I cross the last few steps and grip her chin, forcing her to look up at me.Her skin is soft under my fingers.Fragile.Almost breakable.My thumb presses against her bottom lip until it parts, and I catch a glimpse of her tongue, pink and wet.My cock jerks so hard I nearly groan.
“Mine,” I growl, voice rough with a hunger I don’t want.
Her breath hitches.She should be terrified and maybe she is.But the sharp tang of arousal cuts through her fear, spiking my blood with heat.My omega.Even if it’s only for tonight.
“Take her to Suite Seven,” I order the beta, though my hand is still clamped on her jaw.It takes effort to let go, to step back and let the handler lead her.
I follow.My eyes never leave the sway of her hips, the rounding of her perfect ass, the vulnerable curve of her spine, and the way her bare feet hesitate against the cold marble.She doesn’t look back at me once, but her shoulders are tight, her breathing uneven.She knows I’m watching.She knows I’m a hunter waiting for the precise moment to strike.
The suite door opens, and she’s ushered inside.The handler murmurs something to her, but I barely hear it over the pounding in my veins.When the door clicks shut, it’s just the two of us.
Silence surrounds us, covering us like some kind of shroud.
She’s standing at the foot of the bed, her head bowed, chest rising and falling too fast.And me?I’m looming in the doorway, cock like lead in the confines of my pants, and need gnawing at me like a starving beast.
Twelve hours.That’s all the contract says.But already, I know twelve hours won’t even scratch the surface.
Chapter Two
The Auction
Evangeline
“My marriage is not yours to sell!”My voice cracks as it ricochets off the gilded walls of my mother’s sitting room.I hate how weak it sounds, but fury burns through me all the same.
Mother doesn’t even flinch.She sits straight-backed in her velvet chair, pearls glinting at her throat, expression cool and unyielding.“You will marry him, and you will be grateful,” she says as though it’s the most reasonable decree in the world.“Do you have any idea what this alliance will mean for our family?For me?”
“I don’t care!”My fists curl at my sides.“I don’t want a cruel Alpha for a husband.I don’t want to be sold off like cattle.I always thought...”My throat thickens, words catching.“I thought I’d get to fall in love.”
The laugh she gives is brittle.“Love?You were born an omega.Love is a luxury you cannot afford.”Her gaze sharpens, slicing me open.“You will marry him.You will do your duty.And you will not shame this family with your childish fantasies.”
I spin away before she can see the tears spill over, my breath shuddering out of me.My hope of finding true love, dreams of being in a safe and healthy relationship someday, all of it ripped from my hands like it means nothing.
I flee the sitting room, the ridiculous skirts of my dress gathered in my fists, stumbling down the endless marble corridor until I find a shadowed alcove where I can collapse.My sobs are quiet, ragged, and muffled against my palms.The scent of my own tears is humiliating.I hate it.I hate her.I hate this path she is forcing me to take.
A soft voice startles me.“Miss?”
