Chapter 24

Charlotte's pov
"Don't do this to him, Thomas," Thomas's men warned in a whisper from the side.
　　Thomas loosened his grip on my hair and he kicked me in the calf.
　　"Damn it." He cursed.
　　"We only want to use her this time to attract the Alpha of the Blackout Pack. so we better not get into any other trouble."
　　Thomas listened in silence as he shot me a cold look.
　　"Count yourself lucky, Charlotte. i don't want to get into trouble today. You'd better do what I tell you to do."
　　Thomas tied my feet tightly with rough hemp rope, which prevented me from walking around freely.
　　My hands were also handcuffed with iron handcuffs, and I found dried blood stains on them.
　　Thomas must have used these handcuffs to trap many female slaves like me.
　　My wrists were worn and bleeding in a very short period of time.
　　I was locked up near a wooden box with people walking around. Many would stop to look me over, and some would even want Thomas to ask my price.
　　"Hey! Dude. Is this your slave?" A bald, strong man with tattoos painted on his arms asked.
　　He reached out his hand and tried to touch my feet that were exposed on the outside of my shirt.
　　His movement was interrupted by Thomas, who kicked him hard in the hand. This caused the man to let out a scream.
　　"Bastard!" He cursed.
　　Thomas picked up his dagger and waved it at him demonstratively. "You can't afford this price, dumbass. Get lost!"
　　The man spat at Thomas, then angrily left.
　　Thomas crouched down and whispered to me. "Your only target today is the Alpha of the Blackout Pack, understand?"
　Besides that man, there were some other men surveying my body with evil eyes.
　　Some of them would come up to Thomas and ask him everything about me.
　　But Thomas turned them all down one by one. He didn't seem interested in what these men had to offer.
　　"Listen, stupid woman. Don't think about calling for help. You should know that this is the biggest night market in the dark pack. Even one of the dogs here could have been stolen."
　　I nodded obediently to Thomas, showing that I knew what he was thinking.
　　Thomas nodded with satisfaction, which eased my dilemma for the moment. I don't think he'll do anything cruel to me for a while.
　　After all, he still had to rely on me for money. If my body is hurt too badly by him, then it may not sell for a good price.
　　But a question arose in my mind, and that is, why must I be bought to the Alpha of the Blackout Pack?
　　As far as I know, the Black Night Pack is ordered to prohibit the private sale of people and slaves.
　 Could it be that Thomas had other plans, and his plans were related to the Alpha of the Black Night Pack?
　　I pondered silently, not noticing that a long time had passed. But there was no one in the black market either that Thomas had been expecting.
　　"Are you sure they'll come today?" Thomas's men asked.
　　Thomas rubbed his chin, his mouth slurred. "The message I received was today."
　　"Why haven't they shown up by now?" His men asked.
　　This caused the atmosphere between us to begin to grow anxious, and the expression on Thomas's face began to grow impatient.
　　"Damn it!" He cursed.
　　The sky began to darken and I had a feeling that a rainstorm would follow.
　　Sure enough, many dark clouds began to gather in the sky above me. The temperature suddenly became very low, and people on the black market began to open their umbrellas.
　　I was so cold that I had to shrink into a tiny ball under this extremely low temperature because I was wearing only a tattered skirt.
　　"Oh my God, is my month-long effort going to be in vain?" I thought with disappointment.
　　There were no more sellers on the street, and people were looking for shelter from the rain.
　　I touched the dagger strapped to my thigh.
　　Yes, I had changed my clothes, but I still hadn't abandoned my dagger. It gave me a sense of security.
　　I pretended to press my dagger without thinking about it.
　　Although a thin layer of clothing rested between my hand and it, I could still feel the coldness from the blade.
　　I remembered that Tyler belonged in the Blackout Pack.
　　That's just lucky, I thought.
　　Since I was now in the Blackout Pack, I could even sneak away from Thomas, and I could go find Tyler.
　　I was about to sneak the rope that was binding my legs free, which was an easy thing for me to do.
　　Finally, I got the rope around my legs untied. But I still made it look as if it was still firmly trapped around me.
　　Thomas turned around and took a lighted cigar in his hand.
　　His men handed him a bottle of brandy and Thomas took a sip, his eyes beginning to grow as slimy as a mud puddle.
　　While Thomas looked up from his drink, I quietly cut the rope from my hand. But the rope still looked a connected state.
　　I think I'm ready to escape.
　　"Look over there! They're coming!" Thomas's man said loudly to Thomas as he tossed the brandy aside.
　　I looked up as two tall men approached me. The handsome man with black hair on the left looked very familiar to me.
　　"Tyler?" I said, rubbing my eyes, suspecting I was mistaken.
　　Thomas straightened his collar, an action which made him look very funny.
　　"Charlotte?" said Thomas with a smile. He quietly kicks me in the back with his toe.
　　"What?" I asked.
　　"Go and impress him! Use what you've learned! Hurry!"
　　Thomas started poking me harder with his toe and I must have left a damn bruise on my back.
　　That's when I realized that Tyler was the one they had been waiting for.
　　Was Tyler somehow connected to the Alpha of the Blackout Pack? I thought in confusion.
　　"Go on! Stupid!" Thomas started hitting me hard with the whip and I let out a howl of pain.
　　"Please stop hitting me! Please stop..." I begged in a loud voice.
　　I think the sound of my voice drew Tyler's attention. They came toward me.
　　"Help!" I cowered on the muddy ground, the pain from the wounds all over my body was hitting my concentration at this point.
　　I felt my wounds burning constantly.
　　It was the first time in my life I had seen such a smile on Thomas' face, and his flattering gestures caused a spasm to start in my stomach.
　　"A senior! It's a senior!" Thomas emphasized.
　　He picked me up by my hair and put my face on full display in front of Tyler.
　　I was like an animal in the market waiting to be killed, without any dignity, thrown on display in front of Tyler.
　　Thomas kept saying that what he had been waiting for was the top brass of the Blackout Pack, or even Alpha. the one next to Tyler must be the one Thomas was expecting to see.
　　Considering this , I firmly hugged the blond male next to Tyler.
　　"Noble lord, please, help me!" I did my best to look beautiful and innocent.
　　I swear, the look on my face would inspire any man to be protective of me.
　　If I could only get him to take me home, I would definitely be able to reach the top brass of the Black Night Pack. I'd be able to kill my mother's killer.
　　"Please, take me home. Save me, I was abducted!"
　　I squeezed out many tears with such force that it made my face delicate like the stamen of a freshly bloomed rose.
　　Tyler and his leader still didn't say a word, and I think they were hesitating.
　　At that moment, Thomas gave me another hard whip. Almost instantly, my waist and calves were cut by the whip, and bright red blood seeped from the top of my shirt.
　　I felt a twitch and a lot of cold sweat started to form on my back.
　　Subconsciously, I bit my lip, biting it to death. I didn't want any expression of vulnerability to show on my face.
　　Perhaps my expression moved them to compassion, and Tyler gave a wink to the blond man at his side.
　　The blond man reached out and stopped Thomas.
　　Thomas' face showed a sly expression as he curtly pushed me toward Tyler.
　　Why was Thomas pushing me towards Tyler, I wondered. Wasn't the top brass of the Blackout Pack the blond man at his side?
　　"Ronald, do we have to pay to buy this girl out?" The blond man said to Tyler.
　　"Ronald? Isn't your name Tyler?" I said silently in my mind wondering.
　　Realizing that Tyler had been lying to me all along, I restrained myself from staring at Tyler with a grumbling gaze.
　　"So your name is Ronald," I said in my mind with a sneer.
　　"Tyler, I'm sure. Give him the money." Ronald's hands were behind his back, and he looked impatient with me.
　　 The real Tyler handed Thomas a bag of gold coins and let Thomas go.
　　"Are you all right, ma'am?" Tyler asked me, looking down.
　　I didn't answer Tyler, but looked straight at Ronald.
　　"Ronald? Is that your name?" I asked.
　　Ronald crouched down and he locked eyes with me. "Yes. Give me your name."
　　His tone was strong enough not to allow me to retort.
　　I met his gaze, fought the pain in my body, smiled curtly, and said to him, "Charlotte, sir."