Untamed

C H A P T E R 1

My eyes darted from one person to the other as bids were made. Someone called out an insane amount and my heartbeat sped up considerably as I realized how bizarre this entire situation was.

I knew that none of these Alphas were bidding on me because of my skill. They were all just bidding on me for the sake of bidding on me. They knew that anyone who didn't want a white wolf in their Pack was insane, or maybe even worse.

I chose to believe that whoever didn't want me, just wasn't power hungry.

Another bid was called through the air and I watched as our Alpha made a note of who made the bid. Despite the setting sun, I was being affected by the heat in the air, opening my mouth to cool down. Our Alpha had told me to stay in wolf form, since he believed that it would drive the Alphas to bid more. I hated to admit that there was logic to his madness.

The piercing sound of a phone ringing cut through the air and my eyes immediately started looking for the distraction.

I soon found the source-a man with more muscle than height holding the phone to his ear while watching me with thinned lips. Instinct told me that the conversation about to take place would affect my future drastically, so I continued to let my eyes move around.

I was thankful for my enhanced hearing, which enabled me to listen to the conversation taking place on the other side of the crowd. It seemed as though there was some outer force compelling me to listen.

“A white wolf? Are your sure it’s a white wolf?”

A chill ran down my back as I listened to the gravely anger that seeped through the line. Even from this distance, I could hear that whoever the man was talking to wasn't in the most pleasant of moods.

There was a part of me that always wondered what it was that made people go berserk over me. The most I could do was manipulate the elements, and even though it was a lot more than most could do, it was nothing compared to what Royal Wolves could do.

“Yes, Alpha. I'm 100% sure. I watched her shift with my very own eyes.”

I felt my skin prickle with interest as I listened to the conversation. I had been under the impression that all Alphas were present today, but clearly I had been mistaken.

“Well then, what are you waiting for? I want him!”

The harsh, clipped tone of the Alpha would have made me from if I were in human form. There was this odd feeling in my gut telling me to run. That something bad was about to happen.

“She.”

“What?”

I momentarily wondered what could have been bad enough to make a man constantly snap at everyone he came in contact with.

“The white wolf is a she wolf, Alpha.”

There was a low, gravelly growl of disbelief before the Alpha spoke again, with a distinct tone of annoyance and frustration.

“What difference does it make whether it's a he or a she? Get. Her.”

The beep that run through the air was almost as clipped as the Alphas voice had been. A shiver ran down my spine as I watched the Beta turn around with a slightly defeated slump to his shoulders and start pushing his way to the front of the crowd, leaving a trail of annoyed Alphas in his wake.

“Two million!”

The words seemed to echo through the air and a startled silence settled around us. My heart felt as if it were about to go into cardiac arrest any minute now.

Someone called out another bid and I felt a sense of relief settle itself onto my shoulders. I kept my eyes on the Beta-I assumed that was what he was, since he had a certain aura of power surrounding him.

“Five million!”

His voice was clipped this time, resembling his Alphas. I watched as a slow smile spread around my Alphas face and I knew that it was more than he had ever bargained on getting for me. My eyes darted from person to person, silently begging them to up the bidding.

“Going once?”

I closed my eyes as I silently prayed to the Moon Goddess, asking for someone-anyone-to up the bid.

“Going twice?”

I opened my eyes as my heart sank lower than the pit of my stomach. The silence continued to stretch and I felt my body tense as I scanned the crowd, looking for a sign that someone wanted me enough not to let five million dollar get in the way.

“Sold to the Blood Hound Pack!”

I felt my blood run cold and I couldn't help but send Lola-our Luna-a pleading look as she covered me with a blanket as I shifted. I made sure that my body was covered before I stood up and bent down to pick up my shoes and my jacket, before following Lola as she started making her way back to the Pack House.

“You did good out there.”

I passed her a polite smile as we fell into step beside one another and I couldn't help but pull the blanket more securely around my body, wishing it could protect me from what was bound to happen.

“So what now?”

The hopeless note in my voice was audible, even to my own ears and I dropped the blanket once she had closed the door to my bedroom. I started getting dressed in the clothes I had put aside and just put the same jacket and shoes on again.

Lola had taken a seat on my unmade bed and her eyes were roaming around my room in a rather distracted way. I had already packed everything away, and the boxes were all stacked against the wall near the door and so were my suitcases. The only things remaining was the base of the bed and the mattress.

“In answer to your question, all you can do is wait. You already know that Alpha Ryder is no pleasant acquaintance, Aurora. I'm warning you not to mess around and get on his bad side. There are many rumors about him-some that even you have heard-and I don’t want you to be proof that they're true.”

I stared at her delicate form sitting on my bed as I tried to process her words. Alpha Ryder. I wasn't going to correct her and tell her that the rumors I heard were few and far apart with no way of finding out whether or not they were valid, but I knew that there had to be some truth in it if Lola didn't see the best in him.

Both of us jumped slightly when there was a rather harsh knock on my bedroom door. Lola was at the door before I even had enough time to look at it and there stood the Beta with a rather blank looking expression on his face. I watched as his eyes wondered around my bare room and then settled on the boxes.

“I parked the truck outside. There's only a limited amount of space, so I suggest that you take what's important and get on with it and leave the rest.”

I watched as he grabbed the biggest suitcase and then left the room without so much as a glance in my direction and I sighed before I ran a hand through my hair-a habit I had no recollection of learning. I picked up the box with my bed sheets and pillows inside and hurried on after the Beta.

“If you take any longer we might have hope of getting back home next week.”

I glared at the back of his head as I listened to his subtle way of suggesting I hurry up. He didn't have much right to talk, since he was the one setting the pace. I didn't comment on it because I didn't need to get on his bad side, since he was the closest thing to a friend that I had in my new Pack.

I felt my heart sink when I realized that there would be quite a lot of things that I would leave behind. Despite the fact that it was a rather large SUV and could have easily carried all my things, his way of packing wasted unnecessary space and we left with more than half of my things still sitting safely in my room.

The silence that settled between us was tense the air seemed to grow stuffy with every passing minute. I sent him a sideways glance and noticed that he was cleaning his jaw and there was a trickle of sweat running down his temple.

I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and started playing some stupid game about a whale who ate donuts to fly. It helped distract me from my current situation, but as the saying goes, all good things don’t last. The low battery alert came up on my phone and I locked it, causing darkness to wrap itself around us.

I hadn't really paid attention to our surroundings and hadn't expected it to be quite so dark. The road loomed before us, the headlights cutting through the darkness

My eyes snapped to the Beta as he cleared his throat and as my eyes roamed his features, I noticed the frown pulling at his eyebrows and I felt my shoulders tense. Whatever he was worried about was bad enough to drive him to communicate with me.

“As crazy as this sounds, as soon as we cross the border you need to get out and run.”

I stared at him for a few moments and he must have sensed my confusion, before he visibly tried to relax himself-loosening his hold on the steering wheel-and then launching into the explanation for his bizarre order.

“Alpha Ryder has a reputation, as you must have heard by now. I saw your face when you realized that you now belonged to the Blood Hound Pack. He hates any threat to his authority, therefore, the sooner you submit to him, the better. He loves a good game of chase. Especially if he wins. I saw what you did out there today and I’m pretty sure that you'll give him a run for his money-literally. All I’m asking is that you submit when you have to.”

There was a somewhat pleading note to his voice and I felt my own brows draw together as I tried to comprehend what he was saying. I had a better chance of being liked by the Alpha if I ran away from him? An old-fashioned game of chase? Surely he couldn't be serious...

I turned and let my eyes wonder over his features, looking for some sign that told me he was just messing with me. But as I continued to stare and his frown continued to deepen, I felt a sudden sinking in the pit of my stomach-something that seemed to be happening regularly today.

The moment I felt a weight settle on my shoulders, I knew that we were here. I did nothing as the SUV came to a standstill. We turned to each other at the same time and something about the pleading look in his eyes had me opening the door and sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me.

I heard the slight rumble as the engine turned over and he drove off. The sound of my only form of safety leaving seemed to kick my body into a sense of numbness. I had no idea where I was going… How do you run away with no destination to run to?

I heard rather than felt my clothes shred as I shifted and I felt my body relax slightly as the wind whipped through my fur. But as expected, my momentary feeling of bliss disappeared as soon as I became aware of the soft thudding of paws behind me, frightening me into pushing myself to go faster.

Even with the strength that my wolf was channeling into me, I could tell that the Alpha was gaining up on us. My legs were burning from the physical exertion, but I knew I couldn't stop. I could sense that my wolf was also dreading our meeting with the Alpha, and that added fuel to the fear.

I let out a yelp as I felt something nip at my tail and I cursed my light fur. It had obviously been easy to spot in a forest full of dark things and a moon that illuminated the darkness of the night. I let out a startled yelp as the Beta walked out from behind a nearby tree and I skid slightly as I navigated past him, mentally cursing when I almost tripped over my own paws.

I felt another nip at my tail-this one making more contact than the previous one-and I felt a slight level of hysteria as I tried tucking it between my legs. The nip had sent a rather startling numbness down my spine, rendering me useless.

It came as no surprise when I tripped harshly over a tree root and effectively lost the game of chase as a tumbled down a small hill into a mass of dead leaves and who knew what else. I stood up as fast as my aching body allowed and hastily shook the dirt from my fur.

I took deep breaths as I let my eyes dart around my surroundings, trying to pinpoint the location of the Alpha. As I started relying on my lungs for something other than breathing, I became aware of a vaguely familiar scent in the air.

It was a somewhat soapy smell… Something with citrus in it and the smell of wet ground after rain. I surprised myself with the fact that I had described the smell so easily and the thought had barely registered completely in my mind, before I heard the crunch of leaves behind me.

Bracing myself for an attack, I let out a growl as I turned around, preparing myself to face one of the most ruthless Alphas of the century. A chill traveled down my spine as I saw the glint of silver reflected in the moonlight as his hand reached out towards me.

I let out a whimper as I tried to move backwards, but suddenly there were two hands that wrapped around my neck from behind and held me stead as the Alpha clipped what was bound to be a collar around my neck.

Refusing to believe what had just happened, I growled and sat down, immediately starting to scratch at the same thing with my hind paws. I let out a yelp as a vicious stab of pain shot through my neck and I felt my body tense as I let out a low rumbling growl.

I turned towards the Alpha, ready to attack, when I felt my mind go numb-numb in the exact way it had gone when he nipped at my tail.

My wolf had gone into a similar sort of numbness and continued whimpering the word ‘Mate,’ over and over again as I continued to stare at the Alpha, trying to make sense of the situation.

He seemed like a cliche example of tall, dark and handsome. His hair looked black, or maybe it was a dark brown. It was hard to see with such a bad lighting source. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair, and said eyes were looking at me with nothing more than hatred glittering in them.

I took an involuntary step backwards, only to bump into the Beta. I let out a low growl as I let my gaze wonder between the two males, wanting nothing more than to bolt. I watched as the Alpha narrowed his eyes at my disrespectful form, and his expression turned into one of pure fury.

I let out a whimper as he grabbed a hold of the back of the collar-which happened to be leather-and started dragging me off to who knows where. I could feel my skin burning away from where the silver was biting into it and I continued to whimper with every step we took. I had always been rather weak when it came to handling silver. It was one of my few weaknesses.

I craned my neck towards the Beta, silently begging him for help, but all he did was stare at me apologetically. The sparks that were travelling through my body from his touch weren't strong enough to numb out the pain of the silver digging in to my skin.

We stepped into a clearing where a house was built and I whimpered as he dragged my towards an all too familiar looking pole. I tried calling upon my senses, but due to my rather unsettled state, it was hard to concentrate on anything. I whimpered as I felt the chain clip into the collar and watched as the Alpha started walking away.

I couldn't help but whimper again as I laid down with my head on my front paws as I tried telling myself that everything was alright. I knew that I would survive this. I had been a rather rowdy teenager and gotten my fair share of disciplinary time.

Chaining wolves to poles with silver collars on were a way of teaching us respect. It was a rather common occurrence with younger pack members, but it usually only happened once or twice. But for something like this to happen to a newly joined pack member… It was insanity.

I knew that the easiest way to get my freedom was to submit to Alpha Ryder as soon as I saw him again. But despite this knowledge, there was a part of me that made me want to stay here. Prove that I was stronger than I looked.

But that still wouldn't have me one step closer to knowing why I was in this particular situation…