Chapter 02: The Sale

“I’ll take her. She has until tomorrow morning to say her goodbyes. She doesn’t need to bring much. She won’t be back often, so there’s no need to keep anything of hers here.” Alpha Rowan’s deep, soothing voice filled the room.

Mila frowned. Her mate was buying her from her dad for his Beta? She wanted to scream and tell them they were insane, but between the two Alphas, one of them was gagging her mentally.

Alpha Rowan looked at Beta Josiah. “Unless there’s something about her that’s unsatisfactory to you?”

Beta Josiah looked at his Alpha as if he were slightly unsure. He looked down at Mila and smiled gently at her. Turning back to his Alpha, he shook his head and sighed helplessly.

Alpha Joseph grinned. “I promise you, she will serve Beta Josiah and your Luna well. Hehe, she’s even a virgin, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Mila felt a disdainful look sweep over her from Alpha Rowan. He muttered something unintelligible before giving his Beta a look. Beta Josiah took out a laptop from the bag on the floor next to his feet.

Mila watched his actions as he pulled up a contract on the laptop. He passed the laptop to Alpha Rowan, who thanked his Beta and continued going over the strategic alliance.

Alpha Rowan was very thorough in his work. At one point, he looked at Mila. Her heart skipped a beat when he did.

“You should probably send her to pack and finish her duties. We will be here just after dawn. White Claw is a good distance away, and we have a lot of work to do at home,” he said dismissively as he turned to Alpha Joseph.

Alpha Joseph’s lips curled down distastefully as he looked at his daughter. “Go pack your things and say goodbye to your friends. Tell the steward that your duties need to be assigned to someone else or let the Beta know your mate is here to collect you.”

Mila stood up from the floor she had collapsed onto earlier. Her bones groaned in protest from being in the same position for a long time as she stood.

“Yes, sir.”

She went out of the visitor’s lounge.

Her mind was spinning. How was she going to handle this? This man was seriously selling her to seal an alliance.

She was not sure if she should be happy with the fact that her chastity was worth protecting the pack or angry that these men planned to steal away her freedom and dignity in exchange for a business deal.

She needed to think. She had to get away. As she stumbled out of the packhouse, she bumped into the Beta. She stood straighter and pretended to smile.

“Beta Gavin,” she greeted, not noticing the man’s scowl. “Dad says I need to let you know that my mate has come to collect me. Please organize for someone to do my duties as of tomorrow. I leave very early in the morning.”

Beta Gavin frowned. ‘Dad? Who was this impudent low rank that dared to give him an order?’ He raised his hand to slap her for her insolence.

A growl halted his actions. Beta Gavin’s eyes darted to the very powerful Beta watching his actions. He took one look at the other man, whom he recognized as one of his Alpha’s guests of the day. It didn’t take long before he put two and two together.

Instead of going through with the slap, he patted her head rigidly and forced a smile. “Okay dear, I’ll sort it out.”

Once he finished speaking, he walked towards his office, feeling the glare of the other Beta searing down his back. As soon as he was out of sight, his face turned into a snarl.

Mila didn’t even bother to find out why Beta Gavin was suddenly so nice to her. Her mind was on an escape route. The entire pack was like a little village, with everything that anyone needed within walking distance.

The houses were all fairly nice. They had picket fences; giving one the idea of middle-class suburbia. The lawns were mostly green, and everything seemed to be in order. Her body followed a memorized path as she disappeared into the forest.

The scenery changed from houses to trees, grass, and flowers before she was fully obscured by the foliage. The further into the forest she went, the calmer Mila began to feel. Her pace was still fast to match her fury, but her breathing started to even out.

She passed the lake at the center of the forest. After a few feet, she stopped in front of a sturdy-looking tree. She climbed a rope ladder suspended from one of the tree branches.

Mila quickly blended in with the leaves the higher she climbed. She moved by memory and pulled herself up onto the wooden platform that wasn’t visible from the ground.

A lot of the pack had forgotten this treehouse. It spanned a large section of the forest and was well hidden. Even the rope she had climbed looked like a random thin vine wrapped around the tree.

She found her favorite spot and sighed. It had cushions and a bean bag, a spot she found most comfortable. Left alone again, her disbelief came back. Her dad sold her.

Even though the Beta looked like a nice guy, he was still buying her. ‘What kind of man bought a wife?’

‘Didn’t he have the idea that she might have her mate looking for her? Didn’t he have a mate he should be looking for as well?’

‘And her mate! He knew! And he still wanted to buy her for another man?’

Confusion mixed with the shock of it all boiled in her chest. A heavy tear slipped down her cheek. As quickly as she wiped it away, another one slid down even faster. Her chest squeezed painfully.

Wretched sobs filled the sky. ‘Sold. Bought. Worthless.’ The words rang through her mind.

Mila tried to rationalize why the universe and the goddess hated her so much. Had she killed someone in a parallel universe? The pain wouldn’t go away. Instead, it increased.

“Mila? What’s wrong, babe? I felt your distress through the pack link.” Strong arms wrapped around her thin frame. She knew who it was with her before she even had to look. There were only very few people who knew about her hiding place, and even fewer who cared.

“Landon, Landon. Sold. M-Me. Mate—” Mila sobbed. She could not put the words into a sensible sentence.

She clung to his arm, and he stroked her back comfortingly.

“Babe, what happened?” Landon softly enquired. The agony of seeing her in pain showed on his face. “Talk to me.”

“Mila, please tell us what happened.” Another worried voice begged from behind Mila. A small hand stroked Mila’s hair. “Oh, honey, we can’t help if you don’t talk to us.”

“Isla…” Mila looked up at her best friend with red eyes. “Dad sold me.”

Isla’s green eyes widened in shock. “Hun, are you sure?”

Mila started sobbing. Landon threw Isla a glare. For a moment, green eyes clashed with light brown eyes.

Landon’s blond head rested on Mila’s red hair. “Your dad is an ass, Milz, you know that. He doesn’t see how awesome you are. It’s a reflection on him, not you.”

“Yeah, Mila.” A slightly deeper voice agreed.

“Carlos?” Mila lifted her head and looked past Isla. A very handsome face that was looking down at the ground, frowning, looked up and into her eyes. He winced when he saw her tears.

“Fuck, Mila.” He groaned. “I can get you out of the pack tonight. You know I hate seeing you like this.” Carlos’ dark brown eyes all but begged her to let him help her. He ran his hand through his jet-black hair.

Landon frowned. “That is so dangerous. You’ll get Isla in trouble if it flops. You know the thing he loves more than hurting Milz is seeing her guilty for hurting us.”

“I’ll take the blame. Just say the word, and I’ll get you out of here.” Carlos looked Mila in the eye, watching her for a reaction.

Mila sighed, pulled back from Landon’s arms, and stood up shakily. “It’s not going to be that simple. Dad isn’t just selling me to any pack. He sold me to White Claw.”

“Damn,” Landon murmured

“Oh no,” Isla moaned.

“What?!” Carlos’ face paled slightly beneath his tan.

Isla patted the pillow next to her. Mila crawled over, sat down, and hugged her bestie. Their heads touched, and Isla’s blond hair mingled with Mila’s auburn locks.

Isla’s delicate hand stroked Mila’s hair as Mila rested her head on Isla’s shoulder. “Okay, Hun, tell us everything.”

Mila told her friends everything. When it got to the part of Alpha Rowan being her mate, she paused. It was such an awkward thing to confess.

She was already such an epic life fail. Did she have to tell her friends? Would they even believe her?

“What is it, Mila?”

Mila looked up at Carlos. She knew he could tell there was more. She took a deep breath.