Chapter 1: Seduce Him Like A w***e

Emma's POV The whip cracks across my back. Pain explodes. "Tonight is your last chance. Lucian returns at sunset. Seduce him, or my men get you instead."The rogue leader circles us—five girls huddled on cold stone, trembling and marked with welts. His yellow eyes fix on me. "Luna Maria is paying a fortune because her precious son won't touch women. He's being engaged next year, and she's desperate to... awaken his interest." He leans closer, breath reeking of alcohol. "Make him f**k you—that's all. Once you finish the task, I'll let you go home. " "Fail—" His smile shows too many teeth. "—and you'll wish you died in that market." --- I'm Emma Reid. Beta's daughter from Silver Moon Pack. Supposed to marry Ivan—our future Alpha—this spring. We'd known each other since childhood. He was patient, kind, everything I should want. Until an old woman offered drugged juice at the festival three months ago. Three months of hell. They kept us in a basement that reeked of mold and waste. Fed us once a day—if we were lucky. I fought. Screamed. Demanded they release me, threatened them with my father's wrath, with pack law, with everything I'd been taught mattered. They laughed. Then they beat me until I couldn't stand. They taught us how to walk, how to touch, how to please. The lessons were humiliating—practiced on each other. Any hesitation earned punishment. By the third week, I'd stopped thinking about pride. About dignity. About anything except survival. But they kept me "pure"—locked in a separate cell at night, guarded against the other rogues. Virgin slaves sold for triple the price. Every night I dreamed of home. 'I have to get home. I have to survive this and get home.' The girl beside me whispers what she knows. "Lucian Hale—Alpha King's second son. Extraordinarily handsome, favored above all others. But cold as ice. Won't even look at women." "Three before us tried. He sent them away untouched. The rogues made examples." I close my eyes, remembering the screams. 'Just seduce him into f*****g me.. That's all. Then I can go home. It has to be true. It has to be. --- They bring the dress at sunset. It's barely clothing—sheer red silk so fine I can see my skin through it. The neckline plunges between my breasts, held by a single tie at the neck. The skirt is slit up both sides to my hips, held together by thin ribbons. No undergarments. Nothing beneath but skin. When I move, everything shows—the curve of my breasts, the shadow between my thighs. I look like a w***e. Exactly what they've made me. The handler shoves me toward his chambers. "Be sweet. Be eager. Get his c**k inside you, and you're done. You can go home." I cling to it as she pushes me through the door. --- Lucian stands by the window when I enter, back to me. Tall—over six feet. Broad shoulders beneath black silk. Golden hair catching lamplight like a crown. He doesn't turn. "Leave the wine on the table. Then get out." His voice is cold. Disinterested. My hands shake as I pour wine. The bottle clinks against crystal. 'Be sweet. Be eager.' I pick up a glass, force trembling legs toward him. "Alpha Lucian..." My voice is small. "I brought wine. Would you—" He turns. I forget how to breathe. He's devastatingly beautiful—sharp cheekbones, strong jaw, features like carved marble. But his eyes make my breath catch. Purple. Deep violet framed by dark lashes, currently fixed on me with complete disdain. Like I'm dirt beneath his boots. "I said leave it." Each word is clipped. "I thought—perhaps you'd like company—" His hand shoots out, knocking the glass from my grip. It shatters. Wine spreads like blood across stone. "I don't want company." He steps closer, towering over me. "And I certainly don't want some desperate w***e throwing herself at me because someone paid her to." The contempt in his voice makes me flinch. But I can't give up. Can't. 'Home. Think of home. Of Mother and Father. Of freedom.' I force myself forward, reaching for him with shaking hands. "Please, my lord—" His hand catches my wrist—grip iron-hard. "What are they threatening you with?" His voice is cold but there's something underneath—curiosity, maybe. "Death? Money?" I can't answer. My throat is too tight with fear and shame and desperate hope. He releases me suddenly, turning away. "Leave. Now. While I'm still offering." "I can't." The words burst out. "Please—I can't—" If I leave, they'll kill me. Or worse. And I'll never see home again. Never see my family. Never escape this nightmare. I reach for him again, more desperately this time. My hands catch his waist. He spins, shoving me back with more force than necessary. I stumble. My heel catches on the torn hem of silk. I fall hard. The impact drives air from my lungs. But worse— The single tie at my neck snaps. The flimsy dress slides down, fabric pooling at my waist, exposing my breasts completely to the lamplight. I freeze. Heat floods my face. Lucian goes absolutely still. His purple eyes lock onto my exposed chest—onto my pale breasts with their pink n*****s hardening in the cool air. I watch his pupils dilate—black swallowing violet. His breath catches, then comes faster. Harder. The change in him is immediate and visceral. His jaw clenches. His hands flex at his sides like he's fighting the urge to reach for me. However much he despises the situation, however cold he acts—his body is responding. The realization sends a strange thrill through me mixed with terror. 'This is my chance. If I can just—if he'll just—' "Cover yourself." His voice is rough now. Strained. I don't move. Can't. My hands stay frozen at my sides even as every instinct screams to cover up. 'Let him..Then I can go home.' He takes a step toward me. Then another. Stalking closer like a predator approaching wounded prey. He crouches down, bringing his face level with mine. This close, I can see his pupils are still blown wide. Can hear his breathing—rapid, barely controlled. Can smell him—cedar and something darker, more primal. "Last chance." The words come out almost as a growl. "Pull that dress up and run. Because if you stay like this——" He stops. Swallows hard. I watch his throat work. "I'm not a gentle man." His voice drops lower. " His hand reaches out, fingers trailing along my collarbone. The touch is light but possessive. Claiming. His fingers trace lower, ghosting over the curve of my breast, circling my n****e without touching it. I should run. Everything in me screams to run. 'Just this one night. Just let him finish. Then it's over. Then I'm free.' I force myself to stay still. To meet his eyes. "I'm staying." Something dark and hungry flashes across his face. His pupils dilate further until his eyes are nearly black. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He leans down, breath hot against my ear, voice dropping to a rough whisper. "Because once I start, I won't stop until I'm completely satisfied. No matter how much you beg." His hand fists in what remains of the silk at my waist. He pulls hard. The fabric tears completely—ribbons snapping, silk shredding with a violent sound that echoes through the chamber. Cool air hits my completely bare skin as the ruined dress falls away in strips, leaving me naked on his floor. Lucian's eyes rake over my exposed body with an intensity that makes my skin burn—taking in every curve, every shadow, lingering on the apex of my thighs where I've never been touched. "Since you're so determined—" His voice is dark velvet and sharp edges. He reaches down, hands gripping my waist hard enough to bruise, lifting me effortlessly off the floor. His strength is casual, absolute, reminding me how powerless I am. "—then let's see if you can actually handle what you're begging for." He carries me toward the massive bed——