being sold like property, and I'm supposed to tell my stepsister I'm going for training?" "Aria, please," Marcus said, and there were tears in his eyes now. "I know this is hard. I know it seems unfair. But I did this to protect you. To protect all of us." Aria looked at her father, really looked at him. She saw the weakness in his face, the selfishness disguised as protection. She saw a man who had made terrible choices and was now trying to convince himself that destroying his daughter was somehow an act of love. "You didn't protect me," Aria said quietly. "You didn't protect anyone. You just saved yourself." She turned and walked out of the basement. Behind her, she heard Marcus call her name, but she didn't stop. She couldn't. If she stopped, if she acknowledged what was happening, she would break completely. She went to her room and closed the door. Then she lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling until the sun went down and came back up again. By morning, she had made a decision. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't beg. She wouldn't give her father or Kade Silvercrest anything to use against her. She would become exactly what they thought she was. Nothing, a transaction and a debt. If they wanted to treat her like she was worth nothing, then that's what she would become.