Chapter 4 Chapter 4

Yulia's POV 

“I told you she shouldn’t just be banished, Dominic. That would be too easy a punishment for her. She might return one day, stronger than us, to fight back!” I heard Henna’s voice, even though I was blindfolded and my mouth was sealed.

“What do you want me to do then, Henna? I’ve already carried out our plan. I called off the mating ceremony with her, had the pack turn against her… she’s been banished from the pack, Henna! What else do you want?” Dominic’s loud, commanding voice boomed again. I could feel my body being hauled along, dragged by the people carrying me somewhere I could only dread.

“This, Dominic. What if we leave her here, as an exiled member of the pack and she returns? We must cut off every chance she ever had to do so. We should…”

“Should we sell her off to slave merchants then? Will her being sold out as a baby-making she-wolf to any rogue be enough to keep her from attacking us ever again?” Dominic’s words came next.

I felt a soft, malicious giggle and then the wet, deliberate sound of kisses filled the air.

“You know I’ll do anything for you, Henna,” Dominic assured her, his voice laced with affection, the kind I had once thought was meant for me.

“I do, Dominic,” Henna replied, her voice honeyed. 

“You’ve just helped me alot. It was so greedy of Yulia to think she would become alpha or even your Luna after all these years. Like they say, the most undeserving people always have the biggest eyes,” she added, her words dripping with triumph.

“Luna?” Dominic scoffed. “She was never meant to be Luna, Henna. Wolfless rejects like her are never meant for such roles. She-wolves like her are only good as servants or playthings for alphas. So bad for her that she didn’t appeal to me.”

I writhed inside the container I had been locked in, my blindfold shifting as I tried to scream, to grab anything within reach to break free. Desperation clawed at me with every movement I had to stop what was about to happen, had to survive.

Five years of being mates. Three long years of dating him, I had spent those times with Dominic, believing in him, loving him, thinking he had loved me back. And now I realized that he had been pretending all along, feigning affection while secretly plotting my destruction.

“You are the only person who deserves to be the rightful heiress to the throne, Henna,” Dominic said again, and the words felt like a dagger twisting in my chest. A tear streaked down my cheek. 

Regret and resentment burned within me, not just at him, but at myself. For the years I had sacrificed, for every ounce of loyalty and love I had poured into him. I had taken the fall for his crimes, the punishments he deserved.

The vivid memories of the past clawed at my mind. Of the time he had been caught disobeying pack rules, the time he had stolen from the treasury and I had covered for him, I had borne the consequences, believing it would prove the depth of my love. Believing it would bind him to me.

I had wanted our mate bond to mean something, to be a love that was true, unlike my father and mother, whose mating ceremony had been a political transaction. I had wanted more than that. I had wanted a love that was real, that was ours. Dominic had seemed like that heaven I had dreamed of, yet here it all was, a lie stripped away.

A thick fog swept over me, clouding my vision and consciousness. When I eventually woke, my eyes no longer felt heavy with the haze, yet I found myself surrounded by a group of people, the unfamiliar faces and noises assaulting my senses.

I looked around frantically, unsure of what to do. My gaze darted up and down, taking in the figures, the echoing sounds filling my ears. Gradually, I realized where I was.

I had been taken to a rogue encampment, and this was the place where she-wolves like me were auctioned off and sold as breeders, sometimes offered to rogue merchants, sometimes even to other packs.

Panic surged through me. I struggled frantically against the ropes binding my hands, writhing and twisting with every ounce of strength I had but it was futile. The restraints were too tight, and exhaustion was already gnawing at me. No matter how I moved, I could not free myself.

As I scanned the room, I noticed that most of the women had already been sold, leaving only a few of us remaining. Fear gripped my heart. Who would I be sold to? What horrors awaited me?

Before I could think further, the door suddenly burst open. A formidable figure strode in from the shadows, exuding a wave of authority that made the entire hall tremble.

The rogue merchants, who had been seated confidently moments before, scattered like frightened mice, ducking under tables or fleeing from the podium. Even the man who had been adjusting my chain in preparation for the auction abandoned me, running in fear from the intruder.

I froze, shocked and confused. What was happening? Why were they all running? Rogues were outlaws banished from packs and thus living without laws to fear, yet even they trembled before this man. How could a single figure command such fear? Not even the Alpha Council had ever prosecuted them for selling she-wolves as breeders, so why this panic?

Seizing the moment of chaos, I reached for the key the man who had been holding me had carelessly dropped when he fled. My fingers grazed it, hope flickering within me but before I could grasp it, the shadowy figure stood directly in front of me.

I froze, my heart pounding violently. I had to lift my head and when I did, I was rendered speechless. My mouth fell open in shock as I stared at the man before me. What was he doing here? Why was he here? My mind raced, questions colliding with fear and disbelief.

He caught the key before I could seize it, holding it firmly in his grip as his gaze locked onto the figures in charge of the auction.

“I will buy her,” he declared, and the words hit me like a thunderclap.

I struggled, desperate to snatch the key, but it was useless. The man before me was no ordinary buyer. It was Luci Dreamoth, my father’s enemy and the one who had caused him pain before his death as my father had destroyed their pack years ago.

“No. This could not be happening”. I whispered to myself when he held my wrist, I tried to pull back, but he held my wrist firmly, his touch electrifying, a shock coursing through me. He noticed immediately and yanked his hand away but the damage had been done.

“No…” I whispered to myself again, horror and disbelief coiling in my chest.

A mate bond seared between us, binding our hands. 

Luci Dreamoth, my father’s enemy was now my buyer and my second-chance mate.