Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Blood roared in my ears like a bomb going off.

Dominic Voss?

The name kept echoing in my skull as my whole body shook. That Alpha - the one everyone whispered about in hushed, horrified voices. The one who stripped women down and used them until there was nothing left. He didn't care if they lived or died. Any female who got close to him was broken, piece by piece, until she shattered completely.

They said women who went near him either went mad... or ended up dead. Some threw themselves from his tower. And now my own father wanted to hand me over to him.

"No! You don't have the right!" My voice came out raw and shrill. "You've never once acted like a father - don't you dare call me your daughter now!"

"If I could, I'd never claim you as my blood." He stepped closer, his Alpha aura crashing down like a physical weight, crushing my chest. "But you owe me. And you will repay it."

"You should feel honored," he said coldly. "It's my name that gives a worthless omega like you the chance to carry the heir of the strongest pack's Alpha."

"Honored?" The word barely made it out of my mouth. "Then you should hand that prize to Lily. The daughter you actually care about."

"Enough of your nonsense, Lena! I'm not like you - I'm not some pathetic Omega who just got dumped. Know your place. Nobody wants you."

She leaned in close, dropping her voice to a whisper. "At least it's better than what happened to your mom. She was so weak she offed herself. Maybe toughen up a little."

Nobody talked about my mother like that. She didn't kill herself - she was tortured to death by the pain of a broken bond. And Lily said it like it was nothing.

I didn't think. My arm flew up and I slapped her hard across the face.

"You bitch!" Lily shrieked and lunged at me, grabbing my hair. I sank my teeth into her arm. She screamed. I shoved her to the floor and pinned her down.

"Enough!" My father grabbed me off her, claws digging into my shoulders. "You still carry this pack's mark. You don't get to defy your Alpha."

He was right. For two years I'd refused to sever the bond - some pathetic part of me still hoping he'd wake up and see what he'd done to me. But the rules were clear: as long as I kept the old bond, no other pack would fully accept me. I'd be trapped under his control forever.

Unless a marriage broke the chains. Even if that marriage was hell, it couldn't be worse than this.

My phone buzzed. Luke. One line: Lena, come back. I cleaned up. I bet your parents don't want you anyway.

Asshole. I blocked him without blinking.

"Don't look at us like that." Celia scoffed. "We raised you-is this how you repay us?"

Raised me? What a joke. I'd been doing half the housework since I was six. In high school, I worked nights at a diner. They never gave me a cent.

"I'm not going," I said.

"Looks like you need to be taught a lesson." My father's voice was cold as iron. He held out his hand. Lia, moving like she'd done it a thousand times before, placed the whip into it.

I had lived in the pack's rented house for two years. Two whole years, without ever being touched by a whip again.

But the moment I saw that whip-still stained with my old blood-my whole body started to shake.

"No... Dad, you can't do this..." I whispered, trembling.

I wanted to fight back. I couldn't. The memory of that whip cracking across my skinny body, of skin splitting open, wrapped around me like a nightmare.

"Is saying yes really that hard?" my father said coldly, his voice heavy with Alpha compulsion. Then, without a moment's hesitation, he brought the whip down hard across my back. Fire exploded along my spine and shot through every nerve in my body.

"Now. Tell me your answer." He loomed over me.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to dull just enough. Then I opened them again.

"I'll go."

If this was hell, what difference did another hell make? At least I wouldn't be whipped to death here, tonight.

They needed an Omega who could breed-which meant that, at least until I gave them a child, I was safe. I looked at their twisted faces and wished, with everything in me, that I could cut myself away from them for good.

"But I have one condition."

"What?" My father narrowed his eyes.

"The moment I leave, I owe Blue Ridge nothing. No debt. No ties." My voice came out steadier than I'd expected.

"You ungrateful little-" His face contorted.

"That's my only condition." I didn't blink. I didn't look away.

I knew he would agree.

Blood Moon wanted a living Omega, one who could carry an heir-not a corpse. If he beat me to death right here, or if he sent me over there still branded with his mark-and Blood Moon found out Blue Ridge still had a grip on the mother of their future heir-the deal would collapse on the spot. The gold, the land, the resources he had been promised-every last piece of it, gone.

He could hate me. He could beat me. He could sell me off like livestock. But he could not let the merchandise break before delivery.

And he could not send me into another Alpha's bed while his mark was still on my skin.

His eyes burned crimson, the wolf inside him thrashing, straining to break loose. His chest heaved for a long time before he finally, slowly, forced it back down.

"Fine. Agreed." He ground the words out through his teeth. "I no longer have the right to command you, Lena."

The instant those words left his mouth, something deep in my chest cracked open-not shattered, just loosened. For the first time, his grip on me had eased.

Even though what waited ahead of me was still an abyss.

I dragged my suitcase back to my room. The room was so small it could barely fit a bed, but after everything that had happened today, even this cramped little corner felt safe.

My phone buzzed again. Anna.

"That asshole Luke!" she was already roaring the moment I picked up. "I knew it-useless coward. Lena, don't you dare answer him! He just wants his free maid back to clean up that pigsty of his!"

I leaned against the cold wall. Her anger loosened something in my chest.

"Anna," I cut in softly. "I already blocked him. But... something worse happened. My father arranged a marriage for me."

"What?!" Her voice sounded like she'd just been punched. "That old bastard-he's throwing you into hell?"

"He thinks I embarrassed him," I said with a bitter smile. "Blood Moon pack needs a she-wolf to breed heirs. If I marry in, Blue Ridge gets land, resources, everything. If I get pregnant fast, I'm a gold mine to them."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Then Anna let out a sharp, hollow laugh. "This has Celia's fingerprints all over it. If it's such a great match, why isn't she shoving Lily out the door?"

"You've heard of him, haven't you?" I asked. "Dominic Voss?"

"Lena." Anna's voice dropped low. "Have you lost your mind? Do you know what kind of man he used to be? Handsome, powerful-the kind of Alpha that every she-wolf dreamed of marrying. But that was before." She let out a slow breath. "Something happened last year. He's violent now. Brutal. He's not the same man. No woman who goes near him comes back. They either lose their minds or throw themselves off his tower. Everyone calls him the Ogre. Marrying him is a death sentence."

"I know," I said quietly. "But I don't have a choice."

I closed my eyes.

"You know what happens to an Omega who runs alone-grabbed off the road by thugs, sold off, played to death in some ditch. And my father is an Alpha. The moment he lets me walk away, he'll turn around and put a bounty on me, and I'll never be able to set foot in any pack again."

I paused.

"My only way out might be my end. In Blood Moon. In that cruel man."

"Oh no, Lena-" Anna's voice tightened. "I'm coming to get you. Right now. We can-"

"No." I cut her off immediately.

"Anna, I know your father is an Alpha too. You're finally getting out from under them. Don't let me drag you back in."

The line went silent.

I could hear her breathing-furious, hurting, aching for me. But she couldn't argue with that. Not that.

"And," I opened my eyes and turned toward the moonlight outside the window, my voice steadying, "I don't believe I'm going to die. I won't. As long as I live through this, I get real freedom. Enough money, enough distance, that I'll never have to take orders from anyone again for the rest of my life."

Anna was quiet for a long time.

"I don't doubt you can do it, Lena. The Moon Goddess wouldn't turn her back on someone as good as you."

"I'll always be here," she said finally. "If you can reach me, I'll come. No matter where you are."

I promised her I would, and hung up.

Outside, thick snow had swallowed the whole world, drowning everything in white. Another wave of pain twisted through my chest-would I still be alive tomorrow? In weather like this, if something happened to me, the snow would bury me fast. No one would ever find me.

In the end, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I went downstairs. My father, my stepmother, and Lily were already dressed, sitting in the living room, waiting for me.

I didn't look at any of them.

I walked straight out the door, and got into the black car with the Blood Moon crest stamped on its side.