Cilla’s POV
“You have to go.”
The words felt like a stab to the heart. Just as I was beginning to feel at home in the pack I had been sold to, my mate said those four words to me. It had hurt when he ran off after accepting me, but a part of me had thought that he might have a change of heart and decide to accept me in his heart. The four words shattered my heart to pieces.
I stared at the man who had just shut me down and saw the hate in his eyes. What did I ever do to him? Why was he being so callous towards me? I wanted to ask all those questions but quickly realised there was no point. He would just reply with something more hateful. Ridian could never be the kind of mate I had always dreamed of. I was one of the unlucky ones.
There was no changing Ridian’s mind. His mother came in right after he had told me that I had to go. I was still on my knees when she burst in and started yelling at her son and telling me to return to work.
“She has to go, mother.”
“When will you grow up and realise that the world does not revolve around you? I get that you don’t want her to work for you, but I want her to work for me. She’s great at doing her job.”
“I just don’t want her in my pack, period. Last time I checked, I was the alpha and you’re just a luna who has destroyed her children’s lives. No one cares about your opinion.”
“Oh, is this about me now? Are you jealous that I paid to attention to someone else other than you silly brood of ill-mannered kids I spent all my time raising.”
“You didn’t raise anyone,” Ridian scoffed. “But that’s not the issue. She is going, and that’s final.”
“I know that Jane’s departure has affected you but you don’t need to frustrate the help as well. We need sane people to run this house and she is one of them. This young woman has a good head on her shoulders. She could be very valuable.”
Ridian nodded. “She is. I’m going to sell her for quite a good price.”
Eventually, Mrs. Jamison gave up and left. Dumas arrived soon after. The alpha pulled him aside and they spoke in hushed tones. After that, Dumas dragged me out while Cara watched in shock and fear.
“Ah my friend, we meet again.” Dumas said as he led me towards the stairs. I did not say anything. I allowed myself to be led out. We met some people in the hallways and they all just stared at me, some with pity and others with confusion.
I was sold a few hours later. I was seated in a tiny room at the gate when two burly men arrived. They cuffed me and pushed me into a cage which they then carried like it weighed nothing. When we came to the road, they placed the cage in the back of a truck that had been parked by the roadside.
My new pack had a fairly average pack house. It was small and not that nice but I could tell they had some good money. It was nothing compared to the one of the Blackmoon pack. Their slave quarters were also worse. All the beddings were old and the walls had peeling pain. The bathrooms and toilets were stinky. The slaves also looked very frail, tired and unhealthy. They wore clothes that were almost in tatters, clothes that looked more like rags than anything else. The general atmosphere was gloomy and dismal. From the minute I got there, I knew that my life would be horrible. I had no idea just how horrible.
The girl who was assigned to guide me looked like she would collapse any time. She was so thin and pale. Her blue eyes were sunken and dull. Her limbs looked so skinny I feared they would break any time. I wanted to ask her if there was no food in the pack but realised that would be rude. I was pretty sure she was aware of her condition. There was no need to emphasize it.
Her name was Alia. It was a pretty name, and I was sure she had once been a very pretty girl but her looks had been robbed by the hardship she was forced to undergo each passing day. Alia had been enslaved all her life. She was born to a slave and kept that way. She was basically property of the pack she had been born in and had no way of getting out.
Alia hated her parents. They knew that any child they had would be a slave, but decided to have one anyway. She hated them for giving her such a horrible life. I knew that I would think the same if I was in her position.
Alia gave me all the important information about the pack and its members especially the ruling family. In all honesty, they did not sound so much like a nice bunch. I mean, could anyone be surprised? If their slaves looked the way they did, the owners couldn’t be anything close to good.
A few hours after I had arrived, I was taken to the pack house. In living room was a tall woman with bright blonde hair and a face caked with so much makeup I couldn’t tell how she looked without it. The woman was seated on a white leather sofa, one of her long legs placed over another.
I was pushed down into kneeling position in front of the poised woman. She scanned me from head to toe.
“She looks quite good,” she said to the man who had brought me in. “Worth the price, I believe. I’m sure the twins will like this one.”
When she said twins, my heart skipped a beat. I thought of my siblings. I almost entertained the thought that she was talking about them. How silly. I couldn’t possibly be that lucky.
The man smiled. “I hope so. They hate everyone else.”
The woman chuckled. “Kids, right.”
“Right,” the man said.
I couldn’t wait to meet the twins so I find out if they were just being kids or they were a couple of spoilt brats.