The Supreme Luna

Alexa

"No, please, don't! Let me go!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

My hands were restrained by two men. They dragged me away from my own house, even though I screamed and kicked with all my might. My wolf couldn't fight back and could only whimper in my head.

"It's okay, Alexa. It will be just fine," my stepmother said, her gaze downcast. Beside her, my stepsister put on a display of fake tears.

"Mom! Please help me! Don't sell me out!" I cried for her help, but she stood still.

"I'm sorry, Alexa, but we have nothing else to cover up your father's debt," she said, tears streaming down her face.

Wasn't that a lie? How could they hide so many things in our house? Where had our TV gone? The car? Did we go bankrupt overnight?

"No! There must be some mistake!" I defended myself.

"Shut up, wench!" A brute slapped my cheek, and it stung so badly that my teeth scraped my lip. Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth. "Your father owed us a million dollars. Now he's dead, so you must pay with your body!"

"What? A million dollars?!" A pang hit my chest. My eyes widened in panic as I looked around at the brute and my stepmother.

"It's impossible! My father was a respectable man. He was the former Alpha! He would never do that!" I shrieked as the brute dragged me out of the house.

They didn't care about my reasoning. The man brought me to the door, holding my shoulders and arms so tightly that it hurt. Before the door closed, I saw my stepmother and stepsister stifling small laughs.

It was them! They were the ones who borrowed a million dollars from these men! I knew it!

All to support their lavish lifestyle. They traveled to another country for a week-long holiday just last week on a private jet. Was all their boasting funded by debt?

"No! It wasn't my father! It's them!" I cried out loud, struggling in vain.

"Shut up!" Another man pressed a handkerchief to my mouth.

A sharp smell assaulted my senses, and I realized it was wolfsbane poison. My head spun, and my consciousness faded. My vision blurred further, my body weakened, surrendering as they dragged me into a car.

Just before I lost consciousness, I vaguely saw a man staring at me from a distance. His face was illuminated by the moonlight amidst the growing darkness that imprisoned my sight.

Alpha Gabriel, the man who was supposed to be my mate, the one who was supposed to hold a marking ceremony with me next week, stood in silence. He stared at me with his cold eyes. His blonde hair shimmered under the moonlight, making him look like an angel to me, but his gaze held no mercy.

***

I woke up to a ringing sound in my ears. A rough hand slapped my cheek again, shouting at me to wake up. I opened my eyes slowly but still couldn't see anything. My eyes blinked, searching for light, but there was none.

My mouth was gagged with a thick cloth, forcing it open. I swallowed repeatedly to ease the dryness in my throat. Both my hands were tied behind my back. The silver chains scraped my wrists whenever I tried to free them.

'Help! Someone, help me!'

I called out through the mind link with my wolf. Deep down, I knew it was useless since I couldn't even control my wolf or transform.

I tilted my head, trying to see beyond the thick black cloth covering my head. Two large hands grabbed my arms, dragging me to walk before forcing me to sit on a hard chair. Their grip on my shoulders was heavy as I tried to stand and run.

The cloth loosened as fingers tugged at the ropes around my neck. Then, in one swift motion, the cloth was pulled off my head. Bright light blinded my eyes, making me lower my head and blink several times to adjust. Slowly, I opened my eyes and took a deep breath.

When I looked up again, I saw dozens of pairs of eyes adorned with colorful masks staring at me, scrutinizing every move I made. My heart pounded as I begged for freedom through muffled cries.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's proceed with the next auction. A rare eighteen-year-old lycan girl, pure Alpha blood from the south, and a virgin. She possesses magical healing abilities, perfect for your punching bag." The man gestured toward me.

"We'll start at one million dollars," the man standing before me introduced me like merchandise.

Everyone fell silent. There was whispering, but no one raised a paddle to bid for me.

"Anyone? Come on, anyone?" The auctioneer looked around the dimly lit room. "Alright, let's lower it to 900,000 dollars. Anyone?"

For some reason, I had a bad feeling, worsened by the chaotic mix of pungent smells. But among the unpleasant odors, there was one distinct scent I had never smelled before. Musk, and it was so good, calming my nerves.

"500,000 dollars!" A fat man shouted.

No one responded with a higher bid. The auctioneer started pacing, looking at the others' faces, searching for another bidder. I shook my head as tears streamed down my cheeks. My nose clogging up and my gagged mouth adding to my discomfort.

"Anyone else?" The auctioneer still searched for a higher bidder. He looked around the audience and sighed in disappointment. "Come on, is no one interested?"

Oh my Goddess! Was this real? The fat man chuckled and smiled in a senile curve, so sure he would get me as his punching bag.

My heart raced, and panic took over. I glanced right and left, seeing the guards stationed everywhere. The only open path was in front of me, where the masked men and women gathered. Perhaps there was a door there with less security.

When I felt the pressure on my shoulders lessen, I seized the moment and ran. I lunged at the old auctioneer, making him squeak in surprise. Before I could run further, searing heat clasped my wrist. I screamed in pain. My body collapsed to the floor as the heat and electricity coursed painfully from the silver chain through my body.

The guards jumped on my shoulders and arms. I struggled again, but they pinned me harder to the floor. One of them whipped my calf, and I groaned amidst my tears.

"One million dollars." A deep male voice boomed in the room.

Everyone stopped moving, including me, freezing at the sound of the voice. A large man in a suit walked through the crowd. He raised paddle number two to his ear. His chin-length black hair framed the black mask covering his face.

"Stop that and let her go. She's mine now," he growled, then turned to the auctioneer.

"O-oh, yes! One million dollars! Sold!" The auctioneer chuckled in satisfaction, nodding at the guards.

The two guards beside me lifted my body to stand. They then dragged me out to the curtain. I couldn't believe someone had actually bought me!

My gaze locked on the dark eyes behind that mask in a split second. In my heart, I cursed the man who auctioned me, my stepmother, the Alpha who abandoned me, and the man who bought me.

Alexa

After waiting in despair for a long moment, the guard gripped my hands. They led me to a white limousine outside of the building. A rough shove pushed me onto the passenger seat, even though my hands were still bound with chains and my mouth gagged with a cloth.

Once I was inside the car, I realized the man who bought me was already seated inside. Without his mask, his bright brown eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. His shoulder-length jet-black hair looked silky enough to run fingers through, and he combed it back to the nape of his neck.

His body was massive, and his suit clung to his broad chest. His beard was trimmed, extending to his sideburns, making me wonder how it would feel brushing against my inner thighs. Just imagining it made my body tremble for a moment. The musk scent filled the car, overwhelming me until it felt like I would float onto his lap.

'Alexa! He's our mate!' Mythril, my wolf, squealed in my mind.

'No. That can't be!'

I cursed inwardly, trembling in my seat. The car started moving, and my tears became unstoppable. My only hope of returning to the Silver Moon Pack, my home, had vanished, replaced by a grim future smiling back at me.

"Let's see...," the man moved to sit beside me in swift motion.

The musk scent grew stronger in my nose, as if trapping me to comply and remain silent. His hands reached out toward me, and I shook my head. I tried to retreat, but the car door stopped me. There was no escape. I was trapped.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you. I just want to let you off from this gag," his hands cornered me.

My heart pounded wildly, my tears wouldn't stop, and fear gripped me. Yet his tone seemed like a command I wanted to obey, not because of his Alpha aura-I wasn't affected by his dominance. It was something more. A mix of disgust and longing that confused me, leaving me frozen as he removed the cloth from my mouth.

My sobs lessened, though my body trembled uncontrollably. I tried my best to suppress the fear and hatred within me, all mixed with Mythril's joy at finding her second-chance mate.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you anywhere else?" he asked, his gaze probing.

I shook my head. Maybe, just maybe, he truly wanted to free me.

"Good. What's your name?" he asked.

My breath was ragged, and my hands trembled amidst the pain of the chains scraping against my wrists. The corners of my mouth ached from the bruises and swelling caused by the gag. The man kept his gaze locked on me as I struggled to voice my name.

"A-Alexa," I stammered, "Alexa Dawson."

"That's a pretty name. My name's Alastair Knox," he complimented with a friendly smile.

My breath hitched when I heard that name. Alpha Alastair Knox of the Blood Moon Pack? One of the five strongest packs on the continent?

I rubbed my shoulder against my face awkwardly, trying to wipe away the saliva and blood from my lips. The clinking of the silver chains binding my wrists caught Alpha Alastair's attention.

"Could you please untie me? This is all just a misunderstanding," I whispered.

"Ah, yes, I heard from the broker earlier. You were forced to sell yourself to pay off your father's gambling debts," he said.

"Gambling debts? No! That wasn't my father's debt. It was my stepmother's debt. I had nothing to do with her debt at all. Please, could you let me go?" I pleaded with him.

I thought he was my mate. I thought he would understand and free me like a pure Alpha-blooded girl deserved to be treated. But instead, he growled, his clawed hand gripping my neck and jaw. I shrieked, but my voice caught in my tightening throat.

"Let you go? You think after I paid a million dollars for you, I'd just let you go?" He clenched his jaw, his face drawing closer.

His commanding tone made my body shiver. I had made a grave mistake. He had no intention of freeing me as I had foolishly hoped.

"I don't give a fuck whose debt it is. I've bought you, so you have to pay for it. If you don't have the money, the only way is to pay with your body." He leaned closer, inhaling the scent of me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling his warm breath on my neck. Oh, how I hated myself for feeling the tingling sensation coursing through me from the musk scent of his body. As well as the regret for thinking he would save me. My head shook in a futile attempt to break free from him.

"Please, let me go. Aren't we mates? Don't you feel it?" I asked him between my shaky breaths and the sobs that choked me.

"Yes, I feel it. That's exactly why I won't let you go. You will bear lycan children for me and use your magic power to help me rule the land," his words clarified everything for me.

It felt like a splash of cold water, waking me from the delusion of returning to a peaceful life at the Silver Moon Pack. The dream of becoming a respected Luna standing beside my mate vanished in an instant. Alpha Alastair held me tighter, then licked my ear, making my face heat up instantly.

Why couldn't I resist him? Why didn't I want to reject him? Why? It was as if my body betrayed my feelings, letting me suffer in the turmoil. Two opposing emotions pulled me in different directions.

"Can you feel it, mate?" He chuckled beside me.

"I don't want this! I reject you-" My rejection enraged him.

He cut me off with a hard slap to my cheek. My heart nearly stopped as his clawed hand grazed my face. Alpha Alastair laughed in his hoarse voice.

"How fortunate. My mate is a lycan who can heal herself in no time. You sure are the perfect match for me," he whispered, his claws forcing my head to turn toward him.

His other hand pressed against my thigh, creeping beneath the skirt I wore. Tears streamed down my face again as my body tried to retreat from him. His hands held my waist and thighs even closer. His fingers dug into me as I struggled.

"No! Stop it! Let me go!" I shook my head.

I should have kicked him. I should have tried to clamp my legs shut, keeping my body away from him. But the truth was, I gave in as he spread my thighs wider.

"Don't resist. We are fated mates. Nothing will stop us from mating with each other. Especially if I demand it," he said with a crooked grin.

Cursed this fated bond! I whimpered and trembled under his touch. His hand held me so tight in place.

"Are you really a virgin?" he asked as his fingers brushed my inner thigh.

Alexa

The car sped at a high velocity. I knew about Rider, a car modified to absorb the energy of the driver and passengers to accelerate faster. I knew I was riding it now because my head felt increasingly dizzy. My stomach started to feel worse and worse. My emotions seemed to be scattering all over the place.

"Answer me!" Alpha Alastair roared.

My body jolted at the sound of his voice directly in front of my face. Trembling, I tried my best to remain strong.

"I'm not," I whimpered.

"What?"

"I'm not a virgin," I confessed to him.

He froze upon hearing my words. He gripped my neck tighter and I saw his eyes burning bright crimson. His other hand dug into my inner thigh.

"Who took it?" he grunted.

I shook my head, refusing to answer him.

"Answer me, who took it?" he asked, his words slow and deliberate.

I grew more uneasy and chaotic. In the midst of my swirling emotions, I opened my mouth slowly. I didn't know what to say to him. But his gaze bore into mine, making me obey him in a silent command.

"Alpha Gabriel of Silver Moon Pack," I spilled the truth.

His eyes narrowed at me. But before he could ask further, my stomach churned unbearably from the pressure of this Rider. Unable to hold it back any longer, I vomited. The liquid spilled from my mouth, spoiling me and Alpha Alastair that had been pressing against me.

"Agh! You cursed woman!" He roared in frustration and pushed me away.

***

I didn't know what else I had done wrong. Whatever the Moon Goddess wanted from me, she had fated me to a terribly bad fate. So bad that I no longer knew what to do.

The rage of Alpha Alastair had thrown me into the underground dungeon of the Blood Moon Pack. He was furious upon learning that I was no longer a virgin, compounded by the fact that I had soiled his clothes and car.

Instead of a luxurious room in the packhouse or the title of Luna, he left me alone in a filthy, dusty corner of the underground prison. If I hadn't lied about my virginity, would it have earned me better treatment? Probably not.

'It seems he no longer wants me as his mate,' I said to Mythril.

'Yes, but he already bought you, so he'll likely use you for something else,' Mythril sighed sadly.

'As a punching bag, maybe.'

I didn't know how long I had been curled up behind the iron bars. These bars were specially designed for werewolves. The scent of wolfsbane poison pierced my senses, a scent that would make any werewolf dizzy and powerless to fight.

There were no windows or ceiling gaps to mark the time. I could only guess from the guards who brought me food twice a day. It seemed a week had passed. Alpha Alastair hadn't even spoken, as if he had forgotten he had purchased me for one million dollars price.

Probably at night, a guard returned with food through the small slot under the iron bars. But this time, the scent of the food was strikingly different from before. It smelled of calming mint and pine. Strange, because the food appeared to be the same porridge with cold broth as any other day.

What made the smell different? I walked toward the food tray. As I pulled the tray, I realized something was off about the spoon. A tissue was wrapped around the spoon as though it were a dish in a fancy restaurant.

I furrowed my brow but still opened the tissue wrap. Now I became even more certain that the scent didn't come from the broth, but from the tissue itself. When I unfolded the tissue, I was startled, my eyes widening.

'Get out now!' That was the message written on the tissue.

My heart leapt with hope. My hands reached for the cell door's lock, and sure enough, the padlock was gone. When had this happened? What exactly was going on?

'It must have been the guard who brought the food earlier,' Mythril exclaimed.

Without a second thought, I opened the latch of the iron cell door. Despite the scent of wolfsbane piercing my nose, the mint and pine scent overpowered it, giving me newfound strength. I dashed out, passing through the cell door. My steps echoed through the filthy cell hallway as I made my way toward the exit.

When I pushed open the slightly ajar iron door, there were two guards lying helpless on the ground. I glanced right and left, unsure of where to go. To the right, far ahead, I saw residential houses. That seemed to be the Blood Moon Pack's packhouse, clearly not an ideal escape route.

However, I saw a light toward the forest behind the prison building on my left. I chased that light without much thought. My feet raced through the forest lined with tall trees.

***

"There she is!"

A Gamma warrior shouted as he ran toward me. Two other guard followed him. My first instinct was to run deeper into the forest.

"Stop!" They ran after me with increasing speed. I kept running, my bare feet bruised as they hit the ground between the trees. I glanced back again and realized they were getting closer.

Suddenly, a gust of wind brought the scent of spicy mint and calming pine to my nose. The next second, someone jumped and tackled one of the warriors, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Keep running!" The man roared to me as he stood up to face the remaining two guards.

My eyes widened as I saw a man blocking my pursuers. He was alone, fighting against three men. I froze for a moment to get a better look at him, but I didn't recognize him.

I felt like I had met him, but I didn't know when or where. One thing I knew for sure was I couldn't take my eyes off him.

He fought in fierce moves, taking down each guard one by one. When a guard fell to the ground, the other two chased me again. I turned to run again, but the man lunged at the second guard.

He tackled the guard from behind, and they rolled on the ground for a moment. The man grabbed the guard's waist and then threw him toward the Gamma. While the two guards curled on the ground, the other from behind attacked the man. The man elbowed him and struck his thigh, then slammed him to the ground.

"Keep running!"

Hearing his roar, I turned and ran, leaving him behind.