Page 4 of Claimed By the Billionaires

Her mother, who had put on a brave face herself for Winter, looked ready to cry in fear for her, and Amelia looked ready to fight.

Winter jerked herself free from the hold of the servants, closed the distance between them, and spoke directly to her family.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. And soon, it’ll be over. I’ll be back home, and then we never have to do this again.” She hugged her mother, then Amelia, and then her father.

“It’s going to be okay, father. I promise.” A tear pooled in his eye as he touched her face but worry and apprehension deepened the lines all over his face. He nodded before he lowered his hand and his head.

Raising her chin, Winter turned around.

“Don’t touch me,” she said softly but fiercely when the monk gestured for the attendants to physically escort her out again. They weren’t going to treat her family like scum by not showing up—a mere courtesy, the absolute least they could do—and then treat her like a criminal being hauled off for execution.

They could never know how her family’s whole life revolved around them since the day she was born. She wasn’t going to give them that power over her. They could take her body any way they wanted, but she was keeping her pride, and she planned to make that known to them for this unnecessary insult and belittlement of her family. But for all her fury, she couldn’t get the pained look in her father’s eyes out of her mind.

She had to make this work.

An elevator lowered them down to the underground part of the house. Initially, she’d been fascinated with these underworld societies and how the billionaire heads of the various secret sects built architecturally modern houses suitable for the years they reigned over what were essentially dungeons beneath their homes.

Now, there was nothing about any of it that fascinated her any longer. She just wanted it to be over.

She was led into a candle-lit enclosure in the dungeon and delivered to a series of young female attendants wearing the Pegasus hooded cloak. She expected this.

Without waiting to be told, she started to remove her dress, which had cost her family a fortune to purchase. It was so important to her mother that they saw her in that dress, just to show them how beautiful her daughter was and what a privilege they believed the call had been.

It was meant to express their sincere gratitude for being chosen—a chance to redeem themselves. It was meant to show that Winter was worth it. And now she had to remove the dress that had made a serious dent in her father’s bank balance, and the only people who had seen her in it were her family, some attendants, and a Pegasus monk.

She refused any help from the female attendants. After undressing and slipping out of her underwear, she stepped into a steaming pool of milky water. As she sat in the scalding hot water, a wooden vessel was brought to her.

She took it without question and forced her hand to remain steady as she drank the clear contents of the bowl.

With her body still wet and the scent of lavender clinging to her, she was given a pale lilac gossamer gown to wear that flitted down her body in a series of panels. Her nipples and pussy were concealed with double layers of fabric, thankfully, considering there was going to be an audience for this part of the ritual.

Her hair was braided with flowers, and her lips swathed in a thick gloss that tasted like strawberries. A silk and lace mask was placed over her eyes, taking away her vision and forcing her to rely on the attendants to guide her forward.

The Pegasus virgin rituals were always held in a part of the dungeon that resembled an arena of sorts. The audience sat on stone benches before a stage, and the stage was where she was being taken.

Cuffs were placed around her wrist and raised above her head, where they were bound to chains hanging from the stone ceiling. She sucked back a whimper of fear, reminding herself that all she had was her pride. Her ankles were bound next, leaving her with her legs spread apart.

She was left that way, restrained, naked save for a thin layer of material, blindfolded, and at the mercy of the masters of the Pegasus Dynasty.

This time, it was harder for her not to start hyperventilating. But already, her staggering breaths were so harsh they threatened to shatter through her skin.

She thought she was ready for this, but she wasn’t, despite knowing in explicit detail exactly what was going to happen to her.

A flood of light seeped through the thick fabric of the mask. Heat from a hundred torches illuminated her now and heated her cold skin. The breeze of a thick velvet curtain being lowered around her whispered against her hair and enshrouded her completely.

The concept of time eluded her. Minutes could have passed or hours, beforethe soft murmurings of the voices of a gathering audience reached her ears. She took solace that she was hidden behind a curtain, concealed from their view just yet.

Dear god. How she had been prepared for this her whole life and then to come so entirely undone in the first moment that it commenced.

Three days ago, she had been blissfully unaware that her life would change, but now she was bound and powerless, at the mercy of three billionaires, and placed on a stage before an array of guests with nothing but a curtain to shield her.

She didn’t need to see who had been on the guest list. There were four main secret societies that came together and supported each other. The days when they were at war were over. A treaty had been signed after they had divided the world into four quarters that each family ruled.

She could have easily recognized each family. Part of Winter’s training involved learning the histories of the four main secret societies that roamed and ruled the world and their rituals. She knew everything about the Leoni family, the Basilisk Empire, Swan House, and, of course, the Pegasus Dynasty.

But vaguely, on the outskirts of her mind, the voice of the monk who had met them at the door bounced through her thoughts as he addressed the audience, welcoming them to the unveiling of the Pegasus virgin.

She heard her name followed by applause and then there was silence. The eerie quiet unsettled her and without her sight, she felt at a great disadvantage even though she knew what was going to happen next.

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