Some monsters are made in war.Others are born to love the one they should destroy..
Selene
They called my name like I wasn't even a person.
"Lot Seventeen. Selene Blackthorn."
I stood on the auction stage with silver cuffs locked around my wrists and ankles. I wasn't shaking. I refused to shake.
I stared straight ahead, spine straight, chin high, just like my father taught me.
But inside? My heart was racing.
Panic beat against my ribs like a caged bird, but I buried it beneath cold silence. No one would see me break. Not here. Not in front of them.
I hadn't been outside a cell in weeks. The last time I saw the sun was when they dragged me from the prison block to prepare me for this auction.
And now, here I was, standing in front of a room full of wolves who wanted to buy me.
Not because I was useful.
Not because I was strong.
Not because I had anything left to offer.
Because I was his daughter.
The daughter of Alpha Marcus Blackthorn.
The most hated man in the northern territories. The traitor. The rebel.
The one who had started a war. And lost.
Now I was all he had left.
And these people were ready to rip me apart for it.
"She's twenty-four," the auctioneer said. "Gifted bloodline. No known mate. Unclaimed. Descended from the Blackthorn alpha line, known for rare elemental traits. Untouched. Trained in languages and politics."
My stomach turned.
Their words painted me like a pedigree hound. Like a relic, polished and prized. Not a person.
I wasn't here because of politics.
I was here to be humiliated.
Used.
Sold.
Stripped of my name. My power. My dignity.
"Starting bid, one hundred thousand credits."
Silence came first.
Then the room exploded.
"Two hundred!"
"Three-fifty!"
"Four hundred thousand. She's worth it just for her blood!"
"I'll go five!" someone yelled from the far left.
The bidding went fast, voices layering over each other like waves crashing against a shore.
Greedy. Desperate. Hungry.
I kept my face blank, my hands still.
But I couldn't stop my thoughts.
Don't cry. Don't blink. Don't fall apart in front of them. Don't let them see the girl they think they've broken.
And then, a voice spoke.
Calm.
Deep.
Cold.
"One million."
The room stopped breathing.
Even I stopped breathing.
I knew that voice.
Even though I hadn't heard it in six years. Not since the day the war ended.
I turned my head slowly, even though I already knew who I would see.
Kieran Volkov.
Alpha of the Northern Pack.
The Warlord.
The man who had ended my father.
The man who had led the final assault that destroyed our stronghold and took everything from us.
He stood tall at the back of the room, dressed in black, broad shoulders and sharp jaw. His eyes. Icy blue. Were locked on me.
And for the first time since I was captured... I felt afraid.
Not because of what he was going to do.
But because the moment our eyes met, something inside me shattered.
A heat bloomed in my chest.
A thread tightened between us.
A bond. Unseen but unbreakable. Ancient. Sacred. Damned.
My body knew what my mind screamed to reject.
No.
Goddess, no.
Kieran Volkov was my mate.
My fated mate.
I stumbled back one step, barely catching myself.
I saw it then. In his eyes.
He felt it too.
He didn't look pleased.
He looked furious. Shocked. Conflicted. Maybe even disgusted.
Like fate had spat in his face and dared him to swallow it.
Good.
Because that made two of us.
The auctioneer stammered. "O-one million, going once... going twice..."
No one dared to challenge Kieran's bid.
"Sold."
The guards stepped up and unlocked my chains.
I stood still, refusing to move as one of them reached for my arm. He grabbed me, but I yanked it back.
"I can walk."
He didn't argue.
I walked down the steps slowly, every footstep echoing in the thick silence of the room.
Each stride a death knell to my old life. To my freedom.
And I walked straight to him.
To my mate.
To my enemy.
His eyes stayed on me the whole time.
When I stopped in front of him, I looked up.
He was taller now. Broader. Harder.
But not untouchable.
I raised my chin.
"You're proud of this?" I said quietly, my voice sharp. "Buying your enemy's daughter like a trophy?"
"I didn't buy a trophy," he said. His voice was deep and even. "I bought a weapon."
My jaw clenched. "Then you're a fool. You don't know what I am."
"I know enough."
"No," I said. I leaned in, just enough for him to hear me and no one else. "You made a mistake, Alpha."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
I took one more step closer and whispered, "You should have killed me instead."
Kieran
I had waited six years for this moment.
Not the auction.
Not the girl.
The end of Marcus Blackthorn's legacy.
And Selene? She was the last piece of it.
I had studied her, even before the war ended. She was smart. Trained in diplomacy and public speaking.
Rumors said she had inherited her grandmother's power. Rare, unstable magic tied to shadow and fire.
But I didn't care about rumors.
I came to end a bloodline.
I didn't expect this.
The moment her eyes met mine, something snapped inside me.
A pull.
A connection.
No.
The word thundered through my head.
Not her.
Not the daughter of the man who took my soldiers, destroyed my cities, and nearly cost me my kingdom.
She can't be mine.
But she was.
The bond clicked into place. Her scent hit me like fire and snow. My wolf surged forward before I could stop it.
Mate.
She felt it, too. I saw the truth in her eyes.
First shock, then hatred.
Good.
I didn't need her to love me.
I didn't want it.
This was a mistake.
A twisted joke from the Moon Goddess.
But I wouldn't waste it.
She would still serve her purpose.
Let the bond burn us both. I would use it.
I would use her.
"Come," I said coldly. "We're leaving."
"No orders, Alpha," she said bitterly. "You bought chains. You didn't buy loyalty."
I stared at her for a long moment.
Then I said, "No. But I will earn obedience."
Her jaw tightened, but she walked beside me anyway.
Not a prisoner.
Not a mate.
Something in between.
And she had no idea what I would do to keep her from leaving me again.
As we left the auction house, I caught her looking at the sky.
She hadn't seen the stars in weeks. Maybe longer.
She whispered something I almost missed.
"I'll escape. Even if it kills me."
I didn't say a word.
Because deep down, I knew the truth.
She might try to escape me...
But I would burn the world before I let her go.
Selene
The drive was too quiet.
I sat in the back seat of a black armored SUV, arms crossed, staring out the window. Thick pine forests rushed past the glass, endless and cold. Just like him.
Kieran Volkov sat beside me.
Our knees almost touched.
But neither of us moved.
The silence wasn't peaceful, it was suffocating. I could feel the bond between us buzzing under my skin like static. My wolf stirred, confused and furious. I kept my expression blank, but inside, I wanted to scream.
I shouldn't have felt anything for him. He was the enemy. My family's killer. My jailor.
But the mate bond didn't care about history or hate.
And that made it dangerous.
I cleared my throat and said, "You don't speak? Or are you just pretending I'm not here?"
"I don't talk unless there's something worth saying," he replied, eyes fixed on the road ahead.
I rolled my eyes. "Typical Alpha. Always quiet until someone's bleeding."
His jaw ticked, but he didn't take the bait.
"What exactly do you plan to do with me?" I asked.
"Depends on how useful you are," he said without emotion.
"And if I'm not?"
He turned his head slowly to look at me, and something cold passed through his eyes. "Then you're just a Blackthorn."
I swallowed hard, looking back out the window.
So that was it. He didn't want a mate. He wanted leverage. A weapon. And he had just bought me like one.
But I wasn't anyone's tool. Not anymore.
The SUV rolled past massive black iron gates. In the center was a silver emblem of a wolf's head split by a sword, his pack's crest.
Behind the gates, Kieran Volkov's estate came into view.
My breath caught for a second.
It looked nothing like the Blackthorn home I grew up in. This wasn't a mansion, it was a fortress. Stone walls. Towers. Spotlights. Armed guards. Wolves on patrol.
It didn't look like a home.
It looked like a war base.
It looked like a prison.
Fitting.
When the car stopped, a soldier opened my door without saying a word. Kieran got out first. I followed, spine straight, refusing to flinch as cold air hit my skin.
He gave one order to the guards.
"She stays in the south wing. Two escorts with her at all times."
I narrowed my eyes. "You really think I need babysitters?"
He didn't even look at me. "No. I think they'll need backup when you try something."
"Then maybe you should be afraid," I said quietly, stepping closer to him. "Because if I get the chance, I will run."
Kieran's expression didn't change. But his voice dropped low.
"And if you do, Selene... I will come for you."
Kieran
The bond burned through my chest like fire I couldn't put out.
She walked beside me, tall and proud, head high like a queen without a crown. Her scent was in the air now, lavender, ash, and something wild I couldn't name. It hit me every time she stepped closer.
It was distracting.
It was dangerous.
And I hated how much I noticed it.
She wasn't supposed to be my mate. She was supposed to be my weapon. A final move in a long game of war.
But fate didn't care about plans.
Now she was here. In my territory. In my house.
And I had no idea what the hell I was going to do with her.
We walked through the grand hall. The walls were made of dark stone, lit with dim torches and tall windows. I could feel her eyes scanning everything, marking exits, memorizing doors.
She was already planning her escape.
Good.
Let her try.
She thought I didn't know what she was capable of. But I had read the reports. The rumors. Her magic was awakening again. The same magic that had once scorched an entire southern outpost in one night.
She wasn't just her father's daughter.
She was something else entirely.
Something worse.
I stopped outside the doors of her new room.
"This is where you'll stay," I said.
She didn't move.
She looked at the guards beside her, then at me.
"I'll never belong here."
"You were never meant to," I said. "This isn't a home. It's a battlefield."
"And you think you've already won," she said bitterly.
I didn't answer. I just turned and walked away.
But the truth was?
I hadn't won anything.
I had no control over this bond. No plan for what came next. And no idea how to stop the storm I just brought into my own house.
That night, I stood on the balcony of my office, staring out over the forest.
A soldier stepped up behind me.
"Alpha, we have a problem."
I didn't turn around. "What kind of problem?"
He hesitated.
"She's already gone."