Chapter 1 Chains and Ten Million

The sharp smell of iron filled my mouth.

I tried to lift my hands to wipe the warm trickle from my chin, but the heavy clink of cold metal stopped me cold. Thick steel chains bound my wrists tightly together, biting directly into the raw flesh of my skin. Every minor twitch sent sharp jolts of pain shooting up my forearms.

I blinked against the blinding white glare overhead, my vision swimming in fractured halos of light. The floor beneath my bare knees was ice-cold concrete. Every muscle in my body throbbed with a dull, sickening ache. When I tried to draw a full breath, the scrape against my ribs made me choke, a stray bead of blood dripping from the corner of my split lip down to the floor.

Where am I?

I tugged desperately at the links, but the metal only rattled against the stage floor. The fabric of my clothes was torn and frayed at the seams, barely clinging to my trembling frame.

Then, a harsh, metallic voice boomed right beside me, reverberating through a microphone.

"Lot Forty-Two! Twenty-two years old, untouched, pure virgin stock! Starting bid begins at two hundred thousand!"

The words hit me like a bucket of freezing water.

My eyes snapped wide open. Through the heavy, smoke-filled air below the raised platform, dozens of faces stared back at me. Men in tailored suits and heavy jewelry sat in velvet booths, their hungry, assessing gazes raking over every exposed inch of my skin.

An auction.

I am in chains, being sold like an animal.

A violent surge of terror punched through my chest, pulling the breath right out of my lungs. How had my life turned into this nightmare in less than forty-eight hours? Just two days ago, my world had been so ordinary. So painfully normal.

Two mornings ago, the air in our cramped kitchen had smelled of black coffee and toasted bread.

"Dad, don't skip your medicine again," I had said, sliding a plate of eggs across the worn laminate table before grabbing my backpack.

My father wiped engine grease from his hands onto a rag, his face lined with exhaustion. "You’re working too many shifts between classes, Serena. Let me take extra cars at the garage."

"Your back can't handle extra shifts, Dad. I've got this." I had smiled, kissing his cheek on my way out the door.

College by day. Nights at The Obsidian Lounge, the most exclusive underground VIP club in the city. The pay was the only reason I could afford my tuition without burying my parents in debt.

That evening at the lounge, the calm shattered before the shift even began.

In the employee locker room, Maya grabbed my wrist, her knuckles white. "Please, Serena. Swap zones with me. I can't go into the VVIP lounge tonight. I just can't."

I frowned, pinning my hair back. "Maya, that’s your assigned floor. Mr. Henderson will dock your pay if you dodge it."

"I don't care! Haven't you noticed the men who book that chamber?" Maya leaned in, lowering her voice to a desperate whisper. "The air inside that room is suffocating. The strange amber reflections in their eyes, the low vibrations in their chests—it sounds like predatory growling. Serena, they aren't normal."

I let out a soft laugh. "Maya, stop. You've been reading too many urban fantasy novels. Rich, arrogant men acting like entitled beasts isn't magic; it's just wealth."

"I'm serious!" Maya hissed, stepping closer. "The whispers across the district aren't rumors. People say there's a pack of wolves walking in human skin, ruling the underground. If you're so brave, you take the tray. I believe in them, and I'm terrified."

I picked up the silver serving tray, balancing the crystal decanters with a dry smirk. "The day an actual werewolf shows up to rescue me from this cruel world is the day I'll believe your fairy tales."

I walked out, shaking my head at her theatrics.

Yet, as I approached the heavy double doors at the end of the private corridor, a strange chill prickled down my spine. The air near the door was oddly charged, thick with the scent of crushed pine and storm clouds.

It's just adrenaline, I told myself. Just do your job and get out.

I knocked once, pushed the heavy door open, and stepped inside.

The chamber was dimly lit, shrouded in cigar smoke and low, murmuring voices. Several imposing figures in dark suits sat around a massive mahogany table. The raw tension in the room made it hard to swallow. Keeping my chin down, I stepped forward and began pouring the bourbon, moving carefully from glass to glass.

Don't look up. Keep your head down. Just serve and walk away.

Then I reached the end of the table.

The man sitting at the head commanded the entire room without uttering a single word. He had broad shoulders, a sharp, sculpted jawline, and raven-black hair. His presence carried a predatory magnetism that rooted me to the spot.

My hands trembled slightly as I poured the dark liquid into his glass. Just stay calm. Don't look at his eyes. You can do this.

As the glass touched the coaster, a deep, velvety voice cut through my racing thoughts:

"Nothing here is going to be alright, little bird."

My breath hitched. I froze, my eyes snapping to his.

His gaze locked onto mine—a pair of piercing, molten-gold eyes that seemed to burn straight into my soul.

"Five hundred thousand!"

The crude shout ripped me out of the memory and dragged me violently back to the glaring stage.

"Half a million from the gentleman in the front row!" the host barked.

Down in the front row, a heavy-set man with greasy slicked-back hair leaned forward, licking his lips as his bloodshot eyes traced my torn clothes and chained wrists.

"Six hundred thousand!" the man bellowed, his voice dripping with malice. "Bring her down here! I’m going to tear the rest of those rags off and fuck her until she forgets her own damn name!"

Nausea surged up my throat. I pulled my chained wrists against my chest, the iron clanking loudly as tears spilled over my bruised cheeks. No. Please, God, no.

"Six hundred thousand going once!" the host called, raising his wooden gavel. "Going twice—"

"Ten million."

The deep, resonant voice tore through the grand hall like sudden thunder.

The entire auction room instantly dropped into dead silence. The vulgar jeers and clinking glasses vanished in a heartbeat.

The host stood paralyzed, his gavel frozen in mid-air. "T-Ten million...?"

From the deepest shadows of the private balcony above, a towering silhouette moved into the light.

He stepped down the marble staircase, each heavy footstep echoing off the walls. The crowd parted instantly, men shrinking back in sheer terror as he walked past them without sparing a single glance.

He approached the foot of the stage, the harsh white lights catching the sharp angles of his face and the pitch-black strands of his hair.

He stopped, tilting his head up toward me.

Those same striking, molten-gold eyes locked onto mine.

"Sold!" the host stuttered out, trembling violently. "To Mr. Blackthorn!"

Zayden Blackthorn stepped onto the stage, his gaze sweeping over my bruised face, my torn clothes, and the heavy chains binding my wrists. A dark, dangerous shadow crossed his features.

"You ran once," he murmured, his voice low and possessive as he closed the distance between us. "You won't run again."