To The Highest Bidder: Mated To Alpha Lukan

MERIDA

" Meridaaaaa!!!"

Someone yelled my name from upstairs and I gave a silent groan as my head pounded not from the scream but from lack of sleep and hunger.

" Where is that ostrich called Merida?" The voice said again as I struggled to my feet and my stomach rumbled.

I didn't need a seer to tell me who it was. It was no other person but my Aunt Ophelia. I could hear her loud footsteps coming down the stairs.

Just as I tried to steady myself, I fell back on the box I had been sitting on.

" Goodness me." She gasped." I just hope I'm blind and not seeing you sitting like the mate to a powerful Alpha."she said to me. I opened my mouth to say something and only air poured out and, before I could blink, her hands flew through the air and made slices of slaps on my cheeks, sending me reeling backwards.

"What have you been doing here? You have been busy doing nothing, I guess." She said again to me and I kept mute.

Enough experience had told me that trying to defend myself would only get me into more trouble, so I stood there like a statue staring at her as she yelled at me.

"For the past 3 days I have been drumming this into your silly head that we are having guests, but instead all you, do ever since you woke up was to sit there staring into space."

I bowed my head and let my eyes gaze at my bony feet. It was my way of giving a silent apology.

"Didn't you hear when I said one of our guests is very important? In case you don't know, Alpha Lukan Hades will be here any moment from now and I don't want you to give this family a bad name because of your sluggishness when it comes to cleaning."

I raised my head up slowly.

Alpha Lukan Hades. A powerful and popular Alpha in all of the Western Wolfe Kingdom.

I already knew he was coming, but not this early.

I bent down and gathered the mop and the bucket as Aunt Ophelia ran into the kitchen and came back with a tray of wine flutes and a bottle of expensive wine.

"These are for the guests. You better not drink them," She said, pushing the tray into my hands.

She pushed me into the small room where our guest would be sitting and banged the door shut.

I placed the tray on one of the tables carefully and proceeded with my cleaning.

The room was as clean as anything and was even as sparkling as the sun and, for the umpteenth time, I wondered why I should be cleaning it.

Lying on one of the chairs was a magazine. I reached for it and tossed it away and proceeded with my cleaning thinking I had heard the soft thud of the magazine hitting the floor, but instead I heard someone clearing their throat.

I looked towards the direction and my breath hitched in my throat.

There, sitting at the far end holding a fat cigar in the other hand and sipping from a tumbler, was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

"Don't tell me your eyes were glued to your face for decorations?" He hissed and took another sip.

"I- I'm so sorry." I stuttered in a very small voice which was barely above a whisper.

"Didn't you see me, or you pretended not to?"he questioned, rising to his feet as he puffed out smoke from his lips before butting it.

I tried to speak, but my lips quivered, and my eyes fell down to my feet in fear.

"Answer me!" He roared, and I began to shiver and, instead, I shook my head.

"Then you could have felt my presence or even perceived my scent."

I shook my head numbly." I didn't feel your presence and...and I didn't perceive your scent." I managed to say, forcing the words out.

He cocked an eyebrow and with one long finger he lifted my face and stared at me while I tried to look away fearfully.

"What kind of wolf doesn't perceive a scent or don't you have one?"

"I have a wolf." I struggled to speak. I could feel his eyes roaming around my body and settled on a scar on my upper arm.

"What is this a kind of punishment or what?"

I nodded feebly.

"Speak to me and look at me when I'm talking to you, not at your feet."

I swallowed hard." Yes, it was a punishment to bind my wolf."

I could feel that the discussion was taking another direction. I quickly disengaged from his grasp.

I wanted to be done with everything Aunt Ophelia instructed before she finds me there.

So I turned around and picked up the tray, and I wasn't watching my steps. I felt myself bumping into him and the tray fell off my hands. The wine flute and bottle of wine broke into pieces, shattering the still air.

Just then the door burst open, and Aunt Ophelia stood there like she had seen the ghost of her grandparents.

" Gracious Moon goddess." She gasped, and she raced to slap me when Alpha Lukan's hands tightened on her wrist.

"If I were you I wouldn't do that."

She released her hands from his grasp forcefully and gave a thin smile.

" Go and call your uncle, get another drink and find something to clear this mess." She rattled orders at me.

" Aunt Ophelia asked me to call you, the Alpha is here." I said to Uncle Garrick who was in the living room. He dropped the remote and gave me a deadly look before pushing me out of the way.

I quickly brought another wine flute and a champagne and while I cleared the mess I could feel Alpha Lukan's gaze on me.

" She is your niece, I'm I correct."

" Yes," Aunt Ophelia said immediately.

" So why does she look like your slave?"

Aunt Ophelia and uncle Garrick exchanged shocked glances. This was the first time someone had openly challenged the way they were treating me and from the looks on their faces they hated it.

" She did something terribly wrong," Aunt Ophelia said after a brief moment.

" And what would that possibly be?" Alpha Lukan asked, quite angry.

Aunt Ophelia gave me a brief dirty look before she spoke up again.

"Ask her what happened 15 years ago."

MERIDA

My eyes were spinning in my head, and they dropped on my feet.

My tongue felt so limp and dry that I couldn't utter a single word.

Shhhh, I said to myself.Don't say a word. Don't even breathe. I could feel the hot intensity of their eyes, I was almost burning under their gaze and I wished the ground would open and swallow me up.

My cheeks were burning up, already turning red with embarrassment and I felt so scared I could feel the Alpha's eyes on me.

"Why did you do it?"he asked suddenly, making me glance up and look away quickly. He sat back on the chair and gulped down the contents in the tumbler and set it back on the table.

"It was my birthday. My sixth birthday party." I forced myself to speak." I wanted to give my parents a treat, so I added the Nightshade fern."

"The Nightshade fern is of two types," Alpha Lukan said, rubbing his jaw slightly."the one with green leaves is extinct now, and I presume you are speaking about the one with blue petals."

Aunt Ophelia and her husband rolled their eyes and groaned in frustration while they stared at me with hatred.

" Just listen to the rubbish she is spewing, Alpha Lukan." Aunt Ophelia eyed me disgustingly.

I could barely remember what happened when I was six, but what I could feel was the guilt which had crawled into my heart ever since.

"If that's what happened," Alpha Lukan began."she was just six years old and was just a child."

My eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time someone was actually defending me.

Aunt Ophelia gasped and she and Uncle Garrick exchanged sharp glances.

" A child indeed." Uncle Garrick sneered." If a six-year-old is called a child, then a two-year-old should be called a zygote perhaps," He said sarcastically.

But Alpha Lukan paid no attention to them, and he turned his eyes on me.

" The Nightshade fern has blue petals that are star-shaped, correct?"he asked, and I could hardly bring myself to nod.

"Once one of the petals is plucked, it can never grow again?"he asked and turned to Aunt Ophelia and Uncle Garrick, and they stared back at him like he had grown a horn suddenly.

"What the hell are you saying?"uncle Garrick thundered." We didn't bring you here to ask us stupid questions."

"What I am saying is that she was set up." Alpha Lukan said almost immediately, and Aunt Ophelia's face turned red.

"We didn't invite you here to accuse us." Aunt Ophelia spat." Besides, you weren't there when it happened."

Alpha Lukan nodded slowly and got up.

"It is true that I wasn't present, but everyone knows that the Nightshade fern stains the thumb and forefinger of the one who plucks the petals."

I was so surprised and shocked at the same time, I knew deep down within me that Aunt Ophelia and uncle Garrick were beginning to get angry and disgusted by the Alpha's questions.

"I didn't see any stains on her fingers." Alpha Lukan continued.

"My wife and I invited you here based on a very important meeting we are supposed to have, but then you have turned this over into a job interview." Uncle Garrick spat, and it seemed that he wanted to reach over and slap Alpha Lukan.

" Questions like this aren't welcome," Aunt Ophelia interjected.

"Very well then, I guess I have to take my leave," Alpha Lukan said, and his icy gray eyes were glowing.

He gave me one last look as he walked away, and immediately Aunt Ophelia rushed to my side with a kind of speed which even a hurricane would envy, and she grabbed me by my neck.

" What did you say to Alpha Lukan, idiot?" She yelled, and I could feel her saliva on my face.

I was saying something when I heard the honking of cars outside.

" The rest of the buyers are here." I heard Uncle Garrick say." They are all from a different pack."

The word 'buyers' made my eyes open wide, and I struggled to understand what was happening.

Aunt Ophelia and Uncle Garrick pushed me aside as they hurried to welcome some men, about three of them dressed expensively.

"You will be standing over there," Aunt Ophelia whispered into my ears." I just hope the men strike a good price for you."

And immediately it all dawned on me. Hitting me so hard that I almost passed out.

I was about to get sold, to the highest bidder.

I stood there on the raised platform. I could feel the wandering eyes of the men on me and at that instant I wanted to vanish.

"Fifteen hundred." One of the men called out.

" I will have her for twenty-two." Another yelled, his voice bouncing off the half-empty hall.

" Thirty." A man stood up and his price drew so much attention to him.

With the surprise on Aunt Ophelia and Uncle Garrick's faces, I knew already that they were happy with the price, and I was about to be sold off to this fat man whom I knew was from another pack.

Tears slipped out of my eyes and as Aunt Ophelia approached me to hand me over to the buyer, something which no one expected had happened.

It came as a shock to us all.

" Sixty-seven." A voice rang out from the doorway and immediately all heads turned to the direction it was from.

It was no other person but Alpha Lukan, he was leaning against the door and his sleeves were rolled up over his bulging biceps. It was the first time that we saw his arms, which were kind of heavily tattooed.

" I will make it seventy,"he said, approaching us slowly. I even thought he had left when he did.

" Party's over." He smirked at the men." Get out."

They didn't let him complete his sentence as they all ran out of the room.

"I want you to give me the document to sign so we can be done and over with all this." He said to Aunt Ophelia and uncle Garrick, who were shocked to utter a word.

Then he turned to me.

"Go upstairs and get your things ready."

LUKAN

" So she is the 13th bride, yeah?" Dean asked as the Mercedes-Benz glided towards the pack." I forgot she is the 15th and not a bride, right?" Dean asked again but got no response from me.

I have so many things to think of than to give him a reply.

From my mind's eyes I could envision a sly smile creeping up his lips.

" Be quiet Dean." Lemuel shushed him in a small voice.

"I was just thinking aloud, that's all." Dean continued, and my face turned red.

"I'll be forced to clip your lips together." I said to him, my voice kind of low as the car pulled up in front of the Packhouse of Frostclaw

Ever since I had met her, something had gone off in me, not that she was the first woman I met or more beautiful than the others, but there was something different about her which I just couldn't place.

The connection was just too strong. Dean was so correct. She was the 15th girl I met and deep down I was kind of anxious.

I was hoping that she would be The One whom I have been searching for all these years.

In my quest to find The One, I had met several ladies but none of them was her.

I had heard from a reliable source that Garrick would soon be the Beta of Frostclaws Pack in two days' time, but it was none of my business.

The driver rounded over the corner and got the door open.

" Dean, if you don't keep shut, I will forget you are my cousin, and you'll be forced to pick your teeth from the ground." I let out a growl and Dean raised his hands in mock apology.

"I won't make a sound."

" Better," I said. We got to the front door and Lemuel had barely knocked when the door got opened.

Garrick ducked his head through the crack. I didn't wait for him to open the door wide before I pushed my way in, and I met another shock.

There she was with a brush, on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor like her life depended on it. I was mad with anger.

"Have you packed your stuff?" I met her eyes as she quickly looked away and struggled to her feet.

" Just so you know..." Garrick began, but I couldn't let him finish. I shot him a dirty look.

"Shut that hole in your face you call a mouth." I barked and he flinched in surprise.

In a few minutes' time, she came downstairs clutching a very small bag to her chest. She looked so pale as if she had caught a bad cold.

"Where are the rest of your things, Merida?" Her name rolled off my tongue. She was about to say something when Garrick interrupted.

"That's everything she owns. What are you expecting that you should come down with designer bags?"

I glared at him, and he looked away like I wasn't in the room with him.

"You are so early,"a voice said, and I turned to see that it was no other person but Ophelia. She was gleaming as if she had been sprinkled with fairy dust and on her neck laid rolls and rolls of pearl necklace.

"I'm so glad she is leaving." Ophelia smirked.

"Does that mean that the little bag she's holding contains all her things?" I asked, still not believing what I was seeing.

" What sort of question is that? She is a rat and, therefore, has no other belongings. Is she supposed to bring my bags instead?"

"Tell your mate to watch her tone." I roared at Garrick, who was trying to avoid my gaze.

"Lead the way to the office. We need to sign the contract." I finished as Dean handed me a brown envelope." You can go and wait for me in the car." I said to Merida.

Garrick led the way to his office and I followed behind him, glancing at my wristwatch.

"Why do you even need us to sign a contract she has already been sold to you?" Garrick asked as I slid the brown envelope across the table to him.

"The earlier she leaves this place the better for everyone." Ophelia said again, pissing me off.

"Has anyone told you look more beautiful when you are not spewing trash?" I turned to Ophelia, a smirk dancing on my lips. She gasped in shock and said nothing.

"That's it, I'm done reading. You can take her away." Garrick threw an envelope at me and I wondered if he had even read a sentence.

I stood up and gave both of them one last look before turning around and walking out of the office and there was Merida still standing there.

"Here." I stretched my hands at her and slowly, like a frightened rabbit, she placed her small hands in mine and I noticed how cold and bony they looked.

She stared at the car in utter shock and as she tried to get down, she missed a footing and came crashing down.

I quickly reached out and held her.

This was the first time I would be holding a woman so affectionately.

I carried her to the car and Dean was grinning sheepishly as we got into the car.

" I'm fine now." She stuttered and moved to sit on her own, a wide gap between us as the driver started the car and it sped away.

Dean and Lemuel chatted about so many things going on in the pack and in half an hour the car was gliding through the mighty gates and the pack house, a towering mansion came into view.

Merida stepped out of the car, she let out a gasp, shock etched on her face. The Packhouse was magnificent, no doubt.

" I would love to show you around, but I'm not in the mood for all that." I let out a growl as she followed quietly behind me.

" That's the dining area and the kitchen." I pointed." Don't call me nice, I'm doing this because I won't have you stressing me by wandering off tomorrow."

We got to one of the rooms and I saw her looking around in awe, her bag clutched to her chest.

" I guess there are no rodents in that bag of yours." I asked, tilting my head, and she shook her head slowly.

" Anyway, you will get new stuff soon."

A knock came once on the door and Rosita came in. She was once my nanny.

" She needs shoes, gowns, tops and all that feminine stuff." I said and half turned to see Rosita staring at Merida, a glint of recognition and shock in her eyes.

" Rosita." I called and she jumped." What's wrong?"