Page 9 of Sold Wolf Slave

“I prefer the feisty kind,” I said.

Once again, he sized me up, raising an eyebrow in interest. After a moment, he seemed to come to some sort of conclusion.

“You seem like the type of person who can hold their own,” he said. “All right, why the hell not? Normally, we have a sign-up sheet, but it’s a bit of a slow day. Come on in.”

He jerked his head inside the building. Nodding, I followed him through.

We entered a bare room. Somewhere beyond, I could hear excited murmuring, a loud sound that seemed to rumble through the stone. I glanced around at the empty room, one eyebrow raised as I glanced over at Lucas.

“Where are the women I can pick from?”

Lucas laughed. “You don’t get to pick your girl here,” he said. “It’s luck of the draw. But promise me, they’re all worth it. You’ll be happy.”

Something prickled up my spine. Slowly, I started pacing the small room, glancing around, looking for signs of danger. Something here wasn’t right. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“When do I give you the money?”

Another laugh from Lucas. “You don’t buy the girls here. You can go for the auction block for that.”

I frowned, slowing to a halt. “If I’m not buying the girl, what do you get out of this if you’re not getting paid?”

“Oh, we get paid,” Lucas said. “We make more money from one round of betting than we do on the general auction.”

“Betting on what?”

He laughed. “Den really didn’t tell you anything, did he?”

Frowning, I folded my arms as I studied him. “Apparently not,” I growled. “So why don’t you go ahead and clue me in?”

Lucas let out a deep laugh. “You’ve got some spirit, I’ll tell you that.” He clapped me on my shoulder. “You’re all right. I like it when shifters make a stand. All right, I’ll give you the basics. You don’t pay in cash here. You pay by putting on a show for everyone else. You wanna get a girl? You gotta fight for it.”

As if on cue, a loud roar of cheers and boos reverberated from somewhere off to one side.

My mouth dropped open. Everything clicked into place at once.

“It’s a fighting ring,” I said.

“Now you’re catching on,” he said, laughing. “Come on, let’s get you ready.”

Chapter 3 - Kendra

There weren’t cells below the fighting pit, just cages. Ronan dragged me down the slippery stone steps, my muscles tensing every time my feet touched the cold surface. He wasn’t the type of person to slow down for anyone, especially not a slave. So I followed him without complaint.

We passed several other women, some of whom watched, others who kept their eyes down. Eventually, they came to an empty cage without so much as a word, not unlocking any of the chains. It slammed shut before I even had the chance to turn around.

I watched him as he marched away and back down the row of cages, not glancing at any of the women. Once he had gone back up the stairs and the door had swung shut behind him, I took a deep breath and sat down, looking around at my new home.

There wasn’t much to look at, and I didn’t particularly care one way or the other. What did it matter? I wouldn’t be here for very long. And I didn’t care much about what happened to me. I was more preoccupied with Morgan. Most of my thoughts centered around her.

How the hell could I have been so stupid? It was my fault. I hadn’t been able to protect her. All my life, I had been the one who was supposed to look out for her. I had let her down. I had tried to protect her by breaking her out, and I failed.

I’m going to save you, Morgan, I promised.

I let out a long, exhausted yawn. I hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night after I’d been thrown back in my cell. I’d been too worried about Morgan, too stressed. My eyes fluttered closed. Ilay down on the cold, hard floor with a long yawn and drifted off without realizing it.

I woke up when the door opened again, making light spill down the steps. I blinked the sleep from my eyes, raising my head, groggy with exhaustion. I heard Ronan’s voice before his stench hit my nose, which pulled me back to my senses.

“Got plenty of options for you,” Ronan said. “You’re a lucky guy.”

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