Wolfless and sold to the Lycan king

Chapter One

Diana's POV

“I’ll scream and slice your throat if you don’t untie me right now!”

The rough rope cut into my wrists as I fought against the ties holding me to the chair. A blindfold covered my eyes completely and I couldn’t see anything while someone moved around me in this room.

“Scream all you want, little princess.” The man grabbed the back of my chair and tilted it backwards until I thought I might fall over. “Nobody’s coming to save.”

“You don’t know who you’re messing with here!” I threw myself forward in the chair and tried to break free from the ropes. “I’m Diana Ashworth, daughter of Alpha Marcus! My father will hunt you down and rip you apart piece by piece!”

“We know exactly who you are, sweetheart.” He dropped the chair back down and I felt the shock went straight through my back. “Your daddy dearest already sold you to us.”

My whole body went cold and I stopped struggling against the bindings. “Sold me? What are you talking about? My father would never…”

The door opened and heavy steps stomped across the floor toward where I was sitting. I recognized those footsteps immediately and relief came immediately because my father was here to save me.

“Dad!” I called out and tried to turn toward his voice. “Dad, thank the goddess you found me! These men kidnapped me from the market, but you can pay them whatever they want!”

“You brought her here three hours early.” My father spoke to the men and completely ignored me sitting there bleeding and tied up. “I specifically said midnight and not a moment before.”

“Alpha Kieran changed his mind about waiting until tomorrow night.” The man who had been threatening me walked back over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “He wants his new breeding bitch delivered tonight.”

I sat perfectly still in that chair because the word breeder made no sense to me at all.

“Breeder? Dad, what are they talking about?” I turned my head toward where my father’s voice had come from. “What’s going on here?”

“Alpha Kieran Blackwood of the Shadowmoon Pack has agreed to take you as his personal breeder. In return, he’s giving me territorial rights to the eastern borders and a shipment of advanced weaponry.”

“No, that’s impossible.” I shook my head so hard the blindfold shifted and I could see a tiny sliver of light under. “You wouldn’t do that to me, I’m your daughter!”

“You’re my twenty-two year old failure who can’t even shift into her wolf form.” My father walked over and stood directly in front of my chair and I could smell his cologne mixed with alcohol. “You’ve been nothing but an embarrassment to the Ashworth bloodline.”

I felt tears soaking through the blindfold and running down my cheeks. “Please Dad, I’ll disappear forever if you want me gone. I’ll leave the pack and never contact anyone again, just don’t give me to that monster.”

“The contract has already been signed and witnessed.” My father stepped back from my chair and his footsteps moved toward the door again. “Get her out of my sight.”

I was born to Alpha Marcus Ashworth and his first mate Elena, but my mother died when I was three years old during a rogue attack. My father married Celeste two years later and she brought her daughter Vivian into our pack. Celeste made it clear from day one that I reminded her of my father’s dead wife and she hated me for it.

I spent my childhood believing that everything would change when I turned sixteen and shifted into my wolf. I would prove my worth to the pack and finally make my father proud of me. But my sixteenth birthday passed with no sign of my wolf. Then seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one all came and went the same way.

Every year without my wolf made my father more distant while Celeste became crueler to me. Vivian shifted perfectly on her sixteenth birthday and became the golden child while I became the family embarrassment. No one in Ashworth history had ever failed to shift by twenty-two and I was the first.

This morning I walked to the market with my best friend Rowan Sterling who works as our pack healer. Since my family never celebrated my birthday, Rowan suggested we buy pastries and have our own celebration later.

Three men grabbed me on my way home and dragged me into a van before I could scream for help.

Now I understood those men worked for Alpha Kieran Blackwood and my father had planned this whole thing.

“Keep her in perfect condition until tonight.” The man who had been questioning me gave orders to someone else in the room. “Alpha Kieran doesn’t want damaged goods.”

“No, please!” I struggled against the ropes as hands grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet. “You can’t do this!”

They dragged me outside and I forced my legs to work as we moved through the pack house that had been my home for twenty-two years

“Where are you taking her?” Vivian’s voice made me look up and I saw my stepsister standing in one of the doorways with her arms crossed over her chest.

“That’s none of your business, young lady.” Celeste appeared behind her and placed a hand on Vivian’s shoulder. “Go back to your room.”

Then Celeste leaned close to my ear and whispered. “Finally getting rid of you is the best birthday present this pack could ask for. Maybe now the Ashworth name won’t be completely ruined by your existence.”

I couldn’t stop the tears that started running down my cheeks. When I looked in Vivian’s direction, hoping she might say something to defend me, all I heard was silence.

I had always hoped that despite everything, Vivian might care about me just a little bit. Celeste had spent years making us compete against each other instead of acting like sisters.

The prison cell was cold and damp and smelled like mold from all the other people who had been locked up here before me. I sat on the thin mattress they had thrown on the floor and tried not to think about what was going to happen to me tonight.

Everyone in our territory had heard stories about Alpha Kieran Blackwood and his Shadowmoon pack. They said he was completely ruthless and that he had killed his own father when he was only seven years old.

The rumors also said that female prisoners in his territory rarely lived longer than a few months because he worked them to death or got bored with them.

Hours passed by and the sunlight coming through the tiny window near the ceiling gradually got dimmer as evening approached. I knew that soon those men would come back to collect me and take me away from everything I had ever known.

Just when I had given up all hope of anyone coming to rescue me, I heard someone walking down the steps.

“Diana? Are you down there?” Rowan’s voice called out softly to me.

“Rowan!” I ran to the iron bars and gripped them with both hands. “How did you get down here?”

“I came as soon as I heard what your father planned to do.” Rowan appeared in front of my cell with a set of keys in his hand. “I can’t believe he’s giving you to that monster.”

“You have to get out of here before they catch you.” I shook my head and stepped back from the bars. “Being the pack healer won’t protect you from interfering with Alpha business.”

“That’s why I brought backup.” Rowan stepped aside and someone else moved into the light.

Vivian walked up to my cell and looked directly at me through the bars.

“The Alpha definitely won’t punish his precious younger daughter for helping her defective sister escape,” Vivian said quietly.

“You came back for me,” I breathed out.

“Don’t worry, Diana,” Rowan said as Vivian unlocked my cell door. “We’re getting you out of here tonight.”