Page 50 of Auctioned Mate

“Yes, we should.”

I placed my hand over my stomach. Izdor was hanging around, wasn’t he? I had to guess he could see what was happening from the sky. Anybody with a good brain and a working pair of legs would see Izdor and Juriah in their pissed-off angel forms and determine that running for the hills was the best option.

But that hadn’t happened with Rick. No, Rick had gone absolutely berserk trying to get to me through Juriah. He didn’t care what Juriah looked like or what kind of powers Juriah had. He’d gone totally bonkers just to get tome.

If this was a setup, then it would go just the same as it had inMoss.

The truck slowed even more. Fear created a nest in my belly, one that made it nearly impossible to keep down the delicious pastries and tea that we had shared just fifteen minutes ago. We were all smiles then, so carefree in the way we carried ourselves.

Yeah, I’d been smart enough to take on a glamor done by Etta. I’d been cautious enough to go with a powerful Elderling into town. But had that been good enough to protect us from being discovered?

I wasn’t so sure.

The closer we got, the more details I saw on the woman. She was tall, like runway model tall, and her polka-dotted blouse was tied off just under her tits. She seemed almost out of time with her chunky heels and purple bangles. The visor matched, but it didn’t at the same time. Almost like it was all a hastily tossed-together outfit.

The woman wasn’t real at all. My stomach knotted with the realization, and then I struggled to retain my food when I saw two black cars appear behind us. They hadn’t been there when we left. Had they been following us the whole time?

“Juriah.”

“It’s alright, little wolf. Relax.”

But I couldn’t relax. I couldn’t go back to Rick and Percy with a baby growing inside me. Going back meant death. I didn’t want to die. Not after I’d found someone like Juriah to spend time with. I mean, hell, we hadn’t even known each other for very long, but we already made love like we were lovers who had been together for ages.

I had just accepted that.

How could I possibly give it up now?

“Macy, breathe,” Juriah instructed, “and whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand…”

Chapter 18 - Macy

Juriah bowed toward the wheel. His eyes slid over the horizon. He was looking for danger the same way I was looking for danger. Signs of betrayal. Signs of being given up for good.

I clutched his hand. He’d told me not to let go. But how could I trust he wasn’t lying to me this whole time?

Maybe Izdor and Etta set me up,I thought with a flash of pain.Maybe he’s been working with Percy this whole time to break me in.

Horror stories surfaced from memory. There was a time when Percy had brought in a young woman around the age of twenty, barely made it through college that young thing, and she had been tossed in the dirty cabin with me. She told me about how she had been “rescued” by some hot billionaire up north.

While she recounted being spoiled and treated like a princess, her expression grew dark. Her skinny shoulders sank inward. She had practically curled in on herself by the time she was done telling her story. Everything that had happened to her had just happened to me. That hotshot billionaire had been paid to earn her trust so she could practice sex.

That was it. That was the whole point of her existence.

I shouldn’t have trusted him. But it didn’t matter. It was too late for all that. If this was Percy and Rick about to collect me, then I had to accept that. There was no going back. Acceptance would be the only way forward.

Then maybe I could die on my own terms.

Azaleas met my nostrils. Goddess, the scent was so thick in the air now that I was practically choking on it. Already, a certain white aura was brimming around Juriah. I had to do a double take because I could hardly believe my eyes. Glimmers of silver and white danced over his skin. The back of his shirt warped like there were things moving underneath it.

Like his wings were about to pop out.

I turned back to the fast-approaching scenario ahead of us with that woman who was no longer waving. The sinister grin she gave us told me we’d fallen for the trap. My hackles rose as my wolf fought to get into the open air, begging me to let her out.

Not yet, I told her.Just stick to Juriah’s plan. He’s going to help.

My heart and head were battling all over again. Izdor and Etta should have intervened by now. While I couldn’t communicate with them, I knew they would have swooped in as soon as they sensed danger. That alone told me things were fishy. But if things weren’t fishy, then that meant they were—

“Hold on, little wolf.”

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