Chapter 5; Sold

POPPY’S POV

I had developed a new skill in the last several hours.

Dissociation.

I read about it once, in a psychology article I skimmed without much interest because I assumed it was something that happened to other people. 

The mind stepped outside itself when the body couldn't leave. Also known as a survival mechanism. I understood it now in a very personal way.

I stood where they had placed me under the lights that were too bright and pointed directly down so that I couldn't see much beyond the first row of faces.

It was disgusting to think that people actually participated in things like this.

I kept my arms around myself even though it wouldn’t hide anything.

“Don't look at them,” the girl with the cut above her eyebrow had told me, before they separated us. “Pick a point and stare at it. Don't give them your face.”

I stared at a fixed point on the back wall and watched five girls go before me. 

Now I was the one on the platform.

The auctioneer said something about me that I refused to process. I kept my eyes on the back wall and my arms around myself.

The silence stretched longer than it had for the others.

I became aware of the absence of the immediate response the other girls had gotten. Nobody bid.

“Going once.” The auctioneer's voice came again. “You won’t get a price like this again.” 

 Still nothing.

My chest tightened, first from the shame that I wasn’t desirable to be bought but then I felt relief. 

The auctioneer murmured something to the man beside the platform.

The man stepped forward and said, quietly enough that only I could hear, "We'll move you to the secondary lot. Maybe they would consider you."

The secondary lot. I didn't know exactly what that meant and I didn't want to.

"Please," I said quietly. "I'm the Beta's daughter. If you contact my pack-"

"Walk." He touched my elbow and I flinched back and his hand tightened.

I held my ground. "I said please-“

"Fifteen thousand."

The voice came from somewhere in the middle of the room and I went still.

The auctioneer recovered quickly. “Fifteen thousand? Did I just hear fifteen?”

Two more markers went up almost immediately and the number climbed. 

Twenty thousand

Thirty…

Fifty…

Eighty…

Hold on, what the hell was going on? Even the man beside me was surprised as the number kept going.

“Two hundred thousand.” A deep, gravelly voice spoke and I almost couldn’t breathe. 

The man beside me went completely slack. “By the goddess. That’s the highest bid we’ve ever had.”

I was too stunned to say anything as the auctioneer closed the deal with a bang of his gavel.

I had been sold.

The man at the edge caught my arm and pulled me toward the door. 

We emerged to a corridor and he led me to a room two doors down. The room had a mirror and a chair and two women who helped me chance into a fitted black halter neck dress. 

"Who bought me," I whispered and the women exchanged a look.

"No one comes with their real names," one of them said. "But I heard he’s the Alpha of the Nightfang pack." 

My reflection stared back at me and I whispered. "Alpha.”

I was sold to a freaking Alpha and if I remembered anything about Nightfang, it was their reputation of being the most formidable pack in all the world. 

They ushered me out of the room and I kept my face blank as I was led outside. The cool evening slapped at my face and I sucked in a breath. 

The first thing I noticed was the black sports car parked in front, then the golden haired man standing beside the car with a small smile. 

Then him.

He was standing with his back partially to me, and from the broadness of his shoulders and crop of dark hair. I had a feeling he was very attractive. 

Then he turned and my brain stopped working as those amber eyes locked on mine. 

Grey. The Alpha who bought me was the same person I gave my virginity to? 

He looked at me, and slowly, the corner of his mouth moved.

"We meet again, pet."

I staggered back, unable to breathe but he rushed forward and caught me before I could fall, his arm wrapping around my waist.

My eyes stared into those liquid gold eyes and it felt like my legs had forgotten how to stop working.

 “G-Grey?” I stammered. “Is that… are you… Grey?” 

He chuckled and the sound went straight to my core. His hand came up to the side of my face and he stroked gently. 

“I think I made the right choice coming here, pet.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips against my throat. “You’re mine now.”

I stiffened, a new horror washing down my spine. If he was truly Alpha Grey, then I had just met my nightmare in the flesh. 

There was a reason he was called the daredevil dor for a reason, and now I had fallen right onto his lap.

I was so screwed.