LUNA ASTERBELLE’S POV
A hand gripped my forearm, and judging from its temperature, I instantly knew it was the king, despite being unable to see him clearly through the darkness. "What are you doing here, Dawn?" I inquired, even though I already had a hunch that he came here just to save me from the Alpha.
"I made a mistake—I let you go here as if you wanted to on your own accord. I shouldn’t have let Nero take you with him," Dawn replied, his voice filled with pity for the situation that I was in.
I held the temple of my head as it continuously ached with an undetermined cause. I heard Shin’s voice telling me to choose between him and the king. I was beginning to get hysterical the longer that I stayed here.
Could this be the disease that they were talking about?
"Come home with me, Luna. I’ll keep you safe and always within my reach, so you won’t be in danger."
For some reason, King Dawn’s persuasions weren’t working at all.
"Get out, Dawn. Go away from this pack and forget about my entire existence!" I aggressively moved my arm away from him as I started to go backstage.
There wasn’t any source of illumination just yet. I simply relied on my gut and trusted my memories, from which I traced the path where I came from.
"Good girl," a murmuring voice said, echoing through my ears. "Come to my office once you get rid of him."
I bit my lower lip as I struggled to move on my own. My mind was succumbing to each and every single command that the owner of the voice said. It’s like I have no choice but to disobey.
"Dawn is in trouble. He shouldn’t go near me," I whispered to myself, and contrary to my wishes, King Dawn rushed to where I was located. "D-Dawn, please. We can talk some other day; just go for now!" I pleaded.
"You’re hypnotized, aren’t you?" Dawn asked as if he knew the things running through my mind. "This place isn’t ordinary. The longer that you’re here, the worse the effect of the virus would be as it develops in your brain. Worse case scenario, you’ll lose a thousand years of your lifespan," he said, which clarified what I was going through.
The king attempted to grab me by the wrist but was unsuccessful as the light source had regained its power. He was frozen on the ground and was unable to do anything as soon as Alpha Holmes made his entrance.
"S-Shin, don’t do anything to Dawn," I worriedly uttered, my mouth trembling.
Alpha Holmes laughed. He hid one of his hands in his pocket, while he used the other to partly cover his face. "You’re close to this king who knows nothing?" he began to insult Dawn. "That clan of his is too redundant. For all the years that they were brought upon Grimstone, they’re still useless and almost nonexistent."
I could tell how irritated Dawn was because of the firmness of his clenched fists. "You can ridicule me as much as you like. But you can’t have Luna for your pack’s benefit no matter what you say and do," Dawn mumbled.
I don’t know how I can get myself out of this spot. Since every time I try to, the voices in my head keep on repeating the same phrase: 'Get rid of him.’
"Trying to act tough in front of Luna, huh?" Shin hissed. "You’re here to steal my mate, huh?" he added.
Even though we haven’t done anything yet, he’s already pretending like I accepted him.
King Dawn glanced my way. He probably wanted to know if it was true—that Shin and I were mates. I shook my head to assure him that we weren’t. "Your punishment would be severe if you kept on lying, Shin. You have no difference with your brother, Nero. It’s a good thing that your sister lives far away from the two of you."
Shin’s bones snapped at the same time that his whole body shifted toward his wolf. His giant build makes me terrified, to the point that I’ll never hope to get on his nerves. Every breath that he took made such a heavy impact on the wind.
A sudden glimpse of our deaths flashed through my mind. It was a horrifying scene that I didn’t want to happen in reality. I’m clueless as to how I perceived that foresight, but it was the only thing that urged me to eradicate the king. There’s no other way out other than to listen to the voice and do what it says.
"Dawn, I don’t need your help here, so please leave now," I coldly said without looking directly into his eyes.
I could sense the intensity of the aura the king emitted after he heard how his presence and efforts to come here unannounced ended up irrelevant.
"You heard her, Dawn. Get your face out of here before I devour you alive," Shin said in between his deep growls.
Dawn managed to break free from being stuck on the same spot, and before I could react, I was already carried by him in a bride-style manner as he endlessly ran out of the venue. Everyone screamed their lungs out whenever we passed through them, noting that there was a wolf catching up on us.
"Bring me down! Don’t be selfish, Dawn! How many times do I have to say that I don’t need you?" I repetitively tried to hurt him in verbal terms, hoping that he’d change his mind and finally leave, but he simply ignored me.
When I felt a large source of power flowing through my right palm, I immediately pulled the collar of his shirt, choking him, which made him stop running away and put me down.
"Get out of my sight, Dawn, or else I’ll expose your filthiest secret—"
My hair flew the other direction when the king hastily stepped in front of me; his eyes were filled with hatred. "Utter one word about my turf, then I won’t ever consider you as someone valuable—I’ll kill you," he said before leaving.
Alpha Holmes reverted to his human body and was partly naked; he only had boxers, so his six-pack abs became a feast for my eyes. "Like what you see, my dearest Luna?" Shin hoarsely mumbled along with a soft moan that escaped his mouth. "You can stare all you want, even if it would take an eternity, Luna. But you can’t touch and have a taste of it unless you accept me as your mate," he added with a cheeky grin.
I rolled my eyes. "Stop with this nonsense, Shin. I only came here because of your brother’s request. I have no intention to be your mate, and never will I be lusting over someone like you."
Shin moved back, his shoulders slightly decreasing their position to show that he was dismayed, which didn’t even last for a minute.
"You’ll have no choice but to submit yourself to me once the auction is completed, Luna. You can’t get out of this pack without my permission." He smirked, reminding me of the other women who were with me earlier.
I groaned in pure vexation, yearning to tear his body apart.
"Miss Asterbelle, it’s your turn; head back to the venue before they disqualify you," Butler Zen informed me.
I don’t know when Zen has been behind us. I dragged my feet back to the auction while I glared at Alpha Holmes, who was walking beside me.
Even if I wanted to get myself disqualified, I can’t.
Anyone who’s removed from the auction would automatically be held captive in their underground cell, where everyone’s merely waiting for their scheduled death.