Bullied by my stepsister; Claimed by the Alpha.

^Riya

"Pack up, your new owner is coming to pick you up," My stepmother announced, carelessly dropping her tea mug on a wooden coffee table. The content spilled, causing a dark pigment on the table.

"A new owner? I don't understand you, stepmother." I staggered almost colliding with the brown accent chair Dad used to sit on during his sick days.

"I will make you understand." My stepsister, Ama, interrupted curtly. I turned to face her. Her expression was as stoic as always. "You are getting betrothed to Sir Brandon today."

My legs wobbled, and my heart skipped a beat. "W.. what do you mean?" I rubbed my sweaty palms on my long flowery dress and wiped off my perspiration. "This is all a misunderstanding. I'm not some sort of merchandise to be traded at any given time. I do not understand."

I couldn't swallow the idea of being traded to the most promiscuous man in the pack.

"Don't feel miserable though, I have good tidings." Ama rose and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Sweetie, this is a chance. You don't have a mate, neither have you wolfed, yet someone of a great influence is willing to have you. Think about it." She chuckled, and returned her attention to one of her books, a mischievous grin etched on her face.

Ignoring Ama, I dropped to my knees and grabbed my stepmother's hands, "Stepmother, you can't do this to me. Please, make me believe what Ama just said is a lie!"

My stepmother jerked off my hands, violently, as if they were plagued. "Touch me once more and that would be the end of your filthy hands!"

I stumbled, my back hitting the cold, hard floor. I should have known that pleading wasn't going to change a thing.

I picked myself up and tried again, tears looming, and my chest tightening. "This is my home, stepmother." I sniffled. "I've never known anywhere else as home. Please, let me stay."

Ama closed her book and stared at me with mirth. "How I thought you were a smart little one. This place has never been your home, Riya. Also, use at least some less readable approach." She sneered and returned to her book.

"She thinks I'm buying it." My stepmother added.

"Have you forgotten Dad's last words?! Yet, you want to push me out of my home and sell me off to some disgusting old bum!"

A scoff escaped my stepmother, "Like the heck I care."

"What?!" A realization hit me. "Wait... Did you kill Dad?!"

A slap landed on my face. I stared at my stepmother, eyes widened, and saw a fleeting look of fear and remorse in her eyes. "I should have thrown you out years ago! You monster!"

"Gosh, I just want to read in peace, Mom! When is the knight coming to rescue his goddamn damsel, for Christ's sake?!" Ama screamed, tossing her book to the floor.

The doorbell chimed, reducing the tension building in the room.

"I think he's here!" My stepmother rose, picking up the book Ama had dropped. "Ama, act like a lady. I don't want our guests to have wrong impressions of you."

She hastily scrubbed off the tea stain on the table with her sleeve, before realizing her mistake. "Damn! Get me some wet wipes, you idiot!"

After a futile attempt to clean her sleeve, my stepmother threw the wipes at my face and rushed to attend to the guests.

"Mr. Brandon! Come on in!" My stepmother stepped aside, "I apologize for the late response, you know how tardy women can be."

Brandon entered the house, his body covered with a strong smell of tobacco, while accompanied by two bouncers, one husky, and the other, a contrast.

"I must comment, you have a very beautiful home. Your husband was quite a stubborn one, but he was a good friend. May his soul rest in pleasant peace."

"Thank you for the kind words, good sir. I'm happy he's resting and is finally in a good place." My stepmother sniffled, feigning tears, and turned to me with a smile. "Get the man a cup of tea, child."

Repulsion filled me; I almost puked. I balled my hands into fists and dashed to the dining hall. I fussed with the tea espresso machine for a couple of minutes, before getting a hang of it.

I returned to the living room with a cup of coffee. "We are out of tea, Stepmother. So, I made coffee instead."

My stepmother twitched in her seat. "Out of tea? Did you finish the last one this morning?"

Surprised, I responded incredulously. "No, I didn't..."

She cut me off and waved her hand impatiently. "It's fine, it's fine." She stood up, took the coffee from me, and offered it to Brandon. "Mr. Brandon, would you care for some coffee?"

"Who drinks coffee in the afternoon? Certainly not an old man like me, but thank you anyway." He chuckled, took a sip and settled the coffee on the table beside a brown envelope he had brought along.

He turned to face me. "Have we met before?" He looked me over. My skin curled under his unsettling gaze.

"I'm certain we haven't met before, Mr. Brandon, and I assure you that this will be our last encounter since I have no intention of going anywhere with you." My heart was pounding against my chest as I spoke, but I needed to. Just so he knows that I wasn't interested.

"Forgive this child, Mr. Brandon," my stepmother edged in, with a forced smile. "She can be quite rude, but trust me, she will make a good wife."

She turned to me, her eyes shooting bullets. "Apologize now, dear. I know you're exhausted, but you should never speak to elders that way."

"I'll not apologize, stepmother. And, I refuse to get married without my consent, hands down not to this man!" A new resolve brewed from my inside, and I was ready to fight.

"Riya!"

"What?! I refuse to be a pawn in your chess game!" My body shook. I was filled with rage, and the intensity made my heart burn.

"Keep quiet, you fool!" My stepmother sprang to her feet, her voice shaking with frustration.

"No!" I stared into her eyes, tears pouring down my face, my heart aching with resistance.

"You both need to calm down. Child, you need-"

"Shut it, old man! Your opinion isn't needed here!" Immediately the words were out, the husky bouncers rushed at me and landed a punch on my face. My head spun and ached as I curled up on the floor.

Brandon cleared his throat and got up. His silence raised fear within me, and I couldn't help but wonder what thoughts ran through his mind.

He picked up the envelope and gave it to my stepmother. "That's your part of the deal, Mrs. Collins. I'll be leaving now. It was such a hassle being here."

"But you have just arrived. Why don't you stay a bit longer?" My stepmother's eyes sparkled as she opened the envelope, halfheartedly persuading the man.

"I have other things to attend to. I'll come visit another time. Have a good day."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Brandon. Have a good day too."

He started leaving, then paused, his eyes now fixated on Ama, whose legs were crossed, while holding her book up to her face. "Who is she?"

"Oh! She's my daughter, Ama," my stepmother replied and added hastily. "She's already betrothed to the Alpha."

I arched my brows, as I listened to her lie, utterly disgusted. The alpha, not even someone of less authority.

Ama had never been engaged to anyone. All she does is read books which obviously are not reflecting on her, and with no plans of having a life of her own.

"Hmm. She seems like she'd make a fine wife. So much composure with an aura of brilliance. She's so beautiful, what a shame." Brandon puffed on his tobacco, glared at me, and exited the room.

Grabbed by the arms, the bouncers hauled me out, following suit. I fought and struggled to loosen their grips on me, but it was futile. What could a frail hand like mine do, anyway?

I looked back over my shoulders at my stepmother, and she couldn't have been less happy.

We arrived at Brandon's car parked at the parking lot and I was thrown into the back seat with him.

The drive was quiet with Brandon's eyes closed all through.

Hope seeped in, and I thought he must be a God-sent in disguise. I stared at his face, and he looked peaceful.

However, As the car sped down the road, my mind ran through different escape strategies. I just couldn't trust him.

After a couple of hours, the car halted in a secluded place, encircled with bushes. My heart started beating, so loud, I could almost hear it.

Brandon eventually opened his eyes and alighted the car.

"Follow him!" The husky bouncer, ordered, grinning from ear to ear.

As soon as I stepped out, Brandon thrust me against the car, his breath stinky and raspy. I tried to push him off me, but he slapped me.

He leaned in again, I grabbed his blonde scanty hair and took his head under my armpit. The source of my newfound strength was a mystery, but at that point, I couldn't ask for more.

While he fought, his screams muffled, I kneed him in the groin. He rolled over, groaning like a wounded cow.

I bolted past the bouncers, who immediately leaped out of the car, as soon as they heard Brandon's noises.

"Get her!" Brandon's voice roared behind me as I ran, heart pounding, lungs burning. I could hear the bouncers' thudding footsteps nearing, syncing with the sounds of the chirping birds in the distance.

A couple of minutes passed, and I was almost onto a tiled road.

Finally, maybe a miracle will surge.

Then, I glanced back, almost tripping on my torn dress that had caught a branch. The men were closing in on me.

Ripping off my dress from the branch, my heart thumping with haste. I dashed to the road, preparing to cross to the other side, but oblivious to an oncoming car.

As soon as I entered the road, the car gave a screeching sound that pierced into my ears.

I paused, my breath caught in my throat and my heart ceasing to beat for a minute. My head snapped towards it, while it came at me, its headlight casting eerie shadows on my face.

Then, I started to run, but it was too late.

The car hit me and I gave out a wrenchingly loud cry, a sharp pain assaulting my body, making my stomach churn.

While air slowly knocked out of my lungs, and the world heavily slipped away into darkness, I muttered incoherently, slumping to the ground. "I'm. . . free."