Chapter 1

Ronan’s POV

The first thing I heard was the sound of chains clinking every time I moved and each movement made my head throb even more, like someone was hammering nails inside my skull. I had never had a headache this bad before and it felt like my head was about to split open. My vision blurred from the pain, and every tiny move made me wince. I sucked in a shaky breath, my chest tightening as the air around me was cold and damp against my skin, smelling sharp and metallic, like rust.

Rust?

I frowned a little, trying to make sense of it while also panicking. Why did it smell like that? Why was it so cold? And most importantly, where the hell was I? My stomach knotted from the unfamiliar scent and the roughness of the ground.

I forced my eyes open, but it didn’t help much because everything was dark. My throat felt tight and dry as I groaned, trying to sit up, but the sound of metal clinking sounded again, louder this time and it was louder this time which made me realize that it was coming from me. I looked down at my wrists to see that my hands were chained together and I started to panic.

“We don’t have a choice, we have to use him! The auction is in a few hours and time isn’t on our side! The others aren’t good enough, and we promised to deliver pretty goods so we can make good money!” someone barked, their voice close enough to make me freeze. My heart thudded so loud in my chest that I was sure they’d hear it.

“We lost a girl, but we have a boy. That’s different.” Another voice shot back.

My stomach dropped as I realized that they were talking about me. I wasn’t even human to them. I was “ goods.”

A cold sweat broke out over my skin, my hands going clammy. My breath came in short, panicked gasps. This couldn’t be real. I can’t be sold away just like that. This had to be a nightmare. My chest tightened with dread, and my mind screamed at me to wake up. But everything was horrifyingly real. I had fallen into the hands of underground traders.

“Get me out of here!” I screamed immediately, my voice raw and cracking. I knew screaming was probably dangerous, but I didn’t care. “Help! Someone, please help me!” My voice echoed off the walls of whatever hellhole they had thrown me into.

I yanked at the chains until my wrists burned, my fingers numb and blistering. My legs kicked at the floor in desperation. I needed someone to hear me and needed to get out because there was no way they were dragging me to an auction without a fight.

I heard their footsteps coming fast and straight towards me and for a second, I felt a little relieved because at least I had gotten a reaction out of them, they were coming to me and maybe my screaming would make them see me as bad business and they’d let me go.

The door banged open, and light flooded in, blinding me and making me blink rapidly. One of the men stormed inside and grabbed me roughly, making me gasp in pain as his hand clamped around my arm so tight that I felt his nails dig into my skin. He yanked me forward and I stumbled to my knees, bruising it before scrambling to my feet as he dragged me out while I tried to keep my balance.

There were more of them behind us but nobody said a word. They just moved silently until we stopped at another door. It swung open, and I was shoved inside so hard that I hit the wall.

“You fucking assholes!” I snapped, my voice hoarse but still trembling with anger and fear as pain shot up my side. “Do I look like a girl to you, or are you just blind?!” My wrists jerked against the chains as I gestured at myself.

Another one of them stepped forward, quicker than I expected and his fist connected with my stomach, sending a jolt of pain through me. Air rushed out in a choked groan as my body doubled over, knees slamming into the cold floor. My head spun, and I suddenly felt like vomiting.

“What the hell is wrong with you, man?!” the first voice barked at the one who hit me. “Do you want to damage the goods? We were given strict instructions not to touch any of them! So calm the hell down before you ruin things!”

Goods. Again. I felt sick in my stomach, I was nothing to them.

He turned back to me, his eyes cold. “You don’t need to look like a woman,” he said flatly. “And just so you know, nobody cares about your gender. If they like what they see, they buy it. If they don’t, they won’t. The only thing that matters here is how you look.”

He crouched down slightly, his gaze roaming over my face. “We saw you and we could tell you’d be expensive. After we sent your pictures out, we got good feedback which means that you're a perfect replacement for the girl who got lucky and escaped. Some of our customers have… unique tastes and your looks might tempt them to have you.”

I coughed hard, still clutching my stomach. “But… Why me?” I croaked, my voice low. “I’m sure this isn’t your first time doing this kind of thing and you can easily find any girl you want out there. Why would you go for a boy like me?”

He closed the distance between us and grabbed my cheek, squeezing it hard enough to make me wince. “Because you’re much prettier,” he murmured, his eyes sweeping over my face. His tongue flicked out, licking his lips as he stared at mine, making me feel disgusted.

“If I weren’t a normal man,” he said slowly, like he was savoring the words, “I wouldn’t hesitate to bend you over and stick my cock in you, watching your pretty face and body squirm under me but I’m pretty sure both the rich normal men and the homo ones would love to have you and that makes me glad.”

I swallowed so hard that it hurt as I didn't know what to say but my mind was screaming at me to say something but I couldn't. I knew I was pretty and I hated it. I had always hated how I looked. I was blonde, too blonde for a boy, if that’s even a thing with icy blue eyes and long lashes girls would kill for. I got compliments all the time, called a doll, bullied for being too pretty and now here I was, about to be sold because of this same damn face.

Well… fuck my life for being pretty, I guess.

But even as I sat there shaking on the cold floor, chained and bruised, I knew one thing for sure, this wasn’t the worst of it. Someone out there had probably already paid for me, someone powerful enough to spend a disgusting amount of money just to own me. And as that realization hit, a sickening truth settled in my chest…

Whoever was coming for me next… was far more dangerous than the men who captured me.