Sold to the Alpha

by Cara Wylde

  “It’s so stupid if I think of it,” she thought. “I lost the most important gift Max has ever given to me and I didn’t even notice until now, when I finally decided to stay.”

  She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed in frustration when she saw it was only 10 AM. She had a long day ahead of her. The only thing she could do for now was to make sure that the long, loose sleeves of her pullover covered her wrists at all times. Max hadn’t noticed the absence of the bracelet yet, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen at lunch or dinner. If she wasn’t careful, her own apprehension could draw his attention to her wrist. He had asked her to wear it at all times, so she couldn’t possibly say that she was keeping it in her jewelry box for special occasions.

  “Idiot. That’s what you are, and that’s what you deserve for it.”

  ***

  “I’m fine, Christine. Really, don’t worry about me. Just go down there and have some fun.” Avelyn smiled at the old woman, mentally praying that the tone of her voice was convincing enough. She tried to stay calm and patient, and stop her fingers from twitching and pulling at the hem of her pullover.

  “Are you sure?” Christine seemed to be genuinely sorry that Avelyn couldn’t attend the party in the courtyard. She had spoken to Max earlier, but her Alpha had forbidden her to take Avelyn down, among the wolves. She was not ready yet, and he wasn’t ready either. As much as he wanted to go through with the mating ritual and officially make her his bride, it just wasn’t a good idea. Jocelyn still didn’t agree with his choice, and neither the Moon Children, nor his own Crescents seemed thrilled by it. They would have to wait for the next full moon and hope that by then everyone would get used to Avelyn and even like her a bit. There was no reason not to like her, really, but it seemed that their misconceptions about the Vulpes brides were stronger than his wife’s charm.

  “Absolutely. In fact, you know what? I’m going to watch the celebration from the Crescent Tower.”

  “You’d get a nice view from there.”

  “Exactly.” Avelyn went to the window and looked outside. “They’ve already lit the bonfire. You’d better run down there, or you’ll miss the best part. I’ll have to run at werewolf speed up in the tower to see this.”

  “All right, Miss Avelyn. But, please make sure you put on something warmer.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Christine gave her a last apologetic glance and closed the door behind her. Avelyn didn’t even wait to see her walk out through the front door of the castle. She grabbed her jacket, slipped her phone into one pocket, and stormed out the door and up the stairs. Max had given both Caleb and Daniel a night off telling them there was no need to guard Avelyn around the clock. Sure, it was still a good idea to keep an eye on her from time to time, but he trusted her now. He was confident that Avelyn would appreciate it when she realized the two werewolves weren’t following her around anymore.

  She reached the library, closed the heavy door softly, then looked around to make sure she was alone. She went up to the second floor and straight to the hidden door. Everything in that corner was exactly as it should have been, and the soft lines of the door frame were as invisible as always. “Some damn clever architect worked on this.” Even though it was the second time she was going down in the dungeons, she was still a bit scared, and the darkness on the spiral staircase made her feel uncomfortable. She made sure she moved the flashlight around and studied each step, just in case the bracelet had fallen there. She had studied the map all day long, finding it impossible to focus on anything else, so she didn’t need to check it again when she reached the large stone chamber. To make sure she did everything right, she started studying the floor inch by painful inch. The small flashlight could only cover small portions of the stone floor, but it was the only one she had. She couldn’t have just asked Max, Christine, or Rosanna to bring her a larger flashlight without making it sound suspicious.

  “Shit!” Avelyn screamed and jumped a few steps back. A large spider had just fallen down from the celling right in front of her. “Friggin’ hell! It’s as big as a tarantula.” She followed its fat, hairy body with her phone, and she breathed out in relief when the creature turned around and strolled to the other side of the chamber. She ran her hand through her hair, suddenly afraid that nasty, disgusting insects could have fallen on her fluffy hair without her noticing. She combed her red tresses carefully, and her heartbeat slowed down a bit when she didn’t find anything small and crawly tangled in them. She moved her flashlight to the celling, but it was too tall, so she couldn’t see much. “All right, I’d better move. I just need to find the damn thing and then get out of here. I swear to God, this is the last time I’m messing around in dungeons, tunnels, mazes, prison cells, and the like.”

  She continued her careful inspection of the floor, and when she didn’t find the bracelet in the large chamber, she headed to the tunnel that led deep beneath the Nox Wing, the same she had explored the day before. Nothing there either. “Wait, I know I looked into one of these cells on my way back. But which one was it?” She stopped in front of each open cell and flashed her light around on the floor and the walls. She was looking for the one which had something hung on the far wall, but it was so dark in there that she could barely distinguish the shapes of some empty metal bowls scattered around, and some weird bundles of old clothes or rags thrown in the corners of some cells. She gathered her courage and stepped inside the first one, looked around for a few seconds, then moved on to the next. “There you are!” She was standing in the middle of the fifth cell, looking at the piece of old clothing which had probably been hung years ago from the rusty bolt in the wall. It seemed to have been some kind of tunic. She wiped at the dust on the floor with her foot, but it was obvious her bracelet hadn’t fallen there. She turned around and her heart jumped in her chest when the light coming from her phone shined on the round rainbow moonstones. The bracelet was hanging off the iron lock. Avelyn took it in her hand and studied it carefully. One of the silver chains was broken, which explained how it had fallen off her wrist. The bracelet had probably gotten caught in the lock, and when she had pulled her hand away, the chain broke.

  Avelyn slipped the piece of jewelry in the pocket of her jacket, and closed her eyes for one long minute. She needed the time to calm her heart, let the adrenaline flow out of her veins, and her body relax. She was safe now. Everything was good. She’d go back up the stairs, then out in the library, and up another flight of stairs to the Crescent Tower, and enjoy the fresh night air, the music, and the werewolves’ chaotic party. The next day, she’d show Max the bracelet and ask him to fix it for her. It wasn’t such a tragedy that she had broken it, given that the thing was almost an antiquity. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Jesus, does it stink in here.” She headed back to the larger chamber, her faint steps the only sound that reverberated inside the tunnels.

  The moment she reached open space she stopped in her tracks and looked around confused. “Where did that come from?” She waited a few seconds then shrugged, thinking it was probably only her imagination. Another two steps, and there it was again. A soft, muffled noise, like someone was crying. She couldn’t tell from where it was coming. Chills ran up her spine and made the little hairs on her neck stand up. Suddenly, the jacket didn’t keep her warm anymore. Cold sweat gathered at the roots of her hair, and her heart started galloping when she heard the noise again. “Oh, shit… there’s someone here. There’s someone in these dungeons, maybe in one of these cells.” There was no way the crying could come from the Nox Wing, because she had been there twice, even though she hadn’t gone very far. From where she was standing, she studied the tunnel that led to the right side of the Schloss, under the Lunar Wing. She swallowed heavily, but the lump in her throat didn’t want to go down. She hugged herself with one arm, held her phone in front of her with the other, and took a couple of tentative steps towards the tunnel. A sob. She heard it loud and clear, and she could swear it had come from inside
the tunnel. She walked carefully, on her tiptoes, trying to make as little noise as possible. Her instinct told her to turn around and leave, but she had always been too curious for her own good. Besides, what if there was someone there who needed help? Maybe someone who had entered the dungeons through one of the exits and had gotten lost? She needed to know. She wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if she didn’t know.

  The feeble light of her phone illuminated the tunnel and danced eerily on the open iron doors. It looked the same as the one where she had lost her bracelet. She soon reached the small chamber which was probably parallel to the one on the left side, and the crying was a bit louder there. Still muffled, but it echoed through the stone labyrinth, giving Avelyn goose bumps. She studied the smaller tunnels in front of her, and gasped when she realized she could see a faint light at the end of the second one to her right. “It sounds like a girl. I swear to God, it sounds like a girl is crying down there.” She followed the sound. She could feel the stone floor slightly descending under her feet, and she looked back a couple of times, afraid that she might get lost, even though she had mostly walked in a straight line. She noticed how the air had grown a bit warmer and more breathable. It was still stale, but a bit clearer. She reached another small chamber, almost identical to the last one, except this one split into only three tunnels. One of them seemed to lead down some stone stairs, the one in the middle was covered in darkness, but the one to her right was, to her surprise, well lit. “The hell?” she thought. She had no idea there could be electricity down there.

  She turned off her flashlight and stepped inside the tunnel. What threw her off guard wasn’t the fact that it was larger, nor that it looked clean and well-maintained. What made her cover her mouth to make sure she didn’t scream was the tall wooden door in the middle of a white wall which seemed to be made of bricks. It was like the cells in that tunnel had been turned into one big cell with a single door. And, yes, Avelyn had heard right. A girl was crying behind it.

  Avelyn approached the door carefully, and pressed her ear against it. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now, after having come so far. What she did know was that there was no way she could simply turn around and forget it ever happened. Should she knock on the door? The crying died down, and all she could hear now were silent sobs. Avelyn felt her mouth dry and she wasn’t sure if her vocal cords would be willing to cooperate if she wanted to say something. She settled for knocking softly. The person on the other side ceased her sobbing. She heard her blow her nose, and waited a few seconds before knocking again.

  “Who is it? Christine?”

  “Oh my God,” whispered Avelyn to herself. It was a girl. And her warm, sad voice had said… Christine’s name.

  ***

  “No, it’s not Christine,” whispered Avelyn through the closed door. She heard a bed creak, which meant the girl had probably stood up in alarm.

  “Who is it then? I don’t recognize your voice.”

  “I… I’m new here.”

  “New? What do you mean?”

  The girl’s voice had sounded a bit louder, and Avelyn was sure she was standing somewhere near the door. Avelyn didn’t know what to answer, so she settled for another question: “What’s your name?”

  A moment of hesitation. “Sabine. What’s yours?”

  “Avelyn.”

  “I don’t know you. Are you… ugh, I can’t think straight.” The girl sobbed in frustration, and Avelyn thought she heard a soft thump, as if her knees had come in contact with the floor.

  “Are you okay? Are you in pain?”

  “No, I’m just dizzy.”

  “Because you haven’t eaten in a long time? When was the last time you ate?”

  “A couple of hours ago. It’s not that, it’s… Did Christine send you?”

  “No, no.” Avelyn realized she had probably just gotten herself into a terrible mess and she couldn’t even assess the possible consequences. “Shit. She knows Christine,” she thought. “What if she says something?”

  “Listen, Sabine,” she tried to keep her voice warm and soothing. She hoped she sounded convincing and trustworthy. “No one sent me. I was just… exploring the castle and I ended up here by mistake. I thought these dungeons were empty.”

  “They are. Except for me… But you can’t exactly say I’m in a cell, so…”

  “What’s it like? In there…”

  “Oh, it’s nice and cozy. Max made sure I had everything I needed. He even got me a kitten poster. Because I love kittens so much. He said he’d consider getting me a real cat, but that was a long time ago. I think he forgot.”

  “What the hell?” Avelyn couldn’t keep her voice down anymore. She dropped to her knees, both her hands pressed against the door. “Are you saying that Max put you in there?”

  “You know Max?”

  “Yes.”

  There was silence on the other side. Avelyn heard the girl shuffle closer to the door. Now they were probably facing each other. “Who are you really?” asked the girl for the third time.

  “I’m… his bride.”

  “Is that so…” The words drowned in a sob. The girl sniffed her nose loudly. “For how long?”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Human bride. You’re human.”

  “Yes… Why? What’s wrong? Why are you asking me these things?”

  There was a pause that stretched on for long minutes. Avelyn knew Sabine was still there, and she waited patiently for the girl to gather her thoughts and say something. It was clear she wasn’t feeling well, and Avelyn would have given anything to see her.

  “I was his bride once,” Sabine whispered.

  “What?” Avelyn drew back in shock and stared at the wooden door. She hated it. “Can you open this door?”

  The girl laughed. “No. It’s locked and I don’t have the key. Christine has it.”

  “Christine? I can’t believe this. It’s so wrong, so wrong and fucked up. What do you mean you were his bride once? For fuck’s sake, don’t mess with my head.”

  Sabine’s laugher intensified, even though Avelyn could tell it was a sad one. Tears were probably still running down the girl’s cheeks because she heard her sniff her nose every few seconds. “I am messing with your head? You’ve no idea what they did to me.”

  “What? Sabine, please tell me. I will get you out of here, I promise. I’ll talk to Max, he’ll understand. I can’t believe he’d do something like this… lock his ex-bride in the dungeons. No, never.”

  “You’re so naïve, aren’t you? Did he even tell you about me?”

  “No…”

  “Of course not. He didn’t want you to know. Avelyn…” Sabine got closer to the door, as if she wanted to tell Avelyn a secret. “He locked me down here and forgot about me.”

  “Shit…” Avelyn changed her position, pressing her back against the door. She massaged her temples with her fingers and pulled slightly at her hair. The sharp stab in her temples announced the beginning of a headache. “No,” she repeated. “Max would never…”

  “He would, and he did.”

  “How long have you been in here?”

  Sabine gave a deep sigh. “I don’t know for sure, I lost count.” She stopped to think for a long minute. “Five years, maybe? Six?”

  “Oh God.” She had been stuck in a room for one week, and by the end of it she had felt like she was going insane. Another week, and she’d had jumped off the window. “Why? Why would he do this to you?” Her mind was trying to find an explanation, but nothing she could have ever come up with had the slightest chance to make sense.

  “I don’t know… I guess I wasn’t good enough for him. I guess he got bored.”

  “This is crazy.”

  Sabine laughed bitterly. “I like you,” she added. “Avelyn, will you come visit me again?”

  “Visit you? I’m getting you out of here.”

  “You can’t.”

  “What do you mean I can’t? I can do whatever I damn want to do. I
’m gonna go up there and talk some sense into that bastard. I can’t believe I fell for his bullshit.”

  “No, please don’t tell him. Please don’t tell anyone you know I’m here and you talked to me. They’ll do the same thing to you. All of them.”

  “What?”

  “Max’s wolves didn’t want me. They told him to get rid of me, so he did.”

  “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” Avelyn knew quite well Max’ wolves didn’t like her either. And Jocelyn? Had she had anything to do with this?

  “Avelyn, promise me you won’t tell anyone, and I won’t tell Christine either. Just come visit me once in a while, and we can be friends. Please. I want you to be my friend. I haven’t had a friend in years, and Christine… Christine is with Max. She’ll do anything he says.”

  “I’m your friend, Sabine.” Avelyn turned to face the door and pressed her hands against it. “If you don’t want me to tell anyone, then I won’t. But I will get you out of here. I will get us both out of here.”

  “You can’t. Or, at least, you can’t take me with you. Only Max and Christine have the key to my room.”

  “You call this a room? It’s a bloody cell. A fancy one, but still a cell.”

  “Please don’t get angry with me.”

  “I’m not angry with you. God, no. I’m angry with them. I will get the key from Max. You’ve no idea how easy it will be.”

  “Still, I can’t leave. Christine checks up on me at least three times a day. She brings my meals, and sometimes just sticks around to keep me company. We talk a lot, watch TV, or I read to her while she knits those awful sweaters she gives Max, Jocelyn, and Karl for Christmas. If I leave my room, she’ll know in, like, three hours tops. It wouldn’t be enough time to get out of these tunnels.”

  “Do you know the tunnels? Can you get to one of the exits?”

  “Yes…?”

  She could still hear the hesitation in her voice, but Avelyn believed they were on the right track. “That’s good. If I can get the key and you can get us straight to the exit, then we have a chance.”