Leashed

Avery's POV

I knocked his hand away. “Punish me? You have already done your worst. What's left?”

A brief chuckle escaped him, his eyes locked on mine like magnets. “What's left? Everything that breaks you slowly.”

“You're a murderer,” I shouted even though my voice broke. I don't know where the strength came from. Maybe it was from fear, anger, or the sight of that lifeless body, but I said it anyway.

“The moon goddess will punish you for this. You don't get to take another wolf's life like that.”

His face twisted into something between a sneer and a smirk. “I can kill you right now, and it wouldn't make a difference to me. That man down there…” he paused. “...wasn't a wolf. He was a traitor.”

My breath hitched

“He broke the pack's law,” he continued. “He knew the cost.”

His voice turned cold and low. “To every action, there's a consequence with a price.”

“That is why your father sold you. To clear his debts.” He paused, letting the words sink in. "You were his payment, just as death was his.”

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. “Don't you dare talk about my father,” I snapped, jerking against his hold.

“Why not?” He murmured. “You have suddenly gone soft towards him? You watched his hand being chopped off without flinching.”

“Let me remind you how he gave you to me as my payment. To be fucked. My whore.”

“I'll never be your whore,” I shot back. My fingers curled into fists at my sides.

Lucian didn’t stop. “Your greedy and corrupt father didn't hesitate to trade you like a mere commodity.” He chuckled roughly.

“Alpha please, I don't have the money. You can take my daughter as a replacement.” Lucian mimicked my father’s voice with cruel exaggeration.

“At least I will never trade my family for money. Which makes me better than your father.”

His hand curled around my waist. “Submit to me. I will make your life easier.”

“I'd rather choke to death, than submit to a murderer.”

“Your choice,” he said with a grin. His voice turned to ice.

His bloodied fingers clamped around my wrist like a steel cuff. The warmth of the man's blood not-yet-dry soaked into my skin. He pulled me off balance instantly, sending a sharp shock from my wrist to my shoulder as he yanked me.

I was forced to stumble behind him as I struggled to keep up with his pace. My nails dug into his rough grip on my arm.

“Where are you taking me? Let me go.”

His room loomed. He shoved the door open. Darkness inside. With a final, violent heave, he threw me inside.

I lurched forward barely catching myself. My foot caught on something on the floor. A cold. Stiff. And lifeless weight.

A wave of pure terror shot through me, causing me a sudden paralysis as I realized what I had kicked.

The Body.

Behind me, Lucian stepped inside without hesitation and slammed the door shut, plunging us into near-total darkness.

He took a step toward me, then another, crunching the corpse beneath his boot. A faint crack of fabric and bone under his weight. He didn't even look down.

I backed away instinctively, my heel shifted carefully on the floor to avoid making any sound as I pressed myself closer to the wall.

If I could just stay quiet—stay still, maybe he wouldn't find me.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, legs apart. Then his voice came. “Will you keep standing there, with your hands over your mouth thinking I can't hear the way your breath shakes?”

He leaned forward a little. “Do you think your silence protects you?”

I remained silent, then finally I found the courage to respond to him. “Stop. Please, just stop. You're a monster.”

I tried to sound brave, even though my heart nearly stopped with fear. “You kept me here against my will, used your sister, and got what you wanted, and now you lock me in here with a dead man’s body?”

“Just kill me, Lucian. Kill me!”

He tilted his head towards me slightly as though he could see me. “You won’t die on me.”

He stood up and moved in the dark, his footsteps echoed in the room. I tried to move away slightly, but he moved faster. His hand caught mine with a sharp pull, dragging me forward, locking his chest with mine. And before I could react, he twisted me, turning me so my back faced him.

My heart skipped violently. His other hand captured my second wrist, pulling both behind me. My shoulders stiffened slightly, forcing my chest forward as he held me in place.

The contact sent a jolt through my body, the sudden force of his dominance hitting me all at once. I tried to pull free, but his grip only tightened. He stepped closer behind me, his cock rested on my ass.

Then he pressed down on my shoulder. Hard. Forcing me down on my knees. I resisted, my muscles tightened trying to hold myself upright. But his hand pressed harder.

My knees slowly bent, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. My hands stayed locked behind my back, my chest rose and fell faster now.

His finger slid into my hair, just firm enough to control my head position. Then a sound came—click.

My eyes flicked sideways just as he brought it into view.

A collar. Heavy. Dark iron.

He lifted the collar. The cold metal touches my skin, his dried bloody hands on my neck. A click of metal followed and then it closed around my throat.

His voice breathed into my skin. “A wolf that wanders without command gets leashed.”