****Trigger Warning : LOTS of cursing, some s*x, and violent scenes. ***
Chapter 1
>>>Echo's POV>>>
"A Vampire treaty? Are you f*****g kidding me?" I yelled at my father behind the closed doors of his office.
"Hold your tongue pup." He glared at me. I had a mouth on me, filthy as a truck driving sailor, and right now I didn't care. I had once respected and loved my father above all else, and I had never before even raised my voice to him let alone curse, but right now, I didn't recognize the man before me. Sure he looked like my dad, a 6'5" tall mountain of muscle and intimidation, but when I looked in his gray blue eyes, I saw fear. Smelled it too, and my father was never afraid.
Our pack was small. The Thunder Mountain Pack had taken huge losses over the last couple of years, since my mother had passed. If it wasn't rogue or hunter attacks, it was challenging enemy packs, and my brother was still too young to take over as Alpha, at only 19. Two more years of training and then he'd have to find his mate after that. My father had become weak after my mother's death, it was, horrible. He'd become a shell of a man, his Beta doing most of the pack business and his pack members slowly lost respect for him. What would they think of him now?
"You sold me like a w***e to some heart dead blood sucker! I'm only 16!" I fumed back at him, "I will never hold my tongue about how much I hate you for this, and you should be ashamed of yourself Alpha." I spit the word alpha with as much condescension as I could get out.
"I never thought he would choose you Echo. I never thought for a second he would choose you." He pleaded with me. The Blood King had agreed to help my father if he allowed his warriors to roam pack lands freely, without feeding, and gave him a woman to serve him. He would be allowed any woman in the pack as long as she was unmated and over 16. I turned 16 three months ago, but thank the Moon my little sister was only 14.
"You make me sick. If he hadn't of chosen me, he would have chosen another poor she wolf, and as an alpha, selling your pack like slaves is despicable. The fact that you're okay with that, is disgusting."
"Enough!" He boomed trying to cower me, but I held his gaze with hatred fuming in my eyes. Better hatred than despair.
"Yes Alpha, that is enough." I snapped back at him. "I will go for the sake of the pack, but you are no father to me. If you think for a moment he will be happy with his choice and continue protecting you after he sees what a firecracker I can be, you're more delusional than I thought." I spat still standing and challenging my fathers wolf. "I will never let anyone break me."
"You're acting like a child!" He half yelled at me.
"I am a child!" I reeled back, "Or have you forgotten? I haven't even had my first shift! And you're selling me for protection, to a Vampire, whose murderous reputation precedes him, to do with me whatever he wishes, with no way to protect myself if he wishes to kill me. You made me property today, no more value than the desk you sit at so piously, with no way to defend myself, and I will never, ever call you my father again. Don't you dare try and speak to me again once I leave."
We stared at each other hard, he had sadness but anger in his eyes because of the way I challenged him. Our tense moment was interrupted by a strong knock at the door, and his Beta, Chance, peeked his head around, "I'm terribly sorry Alpha, but His Highness is here and waiting." My father nodded and the door swung open wide. Six men I didn't know entered first, all tall and slender but strong. They could have each been underwear models, and I hardened my glare when he stepped through the door.
He was huge, almost 7 feet tall. His huge rippling muscles strained his black t-shirt and his blue-black hair cascaded around his chiseled face in long ringlets. He wasn't so buff he had to walk funny, with his arms out at his sides like an ape, but he was definitely ripped. His eyes were dark, almost black as well, but when he looked at me his eyes flashed a vibrant red. s**t, he was gorgeous. I didn't know vampires could look like him, I thought they were all wispy and delicate. Boy was I wrong.
I spared him no smiles as my eyes met his, my jaw clenched together tightly. He spoke first, his deep voice booming with superiority. "Do we have a problem?" He asked evenly. The question was meant for my father but he stared straight at me.
My father stuttered as I didn't break eye contact. "No, your Majesty. I was just explaining to my daughter about your decision." He looked down and I scoffed at him.
Everyone's eyes went wide at me for my public display of disorder, but I didn't give a s**t. I looked back at the giant before me, "I only agree on three conditions."
"You don't have a position for demands." He said as his anger filled the room. It didn't unsettle me and I refused to cower to him.
"I'm a child being sold away from my home. I think I have a right to at least make these requests." His lips twitched almost into a smile, but he caught himself. Did he like me challenging him? Well buckle up skipper, there's plenty more of that. I'm what's known in the pack as a wild card. No alpha can bend me, and I wasn't afraid of f**k all. You picked the wrong girl to "serve" you.
"What do you want?" He eyed me angrily.
"The first, my pack is to have all the protection they require. If this pack falls, there will be no treaty to uphold, and I will be freed immediately, with proper compensation to restart my life."
He took a deep breath, "Of course."
"Second, I will not be abused or mistreated, and I am not a lowly slave." His eyes went wide as I continued, "I will not live in constant fear of my life, and I demand that respect. If you can't keep your hands from hurting me, you don't touch me with them."
"I would never." He said low, a strange look in his eyes. Hurt? No, that can't be. "And the third request?" He asked.
I steadied my gaze, "You will not try and mate me until my first heat after my first shift. I know my duty is to give you an heir, but you'll let me come of age before you attempt it." I said, almost embarrassed to be saying this infront of so many males. I was a virgin, unshifted female that had never had a heat, and I needed time to wrap my head around this giant beast impregnating me with a baby I never wanted.
Now he did smile, good fuckity flapjacks he was gorgeous. "Those are all reasonable requests, that I vow to honor." He said as his face went cold again. "We leave in two hours."
So soon! Balls. I wouldn't have time to say goodbye to anyone. It was customary to throw a going away party, but looks like I was the dirty secret being swept out the back door in the dead of night, while everyone else slept peacefully. I steeled my jaw and walked past him to go pack my things, I barely brushed his arm as I walked out, and felt a small tingling sensation. Great, he's probably filled with dark magic too. What an absolute s**t show my perfect life had turned out to be.