Page 7 of Knot for Me
By eight o’clock, the chairs are full and four men come into the room. Three of them head to get us and the other moves to the stage. Eduardo, one of Camila’s mates, is the auctioneer. He’s not a bad looking man, but something about the way his hair is slicked back and the wolfish smile he dons makes my skin crawl. Like he’s excited to watch these men put an arbitrary price on us.
The men who came to us uncuff the first woman, attach a chain to her cuffs, and pull it back so the next woman will be attached to the same chain. We’re locked together and led to the stage, paraded around like prisoners. They’re really determined to keep us from escaping. It’s almost laughable how similar this is to the Compatibility Ceremony, except the chains there are invisible, hidden in the depths of what we’ve all been taught growing up.
Be a good omega.
Follow the rules.
Do as your alpha says.
No, this auction isn’t much different at all.
When they lead us onto the stage and turn us to face the crowd, I take the time to study each face, trying to see if I recognize any of them. There’s only one face I remember, and I pause on him, eyes widening. The man with the dark gaze from when I was dragged out of the Compatibility Ceremony sits with two other men, both as large and muscled as he is. He smirks, a slight tilting of his lips that’s as infuriating as it is attractive.
I have no idea who they are and if I should be worried by the intensity of the man’s gaze.
Did he come for me?
Eduardo clears his throat. “Let’s start the auction.”
We stand before the men like cattle and they all stare back. Eduardo gestures the first woman forward; she’s uncuffed by one of Eduardo’s men and dragged to where he’s standing by the microphone. The beta holding her grips her elbow tightly to keep her from fleeing. I smile when she glares at him.
“We’ll start the bidding at four hundred dollars.”
My heart stops beating. Four hundred dollars? That’s her base worth? That’s ridiculous. That’s insulting, and frankly, that’s infuriating. We’re worth way more than a couple hundred dollars.
Still, the packs call out different bids, upping the price based on her appearance alone. They don’t know what she’s good at. They don’t know if she knows how to clean or cook or count or do math. All they know is what she looks like, and apparently, that’s not worth much to them.
“Seven hundred,” a pack alpha calls out, not even bothering to look at her.
You’ve got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous. I could bid more than that on her. I eye the crowd, a bad idea sparking to life inside my mind, but I’ve got nothing left to lose. Besides, alphas don’t like bad omegas. Maybe if I speak up, they’ll all realize they don’t want me. Camila can’t shun me for being undesirable. At least I don’t think she can.
Anger flares inside me. Why am I suddenly worrying about what she’ll do? I’ve lived my whole life doing what I want because I hate being who they want me to be. I’ve spent my whole life fighting this very system. I’ll be damned if I stop now.
“Two thousand.”
Eduardo makes a strange noise into the microphone and slides an annoyed look my way. “That’s not how it works,” Eduardo grits out, holding the microphone away from his mouth.
“There are no rules except the highest bidder wins, right?”
He blinks.
“Two thousand then,” I say, scowling at him. “It’s all the money I have, but she’s worth way more than that.”
The omega gives me a funny look, and her eyes mist. I shake my head to saydon’t thank me. Soon the alphas begin bidding again. I can’t beat them, but at least she’ll go to a pack who doesn’t mind spending a little money. I glare at the crowd as the bidding continues, gaze clashing with the same man from the Compatibility Ceremony. He’s wearing that damn amused smirk, but he doesn’t bid for the woman and neither do his men. They simply wait until the bidding is complete and she’s sold for a mere fifteen thousand dollars.
I shake my head and watch as the next woman is bid on. I do the same thing, upping the price to two thousand when the bidding is ridiculously low. Eduardo scowls at me, but it’s his fault he didn’t make better rules. She ends up going for twelve thousand. I don’t know what it is about her that makes the men decide she’s worth less than the other omega, but they all stop at twelve-thousand.
The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.
The next woman is led forward, and the disgusting process starts all over. The more they call out their bids, the angrier I get. My gaze skates over the crowd. I wish I could cut them all down with the hate burning inside of me. When the bidding stops at thirteen-thousand for her, a few of the men clap.
They’re enjoying this shit.
The next omega is led to Eduardo. The man from earlier shifts, drawing my attention. He lifts a dark eyebrow when I narrow my eyes. He doesn’t look away, and my stomach starts to flutter with nerves. Why isn’t he bidding on any of the other omegas? They’re all beautiful. Why does he keep smirking, and why do his friends keep giving him curious looks?
Fucking cocky alphas.
Is he here just to watch me squirm? Is this some sort of perverted payback for when I yelled at him at the convention center? Or does he like the way the other omegas sniffle as tears slip down their cheeks? Either way, fuck him.
