The Alpha's Prize

36

Word Count: 1757

~Hunter        

I groan, rolling over onto my side.

What a terrible sleep. I feel awake, but my eyelids are heavy, and my limbs are tired. It feels like I got too much sleep and yet not enough at the same time.

And then it hits me in a wave.

        Kaan. Tay.        

I open my eyes, sitting up in one swift movement. Confusion addles my brain for only a moment as I take in the painfully familiar surroundings.

My childhood bedroom.

The grey duvet cover is bunched around my legs, and I'm wearing one of my old nightgowns. It hangs limply on my body, the colour muted and tired.

Just like my childhood.

Wincing, I brush my fingers against the side of my neck. One of the guards jabbed me with a needle soon after we got into the transport. It knocked me unconscious almost immediately, giving me no chance to fight, no chance to make a mistake.

Turning my head, I survey my old bedroom.

There's a single dresser pushed up against the wall, dotted with faded hearts, painted pastel pink. My doing, considering my parents never supplied anything of colour, anything that could have inspired fun or happiness.

There's one small mirror hanging on the wall and nothing else. No paintings, no decorations.

I yelp as my gaze lands on the other single cot on the other side of the room. My sister sits there, straight back, staring at me.

"Fuck," I mutter, rubbing a hand down my face.

"Good morning, Livia," she greets curtly.

"Emma." I offer a tight smile. "Hi."

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes narrowing. She hasn't changed a bit. She still has that perfectly manicured look about her, corrupted only by the permanent sour look on her face.

"Don't waste your breath. I don't want to hear it," I tell her sharply, slowly pulling my legs from the bed, my bare feet pressing against the cold wood floor.

Her lips curve slowly, maniacally. She's always loved to watch me lose.

"Well, what do you have to say to me?"

"I don't exactly have anything to say to you," I snap, my hands gripping the duvet cover tightly. "If you knew I was running, you would have told father."

She presses her hands down her legs, smoothing the pale blue fabric of her dress.

"Obviously. Cowards run away."

"Vinn was hurting me. Just like father always did."

There's no point in appealing to her. She knows the horrors the men in our lives inflict upon us, so she doesn't even flinch. Even when I know she can see the desperation on my face.

Once, I tried to reason with her. Late at night, I would stare up at the ceiling and tentatively bring up how wrong it is...the way they treat us.

She would merely roll over and go to sleep.

"They are just trying to ensure we do what is best for us." She stares me down. "Father decided you needed to marry Vinn, and you were expected to do as he said."

I roll my eyes. "Like I said, I have nothing to say to you."

She sighs wistfully, like I'm nothing more than a bother to her. She hates that she's younger, that she was always father's second pick.

Little does she know, our age never played much of a part. Father wanted me married off first to control me because he knew I was going to rebel somehow, someday.

"I'm engaged now," she murmurs. "To Vinn."

I blink, looking down at her hand. Sure enough, there sits the exact ring he once gave me. Simple, with a small diamond. I left it on my bedside the night I left, wanting to leave behind every horror possible.

"You can't be serious," I splutter.

Emma holds her hand to her chest, cradling it with her other like she wants to protect the ring from me.

"But I heard him and father talking. He wants you, not me," she whispers, her gaze hardening. "So you better demand to be married to someone else, or I'll ruin your life."

I laugh bitterly. "My life is already ruined."

"It was ruined the moment you slept with that chef man and destroyed your worth to Vinn," she hisses, twisting the ring around her finger. At least that is her nervous habit now, and not chewing on her fingernails.

I scoff. We were raised to believe our virtue was a gift to our husband. As if we owe them anything.

"I bet you told him and still wanted me," I taunt.

Emma isn't cruel in her heart, but she deserves taking down a peg. She acts this way because she has been indoctrinated by my father. As much as I would like to change her mind, there is not much use anymore.

Her mouth presses into a cruel line, her fingertips bundling up into fists.

"Did you let Alpha Kaan defile you?" She asks lowly, looking over me like my very being disgusts her.

I smile. "Absolutely. And I enjoyed it."

I'm trying not to think about my mate. I hope he woke up and is okay. I know he will be hunting me already, trying to figure out who kidnapped me.

He will know. He will find me.

Emma stands. "You were always destined to be a dirty wh-"

The bedroom door opens suddenly, a guard leaning their head in.

"Livia, you're wanted downstairs."

I bump past my sister, letting my shoulder hit hers as I follow the guard. I don't have much choice. Father will have the place surrounding, anticipating another escape attempt by me.

The guard leads me down the familiar sweeping staircase I ran up and down as a child. The polished banister feels as smooth as it always did, as cold. Like the rest of this retched house.

The guards stand at every door, at every window, giving me dark stares.

I'm led deeper into the manor. I assume I'm heading to my father's office, but instead, the guard gestures for me to enter the ballroom.

Holding the brass knobs, I press the door open.

Three men stand, talking lowly amongst each other. Upon hearing the door open, they turn to me, looking over me like I'm a ghost.

"Sit," my father commands, motioning to a lone chair that stands before them.

Swallowing thickly, I oblige him. I'm not as scared of him as I once was, but defying him now will only prolong this experience.

My father looks older than I remember. Tired. In fact, he looks a whole lot less frightening, even if he is an imposing Alpha wearing black gloves that I'm sure he would like to wrap around my neck.

Unfortunately for him, I'm worth more alive than dead.

"Did you miss us?" he asks.

"No, I did not."

Vinn shakes his head at me, pinning me with a stare I hoped I would never see again. I can see him thinking of all the terrible things he wants to do to me after I poisoned him.

"Is that any way to speak to your father-"

"Calm down, Vinn. Let me deal with this," my father states smoothly.

Vinn quickly steps back. I roll my eyes. He's my father's lapdog, doing everything he demands with no hesitation.

My brother just stares me down with his pale gaze. He must have come all the way from his own Pack to watch me punished by our father.

"What happened to Kaan and Tay?" I question.

"What happened to them?" My father laughs, shaking his head like it's ridiculous I care about them. "They woke up and returned home."

"Kaan is going to come for me."

"He broke a great deal of laws marrying you." Father steps closer to me, my entire body stiffening in response. "I've sent a message to him requesting an annulment of your marriage in exchange for no war."

"He would never-"

Father smiles. "He accepted."

I grind my back teeth together, my skin burning, irritation digging into every fibre of my being. I don't believe him. He would say anything to dissuade me from leaving here.

"Liar," I hiss.

"It's true, sister," Levi, my brother, states, seating his hands in his pockets. "He was forced to decide between you and his Pack, and he chose his Pack."

I shake my head. He doesn't know Kaan is my mate, that he loves me. They don't understand the concept of love because it's unnatural to them, irrelevant to being Alpha.

Kaan won't just let me go.

"Now, you'll marry me instead," Vinn states.

"I don't believe any of you," I growl. "All you ever did was lie to me...Every single one of you."

"This time it's true." Father says it almost like he actually feels sorry for me, but I know he feeds off the power. "You will be married in three days."

        Three days.        

Three days isn't nearly enough time for me to make an escape plan that will actually work. Last time I manage to get far on foot because I had a head start. No one noticed I was gone until morning, but now, I'll have all eyes on me.

"No...I refuse."

"Due to your previous behaviour, you will be contained to this household only. Once you're married, you'll be transferred to Vinn's estate where he can do with you what he pleases," father tells me.

Vinn smirks tauntingly.

I stand abruptly, the chair clattering to the floor. "You can't keep me here. That's kidnapping!"

"I am your father. I am doing what is right for you." His voice booms through the empty ballroom in a way that once would have scared me. "You cannot be trusted to make good decisions. Running away endangered yourself, my Pack, your family. You have lost the privilege of freedom."

"You're a monster."

"Quiet, Livia," Levi admonishes.

There is no one here to look to for help. Everyone, including my own family, wants to own me, to force me to do their bidding.

"That isn't my name anymore." My voice is trembling as my anger becomes overwhelming.

Father strides forward until he's looming over me.

"You may have been Hunter for some time, but not anymore," he murmurs. "You belong to me again, daughter."

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