The morning sun had barely risen when Kehlani appeared at my door, her copper skin gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights of the Omega quarters.
"Time to work, little Omega," she singsonged, her artificial sweet scent making my stomach turn. "Your father's medicine won't pay for itself."
I'd been awake for hours already, having scrubbed the kitchen floors until three in the morning. My hands were raw, but I knew better than to complain.
"What task today, Luna?" I asked, the title bitter on my tongue.
Kehlani's lips curled into a cruel smile. "The main hall floors need scrubbing. Every inch."
The main hall was massive—marble floors that stretched the length of three basketball courts. It would take days to clean properly.
"Now," she added, her eyes glittering with malice.
I followed her through the packhouse, feeling the stares of pack members who once bowed to me as Alpha Perkins' daughter. Now they looked away or whispered behind their hands.
"Look who's cleaning our floors now," someone muttered.
"The Alpha's rejected mate," another replied with a snicker.
Kehlani handed me a bucket of water so cold it made my fingers ache, and a brush with bristles that bit into my skin.
"On your knees, Omega," she commanded.
I sank to the floor, the marble cold against my skin. The water stung my already raw hands as I dipped the brush.
"Faster," Kehlani snapped, circling me like a predator. "Your father's medicine depends on your performance."
Hours passed. My knees bled, leaving faint stains on the white marble. My fingers split open, water mixing with blood.
"Good enough?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
Kehlani crouched beside me, her perfectly manicured nails tracing the edge of my bucket. "Not quite."
She knocked it over, water spilling across the section I'd just cleaned. "Start again."
By evening, I'd earned exactly seventeen dollars and change. Enough for a single dose of my father's antibiotics.
---
"Is she still crying?" Maximilian's voice drifted through the door of Kehlani's private quarters.
"She's pathetic," Kehlani replied, her voice dripping with disdain. "But I worry, Max."
"What is it?"
I pressed myself against the wall outside, straining to hear.
"What if you still want her?" Kehlani asked. "Despite everything?"
Silence followed—heavy, charged silence.
"She's nothing now," Maximilian finally growled. "Just an Omega."
"But she's still your fated mate," Kehlani insisted. "I can smell it on her sometimes. That bond..."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Alpha Perkins owes our pack debts," Kehlani said carefully. "Debts that need to be paid."
I heard Maximilian move closer to her. "What did you have in mind?"
"Send her away," Kehlani whispered. "Where she can never remind you of what she was."
A long pause followed. Then, "Do what you think is best."
---
I was awakened in the middle of the night by rough hands dragging me from my bed. Beta Marcus and two guards I didn't recognize yanked me to my feet.
"Time to pay your father's debts," Marcus growled, his eyes avoiding mine.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, struggling against their grip.
"The underground auction," one guard replied with a cruel smile. "Your Alpha bloodline should fetch a good price."
They forced me into a transport van, windows blacked out, interior stripped bare. Silver chains bit into my wrists and ankles—not enough to break skin but enough to burn.
"Maximilian approved this?" I asked Marcus, who stood awkwardly by the van door.
His silence was answer enough.
---
The auction house was unlike anything I'd imagined. Beneath an abandoned warehouse, a lavish underground venue had been created. Crystal chandeliers hung from vaulted ceilings, illuminating rows of plush seats filled with the wealthiest rogues and corrupt Alphas from territories I'd never heard of.
They'd dressed me in rags that barely covered my body, the silver chains now wound tightly around my torso, highlighting my vulnerability.
"Lot number seventeen," the auctioneer announced, his voice echoing through the chamber. "A fallen Alpha's daughter. Fated mate of Alpha Maximilian of the Blood Eclipse Pack."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. My eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for any friendly face.
"Rare bloodline," the auctioneer continued, circling me as I stood trembling on the raised platform. "Imagine owning the daughter of the once-mighty Alpha Perkins. Imagine what Alpha Maximilian would pay to get her back."
The crowd's interest grew as he detailed my lineage, my former status, my current fall from grace.
"Starting bid at fifty thousand dollars," he announced.
Hands shot up immediately. A fat rogue king in the front row. An elderly Alpha with a scar across his face. A businessman whose eyes held nothing but cruelty.
"One hundred thousand," someone called from the back.
"Two hundred," countered another.
As the bids climbed higher, I closed my eyes, praying for death rather than whatever fate awaited me in the hands of these monsters.
