Tears welled in Whisper’s bunny-pink eyes, wind-chapped pink nose cracked and a little rough.
“I’m not going to… No. Keep your clothes on.” I held up a reassuring hand and backed away.
The thought disgusted me, and the alpha from before spoke from the doorway. “What’s your problem, man? Either fuck Whisper and get on, or let him get back to his work. He’s got shit to do, ’specially after that fire.”
“Go get Gordon,” I snarled over my shoulder.
A squeak of protest died over the omega’s lips, but I was too angry to focus. I stood in place, my vision going red at the edges, sending the frantic male into trembles of fear. He took one step back then another, the backs of his legs hitting the sad excuse of his nest as he flopped back, fragile boards creaking.
“Omega,” I said with as much calm as I could muster. My dragon snarled and screamed in my head at the injustice and wrongness of what I’d been forced to witness.
“What’s all this shit about?” Gordon’s nasally voice rang out amid his staggered steps, the gait unpredictable and erratic, something my dragon equated to injury or mental ineptitude, the kind only years of substance abuse could guarantee.
I turned away from Whisper’s cowering form as he drew back, the fear in his eyes magnifying at the sight of the alpha, scared more of that old tomcat than he was me. “What’s this one’s story?”
“Told you a’fore. Born dumb, don’t talk. We keep him around to dig shitters and muck about, burn trash.” Gordon shrugged. “And if he wants a little cash—well…”
Gordon’s gaze migrated to a nearly spent tub of petroleum jelly on an upended crate. A hot ringing sound roared in my ears,and every fiber of my being trembled. “You do not pay him for his labor?”
“He gets a place to live. He wants food and anything else? That’s for him to earn thehardway.” Gordon snorted, and I glanced from him to Whisper, who bunched up tighter, knees tucked. “Why, you want him?”
I couldn’t explain why. I did. I wanted the creature in my hoard, tucked away safely from the world. I wanted to see him dressed in new clothes, clean, hair cut in something flattering, not the filthy mop that stuck up at odd choppy angles over his head. “Thought he might like some work, is all.”
I turned my head from the cowering male, keeping my face carefully blank. Gordon rubbed the back of his neck with a sneer. “Y’all live over the ridge yonder, right? The watch towers?”
I nodded.
“Awful far for some’n to drive the idjit.” Gordon bobbed his head from side to side. “How about n’stead of giving him a job. How bouts I just sell him to ya?” That awful, crooked-toothed smile twisted his wicked lips.
A hoarse noise broke Whisper’s silence, and I glanced over my shoulder. The expression on his face twisted in confusion, disbelief, still stinking of fear. I wanted to wash that off him completely. My precious kitty needed a bath, a warm spot by my hearth, bathing in my fire, pale skin soaking up every lick of my flame. The way I craved it had an urgent passion behind it, but no arousal flickered within me. For that, my dragon had no desire. He wanted to own a rare treasure.
Gordon’s upper lip twitched, nostrils flaring as if he were sniffing me out. “You wanna buy or rent?”
“What’s the price on either side?” I rolled my eyes and waited.
“Five hundred a month, cash to rent.” Gordon picked his teeth and stared me down, and my face must have twisted unpleasantly. “Or I’m askin’ too much. Four hundred?”
“And to buy?” I glanced toward the horrified shifter once more and back.
“Already got a bid on buying him for spring. If you can beat out what the Rockies clowder put on him—” Gordon licked his lips, desperation stinking from him. “They offered me six thousand.”
He was lying. There was truth in it, but he’d been offered less. My dragon could smell desperation, urgency. That ten thousand was going to end them.
“And if I want to put all the money in your account, right now?” I leaned against a doorway.
“Ain’t got no accounts. Would want the cash up front.” A few gathering bobcats gathered nearby stared into the open door, hunger in their eyes, but whether for cash or Whisper, I was uncertain. “Less interest, ’n all that. And I’d have to call up and tell them Rockies boys and tell them that Whisper ain’t for sell no more.”
“A number, or I’m leaving.” I took a step toward the door, and a silent puff of breath made the hairs on my arms lift, as if Whisperwantedto leave. “I don’t have time, and the council can send me many omegas wishing to work in a dragon’s hoard.”
I hated to upset the omega, but I pushed Gordon aside, and he flustered his hands out, stammering. “Seven thousand!”
I glanced over, brow furrowed.
He waved his hands again. “Six-five?”
I huffed as if the number pained me, and I nodded once. “Pack his things. Have him ready. I’ll return with cash, and he’s not to be touched. He reeks of bobcat rut enough as is. Fuck with him and I half the price.”
Gordon stammered for a minute and offered a grubby hand for a shake. “You have yourself a deal. When will you be back?”
