Chapter 3

Camilla found it hard to escape since she was blocked at the door. She looked behind her, and she froze on her steps when she saw her father staring at her with a smirk on his face. “Do you really think you can escape me, punk?” He asked, slapping the right side of her cheek. She gasped, raising her head to look at him with tears brimming in her eyes. Her father had no regrets about it whatsoever. In fact, he looked like he would slap her again and again until all his anger disappeared. She was used to Karina beating her, but she had never thought that her father could do that. She held her cheeks, biting her lower lip so that she couldn’t cry anymore. They liked seeing her break down; they always liked seeing her in tears, and she was never going to give them what they wanted.

“Did you really think you could escape, huh?” For your information, I knew about your plans with your boyfriend long ago. He is the one who saved you from the wolf’s den, right? He wrote you a letter asking you to run when your wolf comes, am I right?” He knitted his brows, growling, causing Camilla to move backwards. “He is not my boyfriend, Father.” “We are just friends.” She stammered, looking at Larissa with sideways eyes. If Cameroon were to mention Ash, then that would be another end for her. This time, she was sure they wouldn’t beat her into pulp, but they might even kill her.

“Boyfriend?” “Does Camilla have a boyfriend?” Lakisha gasped, her grey eyes sizing her up and down in a disgusting way. “Don’t tell me, someone out there has an eye for her.” She laughed sarcastically.

“It’s Ash, isn’t it?” “I’ve seen them together lots of times,” Karinna chimed in, sipping some black coffee. “What? Did you really think I wasn’t aware of your little romance? “Oh, honey, you are so naive!” She laughed when Camilla looked at her in shock. “He brings you food, clothes, and assists you in your morning chores.” “I am not stupid, Camilla.” The soft expression on her face turned into a sour one. “So you have been sleeping around with boys, and here I am thinking you are following my orders. Tsk! I asked you never to see any guys, didn’t I?” Cameroon’s voice thundered, causing her to whimper. “You are such a disgrace! Guards, lock her up! I’ll deal with her later.” He demanded, and she was once again kicking the air in the hands of the men who had once carried her from her house fourteen years ago. Just like then, she couldn’t free herself from them and was locked in the dungeon. The dungeon was worse than the little storeroom she was given back at the mansion. Although her room was dark, it was always lighted by the moon and stars. Even though the bed was thin, at least she couldn’t hurt her back, and the air in there was a little bit pleasant.

The dungeon smelled of damp and dead bodies; it was so dark that she couldn’t even see her own feet. There was nothing comfortable she could use to rest her back but a hard, wet ground. Camilla had never been afraid of the dark, and she knew crying wouldn’t help her in any way, so she sat, not minding the wetness seeping through her tattered dress, and pulled her knees to her chest. She cried for so long, getting out all the tears and all the pain she had locked inside her heart, until she fell asleep.

Back in the mansion, Cameroon’s landline phone rang. He picked it up, and the voice at the end froze him up. It was the person he wanted to hear. That voice belonged to the person who made him switch off his phone, and he couldn’t understand how he got his landline number. “He..hello Killan!” He answered, his voice shaky. Cameroon stayed on the phone for a while and then hung up, slumping on the sofa. “What’s wrong, darling?” Karina asked, pulling him back from his half-conscious state of mind.

“Alpha Killan,” he murmured, “I don’t understand how he got our landline number.” Cameroon sighed, brushing his face with his hands.

Karina froze, wiping her suddenly sweaty hands on the front of her dress. Two months ago, she had wanted to launch a cosmetics company, but Cameroon lacked the funds to fund her venture. She was asked to wait, but because of her adamancy, Cameroon was forced to borrow from the richest alpha in the universe, promising repayment after two months at ten percent interest. Karina had promised she would get the money by then, but her cosmetic company was shut down after two weeks of earning nothing. “Is it about the loan?” She asked in a voice barely above a whisper, biting her lower lip in embarrassment.

Alpha Killan was rumoured to be a man-eater. The world had once suspected him of being a hound in disguise. He was known for lending to start-up companies and packs on the brink of bankruptcy. People would repay the loan to him on the agreed day, with 10 percent interest. They had promised to return the loan after two months, and the date was approaching. Alpha Killan had one rule for those who never kept their promises: murder. He never gave second chances; as he said, he doesn’t believe in them. The last thing they would want was to get killed, or if they were lucky enough, they would take them to their pack as enslaved people until the day they paid off the debt.

If they were strong enough—stronger than him—they could have possibly fought him like they did with other packs and refused to repay the loan, but this was Alpha Killan in the game, the alpha of alphas. The leader of the Midnight Moon Pack, the strongest pack to ever exist, it was said all the packs in the world reported to him, and that wasn’t a lie. Their pack, the Black Moon, which was nothing compared to his, was under him as well.

“Can’t we use our savings to pay him back?” Karina asked. Cameroon frowned and asked, “Which savings?”—the ones you used to spoil yourself with designer products? If we use the savings in our bank account to repay the debt, our daughters won’t be able to go back to school. None of us will live this lavish life. “Are you ready to sacrifice your daughter’s education and your lavish life for the loan?” Karina was asked, and she shook her head in denial, thinking of another way to repay the debt. If she were to sacrifice her lavish life to repay the loan, then she would become a laughingstock among her circle of rich friends. They would abandon her, and they would never want to associate her with anything.

“Darling, I am so sorry I kept you in such a mess.” “I am sure we will find a way to repay this loan by the end of the week,” she told him, rubbing his hands.

“Well, that’s the problem, Karina. When signing the loan papers, we said we would repay it after two months. He asked if we were sure about that, and you chipped in, saying you were completely sure. Now, see, he won’t extend the loan period. He said we have twenty-four hours, or else he will be left with no choice but to enslave us.”

“We can bribe him, Father.” Look, we have lots of gold stones in here. Apart from being ruthless, I heard he loves gold so much that he uses it to gift the numerous bitches he beds every night. I was looking at the phone when he posted on his Twitter account. “He’s looking for someone who can sell him some real gold,” Lakisha, who was obsessed with his good looks even though she was sure she never stood a chance with him, suggested. She was coming downstairs to grab some snacks when she overheard her parents’ conversation.

“Do you think I didn’t try that, child?” I told him I’d give him a kilogram of gold as he waited for us to repay the loan, but he said it was impossible. “The kilogramme of gold we have is worth a million dollars, and we took six million dollars from him,” Cameroon sighed, wondering what he had to do.

“Well, Dad, why don’t you do like what Ana’s dad did?” Larrisa suggested. Ana was her best friend. “You remember when I told you Alpha Kepha had taken a loan from Alpha Killan to buy an island for Ana as her eighteenth birthday gift?” “Well, he couldn’t repay it, but he still settled the loan,” she grinned, making her parents confused.

“Quite beating around the bush, Larissa. What did he do? “We are in a deep shit, you know. The last thing I would want is to be dragged in his pack as an enslaved person.” Lakisha rolled her eyes in annoyance. Their father had already lost patience and was clicking his tongue in annoyance, asking her to be clear.

“Well, Alpha Kepha bought a girl from some low-income family, hired maids to groom her, and then gave her to Alpha Killan as a gift. We all know Alpha Killan is a womaniser, and he will never turn down an offer like that. He took the girl and forgot about the loan. “You just have to lie to him and say that the girl is of your blood because...”

Her mother cut her off before she could say more. “That’s it.” Cameroon, we should give that bitch in the dungeon to him. Besides, she is your blood and useless. “What she is good at is burdening us!”

“Are you sure about that, honey?” Cameroon turned to Larissa. You know the last thing I want is to try, and Alpha Killan ends up rejecting the offer. “We would worsen the situation, as you know.”

“I swear, Dad. Ana said it worked for them, and I am sure it will work for us, too. “We just need to keep our fingers crossed,” he was assured.

“Well, that’s it then. We give the bitch away. I am pretty sure she isn’t a virgin anyway, because tell me which man buys food and dresses for a dirty girl like her for free. She must have been fucking that Ash boy behind our backs. Guards!” He called out.

Karinna, who had been smiling brightly because their problem was settled and wouldn’t have to use their savings, ordered, “Take the bitch out of the dungeon.” It’s high time she repaid us for all we’ve done for her. It’s time she paid back her debt. Thank goodness she has a pretty face. Alpha Killan will for sure accept her.”