Chapter 2 - Selling His Mate
|| VANESSA HUDGEN's POV ||
The sounds of men wailing, and crying of babies all began to echo in my ears, breaking my heart into pieces. I felt so powerless and broken at the same time. The dragons continued to attack outside. Thankfully, our huge pack house was still unharmed but I didn't know for how long.
Almost all the members stood in the corridor, looking into the sky to see the dragons and their ruthless attack. I looked over at Vlad, standing against the railings silently. His jaw was clenched, and a fearsome aura was slowly surrounding him. He was keeping an eye on the attacks that were happening outside, non-bothered. He didn't care how many soldiers died in this attack as long as he was safe.
The sky was getting darker not because of the night but with the lines of dragons coming one after another. It seemed like the dragon king came well-prepared from the beginning. Fear continued to clutch my heart for the innocent members here. I was less scared of my life because it was insignificant. As long as the pack members could be safe and sound, I was happy.
Several footsteps came from the stairs with the beta leading the troops in the front. They all gathered together to bow to Vlad first before telling him,
" Alpha.. It's over..We are already losing. If you don't make any choice now, our entire pack will go down to earth."
I gasped in shock and fear. For decades, Ravenclawers had been called the most powerful pack of all time. But today, they were getting defeated by a king who had just taken the throne without any experience. How powerful was he?
Vlad's face crumpled in pain and fear. He gulped hard, and looked down before blurting without hesitation,
" We will surrender!!"
His reply left all the members in surprise but I was expecting it from the beginning. Vlad wasn't the Alpha who would put his life at stake for the sake of others. He was a man who cherished himself more than anyone.
His beta hesitated, feeling humiliated to admit defeat,
" But Alpha.."
Vlad cut him off with a growl, clenching his teeth together,
" Nothing matters except our survival. We will all die. Prepare the yard and tell the king that we have admitted our defeat."
Within half an hour, the war officially ended according to Vlad's words. We had been summoned to gather in the yard to greet the king as our ruler.
Vlad stayed in front, even his proud head was bowing today. As everyone anticipated for the moment to see the ruthless dragon king, coming on a horse, a loud thud shook the earth beneath my feet. I jolted in fear, feeling scared, especially after listening to a loud snarl of a black dragon.
The black dragon stood a little far away from the crowd, letting out snarls to show his dominance and victory over the land. A voice came from its back, ironic and metallic,
" That was too easy to take you down, Alpha Vlad."
There was a sarcasm in his voice, a hint of arrogance. Vlad appeared uncomfortable, smiling nervously before bowing long to the king,
" Greetings, Dragon King. Well...I apologize but we are failing to understand the reason behind this war."
The king fell silent until I saw a big silhouette jump down from the dragon's back. The figure was tall and masculine, even taller than Vlad. When he scooted closer, I saw his tanned skin, covered with tattoos only. It was impossible to see an empty spot in his body. I must admit that he looked dangerously hot in his short curly hair with a pair of red eyes.
The women in my pack backed away in fear, some even drooled at his six-pack body. For me, I felt the urge to run away and hide behind the trees. His gaze held the power of plucking someone's soul out.
The dragon king, Cedric finally spoke, lifting his voice enough to reach all of us,
" I kill for a reason, Alpha Diego! 12 years ago, a 17-year-old village girl was raped and killed in front of the whole village, remember??"
My pack members all gasped in shock, exchanging confused glances. It wasn't only them but I was confused too, never heard of this history before. However, I noticed a little bit of fear, and hesitation lurking in Vlad's eyes.
To my surprise, Vlad went on his knees straight, submitting to the king and bringing out meaningful reasons,
" I wasn't the Alpha at that time. Our pack never approves of killing or torturing innocent women. Even if something happened, we were never aware of it. It might be done by our previous pack members. We are deeply regretful of that. I hope, His Highness can consider letting this matter go and come in peace."
Cedric snapped at Vlad, his dragon growling behind him,
" Letting this matter go?? That woman was my sister!!!!! She suffered because of your pack. How do you want to let it go, Alpha Vlad? I have only one solution, killing all members of this pack and letting my dragons deal with this bloody fucking pack territory."
This time, Vlad's face turned black in fear. None of us expected that such an unfortunate incident would happen to his sister.
Cedric continued, glaring down at Vlad,
" From that time, I vowed to myself that the day I take the throne, there will be no Ravenclawers in this world."
Panic crushed through everyone's expressions. Some of them had already started crying for their dear life. Vlad looked like he was standing two inches away from a bullet, shaking violently.
After his words, Vlad fell on his knees longer than the previous time, pleading consistently,
" Your Highness!! We aren't aware of it. Have mercy on us! As a part of such a shameful crime, we are willing to serve you through our entire life but please don't destroy the pack. We have plenty of women and innocent children."
The others also joined Vlad, bending on their knees and begging for their lives,
" WE ARE WILLING TO SERVE THE KING!"
" WE ARE INNOCENT! SPARE OUR LIVES!"
I also joined without uttering the words out loud because I had no intention of living with this pack. Cedric narrowed his eyes at us, irritated by the loud joining voices. He broke the shout with a roar,
" SHUT UP!!!"
They fell silent again, too scared to provoke the dragon king. The ruthless dragon, Cedric continued snarling out in rage, looking down at Vlad hatefully,
" I am a vengeful man, Alpha Vlad. Tell me, what should be the price for killing my sister? Aren't werewolves supposed to believe in blood for blood?"
What did he mean by that? Did he plan to kill someone from Vlad's bloodline?
Horror crawled into my heart when Vlad pursed his lips to reply to something,
" I..I don't have a sister..who can repay you..even without any siblings....I don't know how I can make up for the crime.."
Cedric didn't look satisfied with his answer. Before his rage could flare up, Vlad added more to his words,
" But there is someone who can be your slave on behalf of our whole pack. I believe that she can satisfy your dragon's rage for our pack."
Cedric blurted, his gaze getting deeper on Vlad,
" Who??"
Vlad's stiff face relaxed finally. After a moment of hesitation, Vlad looked back and forth until his eyes met mine. He blurted in a deep voice, stunning the whole pack including me,
" My mate! She is my only family now. You can take her as your slave, Dragon King. Consider it as our repayment for the crime that we might have done unknowingly."