Page 10 of Auctioned Mate

Even the most desperate people had limits. And that was me about a year ago when Percy had asked me to marry him. It wasn’t the kind of proposal where the guy gets down on his knees and professes his love. It was literally a mere question passed off as a suggestion in casual conversation as I scrubbed his floorboards for the third time in the same week.

Just a quick, “Marrying me would please the elders.”

And that was it. There wasn’t a damn thing romantic about it. People would have probably thought I was crazy to expect some romance out of the deal. I mean, the least my alpha could do was spring for a ring, right? But no, I had to be treated like a maid, a tool, a means to an end.

Rick would have just used me for breeding. But Percy? He would have used me for pleasure. Which would have been infinitely better if he hadn’t been such an awful alpha. Plenty of women traded their ring finger for security. It wasn’t unheard of in this realm. But I wasn’t about to besoldlike I was a piece of property.

A desperate woman like me couldn’t afford limits. Yet here I stood after I had turned down my alpha and his right-hand man. Safety would have been the least of my concerns. I would have just had to worry about regular things, household things.

I sighed. There was no use getting up in arms about things I couldn’t change. Besides, those weren’t things I wanted. I had promised myself I would pay my debts the honorable way. Part of me felt totally betrayed by how I was giving in to this attention. The least I could do was not enjoy it.

But that seemed to be impossible. Because for as long as I had ever known, the only people who had given me attention like this were Rick and those construction workers in Times Square. Receiving it here was intoxicating as much as it was frightening. It meant I waswantedin some strange, twisted way.

It meant I was desirable.

A couple of mer-people pushed a silver cart at the back of the crowd that looked a lot like a safe. I figured it must hold money or something equally valuable. It was probably being kept under lock and key somewhere backstage. The rooms I’d seen on the way to the stage weren’t anything impressive. They were just the same as the one where I’d changed. But I had to guess whatever money was used in the bidding process—coins, antiques, silver pieces, and the like—was being kept on the premises.

All I had to do was find it and grab a bag of it.

It’s more complicated than that, I warned myself as I turned around to show off my round ass. More hollers came from the crowd when I bent with my dress hiked up.Money will help, but how the hell am I supposed to get out of this place?

Percy and Rick would come after me if I ran. They would likely want to check and make sure I was being good to whoever bought me too. I had to make sure I impressed my buyer, that I could drop their guard at the drop of a hat. Being sexy could only get me so far. I needed to find the room with the valuables—and I needed someone who knew this operation to show it to me.

While most of the men in the front row were drooling over me, I was checking the left side of the stage (now located at my right) for any sort of clues to who could be keeping tabs on the money room. The announcer had yet to make himself apparent, so I assumed he was either above the stage or perhaps hidden in the darkness beyond the crowd.

I turned back to the crowd to face my fans. Bidding had gone particularly long at this point, and I wondered when the announcer would finally call it. Would flashing the crowd get me some more time? Or would that just make a fight break out? Well, there was one way to find out.

A hulking shadow lurked in my periphery. Quick glances revealed that Rick was guarding the only exit from the stage. He stood with his arms crossed and his demeanor tightly stretched like he was resisting the urge to shout at me. Seeing him look so cross was wildly amusing. Goddess, nothing made me happier than to witness his disappointment in losing me.

Good. He didn’t deserve to have me around with the way he had treated me.

The familiar pain returned as I tried to shimmy in a suggestive way, but I couldn’t do it right with Rick watching me. I knew he was blocking my path. I knew he wouldn’t rest until I was shackled in the back of a van.

My eyebrows rose.Maybe he knows where the money is hidden.

If I couldn’t escape Rick, even in my last moments as part of the Baneridge pack, then I would use that to my advantage. I didn’t know how these bidding auctions went or how the money was traded, but I knew I would be kept backstage again. Why not try to weasel my way through it?

The noise grew louder when I teased the straps of my dress. Clamoring gave way to shouting. It sounded like a mob was forming. Geeze, they were just tits. They could see them just about anywhere. How could I be this appealing to a bunch of creatures who were trying to purchase me?

Energy penetrated my confidence, a strangely alluring feeling that made me think of azaleas in a lush garden. If I focused hard enough, I could almost see a cobblestone path leading to a grand maze. The peacefulness of it all drew me in, and then I found myself accepting my situation far before I knew its ultimate end.

Impossible—nothing about this situation was going to make me feel okay. I barely had an escape plan in mind, and I was banking on things that were unpredictable. Like Rick. Like this crowd.

Yet I felt like everything was going to be okay.

The floral scent I’d sensed earlier circulated me, lulling me into a state of calm. I lazily observed the crowd as the noise came to a crescendo, the sound of it becoming an ocean of static. I closed my eyes as I tilted my face toward the light. My hands were resting on my shoulders, still teasing the straps of my dress, knowing fully that I was about to strip in front of a crowd of hungry men.

Until a booming voice shattered my concentration.

“Four million dollars!”

Gasps cut through the crowd as my eyes snapped open. It was none other than that angelic man—he stood at the cusp of the audience with his hand raised and his eyes glowing an otherworldly white. A merciful god couldn’t have possibly appeared more attractive than this man right now, his bulging figure seeming to double with his magnetic voice.

Silence gathered as everyone watched in awe. This man was truly from another realm. He just had to be with the way he was commanding attention from everyone in the room—me included. While the white faded from his eyes to reveal the pale honey from before, his power never diminished, and I felt that warmth come over me again, that loving embrace just a few steps away.

Use it, I thought.Fall in love with him as much as you can now—because by the look of it, he’s about to be your new owner.

Chapter 5 - Juriah

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