Chapter 2 Definitely trouble

~Sage~

No. I didn’t kill myself.

I never found the courage to do it. I guess I was a coward even in making crucial decisions.

All through that day, I locked myself up in my room. I didn’t go down to eat, and no one even cared to know if I was okay.

No matter how many times I decided that I was going to take my life, the gnawing fear at the back of my head never let me do it. I realized that I actually still wanted to live. I wasn’t ready to die.

Not yet.

I had to find a way out of this marriage. There has to be another way that doesn’t involve me taking my life.

I must have dozed off, curled into a ball when I heard a loud knock on my door. I jumped and before I could react, Asher threw the door open and staggered in. His face looked like a mess and he stunk of alcohol.

“Asher?” I asked, not liking the look on his face. “What are you doing here?”

He stepped inside, his eyes dark and intense. There was something unsettling about the way he looked at me. He didn’t answer my question, just stood there, staring.

“I heard,” he said finally, his voice low and rough.

“Heard what?” I frowned.

“Father.” The way he said the word sent a chill down my spine. “He’s selling you to that old alpha king.”

For a moment there, I thought that he was starting to care about me as his sister; well, stepsister, and a gleam of hope rose in me.

But almost immediately, something shifted in his expression. “Honestly, I don’t care who he sells you to. But I do care who gets to have you first.”

“What?” The word fell from my lips like lead, my stomach twisting into knots.

“I’ll have you first.” His voice was calm, too calm as if he was discussing the weather.

Panic surged through me, and I backed away until I hit the wall. “No, Asher. Get the fuck away from me!”

A crooked smile lined his lip as if I was some kind of comic relief.

“Asher, please, stop,” I begged, my voice trembling, fear tightening its grip around me.

But he didn’t stop. His eyes were wild now, and desperate. He lunged at me, his hands grabbing at my arms as he tried to pull me to him.

I screamed, my hands pushing against his chest, but he was too strong. I fought with everything I had, thrashing and clawing at him.

“I must get a taste of this body first!” he growled, his grip tightening painfully as he threw me on the bed.

“No!” I screamed again, my voice breaking with the effort. I kicked at him, trying to shove him away

The sound of tears reached my ears and I realized with panic that he had just ripped my blouse, leaving me in just my bralets.

I held onto the ripped pieces of clothes as Asher went to my shorts and attempted to yank them off as well.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. The door flew open, and my father stormed in, followed closely by my stepmother. Relief surged through me for a brief, fleeting moment, but it was quickly replaced by dread as I saw the fury in my father’s eyes.

“What is going on here?” he bellowed, his voice shaking the walls.

Asher immediately let go of me, pushing me with great force and stepping back with a look of feigned innocence.

My heart raced, my skin still crawling from his touch. I stumbled back, gasping for air.

“She’s trying to seduce me,” Asher said smoothly, his voice laced with false sincerity. “She said she didn’t want to marry the alpha king as a virgin, so she came to me and asked me to have sex with her. When I refused, she threw herself at me.”

“What?”

“She even threatened to kill me if I didn’t. With this knife” he continued, taking the knife that I’d hidden under my pillow for protection.

My stepmother’s gaze whipped to me, and I foresaw the slap before it got to my cheeks. “You slut!” she spat, “Is it not enough that you killed your mother? Are you trying to drag my son down with you to whatever hell you came from?”

I gasped, my eyes tearing up as I held my cheek. “What? No!” I cried, shaking my head. “He’s lying! He tried to—”

“Enough!” my father roared, cutting me off. His eyes were dark with anger, and I could see the disgust written all over his face. “I’ve had enough of your disobedience, Sage. I always knew you were trouble.”

My stepmother sneered, her arms crossed over her chest. “She’s trying to get out of the marriage. She knows that the alpha king won’t pay for her if he discovers that she’s not a virgin. This is just another one of her schemes. I think you should punish her severally”

“Please,” I begged, tears streaming down my face. “He’s lying. I would never—”

“Silence!” My father’s voice was cold, hard as iron. “I won’t have you tainting this family’s name any further. You’ll be punished for this.”

“But—” My voice broke, my body shaking with fear and despair. I could see the hatred in his eyes, the way he looked at me as if I were nothing but a burden, a stain on his perfect plans.

“Take her to the dungeon,” he ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion.

“No, please!” I cried, sinking to my knees. “Father, please! I didn’t do anything wrong. Please believe me.”

“Wait!” my stepmother suddenly said as if remembering something important. “The alpha king is almost on his way. We can’t throw her in the dungeon yet. We need her to be as perfect as she can be”

“True” my father agreed. “So, what do you suggest?”

“We could just whip her somewhere hidden. That way, the alpha king would never notice.” Asher interjected, his eyes gleaming with wickedness.

They were pleased with the idea. I turned to my father, my eyes pleading for mercy. But he turned away, his back rigid with indifference.

My stepmother smirked, a cruel satisfaction in her eyes as she gestured to the guards and left with my father, leaving me in the company of Asher and the guards.

Two guards grabbed me roughly by the arms, dragging me to my feet. I struggled, screaming, pleading, but it was no use.

And just like that, I counted twenty heavy whips personally delivered by Asher. I didn’t cry. I already told myself that the bastard didn’t deserve any tears from my eyes.

An hour later, I’d been dressed to perfection by the maids. Looking at myself in the mirror, I was almost convinced that I was the beloved daughter of an alpha who loved his daughter to the moon.

Soon enough, I was taken downstairs where my new husband—or should I say, owner—waited.

I didn’t need an extra description to know Alpha King Damon. He looked like he was in his late seventies quite alright with a rounded potbelly that stretched his faded, button-down shirt.

His skin was weathered and dotted with age spots, but even with his hunched posture, he still looked huge. His bald scalp gleamed under the light, with only a thin ring of wiry white hair that clung desperately to the sides of his head. His face was lined with deep wrinkles, especially around his mouth and drooping eyes.

A faint sour smell of sweat and old tobacco clung to him, mingling with the faint mustiness of clothes that hadn’t been properly aired out.

Was this the man who I was supposed to give access to my body?

“She looks as beautiful as you described” Alpha King Damon gruffed out, spitting out phlegm into a handkerchief.

Yuck!

I almost puked.

“She is, your highness,” my stepmother replied. “She’s our most treasured possession and it hurts us so bad to give her out to you like this”

My eyeballs almost fell out as I rolled them. She and her son had the blood of award-winning actors. She could have easily won an Oscar for that performance.

Before the alpha king could reply, a voice floated across the room.

“Sorry, I’m late, Father. I just finished meeting the council members and got here as soon as I could”

My eyes dragged to the owner of the deep, smooth magnetic voice who had just walked in.

He had an aura of effortless confidence that commanded attention around him. That aura forced me to take in every tiny detail about him hungrily.

His eyes locked onto mine and I caught myself finding it hard to breathe. They were Hazel, with flicks of gold around his iris, seeming to change with his emotions.

They were piercing, full of intensity and charm. And somehow, they made me feel like the most important person in the world.

Whatever this feeling was, it was definitely going to be trouble.