Owned By The Vampire Heir

In a country ruled by vampires, becoming a pet means losing everything—your dignity, your rights, your freedom. But Aria, with her golden eyes and warm brown skin, ends up as the only pet no one wants to buy. She’s an outsider, treated like a flaw in the...

Chapter 1 Selection Day

I hid in the dark hallway, clutching the stale piece of bread I’d stolen this morning, while the other kids at the orphanage cheered over their brand-new clothes.

I hadn’t eaten in three days. Mr. Cliff, the orphanage director, had piled endless chores on me and forbade me from touching a single bite until everything was done. He hated my bronze skin and honey-gold eyes, claiming the only value I had was to work myself to the bone for this place.

But I was starving. Literally starving.

My belly released a low growl. My hand instantly splayed across my abdomen to stifle the noise while my free one gripped the piece of bread.

Just as I lifted the buttery goodness to my lips, I only got a taste before the crack of a whip echoed through the air, and the fiery burn followed suit.

I released an agonizing cry, my knees hitting the wooden floorboards with a thwack. The flesh along my back was already torn open and raw from the countless slices this whip had produced before, so the stinging sensation only intensified as the wounds reopened.

“How dare you steal food,” Mr. Cliff sneered. His cold, lifeless voice sent chills skittering down my spine. His pristine dress shoes creaked against the floors until he stood before my trembling body. “Need I remind you that you are the lowest-ranking prospect here, Aria?”

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” His blood red eyes slid to mine, narrowing with scrutiny.“Look at you. You’re worthless—undesirable even to the lowest of the vampire nobility.”

I kept my gaze fixed on the floor, knowing better than to answer pointless questions.

Mr. Cliff was a vampire, and growing up in this orphanage meant only one thing: you were a prospect, raised and groomed to become a vampire’s pet one day.

As a pet, you stay silent unless instructed to speak. To disobey your owner meant immediate execution, and I may have been the lowest-ranking prospect, but I wasn’t stupid. I was wise enough to keep my mouth shut when needed to survive.

After our country was taken over by the vampire race, blood donations and high taxes were required to maintain peace. But if parents donated their children to the orphanage to be raised as future pets, they earned a major tax deduction.

When I was six, my mother was tragically killed by a vampire. Since I never knew who my father was, custody was immediately transferred to my aunt, who despised me almost as much as Mr. Cliff.

Caring for me became too much, so my aunt eventually sent me to live at the orphanage, where Mr. Cliff became my owner and conducted a fruitless attempt to raise me as a pet.

When you became a pet, you were owned by the vampire who selected you. Orphanages were a breeding operation, meant to raise us like cattle until a vampire deemed us worthy enough to become their property.

At twenty years old, I had never been selected by a vampire.

Vampires desired humans with blonde hair, blue eyes, and porcelain skin. Because of my appearance, I was the furthest from what vampires admired, and Mr. Cliff never let me forget it.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

I cautiously lifted my gaze to his, shrinking into myself as the pure hatred that lingered behind his crimson eyes. It always came as a shock how much strength a man as tall and scrawny as him could possess. He was skin and bones, yet the slices on my back begged to differ.

“Tell me you’re worthless.”

Swallowing thickly, I said, “I’m worthless.”

Mr. Cliff got off on my tears, deriving his pleasure when I’d beg for him to stop. I learned quickly over the years to bury my emotions until I no longer felt them. Until my tears dried up, and surviving was the only option.

Realizing I remained unaffected, Mr. Cliff scoffed before straightening the cuff links on his perfectly tailored suit. “This is precisely why you aren’t coming to the festivities tonight. You’re an abomination amongst society. You’re…” His eyes swept critically over me, his nose quickly wrinkling in disgust. “The prince would be offended to lay eyes on you.”

I nodded and bit my tongue to quell the raging fire within me, refusing to show him the tears that threatened to spill. This was life as a pet: degradation, torment, and misery. I’d grown accustomed to it.

Today was a special day. The vampire royal family was hosting the festivities—a ceremony meant to select their next favored pet. The direct heir of this nation—the exalted Vampire Prince—would attend and choose one pet to claim as his own.

Mr. Cliff kept trying to win the prince’s favor with the pets he presented, but he got rejected every single time. It made him try harder, cleaning and dressing up all the children to ensure they looked their best.

“Clean up this blood,” he said before turning on his heels and leaving.

I shakily rose to my feet once I was certain he was gone, using my destroyed nightgown to gather the droplets of blood that had spattered from the whip’s lashes.

“This is the day we have trained you for,” I heard Mr. Cliff declare to the other children, his tone suddenly shifting into something grand and rehearsed. “It is a privilege for all of you to be presented before the royal family. Most of you should feel honored.”

The children sitting on their cots in the dusty room clung to Mr. Cliff’s every word and false promise of the fabulous life they’d have if they were selected by the prince. The teenagers, especially the girls, had stars in their eyes at the prospect of being selected.

But none of that had anything to do with me. I wasn’t worthy of attending the celebration.

Remaining at the orphanage tonight wasn’t the punishment Mr. Cliff assumed it was. I craved for an opportunity to be alone, to scour the kitchens in the hopes of finding scraps of food left behind.

It gave me a moment to breathe—to allow me a semblance of freedom that I’d only tasted once as a child before my loving and doting mother was brutally taken from me.

When I returned to the room, the girls hushed their whispering before sending curious glances my way. All of them knew about the abuse Mr. Cliff bestowed upon me, but none of them had the power to stop it. I didn’t hold it against them for treating me like an outcast when they’d be reprimanded for trying to include me.

I had just reached beneath my cot for a spare nightgown when Mr. Cliff suddenly stormed back into the room carrying a bundle of fabric. His eyes flashed with ire as he approached me, nearly shoving me to the mattress from the force he used to push the clothing into my arms.

“You’re lucky,” he hissed. “Get dressed. It seems a noble has decided to take a slight interest in your pathetic self after all.”

Chapter 2 A Handsome Stranger

The journey to the castle was tiring and painful.

Bound by iron shackles, all of us were kept in a trailer, where we were separated into individual cages. The world whizzed by through the barred windows, allowing only a glimpse of the countryside with rolling green hills and clusters of trees in the distance.

Mr. Cliff took more precautions with me than the others, tying my wrists to one of the bars so I couldn’t move. The ache in my shoulder had steadily increased with every bump and jerk of the trailer, the joint threatening to pull out of its socket by the time we reached the castle.

It was a monstrosity so large that I could only relate it to one of those paintings I’d seen as a child that used to be hung above my mother’s fireplace. Stone spires towered towards the sky, casting gloomy shadows upon the earth as the trailer came to a stop beside a drawn bridge. It crossed a moat that led into the belly of the castle, boisterous laughter filling the silence from the plethora of nobility inside.

One by one, Mr. Cliff unlocked the cages, holding the children by a leash wrapped around their necks. The collar hung loosely along their collarbones, but mine was kept so tight it was hard to swallow at times.

Mr. Cliff paused before my cage, leering over my physical state. I had changed into a cotton gown that was hardly as fancy as the others, and I was allowed to bathe to clear the dirt from my skin. My curly hair hung in a tight braid that ended just beneath my breast, but the humidity outside on the ride over caused the frizz to take over.

“You will remain here until the deal with the noble is finished,” he sneered. His beady eyes ran over me again, clucking his tongue with distaste. “Even when you try your hardest, it still isn’t enough.”

My heart remained in my throat as Mr. Cliff led the rest of the group out, despising how he knew just what to say to strike me where it hurt the most. The girls' gushings of the prince faded into the distance until only soft music filled the tiny confines of the trailer.

Since I arrived at the orphanage when I was six, I’ve had the unfortunate privilege of watching the Selection process more times than I’d like to admit. The prince was the first descendant of the Vampire King. Heir to his throne. Because of that, the royal family had tried countless times to find him a pet he desired, only to draw up short.

My stomach was raw from how empty it was, the burning sensation only worsening at the thought of who the prospect was that had interest in buying me as their pet. This was my first time at the castle, and soon enough, I’d belong to someone else to beat and punish in ways far worse than Mr. Cliff had.

With panic consuming me, I attempted to jerk against the chains, wincing when they dug into my skin. It only caused the ball beneath my feet to roll against the metal floor, banging loudly against the bars.

I was terrified to conform to the same fate as everyone else. I didn’t want my blood to be sucked dry, to be beaten, raped, and used like a ragdoll for another’s pleasure. It horrified me. It paralyzed me with terror. It—

“Why aren’t you inside?”

At the sound of a deep voice, my head popped up to find a man leaning against the door of a trailer with a pipe in his hand. He frowned at the chains binding my wrists, blowing another drag of smoke into the air as he awaited my response, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

This man…

He was the most attractive person I’d ever seen. That sounded ridiculous when vampires were known for their intoxicating appearance. They were created to lure and entice humans they came into contact with.

Brown hair curled at the nape of his neck, which matched the color of his eyes, except… Normally, where a vampire’s eyes were crimson, his were a caramel brown with only a red ring encircling the iris.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the fullness of his lips as they formed an O shape to blow another ring into the air. His tall, muscular body leaned against the door like he didn’t have a care in the world, wearing only dress pants and a crisp linen shirt with two buttons left undone at the top. If I wasn’t mistaken, I was pretty sure I caught a swirl of ink beneath—

“Do you speak another language?” he asked.

The man was clearly of nobility, and I was alone in the trailer, chained with nowhere to go. My hands trembled against the bars, instantly dropping my eyes to the floor out of respect.

“I’m s-sorry,” I stammered. “I was told not to join—”

The man cocked his head to the side. “Don’t apologize. I assume you didn’t chain yourself in here, did you?”

“No,” I whispered, keeping my head cast down. “I did not.”

“What’s your name?” he asked.

I knew better than to lie or withhold information, especially from nobility.

“Aria,” I replied.

“Aria,” he repeated, as if testing it out. “I like that. Now what’s the real reason you’re in here?”

My brows furrowed at the peculiar, devilishly handsome man. Most vampires viewed pets as objects and nothing more. We weren’t allowed to be given a voice, our purpose in life being to serve our master and nothing more. To be asked a question and initiate a conversation was…not normal.

I glanced down at my dress, frowning at the dirt stain that had already formed from the bars. It seemed obvious to me why I was chained in the trailer. “I am not suitable to be a pet.”

He frowned, giving me another once over. “Because…?”

I didn’t understand why he couldn’t piece the reason together on his own.

“Because I don’t look like the rest,” I replied solemnly.

Why was he out here? Everyone was bidding on pets, and he clearly wasn’t the noble interested in purchasing me when he didn’t even know my name.

“No, you don’t,” he admitted, stepping into the trailer. He approached the bars, and without lifting a finger, the iron bent to his will, creating an opening for me to pass through. Next, the shackles were released from my wrists, leaving only the collar around my neck and the dangling leash. “Some would debate that not looking like the others is an attribute rather than a hindrance.” He bent iron without so much as breaking a sweat, which meant he was a powerful vampire.

It was against the rules to talk to a vampire of nobility without being asked a question first, but I managed to muster up every ounce of courage I had to say, “M-Mr. Cliff found a buyer for me, Sir. I…wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble.”

The man laughed and grabbed my leash, loosening the collar around my neck until it hung around my collarbone like the others. “I won’t get into any trouble. Now come. We have a Selection to attend.”

Chapter 3 My New Owner

The man led me gently by the leash across the bridge, the guards allowing us to enter without further questions. It was odd the way they dipped their chins as we passed, covered in armor from head to toe, but it was even stranger when the man led us around the side of the castle rather than enter through the front, where the other guests awaited inside.

It was forbidden to ask nobility questions, so I kept my mouth shut as I admired the ancient building before me. This castle was centuries old, belonging to the oldest known vampire family. The older the family, the higher their rank and power. Vampires of nobility were less reliant on blood and could remain in the sunlight completely unbothered, as the power running through their veins was stronger than most.

The man opened a side door that creaked on its hinges, dust fanning around us as he pulled me through. To the right, a small room awaited us. It was a simple sitting room with two velvet couches, an ornate rug, and vases with roses filling the coffee table.

“You need to undress,” he said, removing the collar from my neck.

My body stilled before I slowly turned to face him. Disobeying an order from nobility was akin to a dog being put down after biting a human. It was a death sentence, but exposing myself to someone I had never met before had reality settling in all too quickly.

I was about to be sold to another buyer. This would be my life soon enough.

As if sensing my hesitancy, he said, “It is standard procedure to conduct a health assessment on a pet I am considering to purchase. They taught you that in the orphanage, did they not?”

Steeling my spine, it was an effort to keep my knees from buckling. This man was interested in buying me as a pet. He wanted to become my owner, and I…

Well, it was either him or the other nobility that Mr. Cliff claimed was interested, and at least this man didn’t beat me for speaking out of turn.

“I assure you, this is for your health and not for my benefit.”

It was an effort not to flinch at his blatant disinterest in my appearance, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. The moment I undressed, it would only further his disapproval, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his mind on purchasing me after analyzing the scars that peppered my flesh beneath the dress.

“It…It is against the rules to undress for another buyer until the one who first staked a claim in purchasing me has the chance to view me,” I whispered shakily. “Mr. Cliff said—”

The man leaned against the wall with an arrogant smile, crossing one foot over the other. “I’m not worried about the rules.”

“But you’ll get beheaded for disobeying the royal family,” I rushed to say, terrified he’d reprimand me for pushing on this. Truthfully, I pushed because if this man didn’t return me soon enough, Mr. Cliff would be sure to punish me for this mistake, not this member of nobility.

Picking a piece of lint from his shirt, totally unbothered, he said, “I’ll take it up with the royal family if they have any issues with my choices. Now strip.”

My eyes shot to his, the demand sending a shockwave between my thighs that I wasn’t anticipating. It wasn’t like he meant it sexually, but the way it sounded coming off his tongue was.

His nostrils flared in irritation before he averted his gaze to the wall, and it was only then that I remembered I wasn’t supposed to look him in the eyes. “I am having a new gown delivered for you to change into for the Selection. You need to undress so I can inspect you. Nothing more.”

With shaky fingers, I shimmied out of the shabby dress and let it drop around my ankles.

I was skin and bones, my hipbones jutting out in an unhealthy way from the starvation I had endured at the orphanage. Scars from the lashings and deep bruises decorated my body, the man’s eyes narrowing as he inspected each one. My breasts were small, only enough for a handful, and from the gossip I’d overheard from the other girls in the orphanage, they desired more.

“Who did this to you?”

The cold, icy tone of his voice raised the hair on my arms. He was behind me now, so that could only mean he had discovered the open wounds on my back.

“M-Mr. Cliff,” I stuttered. “He claims I’m disobedient. I…” Swallowing thickly, I attempted to hold back the tears. “I’m worthless, so I am treated as such.”

The silence that followed was almost too much to bear, but eventually, the man released a deep sigh and came around to face me again, pointing to the dress around my ankles. “Get dressed. I will have a member of staff tend to your wounds immediately. We need to heal those first before you are dressed in anything where blood may transfer.” He reached for the door handle before glancing over his shoulder and adding, “As my pet, you are required to keep yourself clean, and that includes refraining from any injuries. If one is elicited upon you by anyone, you are to report to me immediately. Is that understood?”

Member of the staff?

With my hands clasped at my stomach and my head bowed, I replied, “Yes, Sir.”

He disappeared and shut the door behind him. After being at the orphanage for so long, I never imagined a life outside of the abuse and misery Mr. Cliff provided, but now all of that was about to change.

Not that becoming a pet was any better. It was like jumping from one sinking ship to another. Regardless of the way I looked at it, I was still serving someone, whether that was Mr. Cliff or this man, whatever his name was.

He still hadn’t told me.

After a few moments, the door opened, and a woman with large hips and a round, cheerful face stepped into the room with a gown grasped in one hand and a tin of salve in the other.

The woman, who introduced herself as Janine, instructed me to remove my gown again, and like the obedient pet I’d officially become, I did as I was told.

***

I was instructed to wait on the castle grounds for my new owner to rejoin me. My gown was crafted of red silk, with a tight-fitting bodice and an A-line skirt. It was the nicest dress I had ever worn, and with the salve added to my wounds, they didn’t sting anymore, so the fabric felt like a gentle caress.

My new owner had allowed me to wait for him without any security. I didn’t understand why he had so much trust in me that I wouldn’t run at the first chance I got in an attempt to escape. Then again, with the castle rise surrounded by guards, I doubt I’d get ten feet before being beheaded for treason.

Suddenly, a large hand gripped my upper arm, squeezing to the point of leaving a permanent bruise. “Where the hell have you been?” Mr. Cliff sneered in disgust, whirling me to face him. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Do you understand how much money is on the line for your worthless life? You should feel honored he offered even a penny for your body.”

My face paled.. “I—I didn’t! Someone found me, and he—”

The smack of his hand against my cheek caused me to bite my tongue so hard I feared it’d bleed. Mr. Cliff glared at my new gown in disgust. “What were you attempting to do? Steal a dress to pass as nobility and escape? You look like a whore. An undesirable one at that.”

Tears pricked my eyes as he forcefully dragged me away. “Your new owner is impatient, and I’ll be damned if I lose out on this money.”