Rejected by the Alpha, wanted by a lycan.

chapter three

The depth of the lake tasted like salt and regret. Anastasia's head hurts like a thunderstorm, but she blinks an eye half open, spying her environment. Whether she has finally met her mother in the afterlife or is facing a judgment in the face of the moon goddess,

But then her gaze caught that of Evelyn. She closed her eyes. Hearing her stepmother's voice as well. Maybe if they thought she was asleep, they'd all go away.

But Evelyn noticed: " Look, she's stirring."

"Anastasia. You survived?" Khalifa looked disappointed. She shrugged her shoulders as she left the room.

Anastasia coughed, her body scrunching up with pain. Her lungs still burned, and her mouth tasted of dirt and salt.

Alpha Gabriel, who was standing in a corner and waiting for her to wake up, rushed over to her. "What are you waiting for? Accept my rejection; that way, I wouldn't be tied down to your ugly faith."

Anastasia's vision is blurred. At that moment, she wished she had actually drowned. Reality was hitting hard, but she had no other option.

"I, Anastasia W_Williams, A_Accept your r_rejection."

She watched as Gabriel clenched his fist in pain.

"Are you okay, Gabriel? I mean Alpha Gabriel?" Evelyn rushed to help him up as he struggled to hold his chest.

Within a few minutes, he got better stared lovingly at Evelyn and left. Anastasia didn't feel so much pain since her wolf hasn't woken up yet from the incident.

"We found you at the lake bank. Unconscious.. Did you try to kill yourself, sister? Is that what you will tell your father?"

"Tell father what?. Evelyn goes back to sleep. I will deal with her myself." Alpha Xander entered and walked straight to the window.

A scornful smile appeared on Evelyn's face. She made sure that Anastasia's maid and guard went back to their rooms before she left. She knew one thing for sure—his father wasn't going to take the embarrassment lightly.

While she hoped for her to wake up and face her punishment, her mother waited for her to be confirmed dead.

"Come with me, you annoying b***h!"

.

Unable to gauge his intentions, Anastasia curled herself into a ball out of fear and shifted to the other side of the bed. She could only state this to her father with her eyes wide open, but she could not comprehend why the man she addressed, as her father wasn't even a bit relieved that she made it out alive.

Alpha Xander came closer. "I think I must drag you up by myself."

Anastasia let out a gasp. She couldn't scream. Even if she did, she was pretty sure that no one would help her; after all, it was her own father and the leader of the pack that was trying to abduct her.

She was shoved into a car, still dressed in her red gown. She would have requested to change to a better dress, but her father usually gets pissed whenever he hears her talk.

However, she still had to gather the courage to find out where she was being taken.

"F_Father, w_where are we h_heading to?".

Alpha Xander turned to face his daughter. "If you are that curious, I will let you know. Since you can't be of any use to me, rather than drag my name into the mud, I'd rather sell you off. No one has ever seen your face in the pack except today, so it won't be so difficult for them to believe that your plane crashed on your way back and your miserable corpse is missing. My bad, you already made up your death story. She jumped into the lake and died after being rejected. Anyhow, though, Evelyn is now the head princess. You are as good as dead already. Poor thing!" He said it without a bit of remorse.

Anastasia couldn't let the tears hide anymore. She couldn't believe what the man she grew up to know, as her father just said to her, Every word broke her.

Her body wasn't even recovered at all from the fall.

"W_why are you d_doing this to me, f_father? W_Why do you d_despise me so much, f_father?"

"Because you are a cursed daughter, Anastasia Williams. The pack had warned your mother to get rid of you before you were born, but I was so adamant. At first, I thought it was a misinterpretation, but not until you had to take your mother's life away. You killed my Luna Anastasia Williams, and that earned you that vocal disorder. Before you end me and my pack, I would gladly sell you off to your fate. Evil child!".

Ava trembled, like she was being drawn to the part that she never wanted to remember. The truth she never believed But at this point, she believed everything her father said and that she was the cause of her mother's death.

The car stopped suddenly, and Alpha Xander climbed down to meet someone who was already waiting. Ava didn't clearly see the face because it was dark, but she somehow could hear what they were saying.

"100,000 dollars?" Alpha Xander said,.

"I hear she stammers.".

"Does that really matter?"

"Nothing more than twenty thousand dollars.".

"Take her at fifty thousand. She is at least not an animal, and she isn't the ugliest." Alpha Xander grumbled.

Anastasia didn't hear anything else. Her wolf shut her ears and closed her eyes tightly, not believing that what was unfolding before her wasn't a nightmare.

When she looked up again, her father was already standing at the door. He knocked at the window and signaled for her to come out, which she did.

"Have a good life and cause less trouble, Anastasia. As of today, I lift you of your surname. You are just Anastasia and not my daughter anymore.".

"I h_hate you, f_father. S_soon. You will regret This d_decision you made!"

Anastasia was pushed into a truck even before she knew it. She looked at her father for the last time with so much hatred burning in her heart.

She saw more girls lying as if lifeless on the truck. Ava was scared. Was she going to die?. Just like that? She retraced her steps, scared to her bones. After almost dying once. She has become so sacred to death.

"They are not dead. They are just asleep," the strange man that her father sold her to said, and then handed her a long white gown.

"Take some clothes." She was given a long gown made of cotton fabric, which looked similar to the ones the other girls were wearing. She hastily put it on.

Now sited, Anastasia looked up at the dark sky, which was beautified by the full moon. This was a night many werewolves found their mate, the night others found their wolf, but here she is with her mixed identity—a runt wolf and a human that stammers.

.

Before another tear could escape her eyes freely, she drifted to sleep like the others.

Anastasia woke up hours later to find out that she was in a different environment—a large room with a small audience. She was standing on the stage among other girls, but the light was now focused on her.

Chatter and whistles fill her ears. Dressed in transparent clothes, she stands on the auction stand, trembling all over, not knowing why she is being auctioned as a commodity.

Seeing her cramped and uneasy, people became even more excited and noisy.

"We start at $1 million." With the announcement of the host, people started bidding. 2 million, 3 million, 5 million. As people bid up, Anastasia became more and more nervous. Her innocent eyes were filled with tears and a trace of stoic resentment.

"Interesting." The emotion in her eyes caught the attention of the man in the VVIP private room. "She looks like a kitten who just wants to bite her lord.” The man raises his bidding card.

"60," the auction falls silent as his voice sounds. There were murmurs and whispers. They were so shocked that anyone could bid $60 million on a girl, even if she was a virgin.

No one dares bid on a woman with the mafia lord. He owns her now. Damon Salvatore raised his hand.

"Uhm, sorry, but strawberry has a little flaw. She stammers and might not be satisfied."

"Then I will pay eight million. I love special packages"

The auctioneer hesitated for a moment, then announced, "Sold to Damon Salvatore for eight million dollars." The room erupted in a mix of gasps and whispers.

Damon Salvatore's cold eyes bore into her as she was led off the stage. At that moment, she realized one thing: She was never going to be free again.