Aria/Lysara's POV

The maids led me back into the bathroom. This time, under Nahlia’s orders, they weren't so gentle as before. I was bundled into the bathtub again, and there they shaved me with a razor.

Though I hated every bit of it, I tried not to squirm or shake, because any mistake down there, and the pubic hair might not be what is shaved, but my actual sex. And from what I have seen and witnessed so far, that was the only thing that made me important to Alpha King Kael: my body to use as he so wishes, not by my own wishes. 

I have never felt so violated in all my life—my previous life, actually. I had always lived under the protection of my father—Alpha King Draziel Moon, the late Alpha of the Crimson Moon pack. I was his princess, lavished with love and attention and gifts, until the bastard, Roran, came along, and gradually, I lost Father's love until his eventual death.

Now, here, I was a slave, important only because I can be fucked. My fists tightened beside me in the bathtub, rage pouring through my veins, as hot as lava, searing and rupturing my insides. I almost vibrated from the fury, but I had to control my rage before I could lose my sex to the blade.

How could I have been so stupid to Roran and Selene? The signs were always there: the flirting, the giggles, the chance smiles. How could I have let them play me for a fool and drive me to my death, making me end up in this forsaken place, with the very man whose head should be falling on my sword—my eternal enemy—Alpha King Kael?

But now I was to become his, not his mate, not his Luna—but his sex slave. A human toy that existed only for the sole purpose that she had holes that could be fucked. This wasn't just a fall from grace. This was, as Nahlia puts it, hell—for me—my damn hell.

The maids shaved me clean, and they rinsed me, helped me out of the massive bathtub, and then towelled me. When I stepped back into the main room, Nahlia was gone, and so were Sarya and Rheza. Only Eira and Maera remained in the room.

Maera still stood by the door, her fingers folded around the doorknob, as if contemplating coming in or not. Eira smiled up at me from the bed, her lips stretching in a perfect warm smile. “Now, you look clean and edible for Alpha King Kael.” She chimed, her seafoam green eyes brightening like fluorescent lamps on her head. The more she smiled, the larger her dimple grew.

She and Maera watched as the maids dressed me in a beautiful silk dress that matched my smooth and rich bamboo skin. Eira rose from the bed and snatched my hand, digging hers under my arm and pulling me towards the door.

“Come along, mate. Let's go get your collar. Your collar is the only thing that can differentiate you from the maids right now.” She chimed again, smiling with the whole of her face as she continued to drag me out, and I followed reluctantly.

Maera had led the way, moving like a wraith who recently gained some legs. Her movements were slow, graceful, and deliberate.

With Eira bouncing down the hall with me, it didn't take long before we overtook her. I glanced back at her and then at Eira. “Is she mute? I noticed she hasn't spoken a word since.”

Eira scoffed good-naturedly. “Maera isn't exactly mute. But she decided to be. It is her way of devoting her life to Alpha King Kael. She only speaks for him alone, and for no one else.”

I shook my head, blowing a puff of hair from my lips. Whatever was going on in this harem was far crazier than I thought.

I chose then to ask Eira the question that had so much preyed on my mind. I returned her warm and friendly smile. “What does a sub really mean?”

“It is a part of the acronym BDSM,” Eira began. Far beyond us, I could already pick up on the low, slow, almost romantic music coming from somewhere ahead of us. “BDSM means Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadism and Masochism. And it relies on trust, power-play, and submission. Bondage is any form of restriction used during sex play, a kind of kink. Discipline deals with the conformity of agreed rules between a Dom and his Sub. "Dominance" is the term that indicates the persona of the Dom, the dominant partner in the relationship, and "submission," on the other hand, is abbreviated to "Sub," denoting the non-dominant partner in the relationship. Alpha King Kael is our Dom, and as his subs, we have to submit ourselves completely to him, let him lead and protect us, follow obediently to his dictates, and trust him to protect us. Think of it as a power difference relationship where on one hand there is the powerful, who offers protection, guidance, and leadership to the other party, who offers her body and soul in return. A fitting exchange."

“That just sounds like a glorified version of slavery to me.” I told her.

She chuckled, beaming at me with the whole of her perfect white teeth. “Seems like it, but it really isn't, Lysara. And soon you will come to realize that, but before then, go receive your collar,” she said, and then she pushed me into the massive hall.

The throne room was vast and cavernous, stretching so far that the voices of the guests seated on both sides of the massive hall were carried in a deep, resonant echo, every sound swallowed and amplified by the sheer size of the space.

Massive stone pillars rose like ancient sentinels along the walls. Between them, tall arched windows let in slashes of moonlight, casting silver streaks across the polished black marble floor.

At the far end, elevated on a dais of dark granite, Alpha King Kael sat on his Alpha’s throne, its towering back curved like a wolf’s fangs closing in on him.

They all smelled my scent instantly, and the whole hall fell in a hush as if the world had suddenly taken a big pause. Eyes steered fast to me, so many, they burned through me, sending heat crawling up my skin. I swallowed, my gaze jumping from face to face, each eye gleaming with the look of a predator.

They were all predators. I recognized faces from my previous life on the seats, faces of Alphas of various packs, some of whom I had been opportuned to work with after my father's death, and most of whom were trying to prey on my pack as soon as Father died and snatch power from his only heir. They didn't believe a woman should rule over them.

That was why I had been so keen to make Roran an Alpha, one they could submit to, until the bastard betrayed me. I swallowed again, standing still at the end of the room, overwhelmed by all the gazes, the predatory looks almost tearing me apart.

I had thought the collaring party or whatever would be a small mini one. Why in hell did Alpha King Kael have to invite the whole lycan race to this shit show of a ceremony?

“Come on, Lysara. Come on.” Alpha King Kael's smooth voice boomed boisterously from the top of the massive hall. I raised my head to me, my fingers folded on my long flowing dress.

“Come on, Lysara.” He chimed, urging me on with his arms. “You have nothing to fear. They are my subjects,” he said, and he sounded as if he were making a declaration.

I sighed, and I looked away, carrying my gaze up and forward, completely away from the stares, pretending they didn't exist, pretending it was just me and Alpha King Kael in the whole hall. Not even Nahlia, who sat on a high throne near Alpha King Kael, existed in my mind right now, or the other subs, who sat around on smaller thrones. It was just me and Alpha King Kael, just us.

That made things easier, and I felt my legs beginning to move, and soon I was standing before him. He smiled as he stood up from his throne. He grabbed my shoulders, his hands warm against them. He spun me around gently to stare into the room.

One of his Deltas ran towards us with a tray carrying a large shiny white silk necklace, just like the ones Nahlia and the rest wore, though of a different color and shade. He took the necklace, raised it into the room, and a loud, massive cheer split the whole hall.

A cheer that refused to die, even as he fitted the necklace to my neck.

"Today, Lysara. You become my seventh sub, and by extension, my seventh wife.” He declared, and another round of cheers split the room again, echoing and reverberating endlessly through the massive space.

I stared around then, carrying my eyes down the long list of guests on both sides of the throne room. It was then I spotted them. I recognized the sandy blond hair first, and soon the amber eyes came into view. Now, my heartbeat stilled, the cheers echoing loud in the now hollow space of my mind as they did in the massive hall. Roran moved, reclining a little into his seat, and I spotted her too, the honey-blond hair longer than before—Selene.

She wore a matching custom outfit with Roran, their fingers tangled in each other's. The bastards. They were here too.