The day Raventhorn would arrive was recognized even by the skies. It was a stormy day. The clouds gathered in the sky, threatening dangerously to fall.
Ava stood by the grand hall with Alpha Leon and Luna Selene. They were the only ones who were there to view her death sentence. It was what Ava referred to this trade as, a death sentence, not a political arrangement.
Luna Selene smirked at her from beside Leon, feeling victorious. She looked like she had won a prize. She probably thought Ava's departure and possible future death would be the perfect and most reasonable way to get rid of her.
Selene rested her hand possessively on Leon's arm, looking genuinely happy, but Leon, on the other hand, looked like he was meeting the devil for the first time.
Ava tried to hold herself together. She wore a simple grey dress that barely covered her bruises. She had imagined various ways she would die: beaten to death, starvation, but she never thought this would happen.
She was going to be Raventhorn's concubine. What more did he want? He already had almost six concubines last she heard. How many dicks did he possess anyway?
The sound of motorbikes approached; they all turned their heads to the entrance as the gates were opened. A motorcade consisting of two motorcycles and a car rode in the compound.
He had finally arrived. Alpha Lucas Raventhorn, the monster and butcher of Silver Pack.
He got out of the Lamborghini Urus, his presence intimidating. He was tall and looked as dangerous as people said. Scars decorated his hands like bracelets.
His silver eyes scanned Ava, sensing her fear. She felt small, even smaller than she had ever felt before.
Raventhorn approached, his men close behind him looking disciplined and deadly. Their presence spoke about their alpha's power.
Raventhorn took slow steps forward toward the Crimson's Alpha, who was visibly shaken.
Leon had granted him access to his land. He knew well this permission could backfire because even only with two men, Raventhorn could wreak a lot of havoc if he chose to.
Raventhorn's lips broke into a wicked grin. "Leon. I see you still lack a spine." His eyes scanned the courtyard, his eyes landing on Ava once more.
"Let me guess, this is the gift you had me come all this way for. Alpha, you wound me." He signaled with his fingers for Ava to come closer. She walked closer to the group and forced herself not to show any fear.
"A fair trade for peace." Leon straightened his shoulders, working up some nerve to respond.
"You think so little of me that you assume all I want is to fuck some slut?"
He took a step closer to Ava, and she swallowed hard. He got close enough to feel the heat radiating off her body. He snatched her jaw in his hands, his nails digging into her flesh. He cocked an eyebrow.
"Not to mention the fact that she is weak and without a wolf." He shoved her face away at that realization and turned angry eyes to Leon.
Selene flinched beside Leon, her confidence breaking for the first time since she cooked up the idea of using Ava to satiate Raventhorn's bloodlust.
Ava refused to look away; if she was going to be defiled or quite possibly maimed, she would do it with her pride intact.
Raventhorn smirked. "I was expecting something more, something creative, something I wouldn't be able to resist, and instead you handed me a beaten dog." His eyes scanned the open bruises her dress couldn't cover.
"She is all I have to offer."
"I do not agree."
Selene decided to step into the negotiation. "She is the rejected mate of an alpha and an omega who will serve you well."
Raventhorn's eyes flashed with amusement. "Oh Luna, the word going round about you is quite right. You have no brains to go with that beauty." His voice was condescending, like he was speaking to a child.
Ava almost smiled, almost as Selene's face darkened with anger. Raventhorn returned his attention to Leon.
"I mean, think about it. You expect me to accept this… as a bribe to keep me from tearing this pathetic excuse of a territory apart?"
"Then what do you want?"
"Blood… or ten of your finest gammas. I will choose."
"How can you say that? How will we protect our borders if we give you our soldiers?" Selene disputed.
"I will have to refuse." Leon said.
"Hmmm… well then, shall we ask the sacrificial lamb what she thinks of this arrangement?" Raventhorn turned to Ava once more.
Ava hesitated; her gaze quickly darted to Leon, who looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "You have to take me." She said, surprise quickly etched in Leon's and Selene's faces.
Raventhorne arched an eyebrow. "Why would I have to do that?"
"Because I was once his mate. You want someone angry enough to help you bring down territories, someone fueled with vengeance. Besides, if you do not take me, I am as good as dead, so you will be doing me a favor, and you would have earned my loyalty."
Raventhorne mulled her words over. True, that vengeance and hate were useful weapons. "But you do not have a wolf."
"Because I had no one guide me through it. Help me escape this hell, and I will forever be in your debt. I will do whatever it is you want, even to bring down my own pack!" Ava turned angry eyes in the direction of Leon and Selene, who realized they had just shot themselves in the foot.
"You little bitch!" Selene snarled and made to reach for Ava with extended claws, but Raven Thorne sent a slap her way, sending her flying.
Raventhorne turned to his men, "Take her," and then turned back to Leon. "Be safe for now."
The men stepped forward and grabbed Ava by the wrist and pulled her into the Lamborghini. "Careful, we don't want to break what's left of her." Raventhorn barked at his men.
Ava sat in the car, the first time she had been in anything that luxurious, and looked back at Leon. Her heart and mind were made up now. He had dangled her as nothing but a bargaining chip without thinking. She would become the thorn in his side.