Alpha's Cruel Addiction

Author Note: For chapter 14, 15, and 16, there shouldn't be a gap chapter. The incident should go as follows → Ophelia wakes up from the night she shared with Killorn, goes to fetch water from a well with a maid, then meets Nathan Nileton (chapter 14) who then promptly kidnaps her and drains her blood before selling her off to the auction (chapter 15) house where she's currently standing on stage (chapter 16). If you're missing any of these scenes, then the chapter updates didn't load properly due to the buggy app.

If that's the case, please check the comments where I left a detailed instruction!

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When Ophelia's blood was robbed from her own body, she no longer felt safe in her skin. When Ophelia was sold tonight, she would never be welcomed anywhere in this world.

Ophelia Eves was utterly broken. And no one would want her back—especially her husband, Killorn.

As Ophelia stood in the center of the stage, she realized her self-worth was reduced to nothing. How long had it been since she spoke? She couldn't even remember what her own voice sounded like.

Out of all the women there, Ophelia was the easiest target. She had been stubborn her first week here, received the punishment of having the wooden stick shoved down her throat at least once a week, and she could taste the grove of the bark even from here.

"W-wait a minute, isn't that Alpha—"

"It is, I swear I saw her at the ceremony!"

"What is she doing here, what's going on?"

"This right here is a once in a lifetime opportunity, ladies and gentlemen!" the annoner urged. "You smell her, don't you? How sweet she is, how tempting this little lamb's blood!"

Everyone breathed in. Ophelia felt like throwing up on the spot. She glanced into the crowd of masked men and women. Their beady red eyes flashed at her with curiosity and blood thirst. The more nervous she was, the more hormones she released into the air. Her throat tightened.

"Do you smell that?"

Ophelia froze in fear. There was nothing she could do in this situation. She wasn't stupid enough to make a run for it with so many guards present. Where could she go? Her ankles and wrists were bound. If she could barely walk forward, then how could even she fathom sprinting off this stage? She would only get punished.

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"Starting now!" the announcer loudly declared, sweeping his hand towards her. His voice traveled far and wide across the room, enough for people to begin clamoring out of their seats to get a better look at her.

Ophelia had never felt more disgusted with herself. She should've fought back harder. Screamed louder that day of the ceremony. She blamed herself for getting into this mess. If only she stayed in Killorn's arms, if only she hadn't tried to act brave… All she wanted was for him to wake up to a fresh baskin of water.

Now, Ophelia was being sold.

"Bidding starts with 500 silver coins!"

10 silver could buy a family a tiny bag of rice for a day's worth of meals. 250 could pay rent for only a month. 1000 silver coins were enough for 1 gold.

Ophelia was worth less than 1 gold coin when high society earned more than thousands of it.

Either the auction house didn't want to make money, or Nathan Nileton was behind this. Ophelia was wise enough to know it was the latter. Another insult to her face—she was worth as little as a bag of rice.

Laughter filled the audience. Ophelia's cheeks burned and she wished to dig a hole right here. She wanted to drop dead on the spot, her head beginning to buzz from how stressed out she was. Her breathing began to turn shallow. Suddenly, a voice called out from the distance.

"750 silver coins!"

"1000!"

Ophelia wished she could drop dead in this instant. Her attention swept across the crowd in a panic, her chained wrists a painful reminder of her status. All of them were vampires. Not a single werewolf was in sight. She wondered what Killorn was doing at this moment. Was he… searching for her? How many days had passed since her disappearance?

Ophelia often distracted herself with the thoughts of her husband. When she was forced to learn the heinous arts of seduction, she pictured him. She pretended to  hear the tree branches fluttering against the cell windows, crickets chirping in the distance, and the moon hanging low in the sky. Sometimes, she could see the moon and everyday, she'd helplessly gaze up at the night sky, witnessing the stars and the moon.

"1 gold coin!"

Chuckles filled the air at the jeering. The taunt went straight to Ophelia's face which burned red with shame. This was Nathan's intention all along—to ruin Ophelia until no repair.

One after the other, numbers and chimes filled the air.

"1 gold coin going once, twice—"

"We're only kidding! 10 gold coins."

The crowd howled with laughter and resembled animals. Ophelia recognized none of the vampires, but assumed they must've been Nathan's friends.

Ophelia would never be welcomed into high society. Vampires ruled nobility like second nature and took up the majority of the population. Now that they all witnessed her like this, there was no way she'd ever be invited back to the empire.

Would Killorn even want her as a wife anymore? Ophelia's eyes stung at the thought as she hung her head in shame.

'No…I have a final move,' she thought to herself.

Ophelia opened her mouth, ready to use her triumph card and declare she was infested with an incurable sexual disease. However, she never made it in time.

A cold and calculated voice suddenly filled the chaotic room.

"100 million gold coins."

Silence. Four words. That was all the man needed. His tone was barely above a whisper, but his intentions were deafening.

The auction room immediately stopped talking. Were their ears working? That was the net worth of the Empress of their Helios Empire! Everyone quickly looked for the source of the audacious person. Where was he?

Suddenly, they remember a spot that was seldom filled, but always there. A seat that no one else dared to touch. All eyes snapped to the ceiling where a seat was reserved for only one man in the world—pure royalty.

"You heard me," he said in an almost humored voice.

"W-what?" the announcer gasped out.

Ophelia raised her head, her chest light with expectation. A thousand possibilities filled her mind. Was it who she thought it was? She tried to look, but couldn't see properly. Then, the man rose to his feet, just as her heart fell.

"100 million gold coins for the girl," he repeated.

It was not Killorn.