AUCTIONED TO HIS UNCLE

Laura's POV

I was blindfolded and left on a high podium, still fighting my way to get free, still wearing the lingerie that was thin and flimsy and covered almost nothing, the cold air biting against my skin while I felt everyone's eyes on me.

I heard the low laughter of men from the distance and that was how I knew I was being watched, that I was being auctioned.

My heart was breaking and my wolf was falling inside me, overwhelmed by the weight of betrayal because I couldn't believe he had gone this far, that he had sold me for the night.

He had set me up here after everything, after he had promised to make me his mate in front of everyone.

And the lingerie I had worn for him, the one I had stolen just so I could look beautiful in his eyes. I had never done anything like that before. It wasn't me, but I had done it for him because I wanted to feel worthy of him.

How stupid I was!

Now he had set me up here on display for other men to bid on.

The officiate’s voice rang out as he started the bid, announcing that I was up, and the men laughed, some of them saying he was too fast, one of them saying I'd do for a good one night fuck.

"Why the rush," someone yelled. "Let us get a good look at her first."

"I don't know," another voice said. "She's not worth the money."

I heard the cruel comment and tears fell from my eyes, soaking through the blindfold and I couldn't stop them, they just kept coming.

In my heart I made a promise that Ryan would pay for this. He had made me the object of his cruel joke and humiliated me in front of everyone and displayed me like I was nothing, and I would make him pay.

The bidding continued as the numbers went higher and higher, men calling out prices while my stomach churned with every bid.

"Ten thousand," someone called out.

Another man laughed. "She's too fat for that price. But I bet she can keep my bed warm. Fifteen thousand."

"Twenty thousand," another voice chimed in. "Look at those curves. They're massive. I bet I can break her."

My heart shattered with every word and I wanted to scream, I wanted to run away… I wanted to be with my mother and go home, but I had no home and I had nothing. My hands were bound and I couldn't move.

"She's fat," someone yelled. "Why are you bidding so high for a fat slave?"

Another man laughed. "She's got curves. I like curves. She'll be fun to break."

 

Just then a voice broke out of the crowd, the weight of it caught everyone's attention. It sounded familiar, my skin crawling from it.

"One million."

Everyone gasped and the room went silent. The officiate stuttered. "One... one million. Going once. Going twice."

"Wait," someone said. "Sir, you have to remove your mask to bid."

I heard Ryan's voice as he spoke to the man. "It's a rule. Everyone in the casino must show their face before bidding."

The man laughed, only from that I knew he was someone dangerous. "What does it matter? I'm paying good money. Isn't that what this is about?"

Don't tell me Ryan would agree to this…

Ryan was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "Fine. She doesn't mean anything anyway. Take her."

I tried to beg, I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything I was grabbed and dragged backward by hands pulling me off the podium.

My heart was pounding as I wondered who this man was and what he wanted with me. Whether I would be killed when he got me alone or I would be tortured or passed around to other men.

I was dragged into a room and the blindfold was removed, the light bright as I blinked, surrounded by girls who were all smiling at me with fake smiles that held no warmth.

They started to do my makeup, powdering my face, painting my lips, brushing my hair.

"Stop," I said. "Please stop. Let me go."

No one listened as they kept working on me, fast and efficient, not caring about what I wanted.

I tried to run and escape but they held me back, stronger than me, and I was weak from everything, from the cold, from the hunger, from the pain in my heart.

"Don't fight," one of the girls said. "It will only make things worse."

"You have to spend the first night here with your buyer," another said. "If you behave, maybe he'll be gentle."

I didn't say anything, I just let them work on me, and when they were done I was pushed into another room, still wearing the lingerie, the fabric against my skin the only thing I had left.

I looked around the room and saw it was huge, candles everywhere, the bed enormous with black silk sheets.

From behind the sheer curtains, I saw him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, shirtless, his massive frame silhouetted against the dim glow of the candles. Dark ink covered his arms and chest, patterns that seemed to catch the light and dance. One hand rested on his knee, a cigarette burning between his fingers, the smoke curling lazily upward.

He didn't move when I entered. He didn't even seem to acknowledge me, just sat there taking a slow drag from his cigarette.

I wasn't going to beg anymore because I had begged Ryan, I had begged him to claim me and love me, and he had laughed at me and kicked me and sold me.

I would grit my teeth and make it out of here alive, I would survive and find a way and get revenge on everyone who had wronged me.

The man finally moved, rising from the bed in one fluid motion. He grabbed a jacket from the bed stand before walking toward me, each step measured and deliberate.

My heart beat frantically in my chest and I couldn't breathe or think. I looked down because I couldn't bear to see who was going to hurt me next.

His feet stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his body and smell the smoke and something darker underneath.

"Tonight will go very simple for you," he said, his voice commanding, carrying a weight that seemed to press against my very bones. "Only If you agree with what I am about to say."

I didn't look up. "What is it?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

I felt something warm wrap around my shoulders, soft and heavy, and I looked up in surprise. It was the jacket. He had put his jacket around me.

I almost flinched as his hand came around to touch me. What kind of buyer treated a slave like this?

"Be my Luna," he said and the absurdity of the words made my head shoot up to look at him.

And then I saw his face.

Dark eyes that held no warmth, a jaw sharp as a blade, a face carved from stone. Every line of him spoke of danger, of a man who had destroyed everything in his path and would do it again without hesitation. His presence was suffocating, overwhelming, the kind of force that made you forget how to breathe.

"Alpha Ryder," I gasped.

Because the man standing in front of me was Ryan's step uncle, the Alpha of Moon River Pack, and the most feared alpha in the region.

And he had just asked me to be his Luna.