“Deeper... Erick... yes!” On the day of her wedding to her mate Alpha Erick Smythe, the last thing Ivy Bell expects to see is her fiancé having sex with her best friend Veronica. When Ivy tries to call off the wedding, though, she finds her pack at war with Erick’s. In the aftermath of her pack’s defeat, Ivy’s father--the Alpha--is killed, she’s locked in a dungeon, and her wolf is stripped away. Veronica, further attempting to humiliate her, aims to turn Ivy into the pack whore, and even tries to sell her to a sadistic Alpha known for his cruelty. Just before Ivy is about to be auctioned off, though, an overwhelming Lycan Aura fills the hall, a mysterious auctioneer overtakes the bid. In a split second, Ivy finds herself sold to the Lycan Prince Spencer, a man known for both his cruelty and his overwhelming power. Will Ivy’s love be able to change him? Or will the curse that haunted Prince Spencer his whole life tear them both apart in the end?

：Losing Everything

Ivy’s POV

My Alpha fiancé is having sex with my best friend, in my room, on the day I'm supposed to become his Luna.

For just a moment, I stand frozen in the doorway, staring at them. My fiancé Erick is still mostly clothed, save for the dress pants bunched around his knees, and my best friend Veronica’s skirt is bunched up at the hip as he thrusts into her roughly from behind. Erick’s got one arm wrapped around her waist, and he holds her tight as he fucks her. Veronica’s eyes are squeezed shut in pleasure, and she’s clearly enjoying herself–Erick has to clamp a hand around her mouth just to keep her from moaning.

And they’re fucking on my bed.

Somehow that’s the biggest insult of them all.

“What are you doing?” I shout, snapping out of my shock and bursting into the room. My wedding dress nearly trips me up, and my cheeks burn as I confront the pair.

Erick laughs cruelly. He doesn’t even have the decency to pull out–his hips snap lazily, thrusting in and out of Veronica as she continues to stifle her moans. “What does it look like we’re doing?” He asks.

I gape up at them in disbelief. My heart feels like it’s shattering. The betrayal is devastating.

“It’s our wedding day,” is all I can manage to say. “You–you’re my mate!”

Veronica laughs. “You really thought you were good enough to make him faithful?” She gasps out, breath heavy. Her eyes damn near roll back in her head. “You’re nothing but an illegitimate bastard. A pathetic excuse for an Alpha’s daughter.”

“You’re supposed to be my best friend!” I snap, tears stinging at the corners of my eyes.

Veronica is the daughter of my father's Beta, and we grew up together since childhood. Just a few days ago, she was still blessing me-

“How’s that working out for you–fuck, Veronica!” Erick grunts suddenly. He closes his eyes and grips her hips tightly, picking up the pace as he rams into her harder and harder.

Veronica’s moans rise to match his, and I flee the room before I have to watch either of them finish.

I hike up the skirts of my wedding dress and slam the door shut, already wiping away the furious tears that have sprung to the corners of my eyes. I need to find my father, tell him to call off the wedding. It was meant to be a marriage alliance between my pack, the Obsidian pack, and Erick’s pack, the Thunderclaw pack. And he’s supposed to be my mate. My mate. If I can’t count on Erick to maintain decorum even on our wedding day–

We’re doomed.

But when I rush into the wedding hall to deliver the news to my father, the Alpha, I find the entire Obsidian pack locked in vicious combat with the Thunderclaw pack.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream as I looked around the fray. Bodies are strewn about the fine marble floor already, and I can recognize a few of them. An enemy wolf lunges at me. I manage to swerve and shift into my wolf form fluidly. The dress vanishes, and I can finally move freely, claws extended and fangs snapping.

I jump into the fight with a howl. “Father!” I shriek desperately, sprinting through the dining hall.

My claws swipe into an enemy’s flank, tearing out a wicked chunk of flesh, but I press on. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a familiar wolf rushing towards me.

His teeth are bared. His muzzle is bloody. There’s murder in his eyes.

I’ve never seen Erick look at me with such loathing before.

I know as he rushes towards me that he’s going to attack me, that he’s ready to strike me dead, but just like I was when I saw him fucking Veronica I find myself frozen in place. He sprints towards me, fangs gleaming wickedly, and I squeeze my eyes shut, braced for death, when–

A pained howl cuts through the room.

“Alpha Bradley!” Someone shouts, but the words sound a thousand miles away.

Who would be calling my father’s name?

All the fighting in the dining hall has stilled.

I crack one eye open, surprised to find myself alive.

At my feet lies the lifeless body of my father.

“No!” A ragged sob tears from my throat. I sink to my knees, shifting into human form and cradling my father’s body. “No, no, no…”

Deep claw marks arc across his chest, blood pooling from them and sullying my wedding dress. I hear cruel laughter and look up.

“So much for the Alpha, hm?” Erick says with a wicked chuckle.

“You…” I can barely speak. “You killed him!”

Veronica walks up from behind Erick and wraps an arm around his waist. Her skirt is wrinkled, hair and makeup mussed. There’s not a speck of blood on her.

“And now the Obsidian pack is without an Alpha!” She declares haughtily.

“No.” My eyes widen in horror. “That would mean–”

Across the room, I can see Beta Kinney, Veronica’s father, smirking proudly at the chaos before him. He must have teamed up with the Thunderclaw pack to betray us. As brokenhearted as I am, right now, all I can feel is pure, seething hatred.

“Go on, Erick!” Veronica urges with a giggle. “Finish this off.”

“Right.” Erick grins, gaze slipping over my body as my chest heaves with distress.

“I, Erick Smythe, the Alpha of the Thunderclaw pack, reject you, Ivy Bell, the Alpha’s daughter of the Obsidian pack, as my mate.”

The pain of the mate-bond breaking engulfed me. But soon I heard Erick continue in a cold voice, “From today on, Ivy Bell is a slave.”

：Public Maid

Ivy’’s POV

I’ve spent every day since my father’s death in excruciating pain.

“Please!” I sob out desperately as a Thunderclaw warrior lashes a whip against my skin.

I barely register the feeling at this point, I’ve become so used to it. They’ve whipped me relentlessly every day since my wedding went so dreadfully awry. My skin is made of little pieces of cracked flesh at this point. The sticky feeling of blood coating my body is inescapable.

I feel like I’m coming undone.

And after what happened to my father, I don’t think I’d mind if they finish me off once and for all.

The Thunderclaw warrior raises the whip again, smiling evilly. Just as it’s about to hit me, a cold voice cuts through the room.

“Stop,” Erick says smoothly, striding into my dungeon cell.

I’m imprisoned in my own pack house’s dungeon. As if my humiliation could become even worse.

The warrior lowers the whip.

“Leave us,” Erick commands.

The warrior bows his head once, then leaves the dungeon.

It’s just the two of us now.

I look up at Erick with fierce loathing. This is the man who killed my father, and I’m going to make him pay for it.

“What do you want?” I snap, looking him in the eyes.

“Goodness, Ivy,” Erick says with a chuckle. “You look pathetic.”

“I can’t be anywhere near as pathetic as you,” I retort.

“Mm.” He shrugs, unbothered. Before I can say anything else, he grabs my chin roughly and jerks my head from side to side.

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” Erick says. From anyone else, the words would be sweet. But he’s looking at me like I’m just a plaything.

“Fuck you–” I start to bite out, but he clamps my mouth shut.

“I don’t know what it is,” Erick continues. “Your eyes. Your smile. Your face. I’m still drawn to you. I could spare you from all this pain, you know. All it would take is you becoming my mistress. Better than being beaten to death in a dungeon, no?”

Revulsion ripples along my skin. “I would rather die than let you fuck me,” I tell him in a measured voice, vitriol in ever word. “I will have my revenge for what you did to my father and to my pack. This I swear.”

Erick raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. He releases me and steps away. “We’ll see how long you last. GUARDS!”

That last shout catches me by surprise, and I jolt as a pair of warriors rush into the room, saluting their Alpha.

“Make her drink this,” Erick orders, picking up a small vial from a table.

The liquid inside is purple and shimmery. My stomach curdles.

Wolfsbane.

One of the warriors takes the vial and opens the cork, filling the air with the acrid smell of death. The other grabs my head, trying to force my jaw open, but I hold it shut. He scoffs and pinches my nose shut.

At first I don’t quite understand what he’s trying to do, but after fifteen seconds, I get it. My lungs scream desperately for air. My eyes start to water. I try to hold my breath for as long as I can, but eventually my mouth falls open, drawing in a huge, gasping breath.

And that’s when the warrior pours the wolfsbane into my mouth.

I choke and cough and shudder as searing, inescapable, utterly excruciating pain floods my body. I spit over and over again, trying to get the wolfsbane off my tongue and lips, but it’s no use. I crumple uselessly against my chains. The world starts to blur and spin. In my pain-wracked daze, I can hear Erick laughing as he strides happily out of my cell.

Little by little, I can feel my connection with my wolf start to weaken.

I roll back and forth on the ground, sweating and shaking in my misery. I’m not sure how much time passes before I hear another set of footsteps outside my cell–high heels, this time.

Veronica strides into my cell.

She looks so healthy I hate her for it. She crouches down in front of me, examining me for a long moment.

“I don’t get it,” Veronica says quietly.

“What?” I choke out.

“What he sees in you,” she replies, standing back up. “How he could still want to fuck you after everything. I heard him talking to you, you know. He doesn’t want you. Not really.”

“I don’t…” I try to speak, but my lips are parched and bloody, and all I can feel is pain. “I don’t understand.”

Veronica looks down at me with disdain. I know she’s jealous of me–she’s looked down on me since we were children. Still, it’s terrifying to see her like this now. Pathetic as I may seem now, humiliated and ruined, it’s still not enough for her.

“We’re getting married next week,” Veronica says casually, smiling cruelly. “Erick and I. You’re never going to be able to break us up. And do you know what I’m going to do to you?”

She lowers her voice to a whisper as she lets the words slip past her lips.

“I’m going to make you a public maid.”

A public maid.

My blood runs cold. I know what that means.

‘Public maid’ is a polite way of saying it.

Veronica means to make me into the Pack Whore, and every werewolf in the pack can do whatever they want to me.

：Ex’s Wedding

Ivy’s POV

I sit naked in the bathtub as the Omega maid scrubs my skin pink, staring straight ahead.

It’s Veronica and Erick’s wedding day–the day they’ve chosen to solidify my final humiliation.

The maid gives me one last scrub, hauls me out of the water, wraps me in a towel, and dabs rose oil onto my skin. Wordlessly, she drags me towards my miserable rotting mattress of a bed, where a lacy bra and skimpy miniskirt have been laid out for me.

I stare at the clothing in shock. “Where’s the rest of it?”

The maid shakes her head sadly.

My stomach plummets. The maid starts to dress me, and I struggle at first, but it’s no use. When the maid is done stuffing me into my clothes–little more than underwear, really–I look into the rusty old mirror before me. As I’m distracted by the plunging scooped neckline of the bra, the maid clamps shackles around my wrists and ankles.

Even though I’ve already lost touch with my inner wolf thanks to the wolfsbane, it’s not enough.

Veronica never misses a chance to humiliate me.

By the time I make it into the banquet hall, Veronica and Erick have already wed.

The moment I walk into the banquet hall, I smell the most wonderful scent. Almost intoxicating–as though it’s drawing me towards something.

But what?

The maid nods once to me, then shuffles off, leaving me standard near the altar.

Veronica’s gaze lands on me, and her lips twist into a wicked smile. She looks beautiful, which I hate, and the wedding dress she’s wearing looks an awful lot like the one I was supposed to wear.

I hate her.

My attention shifts to Erick seated next to her with his arm wrapped around her waist. No matter how much I hate Veronica, Erick is the object of my vengeance. I’ll see him fall by my hand, or I’ll die trying.

I think Veronica can see the loathing in my gaze, because she taps her knife against her wine glass and stands up, drawing everyone’s attention to her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have with us Ivy Bell, the daughter of the late Alpha Bradley Bell of the Obsidian pack!” She calls out.

Jeers and whistles fill the room, a mockery of applause.

“As punishment for her traitorous ways,” Veronica continues, looking at me with a cruel glint in her eyes, “Ivy will be a public maid. Anyone can taste her any time.”

My mouth falls open as the crowd erupts into thunderous applause. A hundred leering eyes slip over me, slimy with their intent. I want to protest, but I know it’s no use. I need to survive first if I want to ever avenge my father. I look up at my once-best friend’s evil face, anger and fear filling my heart.

How much more can she do to me?

Whatever aromatherapy they’ve got at this wedding seems to be helping, though. Every time I catch a hint of that wonderful, intoxicating scent, my tense nerves seem to relax a bit.

I spent the rest of the wedding reception pouring drinks. As I do, though, strange men approach me, whistling and running their hands along my body. I shudder, but don’t dare object. It makes me feel sick, though.

As I pour champagne into a slender flute, a drunk Thunderclaw werewolf walks over to me and wraps his arm around my waist, rough hands wandering over my delicate, exposed skin.

“Hey!” I protest, writhing and struggling to escape. “Don’t touch me!”

“You’re public use, aren’t you?” He murmurs in my ear. The scent of alcohol emanating from him damn almost burns.

He starts to drag me out of the hall. “Let’s go to my room, baby,” he urges.

“Let go of me!” I snap.

He laughs, slamming me roughly against the wall and leaning in to kiss me. My stomach drops, I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping to dissociate from whatever’s going to happen to me, when–

“Ah!” The werewolf shrieks.

My eyes snap open just in time to see him get lifted up into the air, neck caught in a chokehold.

“You… you…” the drunk werewolf struggles to say, but he can barely make a sound.

I look up to see a tall, handsome man holding my assailant in a chokehold. The stranger is indescribably stunning–his eyes are hazel, almost gold, and shimmer with unknown depths. His hair is tousled and black. He’s dressed in a lean, elegant black suit that does his abundant musculature just about every possible favor. As he studies the guy in his grasp, his jaw is taut, and I can’t help but admire his gorgeous chiseled features.

He smells just like that wonderful scent in the wedding hall.

Who is he?

I watch, stunned silent, as the stranger tosses the drunk werewolf aside like he’s trash. He hits the floor with a sickening crunch, sliding several feet along the polished marble until he hits the wall hard. He moans silently, writhing on the floor as though his bones have been broken.

“Get lost!” The stranger commands.

My assailant struggles to his feet with great difficulty, glaring resentfully at the stranger before leaving in obvious disgrace.

I watch him go and exhale a sigh of relief. Once he’s gone, my attention returns to the stranger–my rescuer–with curiosity and caution. He’s not from my pack. I’ve never seen him before. And he has a noble aura that no member of the Thunderclaw pack could ever have. His every move exudes authority, making me want to submit.

“Thank you,” I whisper quietly.

The stranger stares at me for a long moment, then leaves without a word.

The moment he leaves, the weight of what happened crashes over me. To avoid punishment, I return to the hall. As I do, I can see the drunk werewolf talking to Veronica, who looks at me with hatred. My heart sinks.

She knows.

Soon, Veronica makes another announcement. “We’ll be selecting some of the maids to send to the Omega Auction,” she says, standing up. Her gaze locks on me. “Including the traitor and ex-Alpha’s daughter, Ivy Bell.”

The hall erupts into murmurs. Shivers arc along my skin. An auction? An Alpha-blooded she-wolf being publicly auctioned at the Omega Auction–it’s a massive humiliation for me as well as my entire pack.

“Don’t worry,” Veronica says, sauntering over to me and leaning in close. “Alpha S will like you.”

Alpha S?

Who is he?