Ada's Trial: Surrogate to Three Alphas

My mother died when I was eight. It had been sudden. Honestly, it would have been easier to process what happened after if she suffered for a long time. But, no. A simple, ill-timed rogue attack in the woods had taken her from me. She had been the love of my father’s — Alpha Bryant of the Midnight Pack— life. Which is why it was so shocking when he remarried less than a month after her death.

Francine was an awful shewolf. My father somehow remained blind to her hatred and disregard for others. Now that I was older, I understood it was probably because she was beautiful and charming and he had a fear of being alone. When I’d met her, I’d had high hopes. Francine has a perfect smile with pearly white teeth that can convince you she’s being friendly, even when the worst possible things are coming out of her mouth.

She has long, wavy raven-colored hair that she almost always has styled in some sort of up-do that makes her look regal and important. Her bright blue eyes can make you feel like you’re looking at the sky. Her sense of style is amazing. From day one, she’d warn namebrand clothes and always seemed to have what was in fashion. She also had a child named Georgina, who went by Georgie, who was four when Francine married my father, and she was the spitting image of her mother. The two of them seemed so sweet on the surface— and honestly, Georgie actually lived up to that image. I’d really thought that maybe I’d gained a new mom and little sister.

I hadn’t. For four years, I’d watched from the sidelines as my father and stepmother doted on Georgie. They groomed her to be the socialite daughter of the Alpha and Luna of an ‘elite’ pack and she met every expectation they set before her. Somehow, I always failed. I was never nice enough, put together enough, clean enough… Soon, I stopped being invited to pack events. My position within not just my pack but my family became clear when I would overhear people asking my father and Francine about their children. They would only claim Georgie. It started to escalate to the point that Francine often encouraged and rewarded wolves in the pack for beating me, withholding meals, and locking me in places for days at a time. My father acted as if he was completely unaware of this.

When I was twelve, I’d made the mistake of fighting back. Francine had been ‘disciplining’ me by not giving me food for over a week. I’d given her attitude when she told me to get off my lazy ass and clean the bathroom. She slapped me. I didn’t think. I just smacked her back. She’d grinned and ran right to my father. Foolishly, I’d thought he’d at least listen to my side of the story. He hadn’t.

They’d banished me to a farm on the outskirts of the pack territory. For the last six years, I’d worked 14 hour days shoveling animal manure and being verbally and physically abused by the farm owners — the Olivers— and the other workers. It didn’t matter if I was sick or injured or if it was raining or snowing… from five a.m. to seven p.m., I was in the stables and fields. My only friends were the animals— and even they sometimes kicked and bit.

I wasn’t sure why Alpha Bryant and Luna Francine hated me so much. Some of the farmhands joked that it was because I looked just like me mom, which was true. I had her long mouse-fur colored hair and hazel eyes. My nose was the mirror image of hers. The full, pink lips I had made my mouth look just like hers. I was missing the natural beauty she had, and honestly looked quite plain. It didn’t help that I rarely had the time or energy to shower the dirt and animal poop off of me. I always looked dingy and smelled awful. While I didn’t know much about my mother, I knew she had never looked or smelled as bad as me.

All of this hatred and scheming was why I was confused that my father and Francine has summoned me to the packhouse. I hadn’t seen Alpha Bryant in almost two years, though I saw Francine quite a bit. I’d only heard his voice via mindlink when he addressed the entire pack. As it was my eighteenth birthday, I had been half expecting to feel my ties to the pack release at some point. Instead, his voice had boomed in my head, “Ada Lennox report to the packhouse immediately.”

I thought I’d gone crazy. But then I felt the pull in my stomach, the nausea from not following my Alpha’s direct order right away. So I’d followed the pull all the way to the packhouse and through the living area to the leadership offices. Which is how I found myself standing outside my father’s office. The door was propped open and I could hear hushed voices. The pull in my stomach had ceased, and since my father clearly hadn’t heard me approach, I put my ear close to the door and listened.

“—have to send one of them,” my father said clearly, “The pack could use the $4,000,000 reward.”

His Beta, Adrian, spoke softly, “Trying to sell Ada to three Alphas for money seems unwise.”

Francine’s silky voice responded, “Being a surrogate for the Alpha King would be more of an honor than that filth deserves.”

My eyes widened as I processed what was just said. Surrogate? Alpha King? Three Alphas? What the hell was going on? Oh, Moon Goddess… There was a snort that broke me out of my thoughts and Adrian said loudly, “If it was truly an honor, you’d be sending Georgie.”

A loud smack resounded moments before Francine snapped, “How dare you. We would never allow our daughter to be defiled by three Alphas for this purpose,” she hissed, “Georgie is pure and kind.”

I could almost envision Adrian’s kind face smirking as he retorted, “Again, I thought it was an honor. Shouldn’t you want to offer up your best daughter?”

My lips twitched up at the corners slightly. Adrian had always been nice to me. Sometimes, he would come to the farm and sneak me food. My father’s cold voice stopped any happy thought I was experiencing, “You will respect your Luna. The pack needs the money and I am required to present an unmated she-wolf of our bloodline since we have one,” he explained coolly, “Georgina is expected to have a successful marriage with an Alpha to a neighboring pack. My other… daughter,” it sounded like he was trying not to vomit, “has no hopes of helping this pack in any other way.”

“Useless, mangy mutt that she is,” Francine practically sang out, “She’s probably slept with every farmhand on that land, so taking on three Alphas shouldn’t be a challenge. If she’s chosen, the money helps us and they’ve rid us of a burden.”

“And if they don’t?” Adrian questioned, his voice tight.

There was a small pause. As I waited for my father to reply, I found myself full of hope. Surely he wasn’t actually trying to sell me off like this. He had to love me enough to have me back here if this plan fell through. At that point, I’d know I was safe to sabotage this whole thing. Francine was wrong— I was a virgin. I was waiting for my mate. My mother had always told me that the mating bond was sacred. I knew my father felt the same way. He couldn’t possibly force me to dishonor my future mate like this. He’d give me an out. My heart was racing loudly in my chest.

Finally, he stated firmly, “I’ll exile her for failing to perform her duties.”

“No,” I whispered as tears brimmed in my eyes. His betrayal cut deep and made me raw with anger. Did I really mean so little to him? Did he really think he could just treat me like a bag of meat sold at the butchers? Before I could stop myself, I burst into the room, “Father, please don’t make me do this.”

He watched, expression flat, as I fell to my knees in front of him. Francine ordered Adrian to leave the room, but I saw him hesitate out of the corner of my eye. My body stiffened as he exited. I looked at my father for the first time in two years and realized I’d made a mistake. Fear crept up my spine, tingly and cold. Not an ounce of recognition or kindness was on this man’s face. His blue eyes were narrowed into slits. In fact, I hardly recognized the weathered man in front of me. He reached forward and gripped my arms tightly, yanking to me feet. I yelped in pain and he tightened his grip.

“Eavesdropping is unbecoming, wretched child,” Francine tsked-tsked, “You’ll do what your told.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but my father’s hand connected with my cheek and cut me off, “Do you really want the entire pack to go bankrupt? Are you truly that selfish?” he released me from his grip and I felt myself start to sway, “Fall in line.”

Bankrupt? But they held lavish parties every weekend. I hadn’t been, but I’d heard so many stories about the food and the entertainment and the themes. How could the pack be broke? My eyes widened. It had to be because of all of that. The parties, Francine’s clothes, Georgie’s private schooling… they had to have run this pack into the ground and were now expecting me to pay the price. Well, I wouldn’t.

“My mother always said that I needed to wait for my mate,” I said numbly, looking around the room. There was a single window, but it was behind my father. Jumping through that wasn’t an option. “I will not do this,” the door was behind Francine, and I’d have to make it through the entire packhouse. “I won’t disrespect my future mate because you don’t know how to manage your pack or your money,” that left one option.

Odds were they wouldn’t take me away tonight. They’d hold me somewhere. With any luck, I’d wind up with a sympathetic guard— maybe Adrian would swing by. Worst case scenario, I could find a way to bust out. I knew the ins and outs of the pack territory from when I was younger. I was fairly confident I could make it into another territory before they could catch me. Sure, I’d be a rogue but at this point, I was desperate.

“Your mother would be disappointed that you aren’t willing to do whatever’s necessary for the pack,” my father snapped, breaking me from my thoughts, “You have no choice. I see you trying to work out how to get out of this,” he leaned down and whispered, “See, that’s why we waited. We’ve known about this for weeks. I think it’s fitting that the train arrives on your eighteenth birthday,” my heart sank into my stomach as a sob wracked through my body, “You’ve always wanted to leave this pack and now you have the chance.”

I felt dizzy. Francine practically laughed as two guards rushed in and caught me. Her voice was the last thing I heard before my vision went black, “I hope all of the Alphas have as much fun with you as I have.”