Page 26 of Auctioned Mate

Her resolve twitched slightly. “Rick would never kill me.”

“He sold you to me. You don’t think he’d kill you?”

“Not in a million years. He loves me.”

I stood at my full height, trying to gauge whether or not she was being sarcastic or perhaps telling a particularly dark joke. But the tone wasn’t right. The punch line never came. She stared at me as though she had just announced her intention to run for president.

Air readily emptied from my lungs along with a bitter laugh. “No one who truly loves you would ever treat you the way I saw you being treated.”

“You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“I fail to see why that has anything to do with love.”

She tossed the clothes Galanthia had given her onto the couch and pushed past me. “That means you don’t get it.”

“Where are you going?” I grabbed the garments and chased after her, passing the multitude of photographs that Galanthia had hung in the hallway where light poured from the bulbs hanging above. “These are for you. What are—Would you get out of my private quarters?”

I took her by the elbow and dragged her toward the bathroom door.

“If you need a shower, use this room,” I commanded as I handed her the clothes. “Now please, for the love of the stars, get out of my hair.”

That was a phrase I had gotten to understanding quite well. Izdor used it randomly and Galanthia seemed fond of it too. Creatures here used plenty of phrases that were interesting, many of them entering my repertoire with barely any effort at all. But many things confused me still about this realm—and that included this strange little wolf.

I went across the way to the office, finding it much easier to move about in my home that was made for my height and stature. Most of the buildings in Wolfcreek were similar, with gaping doorways for those tall and wide as well as different types of rooms for different types of people.

ButMosshad been particularly suffocating. It seemed like the club had been erected hastily with its only intention being to hold the auction and the erotic dancing. Perhaps other illicit activities occurred there as well—like those murder shows often depicted.

So much to learn still, and so little time for me to properly set up something sufficient for that lavalike woman in the bathroom. After a few seconds, I heard the shower start up. The glass door slid into place. The water muffled a bit once she got under the stream. I couldn’t imagine how that felt, that shower.

Was it good enough for her? Did she have what she needed in there? Raven was generous with bath items and had handed me a whole basket of soaps, shampoos, and the like. I had set up many of them in the guest bathroom, unsure of what I wanted for myself, sticking mostly to the floral body wash and sage shampoo that Izdor had picked out for me at the market. They held some protective qualities.

My back straightened sharply.Protection. Yes, I had to get on with that soon. Macy wasn’t an easy wolf to track since we had left the ground many miles ago, but rogue underground black markets must have had their ways of finding people who didn’t want to be found. After all, the club itself would have largely remained unknown to us had it not been for that perceptive eavesdropping I’d done at the tavern.

The water sputtered. Energy in the cabin shifted. I flipped the switch near the door of the office and observed the bare desk, the slightly full shelves, the pale carpet. New pictures hung next to the window. Galanthia had been in here as well. She was spirited in her efforts to decorate and make it a home for us all.

One day, she would make a wonderful mate for someone very lucky. We were blessed to have her friendship and her protection. As a soldier, she’d been dedicated to our cause. And here in the earth realm, she was more committed than ever to sticking by our side. Izdor showed much the same passion and showed as much interest in preserving our connections through pictures and gifts.

These things were literally treasure to us—tome. Being able to see their faces daily even while they were away reminded me of the things we had lost back home. If we could still call Estaria home, of course. If Estaria would still call us its children. What was happening there now?

I rummaged through the closet to find a suitable bed. That woman was insufferable now, but she didn’t have to sleep on the ground. She needed something proper to get a good night’s rest. Sleep was the kind of nurse that worked on us subtly through the night. I was willing to wager that her attitude would change in the morning.

The resonant thud of the shower shutting off caused my heart to slam twice in rapid succession. I grabbed the folded cot from the closet along with appropriate bedding and set everything up. As soon as the bathroom door cracked open, I was back in the hallway and halfway into the living room.

“Which one?” she called. “This one?” She pointed at the office.

But I wasn’t worried about her hurried tone or the agitation shimmering in sharp wisps like solar flares on the surface of the sun. I was more occupied by the tiny rivers of water trickling around her neck and soaking into the towel covering her body. I blinked, coughed, looked away, and tried to point out the photographs in the hallway.

Macy groaned and shoved open the office door. “Fine.”

Slam.

What had I done now?

Chapter 11 - Macy

One loud snort woke me from my sleep. Nothing like dawn breaking on a new day inside a strange place. Well, that had just been my life lately, hadn’t it? Percy had kept me locked away like a damn animal when I was living with the Baneridge Hounds, and before that I’d been a closet-lurking child. Not by choice.

Not bymychoice.

---