~Dahlia's POV~
The next thing I knew, I was being dragged out of the transparent cage and out of the sight of these leering men who seemed almost pissed that I had been so easily bought.
Bought.
The word crashed into my mind like several bricks, and the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't help but fear that I was walking into some certain type of doom.
For the first time in several months, after I was dragged backstage, Peter didn't lay a finger on me. If anything, he seemed very pleased with me and I couldn't even blame him. I was just glad too that I didn't have to be on the receiving end of his whip today— or worst of all, dead like he had threatened I and Amara earlier.
Under his command, three young girls ushered me into a room where a beautiful but see-through dress lay atop a bed, with so many accessories that I found unnecessary. The room was painted in a clear white paint and had nothing in it besides the bed, a tub in the middle of the room and a table by the corner, and as we stepped in, my heart raced with a thousand questions.
I cradled Amara on my chest as I followed them like some puppet and after we got in, Peter gave me a once over; Whilst licking his teeth, he muttered; "You know, I see it… I finally do. It took me a while to finally acknowledge it but it's there."
While he spoke, I could only stare at him in confusion. I had no idea what he was rambling on about, and as if noticing my plight, he snickered. "I now know why you were bought at such an outrageous price… you're beautiful."
I cocked my eyebrow at him, not knowing whether to take that as a compliment or not but before I could even utter a word, he stepped forward, causing me to take a step back of my own.
"It's only a shame that I never got to taste you before you go… but you know your new master, the man who just bought you— he's a brute. You want to know why nobody tried to bid higher on you after he did?"
I don't.
"It's because they're all scared to get on his bad side… and I am too. But at least I'm glad, because that's the punishment you get for feeding off me for so long."
Again, my heart raced fearfully but I said nothing. I couldn't. Peter stared at me for a long minute and with the way his eyes strayed occasionally to my exposed cleavage, I had a clear picture of what he had in mind. However, he quickly shook himself out of whatever trance he was in because then he turned away.
He turned to the girls and said; "Dress her to perfection please."
I didn't miss the excitement in his voice when he said that. It was no surprise that he was ecstatic, probably over the moon now at the amount of money gotten off me. Suddenly, he pulled me into a hug and after patting Amara's head almost lovingly— something that I found strange— he stalked out of the room.
The three girls soon got busy with cleaning me up. They started by stripping me off the clothes I was wearing earlier, and after washing my skin clean with sweet-smelling soaps and shampoo in the tub, they led me back to the bed.
Feeling confused and quite disoriented, I could only sit as they massaged scenting oils into my skin and hair. They then styled my hair into a messy bun at the top of my head, leaving a few tendrils to cascade down my face. Probably satisfied with what they'd done on me, one of the girls leaned toward me and whispered;
"Do you like it?"
I wanted to say no but I couldn't speak. I couldn't even move as all I could think about was Peter and what he'd had to say about my new master. For the past few years, my life's been a series of unfortunate events, and right now, I couldn't help but think that I was about to walk into another chapter of the yet pathetic story.
Tears sprung into my eyes but I did well to keep them at bay. The girls took my silence as enough answers and so they began to dress me up instead. The dress they clad me in this time was white silk dress— which was a breath of fresh air from the stupid lacy piece I wore earlier. However, this was no better as it exposed even more skin than the last. My entire back was exposed and while the dress was so long, it reached the floor, the slit by its left side was so high, one could easily see my crotch.
My breasts were also on full display and due to the oil rubbed into my skin, my exposed cleavage seemed more pronounced. I thought about hiding away, covering myself up with something… anything… but after the realization that I was someone's property now, I gave up.
Amara's clothes were changed too and her hair styled into a ponytail. They were just about to begin to dab some of those makeup brushes onto her face when I cried out desperately; "No please!"
I didn't want that. I didn't want her dolled up and degraded just as I had been. Maybe it was the murderous tone of my voice or the fact that my motherly instincts had kicked in, but the girls didn't bother to argue. They simply left her alone and shuffled away from me.
"Sorry," They said in unison and were just about to turn away when one of those scar-faced ugly men peeked through the door. He gave me a once over and growled;
"We go now. Come with me."
Something about his words made a shiver run down my spine but I said nothing. I couldn't even bring myself to if I wanted to. So instead, I picked my daughter up and went after him. I followed him through several hallways and corridors until we arrived just at the front of a door, a door that was strangely painted in red and had two bodyguards stationed outside. He then turned to me, his eyes sharp.
"Now, you go in there." He said stiffly, his voice hoarse, "…and you be a good girl or Alpha Zarek wouldn't care that he just spent a fortune on you."
Now, this was the second person saying something like this to me, and for some reason it made me even more nervous. My breath hitched in my chest as I pulled the doorknob but before I knew it, the stupid Scar-face pushed me into the room and fastened the lock behind.
I did not get the chance however to react to his cowardice because just then, the smell of something strong hit my nostrils.
It wasn't sweet but was pungent and foul smelling, and when it dawned on me what it was, I gasped, slapping my hand over Amara's eyes.
Because it was blood. There was a lot of it.
And in the middle of it all, my mate stood, tall as a giant and imposing. I should cower in fear... I should be frightened. But I wasn't. Instead, I felt a weird warmth spread across my chest.
Oh Hades, I must be mentally deranged.