This book follows no strict rules. It's inspired by the idea of a dark world; one built on secrets, power, and truths that were never meant to be uncovered.

A world where survival is earned, trust is a liability, and every smile could be hiding something deadly.

 But this author is a die-hard lover of the romance genre, and you will find that beneath all the brutality, the bloodshed, and the chaos... romance is the backbone of it all.

 Not the soft kind. Not the safe kind. But the kind that burns. The kind that consumes. The kind that makes you question whether love is salvation... or the most dangerous weapon of all. Because in this story, love does not come gently. It comes with obsession. With betrayal. With power. And sometimes-

with death.

 --

 A SHORT PROLOGUE: A flexible Insight Into The Story's Background.

 At seven years old, Liliana Veyne already knew something was wrong about her. She had spent all her years locked inside the grand Veyne estate in Eldoria.

 While her older sister, Rhea, moved freely and was proudly presented to guests, Liliana was kept indoors, away from everyone. Rhea was their parents' biological child. Liliana was adopted.

She had been told her real parents died in a car accident after her birth, but even at her young age, she could feel the difference in how she was treated.

 She once overheard a guest say she did not have a wolf and would one day be sent away to live among humans. When she asked her mother what that meant, she was told she was "pure" and needed protection from the world. Liliana did not fully understand, but she accepted it. Her parents still showed her kindness, just not the same kind they gave Rhea. And somehow, she knew that difference mattered.

Despite everything, Liliana preferred her quiet life to Rhea's cruelty. One evening, for the first time, she was allowed to attend a ball outside the estate. Before leaving, she met the only person who made her feel truly seen-a boy who visited her secretly through her window. He never spoke, only wrote to her and brought her flowers every day.

She called him her "flower boy." That night, he invited her to his own family's gathering, but before she could respond, her parents came in and took her away to the ball. At the event, Liliana felt out of place. Her parents proudly introduced Rhea to everyone while ignoring her. Hurt, she slipped away and hid behind a pillar, crying quietly. That was when the boy found her again. He comforted her with a note, promising that one day he would make her happy and she would never cry again. Then he kissed her cheek, and for a brief moment, she felt a strange and powerful connection with him that she could not explain.

Their moment was interrupted when Rhea appeared and tried to introduce herself to the boy as the Veynes' only daughter. Before anything else could happen, chaos broke out. Gunshots exploded through the ballroom. Panic spread as people screamed and bodies fell. Armed men surrounded the area, overpowering everyone. Liliana watched in horror as her parents were forced to their knees at gunpoint.

 The leader, a man called Beta Tal, demanded to know which of their daughters carried a rare lightning crest. When her parents hesitated, he threatened to kill her mother. Unable to endure it, her father revealed that Rhea was the one. Rhea was dragged away as she screamed for help. Liliana stood frozen, unable to understand what was happening.

Moments later, her parents were shot and killed in front of her. Liliana screamed, but was seized and held back. When one of the men suggested killing her too, Beta Tal refused. He decided she would be useful.

 Terrified and broken, Liliana was taken away with them. As she sat in the car, surrounded by the people who destroyed her life, one thought settled deep inside her heart. One day, she would find her sister again. And no matter how long it took, she would make them pay.

LILIANA

“Strip!” I flinch at the order. It isn’t for me. Yet. But after Elena, I’m next in line.

I watch in horror as Elena strips down with trembling hands until she is left with almost nothing in front of me. Her partner is ordered to do the same. All for the attention of the sick, wealthy elders and Alphas from different packs dressed in expensive suits who have gathered here to buy us.

This sickening game happens twice every year in Scarlet Pack—a gods-forsaken cannibal house ruled by Alpha Kol and disguised as a pack.

Omegas and humans are packed into the field in pairs. One omega on the left, one human on the right.

Before we reach the finishing line, a gun will be fired.

If the bullet hits you, you die.

If it misses and you reach the finishing line before your partner, you will be sold out, mostly as a breeder or sexual slave to whoever buys you.

No one cares about omegas or humans here, especially humans who are orphans.

Like me.

And to make it even more entertaining for their twisted pleasure, they pour water over us after stripping us down to the tiny underwear we are given. The thin fabrics cling to our skin, leaving little to the imagination as the cold water runs over our bodies.

It makes us colder.

More vulnerable.

More scared.

Just like they want.

Beta Gary raises the long hose and sprays Elena and Phoebe. Their bodies shiver violently under the cold stream as murmurs of amusement rise from the wealthy guests watching from behind the barrier.

“I’m so hard for the shaky little blonde on the left already.”

The predatory comment reaches my ears, and pure disgust thickens around my throat.

Most of these men are old enough to be our fathers.

“Run!” Beta Gary orders, and I close my eyes immediately. I don’t want to see who gets shot.

Just because I had always managed to miss the bullets and reach the finishing line first, doesn’t mean Elena or Phoebe would be lucky too. 

But I had never been sold out before. The two times I’d joined the game in the past, the buyers always claim not to like the wounded marks on my skin. But this year is different. The marks are healed. Or almost. 

My heart pounds as I wait for the sound of the gunfire. And it comes. The sound tears through the wide space of the field and a wild scream follows. No.

My eyes open on their own and I see her on the floor- writhing, before she yields to the cold hands of death. My strength fails me and my knees wobble. Elena is dead.

All the nights we stay awake- discussing about the hopes of being free one day- gone. I can’t…

Phoebe made it. She would be sold out.

“Clear up her body and dispose it. Next!” Beta Gary says, wasting no time. I can’t help it. Blinding anger floods through my body. 

My partner- the Omega on the left- is already stripping, but I’m not. I can’t find any atom of obedience in me to yield.

“The human on the right, what are you waiting for?” The new voice belongs to the ruthless Alpha himself. Kol. He appears in front of me in his tall, broad form, dressed in a long black cloak, his jet black hair combed to the back, hazel eyes as vicious as ever.

And even though, I know through my angry state that I’m signing myself up for death, I don’t yield.

Murmurs of surprise rise immediately. 

And before I know it, Beta Gary is reaching for my long-brown hair. I am too pissed to care. Elena was my closest friend in this den, and she had just been killed for simply existing. No. I refuse to move on like that didn’t happen.

My hair is grabbed and I’m shoved so hard I fall on the floor. I barely feel the impact. I am used to being rough-handled, and tortured. It’s what Alpha Kol does to me almost every night before forcing himself on me. 

My body has learned to survive pain even when my mind hasn't.

I don't waste time getting back on my feet, ignoring the bruise forming behind my elbow.

My eyes meet the Alpha’s fiercely.  “I don’t have to strip. I will die if the bullet meets me on the run anyway.” My lips had moved before any logical thought could form. Alpha Kol’s brows draw together, clearly not expecting my foolishness.

Yes, I would call it foolishness rather than defiance. Because he wouldn’t spare me for this.

I hear the omega opposite me gasp, and more murmurs rise. No doubts they are all shocked. 

Nobody of low rank has ever dared to defy Kol.

Certainly not a human orphan like me whose only purpose in life is to find her long lost sister and avenge her parents’ death.

Whenever I look at Kol, I remember the night his elder brother shot my parents in the head and took my sister away from me.

That was my story. The rage that I carry within me- that makes me want to live every single day. 

I shouldn’t be risking my life tonight after everything I’ve been through, but I have spent thirteen years in this den learning that fear doesn't always keep you alive.

Sometimes, it only teaches you how to die quietly.

And I refuse to.

“No. You’re mistaken, little human.” Alpha Kol says in a low intimidating voice that I know too well, extending his hand to Beta Gary, who immediately offers the gun to him. At this point, my defiance falters a little.

“You won’t have the luxury of a choice.” A small poisonous smirk surfaces on his lips.” You will be killed right here. Right now.” He finalizes.

I swallow hard.

And suddenly, the gun is pointed at me. I hold my breath, tears blurring my eyes in an instant. So this is how I die. I will never find Rhea. Would never get to find out whether my sister is alive or dead- all because I couldn’t hold my anger in for a moment to pass.

His hand presses on the trigger, and I close my eyes, waiting for it as a tear slips free, but instead of the bullet to come, a resounding slap hits me hard and throws my face to the side.

My eyes snap open to meet Aunt Maerra’s hostile gray ones. 

“What has gotten into your head, Liliana? Do you have a death wish?” She makes a face at me that I quickly understand. She’s asking me to cooperate. She’s saving me from getting killed.

Maerra is the chief maid of Scarlett pack. She’s fond of me, and she is also one of the very few who have access to Alpha Kol’s favorable sides.

I swallow and quickly act along . “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what… came over me.” I lower my gaze, and make my voice sound as low and submissive as possible. 

She turns to Alpha Kol. “I’m deeply sorry for her stupidity. I guess the insomnia she informed me about recently is finally affecting her sanity.”

I can’t remember telling her that but I nod along anyway. Alpha Kol’s menacing gaze remained fixed on me, his finger still hovering over the trigger.

Deep anxiety clouds my earlier defiance.

“Apologize to him! You idiot. I don’t even understand why one of our prestigious buyers is already interested in you.” Maerra scolds me.

 I quickly bow before Kol. “I’m…I’m very sorry, Alpha.”

As I say that, it occurs to me suddenly that Maerra just insinuated I already have a buyer.

“She has a buyer?” Alpha Kol asks, surprise lacing his voice as he lowers his gun slightly.

Maerra bows to him. “Yes, my Alpha. He has been watching. And he prefers that she comes to him in the selection room. Privately.”

My stomach plummets deeply. I already have a buyer without finishing the game to convince him I’m worth buying…

 Who is he and what did he see in me?

And that's how I find myself in the dimly lit red selection room.

Beta Gary pushes me inside, a hateful scowl fixed on his face.

"I would not have spared you if I was the one holding the gun earlier, you frail little thing."

He's always been that way with the humans in the pack. In the thirteen years I've spent here, I've never caught something as close to a smile on his face. But he has always been exceptionally mean to me.

Gary hates it when humans possess any form of audacity.

I admit, I am frail-looking, but I know I'm stronger than most omega wolves even though I'm only human. It's not something I find worthy of bragging about, but it's the reason I've outrun my omega partners during the Run Or Die game twice before.

The same game I just lost Elena to.

And it's also the reason I can use daggers expertly.

I harbor secrets.

My heart pounds silently as I look around the red room.

It's wide but oddly narrow, with most of the space occupied by expensive furniture. The buyer isn't here like I expected, and I can't help but wonder if Gary has brought me into the wrong room.

A leather office chair rests against a long red curtain, tucked behind a polished brown wooden desk.

Opposite the desk is what looks like a hospital bed.

My eyes narrow as I stare at it.

There's something dark smeared across the white sheet.

I take a cautious step closer.

Blood.

My stomach twists.

Before I can look away, the sound of a hand striking flesh comes from somewhere to my right.

I jerk toward the sound.

A girl in nothing but a bra and panties steps out from an inner room I hadn't noticed before. She isn't alone. A man dressed in a black suit follows behind her, casually zipping his trousers.

I don't need anyone to explain what just took place between them.

I think I'm in the wrong room.

The girl turns toward him and spreads her fingers against his chest.

"Do you need me to spend the night in your bed, Alpha Soren?"

My thoughts immediately return to Maerra.

Had she lied about me having a buyer because she was desperate to save me?

I'm already considering slipping out of the room to find her when the name the girl just called replayed itself in my head. Alpha Soren...

My head turns back just in time to see him smack the girl hard on her backside.

That must have been the sound I heard earlier.

But that isn't what concerns me.

"I'm about to get busy with my little guest right here, so I'll excuse you for the night," he says to her.

Then he pulls her toward him and joins their lips again.

My stomach churns.

And suddenly, it dawns on me that I might not be in the wrong room after all.

The girl gives me a disdainful glare as she passes, but I don't even know her. She's the least of my worries right now.

The door shuts behind her and I'm left with him. Alpha Soren. I take in his face properly. It's really him.

"Where were you running to, Liliana?" he asks, a grin spreading across his face. "Don't want to say hi to your old-time friend?"

He pulls out the leather chair tucked beneath the desk and settles into it before gesturing toward the seat across from him.

"Sit."

I'm unable to look away from him as I slowly take the seat.

 Alpha Soren isn't just the Alpha of Bloodfangs pack- One of the largest packs on the continent, he is also a man I'm scared of with everything inside of me.

Alpha Kol might be ruthless, but Soren kills and smiles while doing it. Twenty people could be seated and Soren would be having sex in their presence. He is anti-moral.

He killed his own Luna with his bare hands.

He used to lead this packhouse before eventually leaving it to Kol and dividing the pack members between them. I remember being relieved that I wasn't transferred to his packhouse.

"I...I wasn't running," I manage to say, hoping he no longer remembers what I did years ago.

His grin widens.

I prefer when he frowns.

"Do you still steal daggers and sell them, Lily?" he asks. "I remember you used to steal mine. How many exactly? Ten? Twenty?"

My heart pounds violently.

I had been chained and beaten until I could barely recognize myself when I was caught stealing his daggers three years ago. I had intended to trade them for money.

He gave me one month to retrieve every dagger I had stolen.

But he left the pack before that month was over.

Back then, I was one of the maids assigned to take care of his room.

"I wasn't able to retrieve them," I confess quietly. "And...I no longer steal daggers."

I wait nervously for his rage.

It doesn't come.

Instead, he leans across the desk, allowing his eyes to travel slowly over me with a look that makes my skin crawl.

"You're more grown than I remembered."

He catches his lower lip between his teeth.

Sick fantasies are written all over his expression.

My heart sinks, but I say nothing.

"I've bought you, Liliana."

I exhale roughly.

"Let me guess...as your sex slave or a breeder."

The words escape before I can stop them.

There isn't another use for people like us who are bought by people like him.

A deep chuckle rolls from his throat.

He leans back into his chair and pulls a cigarette from his pocket. He lights it, takes a slow drag, and lets the smoke escape through his nose.

I wait.

"You are not going to be my sexual slave, Lily Rose."

My brows pull together.

"Nor will you become a breeder."

He takes another drag.

"I have a better use for your intelligence."

My eyes widen slightly.

"What could you possibly need me to do for you?"

He stands.

Another puff of smoke leaves his mouth as he walks around the desk.

He disappears behind me.

I swallow instinctively.

I don't trust what I can't see.

I expect him to grab me from behind, perhaps strangle me or do something worse.

Instead, he leans toward the side of my neck.

His fangs extend.

The sharp points slowly trail along my skin.

Every muscle in my body goes rigid.

All he has to do is sink those teeth into my throat, and I'll be dead before I can scream.

"Ever heard of Xaden Draven?" he whispers, his mouth close to my ear.

The name makes me blink.

"I only know he's the Alpha heir of the MoonBound Pack."

I lie.

That isn't the only thing I've heard about him.

I have never seen him before, but his reputation precedes him. Rumors say he's young, ruthless, cursed, and untouchable.

His parents head Supraveil Academy, the biggest supernatural academy in the world and one of the hardest places to get into.

Your family name has to carry enough weight in the supernatural world before you're even considered for admission.

Alpha Kol's daughter had apparently tried to get in and been rejected.

I've also heard that dragons are reared inside the academy.

I never believed that part.

I wouldn't have believed the academy itself existed if it weren't the same academy my late parents had once promised my elder sister she would attend when she became old enough.

Before tragedy destroyed our family.

And now I have no idea why Alpha Soren is talking to me about the most talked-about cursed Alpha heir in Eldoria.

Another rumor says he's yet to find his mate because every predicted mate they bring to him- dies in his bed.

I never took any of those seriously. But it's hard not to grasp onto gossip when the maids here are full of them.

"You're getting into Supraveil Academy to kill him."

He says it as casually as if he has just ordered me to buy him cigarettes.

Then he returns to his seat.

I stare at him.

I expect him to take his words back. He doesn't. He settles deeper into the leather chair.

"And I'm getting you inside the academy tomorrow morning because you've already been offered admission."

To say I'm confused is an understatement.

I would rather be a breeder.