Divided Amongst the Alpha Brothers

The synchronization of applause tore the silence as the infamous Auctioneer parades his subjects in an iron kennel. Two asymmetrical, buffed men pushed the cart into the flashing stage which held the Auctioneer's prized possessions. There were covered in a red satin fabric, and only their faint, delicate silhouettes could be seen as the light cast them.

On one of these kennels, sheltered a woman by the name of Cataleia, a criminal from the Human Territory. Rumored to have killed her groom before her wedding, she fled the country in order to escape the authorities finding her. What was worse was that her groom was the Governor- himself.

Tonight, Cataleia has sold her soul to another human, a premise she had always been against of. But due to the severity of necessities, she needed to do it. There was no other way for her to guarantee survival other than this. She was not a quitter.

This... though the thought is vile to advertise yourself, she saw it none other than, as mercy. To her, the Auctioneer was a hero for giving her another chance at life.

She cannot go back to her world now. If she returns, she will be executed.

She can hear the growling of the nightly creatures behind the fabric. She knew what she was getting herself into, but she didn't know how much worse it could get.

She was to be sold in an auction, with mythical beings as her bidders.

The world is a vast place. Territories were made after mythical beings emerged from the land. This time, she had fled to the Country of the Wolves, and was fortunate enough to cross paths with the Auctioneer- who was human too and running away from the government, like her.

Cataleia shivering was visible even if the Auctioneer had dressed her in the thickest clothes he could possibly give her. Unlike the other two girls with her, Cataleia made no effort to what she wore. The two girls were clad in stunning robes and flimsy, see-through fabrics- all in a hope that they would first be sold that night.

But Cataleia did not care about any of this. It didn't matter to her if she was sold tonight. She just wanted to live another day. She will be sold eventually, she thinks.

The clapping rose more, and with this, Cataleia's heartbeat skyrocketed too. She glanced at the two girls beside her and saw from their shadows that they were relaxed.

"Cataleia." one whispered behind the curtain. "...when the sheet is removed, remember to smile."

Cataleia shuddered at the fact of smiling. It has been hard to smile these past few days. She wouldn't want to expose her teeth too.

"I told you to wear the dress." the other scolds her from behind the curtain. "Cataleia, there is no forever in this auction. You've been in the Auctioneer's care for weeks. Remember when I told you that he doesn't keep those who do not benefit him?"

"I know," she replied in a defeated tone. Those two girls were just like her, but they weren't humans. They were outcasts. And they became her sisters when they were recruited by the Auctioneer. "You two will sell today. You looked so pretty earlier."

"Today is the big day. Cataleia, the Auctioneer is going to return you to the streets if you are not sold today. Do you want that?"

She pursed her lips and lowered her head, fidgeting and playing with the hem of her clothes.

All of a sudden, the kennel shook and the girls let out a short expression of shock. "Ah!"

"Quiet." the creature pushing their carts snarled behind them. "Do you want me to toss you into the floor so the wolves can feed on you?!"

"Do you want me to break out of this cage and put you down?" Cataleia replied sharply to their pusher.

She felt the wagon stop for a split second.

"Perhaps you haven't seen our portfolio?" One of her sisters said. "Can you read the kennel's sign?"

The werewolves pushing the girls moistened their dry throats upon reading the sign.

[DO NOT OPEN CAGE WITHOUT CUFFS, FATAL DEATHS CAUSED BY SUBJECT.]

The werewolves didn't say anything further and just pushed them into the center of the stage for display. The clapping ceased, and it was finally time for the show.

The Auctioneer grabs the microphone and then introduces his subjects.

The bidders were excited. This has been what they were waiting for. Anyone would pay such high prices for these girls.

Though they may not sell on the streets, technically because no one would want a female hitman, these bidders are more than likely to spend their fortune to get one from the Auctioneer.

He bragged them as the bests of the bests.

Finally, the stained cloths were pulled and the girls were revealed to an enormous crowd of wealthy people- kings, dukes, alphas, faerie kings, and more.

One of the bidders in the crowd is the elite pack of the Werewolves, the Midnight Legion. The top of the packs roaming the smoky streets of the Wolf Territory. The most violent, psychotic, and dangerous elites that basically run the land.

In this sense, the Midnight Legion is an equivalent to a parliament.

They are vicious and have always been undefeated.

The Alpha of the Midnight Legion took interest in the Auctioneer's recommendation. He says that women are more likely to complete shady tasks more than men.

Women are powerful in their own ways.

The Alpha was accompanied by his five sons. And they took the first seats in front. Alphas were known to make decisions for the pack, but this time, he has given his sons the chance to choose.

The oldest, without hesitation, had his eyes fixed on the fierce girl with a thick jacket.

His four younger brothers also focused their gazes on Cateleia. A chill ran down her spine when she saw the brothers turn their heads on her in sync.

Their hungry eyes, and sinful smirks made her heart skip a beat. Cateleia shied her eyes away, her limbs trembling at the sight of predators preying on her body. The brothers were dangerous men, and their bodies can inflict pain more than pleasure.

Why wouldn't they stop looking at her?

There were other girls much prettier and healthier than her.

The Alpha turned to his sons and saw their eyes focused on the girl, and they never batted an eye. His sons were never the type to ask for anything or demand. But at that moment, it was different. For the first time, they wanted something. They wanted nothing else in the world, but the young woman in ragged jackets.

"We want her, Father."

BEFORE THE AUCTION

"Cataleia, dear, you worry me."

A soft touch reached her shoulder and a pair of gleaming baby blue eyes lowered down from the reflection of a mirror. A mother was brushing the thick, silver locks of her child- who was about to be married the next morning.

Her warm but calloused palms stroked the glossy surface of her shoulder as she leaned to her daughter's side of the neck. She looked at her with a dreamy smile and hopeful orbs for she couldn't wait for her to pursue the royal family's title.

"...when Piolo comes, make sure to greet him."

Cateleia remained frozen like a gargoyle as she stared at her own empty vessel in the mirror. Her face was lifeless and not a single smile was evident on her lips. Her eyes were bland as if staring at an abyss she wanted to jump at.

Nothing was meaningful to her anymore.

Today, she is to be wedded to the Governor as one of his many concubines. She was not at all, keen on this idea and has since been fighting against all odds to break free from this.

Her family was poor, just like every concubine the Governor has. If only he had paid attention to his people, perhaps Cataleia would be wearing satin and silk just like his lady.

To anyone, they were no more than prostitutes you would frequent in a brothel.

Had they been clothed better, perhaps they would become proper concubines.

"How do you like your dress?" her mother asked while braiding her ashy-silver hair. "Isn't it pretty? You'll only get to wear it once."

"Is it?" was her sharp reply.

Her mother, taken aback by this, was clearly offended at her tone. "Can't we just go home? Aleis and Connie are waiting for me."

"Your sister and your hound can wait."

"Aleis will not be happy if she learns I will be marrying the Governor, mother."

"Aleis will be happy if you come back home with a ring on your hand."

Cataleia tightened her fists into a small ball and gritted her teeth. She then stands up and flicks her mother's hand away from her hair.

The child was fed up.

"I am your child, not your slave. Do not place your distant dreams on me."

A split second later, a sharp high-pitch noise echoed the room and her face has shifted to the side. Cataleia feels the resounding slap against her cheek as it turned into a bright shade of scarlet.

There was a moment of silence, before her mother speaks again. "Cata-"

"I am going to bed." she turned her back on her and went straight to her mattress to lie down.

Her mother stared from the distance, tightened the comb against her chest and said nothing more before leaving the room. Only the sound of the door closing brought Cataleia's chest to release.

The eighteen-year-old buried her head against the pristine sheets. Silently praying for the Gods to come take her already. She shivered at the sight of the Governor touching her skin with those sinful, meaty fingers.

She had just come of age. Sixteen, and she is to wed him for he had favored her to become one of his twelve concubines.

She could've easily avoided this, she could've easily hidden in the poor village not to be seen again. If it weren't for the death of her father, to which their family was called to the Palace for his funeral- the governor may have never seen her.

He may have never desired her.

All of the sudden, Cataleia's bedroom door creaked open, and a chill ran down her spine.

The first thing that her mind screamed at her was to leave. She have not shifted her head to look at her unwarranted guest, but simply from the disgusting atmosphere, she clearly knew who it was.

"My Lord." she spun her head around only to see the drunk governor on her doorstep with an intoxicated face.

Cataleia froze, her teeth chattering from fear. The Governor's lustful eyes rested upon her chest and then on her legs before he explicitly licked his lips and approached her. Cataleia grabs a coat in a hurry to hide her exposed flesh, but the Governor flips the coat stand, causing it to fall.

The girl hurriedly reached out for any clothing that could cover her nightgown. As she was crouching on the ground, the Governor stood against her, looking at her from above with a lustful gaze.

She was petrified.

The Governor soon grabbed her hair and threw her against the mattress. Cataleia's limbs started to tremble.

"No, no, my Lord!" Cataleia screamed as her ankles were pulled towards him. The king grabbed her skirt and pulled the girl towards him before his servants closed the door.

Cataleia would never forget the faces of those maids that left her to be smothered by the king.

She protested as she heard the Governor slowly unbuckling his belt. "No! Please! I beg of you, I am not-"

She earned another slap on the cheek, causing her vision to go hazy. She'd been slapped twice today, and she'd also been beaten by the guards as she tried to escape that afternoon. Her body was weak.

"Hush now, love." the Governor, who was no less than his forties whispered against her shoulder as he planted kisses on them. "Tonight, I will make you a woman."

"I said, no!" Cataleia abruptly swung her elbow into his mouth, causing the Governor to fall on his arse on the floor.

Blood gushed from the Governor's mouth as a tooth dropped to the floor. Cataleia's sleeves were drenched in blood, but at that moment, the girl was more than ready to fight for her life.

She no longer wants to be a slave to men.

The Governor's furious eyes locked on hers while he slowly got up on his feet. He stared at her, ready to devour her for what she had done to him.

"You hit me... do you know what it means?"

The girl shook her head.

"It's a crime, punishable by death."

Cataleia no longer feared death at that moment. At the day of her father's dismissal from the land of the living, she had lost her fear of that.

"Let it come." she replied firmly. "Everyone dies in the end."

"Yours will come sooner."

"No, My Lord." the young girl reached out for a vase, beside her bedside table and held it tightly. "Yours will delay mine."

The Governor charged at her with his sword. As the Governor was about to teach her a lesson, Cataleia diverged her body as lowest as she could when the Governor swung his sword. The blade flew in only a few inches above her head, missing her. The girl, swift as the moonlight breeze swept past the Governor and twirled. With her fingers tightly wrapped around the case, Cataleia smashes the Governor's head with it causing the royalty to freeze and drop to the floor.

Blood erupted from his scalp painting the mattress with a deep red. Cataleia's fingers were stabbed by the shards as well, but for some reason, she couldn't feel pain. Her mind was rushing many meters ahead and the adrenaline was slowly getting her.

Realizing what she had just done, the girl approached the Governor and gave his warm body a strong shake, only for it to remain lifeless.

Her face turned even paler when she realized he hadn't breathed.

Cataleia takes a step back, knees weakened, and drops to the floor with a distant, empty gaze. She stared at her bloody hands before whispering to herself repeatedly: 'You deserve it. You deserve it!'

The blood trickled and ran on the floorboard all the way to the tips of her toes to which she awoke. She took a step back and ran with her nightgown, and rushed into the empty halls of the sleeping palace.

The guards who were standing on the sides looked at her with suspicion when they saw the bloody footprints she left on her trail. A scream of a maid is heard resonating in the corridors and in that very second, Cataleia knew her life would no longer be the same.

She had killed the Governor.

And her head will become bounty.

BORDERS OF ASKAVAN, HUMAN TERRITORY 3 DAYS BEFORE THE AUCTION

Cataleia found herself in the docks of Askavan by daylight. The soles of her feet were worn and bloody from running without footwear. Her dress was muddied and her face was blackened from hiding in the furnaces of every home she had sought refuge in.

The folks of Askavan knew who Cataleia was by her dress. The nightgown was only given by the Governor to his wife or to his concubines.And everybody knew what being a concubine of the Governor feels like.

So with what little they could do, they offered to hide Cataleia until she was in the borders, and from there, she is to figure out what she must do to not be caught.

Tarpaulins of her bounty were posted across every bulletin board and post in the streets. Cataleia needed a shift of appearance in order to live another day.Orders had given her clothes to wear, but the girl refused to accept,justifying herself as: 'she didn't want to be caught like a coward'.

Cataleia was infamous because of her father.

Sir Raighlei Reiss, a Knight of the Kingsguard, was a commander and a leader. However, he was banished and stripped from his noble titles after failing to defend a certain city in the South, near the borders of the Valley of Ghouls, Kei'zha. The reason for his dismissal was incompetence.

Labelled as the 'Daughter of the Failed Knight', their family was stripped of their lands and wealth, and the once lady- Cataleia Evangelya Reiss, has now become nothing more than a maid.

The Governor took notice upon her exotic beauty during her father's funeral, which was held by the Palace. Sir Reiss, despite loathed by the Mother Queen, was pardoned with respect by the young King of the Human Territory.

But it wasn't very long that Cataleia learned how to snap.

She had killed the Governor and brought calamity upon herself after she had done the deed. There was no more turning back.

At this moment, she is now the enemy of Askavan.

"Girl! Over here!" a voice beckoned her to come from a bakeshop near the docks. Cataleia squinted her eyes and throttled toward the shop, all wiggly from her exhausting journey. Her lips were crusted and she was pale as the white sands of the beach that stretch ahead of them.

Wobbling, Cataleia was caught by the baker just in time before she collapses to the ground. "You oughta wake up a 'lil longer, michild." the baker said. "Your daddy not 'gon be proud to see you wilting like that."

Cataleia fought to open her eyes. "Sir... Wilhelm?"

"Uncle Wilhelm, michild." he shook her. "Come inside. I'll hide you for a bit."

The poor girl was brought into the home of Sir Wilhelm Reiss, also a former Knight, but now retired, her uncle.

Wilhelm spanned his rich blue eyes across the dock and check if there were suspicious eyes fixated on him and his niece. He could see some, in the form of simple commoners who pretend to blend in the commonfolk and speaking to bargaining fishermen.

Wilhelm gritted his teeth and brought back the girl into his small hut in the sands.

At evening, Cataleia regained her consciousness and found her uncle stirring a pot outside. The night had already fallen and the hour grew only more anxious now that the news must have throughly spread throughout the kingdom.

Cataleia moistened her dry lips and looked around the cabin before looking at her uncle.

"Feeling better, now, child?"

"Uncle Wil." Cataleia croaked in the lowest voice she could manage. "Uncle Wil... I..."

"I know what you have done." Wilhelm told her in a firm voice before entering the cabin and grabbing a small straw bag. "Tonight, you will leave Askavan."

"But I have nowhere to go." Cataleia reached out to her uncle's arm and pleaded. "Uncle, please, take me to Father's relatives across the Serpent Sea. They will take good care of me there!"

"Enough, Cataleia." Wilhelm told her in a cold voice. "You will leave tonight. I have packed you some silver and clothes. Leave the human territory for good. I will tell them that you are dead."

"But Aleis and Mother-"

"I said you have to leave."Wilhelm clarified one more time. "The Reiss have caused enough trouble. Sooner or later, they have you mangled in a spike near the capital. Your mother and Aleis will follow the same fate."

"Mother has sold me to become the Governor's concubine! The Governor tried to force his way on me! The silence he has now is well-deserved of him! Had he been in the South, across Serpent Sea, the women wouldve had his head on a pike too!"

"Watch your mouth!" Cataleia earned the wrath of her uncle. The girl turned frozen at his uncle's remark and shuddered at the thought of him shouting against her.

Though him and her father were twins, they were both very different. Her father was gentler and was more refined and calm. However, Uncle Wilhelm was hot-headed and strict.

Seeing the girl tremble, Wilhelm palmed his stressed forehead and sighed deeply. "The next time you will run your mouth, will be the last. Do you want your final words to be a sentence of whining?"

Cataleia clenched her jaw. "No, Uncle."

"The King will have our heads for this." Wilhelm told her. "People in the capital are snitching."

"If I must leave, then where will I go? I cannot possibly leave my hound and Aleis back home. Aleis is only six."

"Then you should've controlled yourself when you grabbed that vase."

Cataleia clenched her fists into small, whitened balls and tightened her jaw. "Had I not fought, the Governor would've continued raping little girls."

"Had you not fought, you would not have to drag forty other people with you to the pikes."

"What are you talking about?"

"The people who have helped you, I trust you have not forgotten their names and faces?"

Cataleia's throat slowly became dry. "Why..?"

"News this morning erupted that whoever helped the young assassin escape, will be executed before the Duke and His Royal Grace. And to those who can give names, will be given rewards."

Cataleia's chest shrank and sank.

"You must leave Askavan. You are hated here."

Cataleia's jaw trembled as cold sweat formed on her forehead. The young girl tied her pale, ashy hair and took a deep breath before walking into the dinner table to grab a few pieces of cold loaves. Her uncle watched as she stared at him with a dead expression.

"Then I should leave now."

"Ain't no better time."

Wilhelm threw the bag to her and headed into the sands to grab a fishing boat. Cataleia raced through the sands and braced herself.

"Uncle, you're going to die too. People saw me approaching you in the docks. You should come with-"

"I have to find your mother and sister. Your father wanted me to protect them."

"And Connie." Cataleia closed her eyes and breathed. "Release Connie from his kennel. He is a direwolf and he knows how to fight. He is trained. If one hurts Aleis, Connie will make sure one isn't able to walk back home."

"Quite a beast this Connie is, then."

All of a sudden, they were shifting in behind the trees. Wilhelm looked at his niece and then pushed her into the boat. He threw the paddle on her face and pushed the boat farther into the water.

"Uncle..." she called out to him before grunting in pain.

Her uncle drew out his sword as several men of the Kingsguard leaped from the bushes. They all unsheathed their sharp steel and dared to step forward to challenge the former Knight of the Kingsguard. Cateleia's eyes widened. 'No, this can't be!' she murmured to herself. How many people had to die because of her?

"Uncle!!!"

"Go! Go where the water takes you!"

"But Aleis and mother–"

"I will find them." Wilhelm promised her and unsheathed his claymore. The Knight's surrounding him flinched as they saw how huge the steel he wielded. Rumors had it that Sir Wilhelm Reiss can par the strength of the King.

"I will find them, michild."

Cataleia held tightly against the wooden board and tightened her jaw. This is her fate. Her fate as a poor girl living in injustice. A girl like her, who cannot complain.

"Uncle... come with me!"

"This is my promise to your father." Wilhelm told her. "Leave Askavan and head to the Territory of the Wolves. And then find the Auctioneer. Tell him the time has come for him to return his favor to the Reiss Knight."

Cataleia clenched her jaw and rowed as fast as she could, afraid to lose her promise with her uncle. She never dared to look back at the bloody battle behind her. The sound of dancing swords causing sharp friction against steel and steel caused the girl to shut her eyes even more. She curled into a ball and embraced her leg as the boat rowed away.

'I will not forget this.' she mumbled under her breath.

As soon as she was about to close her eyes, she felt a sharp pang on her spine. Her closing eyes bulged wide as she carefully shifted her head to see what has struck her.

On her back was a sharp arrow, lodged on the back of her left shoulder. She looked behind her and realized that the battle was done.

The once pristine sands was blanched red. Fallen knights laid under the glow of the gloomlight. An archer stood on the crawling body of her uncle, aiming his bow at her.

The archer smiled crookedly, with his majestic robe flowing against the midnight breeze. With the last seconds of her consciousness, she squinted her eyes and looked.

She could not be mistaken. Those pricely layers of exquisite robes...

It was only then when she realized that the man who shot her was the Prince.