June's POV
It felt like a crushing weight on my chest. A deep, piercing pain that left me feeling hollow and numb. Thoughts of Jossy lying lifeless outside the cold pricked my heart as fresh tears dropped on my red skirt.
Madame was right. I killed her. I killed Jossy. I should be the one dead and not her. How can I bear this guilt? It's eating me up from my inside.
I gazed particularly at nowhere as flashes of Jossy's smiling face ran through my mind. Her laugh echoed in my ears like she was beside me. I miss her.
I hate myself. I led her to her death. I should have protected her. I had the chance to change our fate back in the woods. Thoughts of what would have happened differently if I had not trusted this couple. Definitely, we would never be here and Ilyona wouldn't have died.
I sigh deeply. I should end this all. I had held on to the hope that one day all this would be over. But this was far from over. It was never going to end unless I did.
At that minute, I heard footsteps approaching. It was probably the chef bringing another food after I threw away the former. Back at the green house, we ate only once and never ate to our fill. If you missed the mealtime you'd go hungry till the next day. I wondered why they were trying hard to make me eat here. I'm never eating. If I hadn't eaten that day Ilyona would still be alive.
"Get up girl. It's time to go." Madame scolded.
I was weak from starving and crying but I managed to get up.
Mr Fred rushed in.
"We can't give her to Alpha Orlan." He said.
"What should we do then? Give him back his money? We don't have it." Madame stated.
"We can deal with Alpha Orlan later. We must settle Alpha Xav first." Mr. Fred added.
"Huh. So what do you tell the Alpha who is seated at the office waiting for his dear she wolf." Madame asked.
"We are deeply sorry Alpha Orlan, we made a huge mistake. Isabel had already been sold out but due to a faulty data system we missed it. We are ready to make amends by allowing you to choose another she wolf or we'd refund you. That's what you'll say to him." Mr. Fred said.
"Me? Oh no. Not me. I'm never doing that."
"He's your brother. He'll listen to you." Mr. Fred added.
"Yeah. He might be my brother but he is still an Alpha and you know better not to joke with Alphas."
"Good, you said it yourself. We can't joke with Alphas and now we have two Alphas on our neck. To play smart we must joke with the lesser Alpha—your brother, because I'm not letting Alpha Xav come after me."
"Fine. I will go talk to him." Madame agreed, and left the room.
At that moment, I sensed Mr. Fred glaring at me but I didn't care. The worst that could happen would be my death and they wouldn't want that to happen unless they wanted to face the wrath of Alpha Xav; whoever he was, they feared him and strangely the name made the hairs on my skin stand.
"If you hadn't messed up with my plan I wouldn't be in this shit right now. You're lucky the Alpha wants you. Otherwise, I would have kept you for myself." He took a step closer. "And you know what that means." I glanced at him and I swear I was irritated. His eyes were no longer glaring but full of lust.
"You would be here and no one would know you exist. Not even Madame. Because I would have locked you up in my special room where only I have access to. You would be there as my play thing. Satisfying me with this gorgeous body of yours until I get tired and sniff the breath out of you like I did with the others." I shivered at his words, goosebumps rising on my skin and I began to pray in my heart for Madame to return.
My eyes glared at him as I realized I was wrong about him. I thought he was an honest orphanage owner. Although, I always questioned why they only accepted she wolves and now I know. Either they were sold to Alphas who forcefully knot them and if they survived, they get pregnant and bear him Alpha pups or Mr. Fred abducted them, and raped them till he killed them.
"Come on, don't give me that look. You wouldn't want to annoy me now, would you?" He said, and I looked away instantly.
"I've always imagined how you look beneath those rags." He continued speaking and I watched his elongated tongue rub his upper lips lustfully while his hungry eyes scanned my chest.
His hand left his pocket and reached for my legs as he squatted down.
"I've always imagined this pretty legs spreading out for m—"
"What are you doing?" Madame popped in, startling him.
He quickly retrieved his hands from my legs, stood up and took a step away from me. He frowned and turned to his wife and I took a breath of relief.
"How did it go with your brother?" He asked, ignoring her question.
"He's willing to pay more for her." She answered.
"How much?"
"Triple amount of what Alpha Xav paid us."
"You're serious?" He asked with a sly of excitement in his voice.
"Yes, but on the condition that he must first see her and confirm her test results."
"Why? Does he think we are joking here?"
"I guess Alpha Xav's complaint affected our accountability in the market."
"Fine. Let's do it. Your brother can help us talk to Alpha Xav to accept a refund. After all, they are both Alphas. Bring the girl with you." He said, leaving the room.
"Hey! Get up." Madame scolded, and I weakly rose up and followed Madame.
We walked through an open door into a room with the aesthetics of an office. Mr. Fred comfortably sat on his seat making it known that it was his office. Madame sat at the chair meant for visitors. She sat next to an extremely handsome man. He was the first gorgeous man I'd set my eyes on. I admired his clear smooth caramel skin, he had a very low haircut that enhanced his facial features. His eyes fell on me, they were green and endearing. He looked me up from head to toe.
Was he the Alpha? He definitely was the Alpha. I could sense his aura, but why would he want a nobody like me? There were millions of she wolves out there and even here. Why would he spend a lot of money just to have an orphan?
"I want her in the laboratory. I want to see the test carried out on her and the result afterwards." He declared.
"Alpha Orlan, her results are all genuine, but if you insist, the lab scientist will be here in a few minutes." Mr. Fred remarked. The Alpha ignored him like he never said anything. I peered down, sensing the Alpha's eyes on me.
Mr. Fred's phone rang and he picked it up. "He is here." Mr. Fred said, and everyone stood up and walked to the laboratory.
I laid on the patient-bed, allowing the Lab scientist to do his job and after a while, my test results were projected on a large screen visible to all eyes but I couldn't understand what it meant.
"See, she's +88. She will definitely survive your knot and bear you Alpha heirs as much as you want." Mr. Fred stated.
"Good. I will make the transfer now." He said, and brought out his phone.
"Hold on." Mr. Fred interrupted, the Alpha paused, and turned to him.
"We have a little problem. The Blood moon Alpha, Alpha Xav, already bought her but there was a mistake. We ended up giving her twin sister to him, and she couldn't survive his knot. Now Alpha Xav is furious and wants this particular she wolf. We hope you could talk to him to accept a refund."
"I'll double the amount I want to pay. That's six times the amount he paid you. Find a way to clean your mess. Don't drag me into it."
Mr. Fred's phone pinged and his eyes widened in excitement. "600,000 USD?" he screamed and Madame's face lightened up.
"I'm heading out for a meeting and I can't take her with me, but mom is coming to pick her up." The Alpha said, his eyes focusing on Madame.
"Thank you, Alpha Orlan." Madame acknowledged, and the Alpha nodded and left.
I was sent back to the room I stayed in previously. I roamed around nervously, playing with my fingers. Something I do whenever I'm agitated. I wasn't sure of what would happen to me in the following hours. I had no control over my own life. These thoughts intensified my anxiety, and I didn't realize when Madame walked in. "Let's go girl. Your Luna is here."
Madame led me to a beautiful woman probably in her forties. She was waiting at the office, her slight facial resemblance to the Alpha made it obvious that she was his mother. She had a welcoming, warm smile on her face.
"Come dear. It's time to go." She said to me, and I followed her.
"Be at your best behaviour, girl." Madame added.
If it wasn't in this condition, I would have been excited. I was finally leaving this hell hole. But at this point, there's nothing to rejoice about. Not without Jossy.
We walked through doors and hallways until we stood before a large one. It wasn't mechanical because it scanned Madame's face before it opened, allowing us to pass through as waves of fresh air swept past my skin. The sunlight shone into my eyes, making me look away instantly. I placed my hands over my face to protect my eyes from the sunlight. My eyes weren't used to it because I'd been locked in for twelve years.
I breathed out, enjoying the cool breeze. The thoughts of being the only one living the dream I had with Jossy sank deep into my heart, as fresh tears welled up in my eyes.
I looked at the middle aged woman who was engrossed in whatever she was searching for inside her handbag, and a sly thought crossed my mind. Run.
"Hello dear, get into the car." Said the Alpha's mother, breaking me from my thoughts. I looked back at the orphanage, Mr. Fred's bodyguards stood outside the building, their eyes glared at me. I hadn't seen them earlier. They probably thought I would try to run.
I walked to the black car. It looked like it cost a fortune, and I sat at the front seat while the Alpha's mother started the engine and we drove off. She drove at a moderate speed and there was a long silence between us.
"What's your name, honey?" She asked, breaking the silence.
"June."
"Okay, June. You can call me Sara." She said, and I nodded.
I remained silent, enjoying the view beyond the windscreen.
"We would stop at a mall to get you some proper clothes. Hope you are okay with that?" I nodded.
"Have you eaten?" She asked, I shook my head.
"Oh dear. Our next stop after the mall will be at the eatery." She said,
"Oh yes, after your lunch, I'll take you to a salon. Your hair looks like hell and since you're having a change of clothes; you should have a nice hairdo too." She added, tuning on the car radio and singing along the music.
Suddenly, we heard a loud noise and the force that followed, threw our car down the cliff.
My world went still and quiet. I tried to raise my head up but my blurry vision wasn't helping. I saw that Sara's neck was broken and a heavy stream of blood flowed down from her head. She was unconscious and I was stuck. The car was overturned and tight. The smoke from the car choked me as I coughed while struggling to open the doors. I realized I couldn't move my right hand and when I checked – It was broken.
I could hear fast footsteps approaching us from afar. I knew waiting for them wasn't an option because they could be bad people. My gaze fell on Sara once more. I needed to get out of this car. This was my chance to save myself. I hit the door with every ounce of strength in me and it went flying. I quickly loosed my seat belt and crawled out of the terribly squashed car that left me wondering how I managed to survive.
My visions were hazy as I staggered out of the scene, moving forward with no sense of direction. My broken hand had worsened from me forcing the car door open. I held onto it with my other hand and ran despite the terrible pain I was in. I wasn't going to let this chance pass me. They must never find me again.
Suddenly, I began to hear loud thuddings of wolves. They were running towards me and got nearer with every second. My pace got slower and I gasped out for air. I had no wolf so I couldn't shift. I was bleeding profusely from my nose and I got weaker every second. Despite my body protesting, I forced my feet to go further and I tripped. I couldn't get up and whatever I fell into was utter darkness.