The music began. It was a slow, haunting melody played on a stringed instrument that grated against my ears. I did not move at first. The iron collar around my neck felt heavier than usual, and the chains connecting my wrists to my ankles rattled with the slightest tremor of my hands.
"Move, slave!" Leonard barked from his throne.
I shifted my weight. I began the forms my mother had taught me in the courtyard so many years ago. They were meant for combat, for the fluid movement of a warrior, but under Leonard's command, they had been twisted into a dance of humiliation. I moved my arms in a slow arc, the chains clashing. My bare feet gripped the wooden stage. I kept my eyes on the floor, avoiding the lecherous gazes of the men sitting at the tables below.
I felt the heat of the room, the smell of wine and sweat, and the sharp sting of the lye burns on my fingers. My father sat next to the guest of honor, his face red from drink. He laughed at something the man said and pointed a finger at me.
"See that, Alpha Riya?" my father said, his voice carrying over the music. "The Lieu grace. My wife used to do that before she died. Now it's just a trick for the dogs."
The men laughed. I kept my face blank. I was a ghost. I was not there.
Then, the heavy doors at the back of the hall groaned open. The music stopped abruptly. The air in the room didn't just turn cold; it became heavy, pressing down on everyone's lungs. I stopped mid-motion, my arms raised, the chains pulled taut.
A group of men walked in. They wore black leather and carried weapons that looked well-used. But it was the man in the center who demanded every eye in the room. He was tall, his shoulders broad, and his hair was as black as the midnight sky. He looked to be in his late thirties, his face etched with a stern, immovable authority. This was Demon Deacon. The Hollow King.
Leonard stood up immediately, his arrogant posture vanishing into a shallow bow. "King Deacon! We did not expect you so soon. Please, come and join us."
Demon did not answer. He walked toward the center of the hall, his boots thudding with a rhythm that made my heart hit against my ribs.
Aurora.
The voice was not in the room. It was inside my head. It was a voice I hadn't heard in eleven years. My wolf. The one they had suppressed with silver and drugs for a decade.
When you go to the club tonight, you will meet your mate, the wolf whispered. It is important you do not look away. You must make eye contact. He will save you. He will help you.
The voice vanished as quickly as it had come. I felt a surge of heat in my chest that nearly made me gasp. I looked up. I ignored the guards. I ignored Leonard. I looked directly at the man walking toward the stage.
Demon Deacon stopped. He was twenty feet away, but our eyes locked. His eyes were a dark, piercing grey. He didn't blink. He didn't look at Leonard. He didn't look at the feast laid out on the tables. He looked at me. He looked at the chains on my wrists and the red hair falling over my shoulders.
I didn't look away. I held his gaze with a defiance I didn't know I still possessed.
"King Deacon?" Leonard said, stepping down from the dais. He sounded nervous. "Please, sit. This is Alpha Riya's father, and my Beta, Aurora's... well, he's my second in command."
Demon finally broke the stare, but only to glance at Leonard. He walked to the high table and sat in the chair Leonard had vacated. His men stood behind him like statues.
"The lands, Leonard," Demon said. His voice was a low rumble that vibrated through the floorboards. "I am not here for pleasantries."
"Of course, of course," Leonard said, signaling for my father to bring the wine. "We have the maps ready. We can discuss the borders of the eastern territory. I am willing to grant you the valley if we can reach an agreement on the trade routes."
My father stood up, clutching a crystal decanter. He walked to Demon's side and poured the wine with a shaking hand. He looked like a servant, a dog eager to please a new master.
"We are honored by your presence, King," my father said, bowing low.
Demon didn't look at him. He didn't touch the wine. His eyes moved back to the stage, back to me.
"Where is your Luna, Leonard?" Demon asked. "I was told she would be hosting tonight. I usually meet the mistress of the house during these negotiations."
Leonard cleared his throat. He glanced toward the back of the hall where his guards stood. "My Luna is... she is indisposed. She is pregnant with my heir, you see. The doctor has ordered her to stay in her chambers. She is very delicate at the moment."
I knew he was lying. Everyone in the pack knew the Luna was barren. The only woman in this fortress carrying Leonard's child was an Omega named Sarah, who was currently locked in a damp cell in the basement because the Luna couldn't stand the sight of her.
"Pregnant," Demon repeated. He didn't sound convinced.
"Yes," Leonard said quickly. "She hates the thought of missing this, but the child comes first. Now, about the gold bars and the landscape—"
I tried to step back, to move out of the light of the torches, but the chain between my ankles was too short. I tripped. My knees hit the wooden stage with a loud crack. The chains rattled violently.
The hall went silent. Leonard's face turned a deep, angry purple. He looked at the guards standing near the stage.
"Kasper!" Leonard roared. "What are you doing? Teach that slave some manners! She is embarrassing us in front of the King!"
A guard named Kasper stepped onto the stage. He didn't hesitate. He raised his hand and backhanded me across the face. The force of the blow sent me sprawling onto the wood. My vision blurred. I tasted blood in my mouth.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, King," Leonard said, his voice smooth again. "She is a clumsy thing. Hard to train."
"Who is she?" Demon asked.
The question was sharp. Kasper stopped his hand as he was about to strike me a second time.
"She is the pack slave," Leonard said, waving a hand dismissively. "The stripper wolf. We bought her from a war years back. She's a Lieu. Nothing but a curse."
Demon stood up. The chair screeched against the stone. The room felt even smaller as he walked toward the stage. He stopped at the edge, looking down at me as I struggled to sit up.
"I want her," Demon said.
The silence that followed was absolute. Leonard's jaw dropped. My father froze with the decanter still in his hand.
"King Deacon," Leonard said, forced laughter bubbling in his throat. "You can't be serious. She isn't worth it. She's a mute, a misfortune. Look around. I have dozens of beautiful omegas. I will give you any three of them. Just point, and they are yours. But not her."
"I was not asking for a recommendation," Demon said. He looked at Leonard. "The woman brings misfortune, yet you use her for entertainment? You keep a curse on a stage for your guests?"
"That's the only thing she's good for," Leonard muttered. "She's a toy. Nothing more."
"If you won't give her to me," Demon said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "then forget about the land agreement. And you should be ready for war by sunrise."
Leonard blanched. He looked at the maps on the table, then at his guards. He was a coward at heart; he didn't want a war with the Hollow King.
Suddenly, my father stepped forward. He pushed past Leonard and stood at the edge of the stage, looking up at Demon.
"I... I will give her to you," my father said.
I looked at him, my heart breaking all over again. He didn't even look at me. He was looking at Demon's boots.
"But you must promise me something," my father continued. "Promise you will take me with you. Promote me to a position in your kingdom. I am a Beta. I have skills."
Demon turned his head slowly. "And who are you?"
"I am her father," my father said, a pathetic smile touching his lips.
Demon stared at him for a long moment. Then, he looked back at me. I was still on the floor, my face bruised, my body shivering in the thin strings of the outfit they forced me to wear.
"Her father?" Demon asked. "And you are standing here watching this happen?"
"An agreement is an agreement," my father said, shrugging his shoulders. "I had to exchange her for my life and my title eleven years ago. It was a business move."
In one fluid motion, Demon reached out. He didn't grab my father; he snatched a sword from the belt of one of his men standing nearby. He leveled the point of the blade at my father's throat.
"You have no shame," Demon said. "How would you feel if I sliced your throat right now in front of your daughter? Would that be a good business move?"
My father fell to his knees, his hands shaking. "Please! I was only trying to help the negotiation!"
Leonard stepped forward, his hands raised. "King, please! Why do you want her? She is of no use to you. She isn't your mate. A man like you is supposed to be with pure gold, not a woman who performs nakedly for coins."
"And what does that have to do with you?" Demon asked. He lowered the sword but did not sheath it. "I want her as my hundredth mate. That is the agreement. Or there is no land. There is only blood."
Leonard looked at the floor. He looked at the gold he was about to lose. "So... so sorry, King. You can have her. I swear she is of no use, but if that is what you want, she is yours."
Leonard paused, his greed overriding his fear for a split second. "But I need something in return. This slave was expensive to keep. I want the land, and I want twenty gold bars."
Demon didn't even blink. "I will give you forty gold bars for her. On one condition."
"Anything," Leonard said.
"Demote this man," Demon said, pointing the sword at my father. "He is no longer a Beta. He is nothing."
Leonard nodded quickly. "Consider it done. Kasper! Get the chains off her and bring the garment."
The guards moved quickly. The iron collar was unlocked, the cold metal finally leaving my skin. They threw a heavy wool garment over my shoulders to cover my body. I didn't have any belongings to pack. I had nothing but the memories of a family that had been slaughtered and a father who had sold me twice.
Demon walked to the stage and reached out a hand. I looked at his palm. It was calloused and large. I placed my hand in his. His grip was firm, but he didn't pull me. He waited for me to stand on my own.
As we walked toward the doors of the Great Hall, I didn't look back at Leonard. I didn't look at my father, who was now being stripped of his Beta badge by the other guards.
I walked out of the Moonstone pack's fortress for the first time in eleven years. The air outside was cool, but it didn't feel like the kitchen. It felt like the beginning of a long, cold road. I didn't know if the Hollow King would dump me in seven days like the others. I didn't know if he would kill me when he grew bored.
But as I stepped into his carriage, I felt the weight of the small blade I had hidden in the lining of the wool garment. I had learned to fight by watching them. I had learned to kill by surviving them.
The Moonstone pack thought they were rid of a curse. They didn't realize they had just handed the Hollow King the key to their destruction. I would be his hundredth mate, but I would be the last one he ever needed. And when the time came, I would return for the head of the man who called himself my father.