Chapter 2/ the selling

Darlings POV.

Chapter Two

The Selling

Darling Kate’s POV

Oberon’s castle looked like it had been built for one purpose.

To make everyone who entered feel small.

Black stone towers disappeared into the moonless sky, their pointed roofs surrounded by thin ribbons of silver mist. Hundreds of windows glowed with golden light, each one taller than the entire house Nolan and I had been living in.

Carriages lined the circular drive.

Expensive cars stood beside them.

Fae guards dressed in black and gold watched every guest who approached.

Some had pointed ears.

Some had eyes that glowed.

Others looked almost human until they smiled and revealed teeth that were just a little too sharp.

I stopped at the bottom of the enormous stone staircase.

My stomach tightened.

I hadn’t been this close to Oberon since the night my mother died.

“Move.”

Nolan’s hand pressed against the middle of my back.

Not comforting.

Controlling.

I stiffened.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Then stop standing there.”

I looked over my shoulder.

He was dressed better than I’d seen him dressed in years.

New suit.

Polished shoes.

Hair carefully combed.

He looked respectable.

That was the thing about monsters.

Sometimes they looked exactly like everyone else.

“You said we were attending an engagement celebration,” I whispered.

“We are.”

“Then why have you been talking about money since we left home?”

His eyes hardened.

“Don’t start.”

“I’m asking a question.”

“And I’m telling you to behave.”

His fingers dug into my back.

“Smile.”

I didn’t.

We climbed the stairs.

The enormous doors opened before us.

Music poured into the night.

So did laughter.

For one terrible second, I remembered another night.

Maeve screaming.

Golden magic.

Snow covering the ground.

Run, Darling!

I forced the memory away.

I wasn’t sixteen anymore.

I was twenty.

And my mother wasn’t here to save me.

I had to start learning how to save myself.

The ballroom was breathtaking.

I hated it immediately.

Crystal chandeliers floated above the room without chains, hundreds of flames burning inside them without producing smoke. Black marble covered the floor, threaded with veins of gold that glowed beneath the guests’ feet.

Flowers I’d never seen grew from silver pots.

Music came from instruments playing themselves.

Creatures from every supernatural court filled the enormous room.

Fae.

Witches.

Vampires.

Shifters.

Wolves.

People I couldn’t identify.

They drank from crystal glasses and smiled at one another as though none of them had ever spilled blood.

Nolan’s hand returned to my back.

I moved away.

“Stay close.”

“No.”

His smile remained because people were watching us.

His voice changed.

Soft.

Dangerously soft.

“Darling.”

There it was.

The sound of fear.

My father’s quiet voice.

I stopped.

“Don’t embarrass me.”

I stared at him.

“You do a good enough job of that yourself.”

His eyes flashed.

Before he could answer, someone nearby whispered my name.

Then another person did.

I felt the change ripple through the ballroom.

People recognized me.

Of course they did.

The rumors had traveled farther than I realized.

A woman in a green gown leaned toward her companion.

Her eyes moved over me.

Then she whispered something.

They both laughed.

A man near the drinks table smiled at me in a way that made my skin crawl.

Another man looked me over slowly.

I knew those looks.

They thought they knew what I was.

They didn’t know anything.

I lifted my chin.

Maeve had taught me something Nolan never managed to beat out of me.

Humiliation belonged to the person who chose to inflict it.

Not the person forced to endure it.

So I walked.

Let them stare.

Let them whisper.

I wouldn’t bow my head for them.

Then the room changed.

It wasn’t dramatic.

No one announced him.

No trumpets sounded.

Yet conversations lowered.

People moved aside.

Power entered the ballroom.

I felt it before I saw him.

Heat moved across my skin.

The cold thing sleeping beneath my blood suddenly stirred.

I turned.

A man had entered with a young woman beside him.

He was enormous.

That was my first thought.

Tall.

Broad shoulders beneath a black suit.

Dark hair.

A hard jaw.

A face that looked as though smiling was something he considered an unnecessary weakness.

He didn’t look Fae.

His power felt completely different from Oberon’s magic.

Fae power crawled.

This man’s power prowled.

Warmer.

Wilder.

Alive.

Wolf.

My heartbeat quickened.

Not just wolf.

Alpha.

The woman beside him was beautiful, with dark hair and intelligent eyes. She said something to him.

He didn’t answer.

Because he had seen me.

His gaze locked onto mine from across the ballroom.

He stopped walking.

So did I.

Something inside my chest pulled.

Hard.

I sucked in a breath.

The stranger’s nostrils flared.

His eyes flashed brilliant gold.

My entire body went still.

Mine.

I heard the word.

Except he hadn’t spoken.

His mouth hadn’t moved.

I looked around.

No one else reacted.

Mine.

The sensation came again.

Deeper.

Something invisible stretched between us.

The cold power beneath my skin surged toward it.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

Nolan grabbed my elbow.

I barely noticed.

The Alpha started across the ballroom.

People moved out of his way.

Fast.

His attention never left me.

With every step he took, that strange pull became stronger.

My heart pounded.

My skin tingled.

The air around me seemed too thin.

Nolan noticed him approaching.

His grip tightened.

“Darling.”

I jerked my arm free.

“Let go.”

The Alpha reached us.

Up close, he was even more intimidating.

His eyes were no longer completely gold, but traces of it remained around his dark irises.

He looked at Nolan.

Nolan stepped directly in front of me.

For once, I almost laughed.

My father had no idea what he was standing in front of.

The Alpha stared at him.

Just stared.

Nolan moved.

One step sideways.

Apparently even he possessed survival instincts.

The man’s gaze returned to me.

“What’s your name?”

His voice was deep.

Rough.

“Darling.”

Something moved across his face.

“Darling?”

“Darling Kate Lewis.”

He repeated it quietly.

“Darling Kate.”

The way he said my name made the invisible connection between us tighten.

I swallowed.

“And you are?”

His eyebrow lifted slightly.

Apparently people usually knew.

“I’m Kazan Blackwood.”

I froze.

Oh.

I definitely knew that name.

Everyone did.

Alpha Kazan Blackwood.

Leader of one of the strongest wolf territories in the supernatural world.

A man people described with words like brutal, dangerous, merciless and loyal.

I had heard stories about him.

Some probably weren’t true.

Others were probably worse than the rumors.

“Alpha Blackwood,” Nolan said quickly.

Kazan ignored him.

His nostrils flared again.

Then his expression changed.

His eyes moved over me.

Not like the other men.

There was no greedy smile.

No amusement.

Something harsher appeared.

Confusion.

Then anger.

My stomach dropped.

He could smell them.

The men Nolan had brought around me.

Werewolves had powerful senses.

An Alpha’s were stronger.

Shame rushed through me so violently that I stepped backward.

Kazan noticed.

His gaze snapped to my face.

I wrapped my arms around myself.

Don’t.

Please don’t look at me like they do.

His jaw tightened.

Then, without saying anything, he removed his jacket.

I tensed when he moved toward me.

He stopped.

For half a heartbeat, neither of us moved.

Then he carefully placed the jacket around my shoulders.

It swallowed me.

Warmth surrounded me.

His scent did too.

Pine.

Smoke.

Something wild.

“Leave that on,” he said.

I looked at him.

“Why?”

His gaze moved toward a group of men staring at me.

They immediately looked away.

“Because I said so.”

My irritation returned.

“There it is.”

His brow furrowed.

“What?”

“The Alpha ordering.”

The woman who had entered with him covered a smile.

Kazan looked annoyed.

Good.

I preferred annoyed to disgusted.

Then his attention shifted to Nolan.

“Why is she here?”

Nolan smiled.

“She’s my daughter.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

The room around us seemed quieter.

Nolan glanced at me.

Then back at Kazan.

“Business.”

Kazan became completely still.

“What business?”

My stomach twisted.

“Nolan.”

He ignored me.

My father had recognized an opportunity.

Of course he had.

He looked at one of the most powerful Alphas alive and saw money.

“She can be excellent company.”

The cold inside me exploded.

Frost appeared along the stem of a nearby champagne glass.

Kazan saw it.

His eyes narrowed.

Nolan didn’t.

“How much?” Kazan asked.

My heart stopped.

I stared at him.

Nolan’s smile widened.

“Depends.”

“Name it.”

“Kazan,” the woman beside him said cautiously.

He didn’t look away from Nolan.

Nolan studied him.

Then named his price.

“Two million.”

The ballroom disappeared.

The music disappeared.

Everything disappeared except those words.

Two million.

For me.

Again.

I stepped backward.

“No.”

Neither man looked at me.

Anger ripped through me.

“I said no.”

Nolan’s face hardened.

“Darling, be quiet.”

Kazan’s head turned slowly.

His expression became lethal.

“Don’t tell her to be quiet.”

Nolan blinked.

Then Kazan looked at me.

Before I could understand what he was thinking, he said—

“Done.”

My chest went hollow.

For one horrible moment, Kazan became every other man Nolan had brought to me.

Another buyer.

Another transaction.

Another person deciding what happened to my body.

I ripped Kazan’s jacket from my shoulders.

“You cannot buy me.”

His expression changed instantly.

“No.”

I held the jacket against his chest.

“You just agreed to pay him two million dollars.”

“Yes.”

“For me.”

“No.”

“That’s exactly what happened!”

People were staring now.

I didn’t care.

Kazan took the jacket but didn’t move closer.

“I’m not buying you.”

“Then what are you buying?”

His gaze shifted toward Nolan.

“The debt.”

Silence.

I frowned.

Kazan looked back at me.

“The debt he thinks gives him the right to sell you.”

Nolan’s smile vanished.

“Now wait—”

Kazan raised one hand.

Nolan stopped speaking.

Kazan’s eyes remained on mine.

“I give him the money. Whatever agreement he thinks exists ends tonight.”

“And then what?”

“Then you leave.”

“With you?”

“If you want.”

That stopped me.

“If I don’t?”

Something powerful moved behind his eyes.

His wolf.

It clearly hated that possibility.

But Kazan answered anyway.

“Then you don’t.”

I stared at him.

“Why?”

His jaw flexed.

He didn’t answer.

Maybe he couldn’t.

The strange connection between us pulled again.

Kazan slowly extended his hand.

He didn’t grab me.

Didn’t command me.

Didn’t tell me I belonged to him.

He simply held out his hand.

Behind me stood Nolan.

Around me stood people who had already decided what kind of woman I was.

Somewhere in this castle was Oberon—the prince who had hunted my mother and spent years searching for me.

And in front of me stood a dangerous Alpha whose eyes had turned gold the moment he saw me.

I didn’t trust him.

Trust had become expensive.

Maybe more expensive than two million dollars.

But freedom stood on the other side of those ballroom doors.

I looked at Kazan’s hand.

Then into his eyes.

“I’m not yours.”

Something almost painful moved through his expression.

“I know.”

I wasn’t sure he completely believed that yet.

Maybe neither of us understood what had happened when our eyes met.

But I knew one thing.

Nolan had controlled enough of my life.

I would not let fear make this decision for me.

So I reached forward.

And I took Kazan Blackwood’s hand.

His fingers closed around mine.

The instant our skin touched, heat rushed up my arm.

At the same time, frost spread beneath our joined hands.

Kazan stared down at it.

I did too.

Neither of us understood what it meant.

Not yet.

Behind us, Nolan began protesting about payment.

Across the ballroom, whispers spread.

And somewhere beyond the crowd, I felt another presence watching us.

Cold.

Ancient.

Fae.

Oberon.

I lifted my eyes.

A blond man stood near the far end of the ballroom with a beautiful woman on his arm.

He was smiling at me.

The same pleasant smile I remembered from the night my mother died.

My blood turned to ice.

Kazan followed my stare.

His hand tightened around mine.

“Who is that?”

I couldn’t look away.

“Prince Oberon.”

Kazan’s body went rigid.

Oberon’s smile widened.

And suddenly I understood.

This night wasn’t my escape from the trap.

We had only just stepped into it.