“She’s up for auction, Felix. Of course she’s hurt mentally,” I said.
“You know what I mean. More than situational.”
As I watched her fumble over question after question, I realized how fragile our mate really was.
Anything could happen.
But one way or another, we were taking her home. The only problem now?
Whether or not we were worthy of her. I’d failed my pack before. I’d run with my tail between my legs. Who would want an alpha like me?
I watched our mate scan the audience with squinted eyes. Then her gaze landed on Tyrone, and all the stress left her face. Her shoulders relaxed. She unclasped her hands. She let out a breath.
Yeah, she knew we were here for her. We were all on the same page. Now to make this happen.
Chapter Seven
Millie
I’d given up hope that there was any way out of this. I’d been groomed for it. My fate was sealed. As much as I had held on to my dreams, it was time to accept that they were just pointless fantasies. My subconscious set them up in order to keep me from breaking, nothing more.
And then he was there. My alpha was real, and he said the others were waiting for me. I’d given up too soon.
But that meant I had to make sure that those creepy old bastards didn’t buy me. Or anyone else for that matter. If I was going to be sold, there was only one party I could accept.
I’d heard enough of the chitter-chatter to know there were multiple people very interested and not as a life mate. Nope, they wanted me in all the disgusting ways, and I was going to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening. My mate hadn’t looked like he had the wealth those creepy old men did. Heck, I didn’t know anyone who did, not even my father.
Why hadn’t I trusted my dreams? I could have had a plan already in place instead of trying to last minute it. They hadn’t led me astray before. I wasn’t always the best at knowing how to handle them, but that was a different story.
It wasn’t like I didn’t know the difference between the prophetic ones and the ones that were silly, like going to the movies and having the popcorn delivered by the cartoon character on the screen when I was eight. That one had just been silly childhood fun.
But these dreams about my mates, they were real, and I shouldn’t have given up hope. Now, I was paying the price because I was minutes away from walking onto that platform with no plan.
I tried to think of all the ways I could blow it without getting dead or attracting the wrong people. If you fought too hard up there, there was always an alpha to break you, and I was broken enough, thank you very much. But luck…no, not luck, Fate was on my side because one of the omegas’ scents gave the first hint of heat. And because alphas had no control, everything went wild. The guards were interested in the omega far more than their jobs. The people who were walking through were laser focused on her. I had a feeling the heat coming on was something forced by the people selling her, as a way to make more money. My father threatened to do the same.
I didn’t envy her, but I couldn’t let this opportunity slide. It wasn’t as if I could do anything to help her. I looked around, trying to figure out what I could do, and then I saw it: a knife.
Why was it there? I wasn’t sure, but it was covered in grease, so my guess was, someone was using it to try to fix the chains or something it was equally unsuited for. Whatever it was, I reached for it, shocked that I was able to grab it. As I held it in my hand, I realized it wasn’t a knife at all. I wasn’t quite clear on what it was, but it was sharp enough that I’d be able to ruin my hair.
No one wanted a mate with a crappytoddler got into the scissorshaircut. I wasn’t sure mine would even look that good when I was finished with it, and that was exactly the point. I also went to town on my clothing, making sure I could get as much of the grease on it as possible.
I didn’t get my entire fashion statement done, but I was a mess. Perfect.
The omega was removed from the room, along with any bystanders. I went to make one final hack as the guard came to me. The chaos moved my turn up a spot. He grabbed the metal from my hand, threw it behind me, and told me I was going topay. I was already paying. My entire life had been payment, and I was done. Whatever imaginary debt there was, it was paid in full.
They brought me out on the stage, and I scented the alpha. He was there, as promised, and so were two others.
My father was going to be livid when he saw me. And the rest of the leadership. I wasn’t sure what that was going to look like later. Maybe I’d make enough money that they wouldn’t care. But if the alphas won, I wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore, right? They’d protect me.
That’s what good alphas do. I refused to believe Fate sent me anyone but good alphas.
“In dreams, you can have all kinds of names.” I couldn’t risk them not recognizing me, and I hoped that one word,dreams,would be enough.
It shouldn’t have been a shock to me that my father stormed the stage and tried to cancel it. “She’s sick! We need to go and do this another day!”
He was so worried about his bottom line, but then one of the alphas, one of my alphas, gave a starting bid that was double the asking price, and suddenly it was too late. The wheels were in motion. Withdrawing now would be my father’s downfall, and he knew it.
Not one single person bet against them.
