Chapter 4 The Debt

*Trigger Warning* This chapter contains themes of parental rejection, emotional abuse, verbal degradation, familial betrayal, and graphic emotional trauma. Please read with care.

Sera's fingers were trembling. She wiped them on her nightdress as she stepped down the creaky stairs barefoot, her toes curling against the cold wood.

Her heart beat fast. Too fast. It always did when they called her like this. Dinner had already ended..she could smell the roast lamb and rosemary potatoes that had been scraped off the plates and dumped in the trash.

No one saved her a plate. They never did. She stepped into the dining room. They were all there. Her father at the head of the table.

Alpha Vale. His silver-streaked hair combed back, his broad shoulders straight, his expression unreadable. Her stepmother, Mirena, perched beside him like a queen in a throne she didn't earn.

Her red lipstick still fresh, her fingers glinting with gold rings. Her wineglass untouched. That meant something. Mirena always drank.

She was always a little too relaxed unless something serious was happening. Her stepbrother, Thorne, leaned back in his seat with a smug look, a toothpick in his mouth and his boots kicked up on the polished edge of the table. Arrogant as ever, already half-drunk.

He didn't even glance her way. And then there was her. Sylvana. Her stepsister. Tall. Beautiful. Born-shifted. Everything Sera wasn't.

Her arms were folded. Her brows were arched high, mouth twisted in that same cruel little smirk that she wore like perfume. Sera's chest tightened.

She stood in the doorway, suddenly very aware of her thin, worn nightgown and her wet curls clinging to her collarbone. Her arms instinctively crossed over her chest, cheeks heating.

"Sit," Alpha Vale said. It wasn't a request. She sat slowly in the empty chair at the far end of the table, her fingers curling around the edge like a lifeline.

Nobody spoke for a long time. Just silence. Staring. Then finally... "You've started bleeding," Mirena said, her voice cold and clipped. Sera froze. Her stomach twisted. She stared at her hands, suddenly ashamed. "What?" "Don't play dumb," Sylvana cut in with a laugh

"The maids told us. You finally started your period, right?" Sera's face burned. "I... I don't see how that matters... "It matters," Alpha Vale said. She looked up. His eyes were hard.

Distant. Almost... disgusted. "I don't understand," she whispered. "You're eighteen now," he said. "You've bloomed. You're no longer a child. That makes you... useful." Something cold slipped down her spine. "Useful for what?" Thorne snorted. "Don't make her spell it out." "Thorne," Mirena snapped half-heartedly, though her lips were already curling in amusement.

"Let your father explain." Sera's fingers curled tighter against the wood. Her palms were clammy. Alpha Vale stood. Walked slowly to the window, hands behind his back like he was preparing for a war speech.

"Alpha Lucien arrives tomorrow." Her stomach dropped. That name. Everyone feared it. Everyone whispered it. Lucien...the Beast. The Blood Alpha. The one who didn't just kill his enemies, he tore them apart.

Sera blinked. "O-okay. What does that have to do with me?" He turned. Dead. Empty. Hollow eyes. "You are the payment of my debt to him" Silence. The room spun.

Her ears buzzed like bees had nested in her skull. "I'm sorry...? What father? I didn't hear you correctly. she croaked.

"You will go with him," Vale continued. "As agreed. In exchange for the payment of my debt. Sera couldn't breathe.

Her mouth opened. Nothing came out. Sylvana chuckled under her breath. "Poor little late bloomer. Barely even a woman and already sold." "You're not selling me," Sera whispered, finally finding her voice.

"You can't. I'm your daughter." "No," Vale snapped. "You are not. You are a stray. A weak little girl we took in out of pity. A mouth to feed. A shiftless, embarrassing burden." Mirena made a sound of disgust.

"Do you know how many suitors Sylvana has turned down? Do you know how many offers we've received for her hand? She's worth gold. You? You're worth exactly one thing...getting that monster off our backs." Tears welled in Sera's eyes, hot and blinding.

"But I...I just got my period last week. I don't even know what I am yet. I haven't shifted. I haven't..." "Exactly," Thorne said with a cold grin. "You haven't done shit. You're not a wolf. You're not human. You're nothing." "I'm not nothing!"

Sera snapped, rising to her feet, her voice shaking. "You don't get to do this! You don't get to just hand me over like I'm..." "You're ours," Vale growled. "And you will do what you are told." "Why not Sylvana?!" she cried, pointing across the table with trembling fingers.

"She's older! Stronger! She's trained! Why not her?!" Sylvana stood slowly. The smile disappeared. "You dare compare yourself to me?" she whispered, walking around the table, heels clicking like a countdown.

"You, a filthy little runt that can't even shift? You think you should be chosen over me?" Sera stepped back. "I didn't mean..." "You didn't mean?" Sylvana's hand shot out. She grabbed Sera's chin, nails digging into her cheeks. "You think anyone would choose you over me? Lucien doesn't want a warrior.

He wants a toy. You think I'd be sent to be his plaything? You think I'd let that happen to me?" "Sylvana, stop..." "You should be grateful, you stupid bitch," she hissed. "You get to be useful for once in your miserable life." Sera yanked away, breath heaving.

She turned to her father, desperate. "Please. Don't do this. I'll work harder. I'll train. I'll..." "It's done," Vale said. Two words. Two lifeless, effortless words. Sera didn't understand them at first. She blinked, staring across the dining table like the language had changed.

She couldn't process what he meant. Then it hit her. Her throat closed. Her stomach dropped. She stepped back, knocking into her chair. Her heart pounded so loudly she couldn't hear anything else. "No." The word fell from her lips in a whisper.

Then again, louder. "No, no. Please, no." She took a step forward, her legs trembling beneath her. Her voice broke as she tried to speak. "You can't do this to me." Alpha Vale didn't blink. "You can't do this to me, Father. Please." She was crying now.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as her voice grew more frantic, her arms wrapping around herself like she could hold in the panic. "I'm your daughter." Still, he said nothing.

"You can't let that man touch me. Please. Please. I'm a virgin. I've never... I don't even know what it means to be someone's mate. I don't know anything at all.

I don't want to be a space. Please don't sell me out! I'd act right! I promise!!!! I only started my period last week.

I didn't even tell anyone because I was scared. I thought something was wrong with me. I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to be given away." Her hands were shaking.

Her breathing was too fast. "I'll do better," she cried. "I'll train harder. I'll learn to shift. I'll fight. I'll prove myself to you. I'll become strong, I swear.

Just don't do this to me." Her voice cracked under the weight of her tears. "Please." Alpha Vale finally looked at her.

And the moment their eyes met, she felt everything inside her sink. Because his stare wasn't confused. Or pained. Or reluctant. It was disgust.

"You are not my daughter," he said. The room spun. Sera staggered. Her knees buckled and she grabbed the table to steady herself.

"What?" "You want to know why you've never shifted?" he said, stepping toward her now. "Why your body never responded. Why you're weak. Why no matter how hard you trained, it was never enough?" Her voice barely made it out.

"Why?" "Because you're not mine." She froze. "You were never mine," he continued, his voice rising. "Your mother spread her legs for a human.

A filthy, worthless, powerless human. And you're the result." She gasped. "No..." "She begged me to keep you. To raise you. She promised no one would ever know. But every time I looked at you, I knew." Her lip quivered.

Her fingers curled into her palms until they burned. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "You should be," he snapped. "You're nothing but a half-blood abomination. You were born wrong. You don't belong in this house. You don't belong in this pack. You never have." Her stepmother, Mirena, rose from her seat. She sipped her wine, unfazed.

"She never smelled right," she said simply. "Too human. Too soft. I always knew she was her mother's mistake." "You should be grateful," Vale added. "That I didn't throw you out the day she died." Sera's eyes flooded again. "I didn't know," she whispered.

"She never told me." "She died before she could," Mirena replied. "And now you're going to make yourself useful. For once." "Why not her?" Sera said suddenly, turning toward Sylvana.

"Why not your daughter? Why me?" Sylvana stood slowly, walking toward her. "You really want to know?" she said, her voice like poison.

"Because I'm worth something. Because I'm powerful. Because men offer their sons and lands just to be considered for my hand." She stepped closer, nose to nose with Sera.

"And Lucien didn't ask for power. He asked for a body. Warm. Silent. Weak. Disposable." Sera's face twisted with horror. "You're sending me to die." "That's the point," Mirena said coldly. Sera turned back to her father. "I'll leave," she said quickly.

"I'll run. I'll vanish. I'll never bother you again. Just please don't give me to him." "You leave at dawn," he replied. Her knees gave out. She fell to the floor. Her hands trembled as she pressed her palms to the cold tile.

"I'm begging you." "No one cares," Thorne said from across the room, arms crossed and smirking. "You've always been a mouth we had to feed.

"Now you're finally worth something." "I'm scared," she whispered. "You should be," Sylvana said, crouching beside her. "You're just a girl. And you're about to learn what it means to be prey." Sera screamed. Loud. Broken. Guttural.

She pressed her face to the floor and screamed until her voice gave out. Her fists pounded the tile. Her body shook with every sob. No one moved. No one came.

They left her there. Collapsed. Shattered. Alone. And the last words her father spoke as he walked away pierced straight through her spine.

"You're no daughter of mine."