Chapter 1: Sold as a Breeder
*Ariella*
Blinking, I look around in startled confusion. Where am I?
The sheets against my skin are smooth and luxurious, the bed far larger and softer than mine. My heart skips a beat when I notice an arm draped over my waist and a large, warm body pressing against my n*ked back.
I turn my head to see that the body sleeping next to me is a man with fair hair, chiseled features, and a strong, powerful build. I lose myself for a moment in the beautiful serenity of his sleeping face before it hits me….
This man is not my husband.
I freeze. Panic rising, I try to slide away without waking him.
What happened last night?
My memory fails me, blurry fragments that I can’t piece together. Though an ancient trauma left me prone to blackouts and memory loss, I have never awoken in a strange man’s bed.
I need to get out of here. Now.
As carefully as possible, I lift the man’s arm. He suddenly tightens his hold and a kiss claims my breath.
He pulls away and opens one crystal blue eye. My heart leaps into my throat as he peers down at me. His gaze is curious and hypnotic but also momentarily calms my panicking heart.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he grumbles against my lips, kicking up his aromatic scent of citrus and honey.
I bite my lip, searching for my words. to a light, steady pace.
He grunts again and rolls off of me, and I get up.
‘Hurry up. You have to get back home!’
I look around frantically. My own clothes are nowhere to be seen, so I grab a shirt and sweatpants from a nearby chair and pull them on. My arm burns, and I look down to see a red-hot, swollen letter B burned into my skin.
I swallow into a tightening throat.
A branded B only meant one thing….
Memories flash through my mind of dark, cold cages and a hot iron searing painfully into my flesh.
I must have been kidnapped and sold. No, this wasn’t possible. I am the Luna of the Midnight Moon pack.
When I hear the stranger’s light snoring again, I tiptoe toward the bedroom door. The hallway is clear. I dart through, rushing silently down the carpeted stairs.
Every step I take, I fear the man will wake up and capture me again.
It’s not until I’m outside in the cool morning air that I pause for breath and recognize the hotel of a neighboring pack territory.
Think, Ariella, think….
But the night before remains a disturbing void.
There’s only one thing I know–I need to get home to Marcus. My husband will help me sort things out, as he always does when I’m lost in one of my episodes. I set off walking, still barefoot and disheveled.
After several blocks, I recognize our pack border. Nearly sobbing in relief, I break into a staggering run toward our house, desperate to feel Marcus’s comforting arms around me.
But when I burst through the door and see him, his expression stops me short. His green eyes are like glass, and I can feel them cut into me.
“Where were you?” His voice has no emotion.
“Marcus… I… I… I don’t know what happened. I woke up so… so confused.”
His eyes are cold, distant, and unmoved.
Guilt washes over me; I’ve been in a stranger’s bed. But how?
“Who was he, Ariella?”
His question instantly strikes me. His eyes say he already knows everything.
“I don’t know! I don’t remember how I got there.” I hold a hand over my branded arm.
His lip curls in disgust. His emerald eyes flash from cold to hot. He looks me over accusingly in the shirt and pants that are three times my size with the strange man’s scent all over them.
I tremble with desperate fear. “I know how it looks. But I didn’t–”
His hand flies across my face, and I feel the harsh sting of a slap explode across my cheek.
Tears fill my eyes. I’ve seen his anger unleashed on others, but he’s never directed it toward me.
I cradle my stinging cheek. “Marcus, I know that you must… think… that….”
I trail off as heels clicking on the floor behind me get my attention. The woman is blurry at first. All I can make out is her fiery red hair.
“Well, don’t stop on my account. I’d love to hear the rest of this pitiful story,” her sultry voice purrs.
I clear my vision and see her curves closing the distance between us. She is smirking down at me as she comes to Marcus’s side.
I take in her wild and wavy hair, dramatic makeup, and tight leather corset. Her dark eyes emanate cruelty.
“Who are you?” I whisper as I look from her to Marcus, confused.
“My name is Lilith,” she replies casually. “I am here to be Marcus’s new Luna.”
The words are a physical blow that stun and further confuse me.
“No, that’s not possible.” I shake my head in disbelief.
“Why are you speaking so casually to the new Luna of the Midnight Moon pack?” Marcus barks.
“You can’t be serious,” I gasp.
“You wolfless Omega. How can you be the pack’s Luna?” Lilith snaps at me.
I can’t completely deny that, because my wolf has been stilled for five years.
Lilith giggles and seems to enjoy my moment of anguish and despair. I cradle my arm again mindlessly, and Lilith’s eyes zero in on my hand. In the next moment, she rips the sleeve off my shoulder.
She smiles viciously.
“Wherever you have been, you are now branded as somebody’s bitch and breeder,” Lilith says.
“I must have been kidnapped last night,” I say.
“Enough!” Marcus grips me by the hair and hisses in my ear. “You’ve been gone for three days. I can smell another man all over you. Now that he has made you his breeder, you want to come crawling back? It’s too late.”
I stumble off balance as he pulls me through the house. Tears sting my eyes. His grip is sharp and painful, and my neck cracks as he pulls me down the stairs and tosses me to the floor.
Lilith’s peals of humiliating laughter echo behind me.
“Marcus, please believe me, I didn’t… I mean… I don’t know… I don’t remember. Please, Marcus. I love you! You’re all I have. ”
I try to get up and reach for his hands, but Lilith steps forward and kicks me back to the floor.
I can’t hold back my sobs.
“Pathetic,” Lilith mutters, pulling me to my feet, only to slap me back down to the floor again.
“Marcus–” I raise my bleary eyes to him, hoping he sees my love, but he remains cold and distant.
His next words stop my heart.
“Get out,” Marcus orders.
“Where will I go?”
“Back to the bed you crawled out of,” Marcus suggests.
“No… I don’t even know–”
“Goddess! She doesn’t get it. She’s never going to leave,” Lilith says with impatient disgust. “Let me explain it to you, pet. Marcus is the Alpha of the Midnight Moon pack. Did you really think that he would put up with you forever? It’s been five years since you washed up into his life, and you have been nothing but a useless burden to him and this entire pack.”
“I tried my best to–”
Lilith cuts me off, grabbing me by the throat as Marcus stands by. I try to pry her long fingers away. She squeezes tighter and sneers.
“Your best is nowhere near good enough to be Luna of this pack. Everyone in the pack knows it.”
She releases my throat and grips my arm, hauling me to the door.
“I would never do anything to hurt Marcus or this pack,” I say desperately. “As long as I am Luna–”
“Marcus doesn’t want you to be his Luna!” she sneers. “He’s so sick of you that he drugged you up and took you to a breeder auction, sold you to the highest bidder, which wasn’t much, and then dumped you.”
Bile rises in my throat with dawning horror as she reveals Marcus’s plans and betrayal. Everything was staged by Marcus himself. He sold me to get rid of me….
My eyes turn to him. He doesn’t deny a word she’s said.
“How could you…?” Tears stream down my cheek.
Lilith straightens with a satisfied smirk.
I can’t stop retching and choking on sobs. The man who swore to cherish me has betrayed me.
“Your only purpose now is to have that stranger’s litter,” Lilith snaps at me.
I don’t know what to say or do.
“Leave now,” Marcus warns, opening the door.
“You heard him. Get out!”
With that, she shoves me through the door. I stumble and fall, scraping my hands and knees. The click of the closing door echoes with dreadful finality.
“Marcus!” I cry out desperately. “Please?!”
My world is crumbling to ashes around me. I collapse back to the ground and cry until I have no tears left, calling out for Marcus in vain.
Through the closed door, I hear Lilith callously utter the most terrifying words.
“Since she has run away from the buyer, why don’t we just kill her?”