The Alpha They Sold Me To Was My Father

My fianc and best friend drugged me with banned hallucinogens, planning to send me to Alpha Alaric of the Sunridge Pack in exchange for development rights to the entire Red Pine Forest.

They stood outside the door, laughing arrogantly:

An orphan with no parentsshe should be grateful Alpha Alaric even looked at her!

"Once we get the development rights, we'll get married and let her spend her life as Alpha Alaric's plaything!"

What they didn't know: the Alpha Alaric they were desperately trying to please is my father.

I'm the precious daughter he's been searching for these past three years.

Tonight, they personally delivered their prey into the wolf king's den.

Tomorrow, every werewolf in North America will know the price of crossing me, Lyra Voss.

0The drug spread through my bloodstream to every limb, making my bones ache. Even my ability to shift was completely suppressed.

I forced my eyes open, my vision landing on the silver moon and white wolf emblem carved into the headboard.

Outside the door, my fianc Caleb's voice dripped with greed:

"Lila, is the information reliable? Will Alpha Alaric really come to this suite tonight?"

My omega best friend Lila's voice was syrupy sweet with excitement:

"I paid five thousand dollars for insider informationhe'll be here at eleven sharp. Think about it: his mate died years ago, and he's remained faithful to her memory ever since. If he opens the door to find a woman who resembles his late wife..."

She laughed coldly. "Why would he refuse meat delivered to his mouth? Once he's pleased, those development rights for the northern Red Pine Forest will be ours!"

Listening to their scheming whispers outside, I bit down hard on my tongue, barely suppressing the waves of dizziness.

I'd spent three months developing proposals for Caleb's failing pack project.

I'd treated Lila as my only friend, even lending her the silver jewelry my mother left me.

In return, they had sex in my rented apartment.

And now they were using me as a bargaining chip, pricing me out to another Alpha's bed.

My stomach cramped. My nails dug deep into my palms, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the ice spreading through my heart.

But they didn't knowAlaric Voss is my father.

His dead "white moonlight" was my mother.

Three years ago, I mistakenly believed my mother's death was connected to his affairs. In rage, I ran away from home and cut all contact.

He never forced me to come back these three years, but someone kept secretly depositing money into my account.

Even the apartment I rented belonged to Sunridge Pack.

Caleb and Lila thought I was just an ordinary werewolf orphan living off a meager inheritance. That's why they dared to be so reckless.

But they forgotAlaric Voss is famously protective.

Years ago, when some noble family's son publicly mocked me for having impure bloodlines, he was expelled from his pack the next day. His entire family ended up at the border.

If Alaric sees his precious daughter drugged, stripped naked, and delivered to his bed as a gift by these scumbags...

I could already envision their fateunable to live, unable to die.

"Oh!" Lila deliberately raised her voice. "Once we secure the forest project, we should finally have our wedding. Let's get those silver wolf rings Lyra wanted but couldn't afford as our wedding bands."

Caleb laughed indulgently. "Sure, we'll use the money from selling her to buy you the best."

I stared at the silver moon carving on the headboard, my eyes cold as ice.

The information was correctmy father would come tonight.

Because today was his wedding anniversary with my mother.

My mother died in this very hotel suite. Every year on this day, he spent the entire night here alone.

Every year, ambitious packs sent women to his room. But this year's "gift" was especially absurd.

The next second, the door burst open.

Caleb strode over, grabbed my hair, and yanked me up from the couch.

My scalp screamed with tearing pain.

"Lyra, don't blame me. Blame yourself for having no background, no pack. You deserve to be a stepping stone. Even if you're tortured to death tonight, you'd better keep Alpha Alaric happy!"

No background? No pack?

I looked at his smug face and smiled faintly.

"Caleb, you'd better pray that after tonight, you can die with some dignity."

"Still talking back!"

Lila stepped forward and slapped me hard across the face.

My ears rang instantly.

"Get her changed! Alpha Alaric will be here any minute!"

She smiled viciously as she tore off my jacket and forced me into a black nightgown with barely any fabric.

"You really look like a cheap whore." Lila patted my face with satisfaction.

I lay against the cold marble surface, enduring the ultimate humiliation, but my fingers slowly clenched into fists.

They'd stripped the Sunridge Pack Alpha's own daughter naked and sent her to her father's bed.

I would settle this account with interest.

Caleb and Lila dragged me out of the room toward the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

A dozen black-suited guards lined both sides of the corridorall Sunridge Pack enforcers.

The man leading them strode forward, tall and broad with a faint scar on his face.

I squinted and recognized himRowan.

Three years ago, he was just an outer guard who needed advance clearance to enter my home.

Now he'd become Sunridge Pack's head of security in Chicago.

Caleb and Lila's arrogance instantly evaporated. They bent nearly double, faces full of flattering smiles:

"Rowan, we've brought the girl for you."

Rowan glanced down at them with eyes like ice-dipped blades, finally settling coldly on me.

"You know Alpha Alaric's rules? Anyone sent here must be completely clean, no ulterior motives."

Caleb nodded frantically. "Yes, yes! Absolutely clean, absolutely obedient!"

Rowan snorted coldly, looking me up and down:

"Alpha Alaric is in a foul mood tonight. He needs something to take his mind off things. If you don't serve him well, you two will share the consequences."

Caleb shuddered and shoved me forward.

"Are you mute? Answer Rowan!"

I steadied myself and laughed coldly. "You're all really asking for death."

Caleb flew into a rage and raised his hand to slap me again.

I dodged. His slap met air and he nearly lost his balance.

Rowan watched this farce coldly, his gaze pausing on my face with a flash of confusion.

He felt like he'd seen this face before but couldn't remember where.

"You've got nerve," he said slowly. "Other women would be weak in the knees hearing about consequences."

He scanned me again, his tone playful: "Alpha Alaric's temper is running hot tonight. He needs someone with a hard spine to grind down. Your fearless attitude might just be what he likes. If you can make Alpha Alaric happy, there'll be rewards for you all."

Caleb's eyes lit up at these words.

Thinking my half-dead appearance had actually impressed them, he grew bolder, grabbing my hair and forcing my head back.

"Look, Rowan! This face, this bodyguaranteed to satisfy Alpha Alaric!"

His eyes darted, and he lowered his voice to build connections:

"Rowan, if I may askwhy is Alpha Alaric in a bad mood tonight? Give us a hint so we know what we're dealing with."

Before he finished, Rowan's eyes sharpened, looking at him like a corpse.

"Alpha Alaric's private affairs are something a minor branch character like you can ask about?"

Caleb's face turned liver-colored as he apologized repeatedly:

"Yes, yes, it's my fault! I talked too much!"

To cover his fear, he took all his anger out on me, kicking me hard in the stomach.

"Bitch! Get in there and serve him! Once you're inside, even if you have to wag your tail like a dog, you'd better make Alpha Alaric comfortable!"

The kick sent me stumbling forward, my abdomen churning with pain.

I supported myself against the cold doorframe and slowly straightened.

Caleb just asked why Alaric was in a bad mood?

I laughed silently to myself.

Probably because his dead wife's anniversary was approaching and his only daughter had been missing for three years. Who wouldn't be in a bad mood?

And to cheer him up, they were sending in his own daughter as a gift.

AlaricI really want to see your expression when that door opens.

I pushed open the heavy wooden door.

Crystal chandeliers hung overhead, a full North American gray wolf pelt carpeted the floor, and the air carried the scent of cedarluxurious yet solemn.

Caleb's eyes went wide. "Fuck... how many land shares is that oil painting on the wall worth?"

Lila's eyes filled with greed. "Just one silver ornament would be enough to buy us half a small pack!"

Caleb laughed lewdly: "Once this bitch serves Alpha Alaric well, maybe he'll reward us with some hunting grounds to play with!"

I leaned against the door, expressionless.

My gaze swept over the giant oil painting on the center wall.

The woman in it stood in a cedar forest, her eyes gentlemy mother.

On the black ebony table beside it sat a family photo.

The little girl in the picture rode on her father's shoulders, smiling brilliantly.

Seeing me stare at the painting, Rowan frowned and warned coldly:

"Keep your inappropriate thoughts to yourself. Your type only gets through this door because you somewhat resemble Luna Lilwen."

When I showed no reaction to his mockery, he lost patience and grabbed my wrist,

his eyes brazenly scanning the thin nightgown I wore.

"If Alpha Alaric weren't such a clean freak, I'd teach you the rules right now myself."

I smiled mockingly: "Is this how Sunridge Pack manages its subordinates? Looks like you really should be exiled to the northern border."

Rowan exploded with rage and raised his hand to strike.

Just then, a sharp female voice rang out from behind: "Stop!"

A woman in a red dress walked in on high heels, her makeup immaculate, her aura haughty.

It was Serena, Sunridge Pack's Beta. She'd made advances to Alaric multiple times, only to be coldly rejected, but she never gave up.

Her gaze landed on my face, instantly filling with the poison of jealousy.

"That face..." She walked over and gripped my chin with her fingertips, so hard it felt like she wanted to crush my bones.

"A lowly plaything dares to have a face similar to Luna Lilwen's? Kneel!"

I yanked her hand away, my eyes cold as ice:

"Take your filthy hands off me. What makes you think you can make me kneel? Before you touch me, you'd better think carefully whether Alaric will throw you to the wild wolves in the forest."

Serena laughed in fury, her face twisting. "Courting death!"

She swung her hand to slap me hard.

I jerked my head aside. Her slap met air and she stumbled awkwardly.

"Who do you think you are?!" Serena shrieked hysterically.

I smiled faintly. "What if I told you I'm the one person Alaric wants most in this life but can't have? Would you believe me?"

After all, he'd sent countless people to find me these past three years, and I never appeared once. So technically, I was indeed unattainable.

As my words fell, the room went dead silent.

Serena froze for a moment, then her malice exploded completely:

"Let's seeafter I carve up your face, how you'll keep up this act! Hold her down!"

Caleb immediately lunged forward, pinning me to the cold floor.

"Beta Serena, please calm down! This bitch just doesn't know her place! She's got cheap bonesdo whatever you want with her. Even if you cripple her, it's on me!"

Lila quickly followed, stomping hard on my hand pressed against the floor.

The pain shot through my fingers straight to my heart. Cold sweat instantly soaked my back.

Serena smiled coldly as she picked up a silver letter opener from the table, slowly crouching down and using the cold blade to lift my chin.

"'Unattainable'you're just relying on that face to seduce."

The blade's edge slid along my skin, bringing the tremor of death.

A drop of crimson blood slid slowly down the silver blade and splattered on the gray wolf pelt carpet.

"If I carve the word 'whore' into your face, do you think Alpha Alaric will even look at you?"

Serena raised the letter opener high, about to stab down viciously.

As extreme danger closed in, I jerked my head back and screamed that name with all my strength:

"Alaric Voss! Get out here! If anything happens to me, you'll never see me again for the rest of your life!"

My words were followed by eerie silence.

Then Serena burst into shrill laughter:

"What a lunatic! You dare call Alpha Alaric by his full name! You must be tired of living!"

Her eyes grew more vicious, the blade's tip pressing deeper into my face. Searing pain exploded like an electric current.

"Hold her down! Hold her tight!"

Caleb didn't hesitate, increasing the pressure and grinding my entire face into the cold floor.

My finger bones made a sickening crack.

The pain made my vision go black. Cold sweat instantly soaked my back.

The man I'd poured my heart into helping was now personally holding me on the chopping block, serving as the executioner's most loyal accomplice.

A burning line of blood spread from the corner of my eye to my temple. Blood instantly blurred my vision.

Serena let out a sick laugh. "Once I ruin this face, let's see what you have left to be arrogant about!"

Caleb flattered her: "Beta Serena is right! If you're still not satisfied, carve the word and take some nude photos. Let's see how she shows her face in the werewolf community after this!"

Lila mocked: "Just scarring her face is too easy on her. Why not strip her naked and throw her in the snow outside the hotel entrance? Let everyone see what happens when you offend Beta Serena!"

I listened to their celebration, a coppery sweetness rising in my throat.

Every wound they left on me would become an epitaph carved on their pack's tombstone.

My father's methods would teach them what it means to be unable to live, unable to die.

The next second, Caleb reached out toward the neckline of my nightgown.

I struggled violently, the remnants of my wolf strength exploding in this moment.

But his knee ground more viciously into my spine. My bones made a dull sound.

"Stop struggling. You're just a piece of rotten meat for the slaughter."

Ultimate humiliation swallowed me whole.

Serena laughed even more cruelly, grabbing the last bit of fabric on me and yanking hard.

Her other hand pulled out her phone, quickly opening a private werewolf forum, about to start a livestream.

"Throwing her out isn't enough. I want the entire werewolf community to see just how cheap this bitch really is!"

At this critical moment!

With an deafening crash, that hundred-pound solid wood door was kicked open from outside.

A towering figure wrapped in monstrous rage walked in against the light.

"Who gave you permission to run wild in my territory!"

The madness on Serena's face instantly transformed to delight. She held up her phone, her voice cloying:

"Alpha Alaric! Perfect timing! I was just disciplining a new toy who doesn't know her place!"

Caleb quickly looked up, wagging his tail like a lap dog:

"Alpha Alaric! We specifically found you a woman who looks exactly like Luna Lilwen, absolutely clean! We only ask that in recognition of our sincerity, you grant us development rights to the northern forest!"

The man's footsteps stopped abruptly.

His gaze pierced through the crowd, landing hard on me lying in a pool of blood.

Seeing my blood-covered face clearly. Seeing my torn clothing clearly. Seeing the defiance and mockery in my eyes clearly.

His commanding Alpha presence crumbled instantly.