by Merel Pierce
“What is this? You said she was ready,” a slightly accented voice rasped.
“She was. Four days ago. She just needs a bath and she’ll be ready to go. It’s not like one of those month-long trips,” her captor responded.
Kasi had recognized his voice days ago as the beady-eyed Beta who had been welcomed at her parents’ house as a tired traveler, but who had come back in the night and stolen her away from her family.
“We’ll have to hurry. She needs to get ready quickly if she’s going to be in tonight’s sale.”
Sale? Kasi stopped breathing for a second.
The accent. The city dwellers in Algar-Din had a certain way of speaking that made them obvious to those in the wilds. She was going to be sold at the marketplace.
Her heart started to race, and she struggled to take in air for a chest that was suddenly too tight. Her father had stressed how important it was for her Omega status to stay a secret. Her whole family had maintained the lie. Using special soaps and herbs to mask her scent had helped Kasi to have a normal life but living as an Omega outside of the city came with a variety of risks, especially from slavers.
“You have the best nose for these Omegas, Drillon. How’d you find this one?”
“Her sister,” a choked laugh, “was tired of always covering for her. Tired of living in a house with a dirt floor. Sold her to me for forty credits. I would have paid more, so I think I got the better deal.”
Kasi’s head jerked as the blindfold was ripped from her head, but her eyes filled with tears, making the early morning darkness blur.
Her sister.
The same little sister she’d taught to swim so that she could keep up with her friends. The sister she’d held in her arms when the first boy had broken her heart. She had done this. Her parents would be devastated when they found out about their youngest’s betrayal.
If they ever found out.
Numbing cold radiated from Kasi’s heart, and she welcomed the freezing of her veins. The cold took away her pain and her fear. Face blank, she followed meekly behind the Beta who led her away from her kidnapper.
Under the massive stone marketplace lay a warren of tunnels. Kasi’s keeper hurried her through the darkness to a section where there weren’t many slaves, and the ones who were there stared at her through eyes filmy with age. Kasi didn’t want to be sold, especially when she knew these slaves were destined for the lowest types of auction. She dug in her heels when he tried to force her through on open cage door.
“Not up to your standards, princess?” His guttural laugh sounded like it hurt his throat. “You won’t be here long. This is just a quiet place to get you cleaned up. Drillon let you turn into a right mess.”
With a hard pull, she lost her fight to stay outside of the cage, and as soon as the door clanged shut behind her, she spun to face him.
“Strip, princess,” the hunched-over Beta demanded before he strode off to gather supplies.
Kasi didn’t say anything, but she crossed her arms across her body for comfort.
He turned back from the alcove where he’d gathered some soap and a threadbare drying cloth. Looking at her still-clothed frame, he sighed.
“This can go one of two ways: You can strip yourself down, or I can call in a few of the Alpha guards from upstairs. They like to play with little Omegas before they go to auction. I can’t really pay for their services, so they’d have to take it out of your hide.”
Kasi met his gaze. Based on his talk with her kidnapper, she’d thought he needed her in one piece for the auction tonight, but could she take that risk? She was going to be sold tonight. Didn’t she want to go with at least some of her dignity intact?
She dropped her ruined clothes to the floor but hesitated over the last few scraps covering the apex of her thighs.
“All of it. You’re filthy and we’re runnin’ on a tight schedule.”
Unable to hold back the sob that had been building behind her closed lips, she sucked in a breath, refusing to give him any more of her pain.
Slipping the fabric from her hips, she stood naked before the Beta. She could feel his eyes roaming over her body, and she expected him to reach through the bars to touch her.
“They’re going to be really happy with you, little Omega. Those Alphas won’t know what hit ’em. Water’s comin’. Take the soap, princess.”
Reaching for the soap meant one of her hands uncovered her breasts, but the Beta wasn’t even looking at her while he fumbled with a hose in his hand. When the first blast of water hit her skin, she gasped at the frigid cold hitting her chest, mound, and legs. Water got into her mouth, and she choked as she inhaled it into her lungs where it joined the cold coil of her sister’s betrayal.
“Soap, Omega! It’s not gonna get any warmer!” he called out above the splash of the water.
Kasi took the soap and began washing her body before rinsing with the freezing water. Using the numbing cold to clear her mind, she couldn’t think about her sister’s betrayal, and she refused to think about the man or creature who would purchase her. There was only one reason someone bought an Omega.
The water stopped splashing over Kasi’s chilled skin, and she took the scratchy length of fabric from the keeper. It was so worn that she could see the outline of her hand through the cloth as she dried off.
“Do I get clothes?” Her teeth chattered.
“Why?” His limpid blue eyes widened at her question.
She met his gaze boldly for a few seconds before lowering hers to the floor. Eventually she turned her back to him without responding.
“Here, princess,” he said.
She turned and reached out for another drying cloth that wasn’t any better than the one she’d just used, except it was dry. She wrapped it around her shoulders before leaning against the corner farthest from the old keeper.
“These cells aren’t meant for the finer product. This is only one tier away from the rejects, so they don’t do much for comfort. You won’t be here much longer, though. Normally you’d be in with the prime stock, but since you got here so late, I’m slipping you in the lineup at the end. Goin’ to make me a lot of money, princess.” He chuckled with greed before it devolved into a coughing fit.
Kasi ignored him and wrapped her arms tighter around her middle for warmth and comfort. Now her outsides matched her chilled insides. Had her sister really understood what world she was sending Kasi into with her betrayal?
A tear slipped down her cheek before she angrily wiped it away. She was here. Crying wasn’t going to fix it. Survive the auction. Survive tonight. She would have to face tomorrow when it got here.
Hours later, clanging shook her out of her reverie, and she turned to find her Beta keeper standing in the open door of her cage.
“Time to go, princess.”
She took a step forward before she noticed what was in his hands: a black collar with a thick silver ring embedded on the front. Clipped to the ring was another long strip of leather with the end securely wrapped around his bony wrist. She stopped, her eyes glued to the leash and collar.
“Now, princess. No time for temper tantrums.”
Kasi drew in a deep breath and reminded herself that she had goals.
Survive the auction.
Survive tonight.
Taking the few steps forward that would put her in reach of the Beta, she couldn’t hide her flinch when the collar’s clasp connected with a soft snick. A tug on her leash had her following the Beta through a series of tunnels until the bright lights of the stage filled her vision.
Chapter Three
Ander
Jasmine.
The scent that had tormented and confused his senses since the early morning hit him again. Anger forgotten, Ander’s head jerked up.
This time it wasn’t just a trace of the sweet scent. The aroma filled his nostrils, and when he inhaled it into his lungs, his cock hardened to the point of pain. A tingle that started at the base of his spine radiated outward, pulli
ng up his sac which tightened with need. His heavy shaft bobbed in time to the beat of his heart. Silky fluid pearled at the tip of his cock, and Ander strained his chained wrists to get closer to the scent.
As he stretched as far as his bonds would allow, his green eyes were drawn back to the auction stage where he had stood not long ago. An old keeper with grizzled features held the end of a leash, leading a naked female.
“Ah,” the auctioneer cried. “A last-minute addition! It’s rare, but sometimes you find a specimen so beautiful that you just can’t let your buyers go without a treat!” His tone conveyed surprised delight, but even from Lucius’ private box, Ander could see that the auctioneer was anything but pleased.
The female kept her eyes down and tried to wrap her arms over ample breasts. A sharp smack from her keeper’s crop brought her arms down, but she kept her face and eyes hidden. Her keeper placed the tip of the crop under her chin and forced the naked beauty to raise her face to the crowd.
A murmur ran through the assembled buyers as her delicate features glowed in the light. Molten honey colored hair framed her face and fell to her waist. Her eyes were so dark he couldn’t tell their true color from a distance, but her lips were a luscious pink that Ander envisioned wrapped around his shaft. Full breasts mounded on her chest, dipping in at her waist to flare out into even fuller hips that he imagined cushioning his thrusts as he pounded into her wet heat.
Whispers from the spectators floated in the air, but Ander only heard the voice in his head say one thing: Mine.
Before he even realized his body was moving, he turned to the chains restraining him to the wall. Wrapping them around his hands, his muscles swelled with a primal strength that he’d never felt before. With an angry roar, he ripped the bracket from the wall.
Shouts and threats sounded from behind him, but it was all just noise. A burning sensation landed on his thigh, but he was beyond feeling external pain. A fierce need consumed him so that all he could hear over the pounding of his own heart was a constant chant.
Mine. Mate.
Free from the wall, the chains still linking his wrists not slowing him down, Ander vaulted over the edge of the private box, uncaring that there was a fifteen-foot drop in his drive to get to his mate. He plummeted to the floor below, soft bodies screaming and writhing as his weight landed on them.
His eyes locked on the tiny Omega on the stage. She was shaking, and the fear on her face sent his already roaring Alpha senses into a blind rage.
Mine. Mine. Mate. Mine!
The voice in his head never let up its litany of possessive fervor. He wanted to wrap her in his strong arms and carry her away from this den of savages, but at the same time, he felt this need to show them all she was his.
He wanted to throw her down on the stage and cover her with his large body, trapping her beneath him. Wanted to feel her submit under him as he lined up his throbbing cock with her slick-drenched slit. Craved to feel her muscles clench around his knot as he shot streams of white-hot cum inside her. Needed to roar in defiance of all those around him as they gazed with lust on a female that they would never have because she belonged to him.
Bodies lined the floor behind him as he fought to get to the stage. Anyone foolish enough to step into his path ended up groaning in misery on the floor as the offending limbs that reached for him were dislocated or broken. Skin, scales, and hardened shells cracked and split under his hands and teeth. The chains still wrapped around his wrists became a deadly weapon that he wielded without mercy. Warm splashes of blood decorated his torso, arms, and legs, and the coppery taste of it fed his fury.
He’d reached the edge of the stage that rose as high as his head. Screams of agony and anger echoed around him, but none as loud as his own roar. “Mate!”
Using the strength in his arms and legs, he hauled himself up onto the stage, swinging a leg onto the wooden surface while never taking his eyes off the Omega who stared back at him with eyes so dark they appeared black. Her rosy pink lips parted as she panted softly. Her thighs glistened with slick dripping from her naked core onto her creamy flesh.
Bringing his other leg onto the stage, Ander paused on one knee to get his balance, but before he could stand to his full height and reach for his female, a stabbing agony started at the base of his neck and shot down his spine. The pain forced him to drop to his knees.
His mate’s keeper stepped closer to her and tried to pull her back into the shadows.
“No!” Ander cried. He tried to move, tried to rip the Beta’s hands off of his mate, to purr for her as he licked his way up her thigh, lapping at her sweet, wet heat. He tried; he willed his legs to move, but while the pain in his spine had retreated to manageable levels, he couldn’t make anything below his neck obey his commands.
The pain served to bring Ander somewhat back to his senses. He still felt his Alpha raging in his head, but he could hear again and his vision lost some of its red tinge.
“Well. That was… impressive.”
Lucius appeared at Ander’s left side. He couldn’t turn his head to look at him, but from the corner of his eye, he saw the male stop with his legs almost touching Ander’s shoulders.
“This has never happened before.” The auctioneer’s shaky voice came from somewhere close to Ander’s right. “Do you know how much damage he’s caused? Who’s going to pay for this?”
His voice rising, the Beta auctioneer crossed into Ander’s field of vision, wresting the Omega female’s leash from her keeper. Jerking her forward, he addressed the Omega’s handler, “Did you know they’re mates?”
A low growl vibrated the floorboards beneath Ander’s knees. He couldn’t stop the rumble from leaving his chest. He couldn’t do anything else to protect his mate except warn those around him of their impending death.
Silence from the male at his side caused the auctioneer to rock back on his heels. Ander couldn’t see Lucius’ expression, but when the keeper shook his head, the auctioneer wiped his hands on his pants before giving a nervous chuckle.
“Sheer dumb luck, it seems. Neither one of them is marked. They might be mates, but they’re not bonded. She just came in today, so they’ve never even seen each other until now. Fucking Alphas. Mr. Salvarin, it might be prudent to have your male taken to your vessel. We’ll save this little piece for another auction—”
During his rush to the stage, Ander had been blind with lust and the need to claim his mate. Still trying to make eye contact with the little Omega, he snapped to attention when the auctioneer suggested separating them. He’d fought to get to her. Had spilled blood to make her his.
A threatening snarl ripped from his throat, and despite the blinding pain it caused him from the neck down, he strained towards his mate. Fighting whatever technology it was that tried to keep him helpless, he reached for the Beta auctioneer in front of him.
The scent of fear spilled from the Beta.
Good.
A whimper of fear left his lips and he took a step back. The Omega let out a startled yelp as he yanked on her leash. In a series of bad choices, the auctioneer brought the trembling female in front of his body as a shield, wrapping an arm under her naked breasts to bring her up against him.
The Beta’s terror fed Ander’s soul, but the spike of fear from his Omega made him feral. Another male touched his woman. His mate!
Groaning against the pain, he fought the fire in his body to reach his Omega. She was his. Nothing would keep him from her.
