What kind of weirdos participated in a fake omega auction? The answer to that one was obvious. Lucas. Lucas was exactly the sort who would get off on pretending he was being kidnapped, auctioned, and savaged. But that begged thequestion of what kind of alpha this guy who seemed so intent on taking care of me and fighting for me was.
He hadn’t given me his name yet. I wanted to know what it was. I wanted to know when he’d figured out I was actually scared. I wanted to know why he still wore the lavender superhero mask. Maybe he was so used to wearing it that he’d forgotten to take it off?
He was huge, even for an alpha. His shoulders and chest were broad and well-muscled. I’d felt them when he carried me from the conference room up to the hotel suite. If this had been a real kidnapping, there was no way at all I’d’ve been able to escape. My alpha was incredibly strong, and he was probably fast and agile, too. He dwarfed me in size and power.
He smelled like sandalwood. It was an old-fashioned scent that reminded me of the artifacts room of the library at Barrington University. God help me, I liked his scent. I wanted him to come closer so I could smell him again. It didn’t make sense. Even though I knew this was all fake, I was still shaking with leftover fear. I should have politely asked the alpha to hand me my clothes, which I now noticed where sitting in a neat, folded pile on the end of the bureau across from me, and to let me go home.
But no. I wanted him to come hold me again, like he had when we were sitting on the floor. I wanted his massive body wrapped around me, keeping me secure and shielding me from the world. It made absolutely zero sense at all, considering how terrified of him I’d been when he met me at the foot of the dais in the auction room. He’d had me completely at his mercy and could have done anything he wanted to me. He could have tied me up and fucked me first, then claimed he hadn’t known I wasn’t Lucas and that the whole thing was supposed to be fake, but he hadn’t.
He was protecting me, advocating for me, like I’d always dreamed an alpha would.
But the circumstances were mind-bendingly weird.
“How are you doing?” he asked in the softest, gentlest voice as he ended his call and walked back over to me. He crouched on the carpet in front of my chair, but even from that position, he was so big that his face was only a few inches lower than mine. “Can I get you anything? Water?”
I shook my head tightly, squirming slightly under my blankets. I was way too close to my next heat for any of this.
“I’m so sorry for everything tonight,” my alpha continued. “None of it should have happened. Everyone who participates in these sorts of events should be vetted and checked and sign a release form on the day of the event instead of in advance.”
“My brother signed a release form?” I asked. It was a stupid question, but my brain still wasn’t quite back where it needed to be.
My alpha nodded. “The Dark Fantasies Club started doing these fake auction events last year. They’re really popular with the club members. The whole thing is supposed to be as realistic as possible, but not so much that the omegas don’t know what they’re participating in.”
“I think my brother gave me clues,” I said, wriggling slightly. My body was sore from being tense for so long and from being strung up earlier. “He…he likes to prank me,” I went on. “This isn’t the first time he’s sent me into an embarrassing or dangerous situation.”
Something protective and feral lit my alpha’s eyes. “This isn’t the first time?”
I shook my head. “He’s sent me on errands into really bad neighborhoods before, then driven my car off, leaving me there. He took me clothes shopping and stole all my clothes when I was in the changing room, before I could put the new clothes on, too.He does things like that all the time, but this is by far the worst.” My voice went all shaky at the end.
“No one should ever do that to another person, let alone a brother,” my alpha said, resting a hand on my leg. A moment later, he pulled his hand away. “Sorry. You haven’t given me permission to touch you.”
“It’s okay,” I said breathlessly. Part of me wanted to go on and say I liked it, that I wanted him to hold me again, that he’d actually made me feel safe for a few seconds in the middle of my panic, even though that didn’t make any sense. Instead, I asked, “What’s your name?”
“Saint,” he said with a smile. “Saint Boscoff.”
“Your name is Saint?” I asked, blinking. It was a strange name, but I liked it.
Saint laughed self-effacingly and looked like he was going to give some sort of explanation, but there was a knock at the door.
I tensed, but Saint rested his hand on my leg again, then stood and walked to the door. He was built so powerfully, and his trousers hugged his tight backside perfectly.
“Hello?” Saint asked cautiously, his hand on the door.
A very faint voice answered, “Hey, Saint. It’s Hamish and Caden.”
A bolt of leftover fear hit me as Saint turned the doorhandle to let two alphas into the suite. I nearly panicked again when I recognized the alpha who had kidnapped me from the trailer and the auctioneer.
“We’re so sorry this happened,” the one who had kidnapped me said, looking at Saint at first and then me. “Honestly, this whole thing is unforgivable.” His mien and personality were entirely different from what they’d been at the trailer. He almost seemed…nice.
“This is entirely our fault,” the auctioneer said, taking a few steps into the room. “We’ll do whatever we can to make things right.”
Saint stepped between me and the auctioneer, like he was protecting me from them. He frowned, but didn’t seem super furious. “None of us can imagine what Linus here must be feeling. He thought the whole thing was real.”
The other two alphas looked at him, then the kidnapper one turned back to me. “Linus? Lucas’s twin brother, I assume.”
I nodded, but I was still beyond smiling, laughing, and brushing the whole thing off.
“Your brother is kicked out of the Dark Fantasies Club, effective immediately,” the auctioneer said.
