Sold to the Alpha

Kaia

It was too early for anyone to be awake, but my room felt like a coffin. I couldn't stay in there. I hadn't slept, and my body felt like lead, dragging across the floor. My brain was a thick fog, heavy and slow, moving like a corpse.

The hallway was a tomb. Silent. Empty. Perfectly still.

Then I felt it. A prickle on the back of my neck. Something was in the shadows, tracking me.

The hit came out of nowhere. A shadow slammed into me, shoving me into a dark corner until the walls felt like they were closing in to swallow me whole.

A white-hot flash of pain erupted across my face. The slap was a single, sharp crack that echoed off the stone.

"You little bitch!"

Devora's face was twisted, ugly with a manic kind of rage. Behind her, her two shadows hovered with grins that were too wide and far too sharp. Their teeth glinted like small, hungry predators.

She fist her hand into my hair, yanking my head back until my scalp burned. "You're a whore! I saw the way you threw yourself at Damon! You think you're good enough to even look at the son of the Second Empire?"

My cheek was a sheet of fire. I tried to pull away, my voice trembling. "I-I didn't! I never even looked at him!"

Her laugh was thin and jagged, like breaking glass. "Liar! You're nothing without your father. You're trash! He is mine!"

The air left me. They moved in like a pack. A fist sank into my stomach, stealing my breath. Another cracked against my ribs. A brutal rain of strikes followed-stomach, side, face. One set of nails clawed at my head while another blow landed in my side. Every nerve in my body screamed in a single, dying note of agony.

Then, something inside me snapped.

The pain didn't just fade; it vanished. The world stopped hurting. Everything went quiet. The high-pitched, terrified ringing in my ears died down, replaced by a low, hungry roar.

I didn't plan the next move. I didn't think at all. I just became a blur. My hands shot out, not to block, but to destroy.

I locked my fingers around Devora's throat.

Her eyes went wide. The hate drained out of her face, replaced by raw, naked terror.

"G-gah..." She tried to scream, but it only came out as a wet, choked rattle.

Power surged through my veins, hot and heavy like molten metal. I lifted her off her feet. She kicked and clawed, but it was like a doll fighting a mountain. I threw her against the cold wall with a force that made the stones vibrate. She felt light. She felt pathetic.

Her friends froze. Their cruel little smiles shattered. I could smell the sharp, stinking scent of their fear.

I felt nothing. No pain, no regret. Only the rage.

My vision bled into something else. The blue was gone, replaced by a cold, burning silver. A monstrous strength filled me, something that didn't feel human at all. Something that was starving for more.

"He... is... not... worth... this," I hissed. My voice was a dark, heavy rasp that sounded like dry bone grinding under a massive weight.

"L-let me g-go..." Devora sobbed. Tears streaked through the purple-red bruises forming on her face.

The silver light in my eyes flared. The hallway felt too small for the thing I was becoming. Devora felt like paper in my hands. I could crush the life out of her with a single thought. She had dared to touch me.

Her friends didn't wait around. They shrieked, stumbling over their own feet as they bolted down the hall. "Help! She's killing her! She's a monster!"

My rage beat like a war drum in my chest. Devora's face was turning a sickening shade of gray. It would be so easy to just finish it.

I was a second away from snapping her neck when the heavy, synchronized thud of boots broke the silence.

Two massive figures rounded the corner. Academy Guards. Their eyes locked onto the scene, turning hard and cold in an instant.

"Miss Kaia," Victor, the lead guard, barked. His voice was a wall of authority. "Drop her. Now."

The molten heat in my blood simmered down. It knew the rules. It recognized the power in his voice. I let go.

Devora crumpled to the floor, coughing and sobbing as she clutched her bruised throat. My hands were shaking, not from weakness, but from the sudden, violent loss of that power. The silver light snapped back to a dull blue, leaving a hollow, aching void behind.

Victor didn't even look at Devora. He watched me. A flash of something-knowing, maybe a warning-danced in his hard eyes for a split second.

"Miss Kaia," he said again, his voice dropping to a lower, softer tone. "Come with us."

They flanked me, their sheer size forming a walking cage. They didn't touch me, but I felt the weight of the invisible chains as I walked between them. I left Devora gasping on the floor.

Students peered out from their doorways, their faces pale with fear. The whispers died the moment they saw my eyes.

They marched me away from the fake marble and the polished uniforms of the Academy. My father had built this place on our land-a gold-plated cage for the children of the elite. A place that demanded I stay silent and small.

I was the daughter of the most powerful man in the world, and all they had for me was hate.

"Your father will be notified," one of the guards muttered, avoiding my gaze as if I were radioactive.

Of course he would.

I was marched straight to my room like a common criminal. The door shut with a heavy, final click.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my hands still trembling. My mind kept looping the image of Devora dangling in the air. The ease of it. The strength. The fire in my eyes.

What was I turning into?

My heart wouldn't settle. Something inside my ribs paced back and forth, restless and wild. It felt like a fever that wouldn't break.

A knock cut through the quiet.

Astra walked in. She was cold as always, her lab coat crisp and her hair pulled back so tight it looked painful.

"Good morning, Kaia."

She set the tray of syringes on the table. The metal clinking made my stomach knot. I hated this routine. I hated how normal the sight of needles had become.

"I heard you attacked a student today," Astra said. She didn't bother looking up from her work. "Is it true?"

"Yes."

The word felt like lead in my mouth.

Her eyes flicked to the silver bracelets locked around my wrists. They were heavy and cold: cuffs disguised as jewelry.

"I see. How are the bracelets feeling today?"

"They're fine." My voice was sharper than I intended. I hated those things. I hated the weight of them.

Astra didn't flinch. She never did. She pressed a needle against my skin and I held my breath. The sting was sharp, but I let it happen. Pain was the only thing that felt honest anymore.

"Do you want the good news?" she asked, pressing a cotton ball to the red bead on my arm.

I stared at the floor. I didn't give her the satisfaction of an answer. She waited, then smiled like she was holding a winning card.