Ex's Regret: Sold Me to the Billionaire Alpha

Aurelie gripped the wine bottle and stepped cautiously into the packhouse.

This was ceremonial wine-the kind saved for weddings. People said couples who drank it together would be blessed, though that might just be marketing talk. Still, Aurelie had been happy to travel out of town for it. If one bottle could somehow keep her boyfriend tied to a blind omega, she'd go any distance. Matthew had specifically requested it, after all.

The thought of Matthew sent warmth spreading through her chest. By tomorrow, his mark would be on her neck. She glanced down, fingers brushing the bottle, unable to stop herself from smiling.

"God! Fiora, you're always so damn tight. Every time we do this, it drives me insane."

"Not so rough, it hurts... ah! Stop biting my nipple, you're terrible!"

Aurelie froze outside Matthew's door, hand suspended mid-air. The wine bottle suddenly felt impossibly heavy, like it was crushing her ribcage.

This couldn't be real.

She drew in a shaky breath.

The sounds hit her sensitive ears like thunderclaps.

"Matthew, are you ever this wild with my pathetic sister?"

Aurelie's heart stopped.

"You think I'd waste energy on her?" Matthew's laugh was harsh and cruel. "I can't stand touching her. Who would want a defective omega? She's not just blind-she's completely useless! You're gorgeous, you're hot, you're sophisticated. Baby, you're leagues above her."

Aurelie swallowed back the taste of bile rising in her throat. She hadn't been born blind-she'd gotten injured saving him!

A year ago, returning from a perfume exhibition, she'd come across Matthew being hunted by rogues. She'd been hurt in the chaos trying to protect him.

When she woke two weeks later to find herself blind, she'd completely broken down. Already an outcast omega, and with her father's remarriage leaving her virtually without family, she couldn't bear to imagine the vicious things her stepmother and stepsister would say. The educational opportunities she'd fought so hard for seemed permanently out of reach now.

She'd been drowning in despair, barely registering the crowd in her hospital room until someone spoke from beside her bed. Matthew and his father had come to visit, along with local television reporters.

With cameras rolling, Matthew had taken her hand right then and said he'd protect her for life. His father, Reno Damon-Alpha of the Ice Wolf Pack-had promised to repay her for saving his precious son, pledging to cover her care and treatment until he passed leadership to Matthew. The implication was clear: Matthew would marry her.

Aurelie had been lost, with no family to consult. Matthew, her senior, was someone she'd secretly loved from afar. As an omega most people disliked, she'd never imagined speaking to him. That one brave act had somehow brought them together.

So amid the medical staff's cheers, cameras captured Matthew embracing her. That photo was plastered across major news sites within hours. Ice Wolf Pack company stocks soared. What a kindhearted CEO and heir!

From that point on, Matthew stayed by her side. Aurelie convinced herself, took comfort in the idea that lacking werewolf blood wasn't so terrible-not when she could still have someone as handsome and charming as Matthew.

She kept reassuring herself that her inner wolf would eventually awaken. She just needed patience and practice.

Aurelie paused to catch her breath, remembering how she'd thought that experience would mark the start of something beautiful.

She'd been dreaming. A breathtaking dream that, the instant she let herself believe in the happiness, twisted into the most horrifying nightmare.

"Oh god, Matthew, I can't take anymore!"

"Come on baby, let's finish together. Don't hold back-I want to watch us both climax. Ah! Fiora!"

Aurelie's hand found the doorknob. She was about to turn it.

"Fiora, don't stress about me marrying your stepsister. I've already figured out how to escape this damn arrangement. I'm handing her over to Vincent Keegan as debt payment. That bastard bled me dry and left me owing him money, so I told him I'd pay him back with a woman who could satisfy him."

"My god, Matthew, she could die at Vincent's hands. You must be insane!"

"You say that, but you're smiling so bright, darling. I think this is the fastest way to get rid of Aurelie so we can finally be together."

Fawning laughter and obscene moans drifted through the barely-open door. Aurelie abandoned any thought of pushing it wider and going inside.

She turned and moved silently along the wall, counting steps, relying on her sharp and practiced instincts to escape that sinful room where her stepsister and fiancé were constructing a rotting palace built on betrayal.

Tears Aurelie had been holding back slowly traced down her cheeks. She leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. She needed to stop before she could keep going.

Her hand touched the cold floor weakly. Her index finger brushed something smooth and soft.

Aurelie reached for the object. She felt its shape and texture, brought it closer to smell, then went rigid.

Since losing her sight, Aurelie had trained her other senses to become stronger and more precise. She could recognize and remember people by sound and scent alone, could identify objects through texture and smell.

Revulsion and fury washed over her. She flung the item away in disgust.

Fiora's underwear.

Aurelie staggered to her feet, grabbed the bottle, uncorked it, and took a long swallow of the expensive wine-as if that could chase away the smell she'd just encountered.

"Aurelie, what are you doing?"

A woman's sharp voice came from the left, startling her.

"You've gone too far! That wine cost Matthew a fortune. And you just drank it like that? What will you two drink tomorrow? A disabled bride is such a burden. You greedy, ill-mannered, disgusting orphan!"

The curse came from Matthew's mother, Annika Damon-a superior beta.

She set down the wedding dress she'd brought on the sofa, then marched up to Aurelie and snatched away the half-empty bottle.

"Stupid woman!" Annika roared. "What were you thinking? How could you do something like this? Look at yourself-you're disgusting and barbaric!"

Rage burned inside Aurelie.

"Mrs. Damon, you don't need to remind me to look at myself! Have you forgotten I'm blind? All because of your son!" Aurelie's voice cut sharp.

The obedient little blind girl suddenly turning sharp-tongued must have startled her.

"Wh-what?" she stammered. "You're yelling at me? Do you know what you're doing? Aurelie, stop making trouble! The wedding's tomorrow, and no matter what happens, you need to control yourself and not cause problems!"

Annika grabbed the wedding dress and shoved it into Aurelie's hands with a mocking laugh.

"This dress is a size too small for you. Don't eat anything from tonight until tomorrow, or it won't fit. There'll be live media coverage-don't embarrass the Damon family."

Aurelie gritted her teeth. They thought she was just a useless omega, but they were wrong. They wanted to sell her to Vincent Keegan, but she was going to turn the tables on them.