Rose’s POV
A bell rang somewhere and that was when I found out who was here by choice and who wasn’t. Thinking about it, I didn’t really fall into either camp.
“Good luck keeping that gown intact, Red,” someone hissed. I saw it was my attacker, the would-be thief. “I’m telling you now, you won’t be allowed to keep it.”
“So why did you want it so badly?” I asked.
She didn’t bother to answer, just gave a snort of contempt and waltzed off.
We were put into groups of six at random. Ours was going on stage second and I realised I was the only redhead among them. It was hard not to overhear the slaps and shrill cries of our predecessors, coupled with the raucous tone of the vendor, yet the crowd seemed strangely silent. Until …
“Not up to your usual standard, Perkins,” someone called.
“Maybe they should strip and dance for us.”
“Next!”
Just that one word managed to make my spine tingle with fear and something else akin to anticipation.
We were hustled onto the stage and I forced myself to stare at the crowd of buyers. I don’t know what I had been expecting but it wasn’t this.
The men were all under forty and well-groomed. There were even some women present, decked out in jewels, looking for something specific. I panicked, because I hadn’t even considered that.
Then I saw him, Alpha Lewis, and I wondered what was going on.
“That blonde looks tasty. I’d like to inspect her if I may,” one of the young men said. “In private,” he added.
“There’s a fee for that.”
“I’ll double it.”
The girl was led away into the wings and I breathed a sigh of relief. That had seemed almost dignified.
Sadly, the brunette to my right was not so fortunate.
“Tell the one in the blue dress to show us her tits.”
It was obvious she had been crying and I wondered if how you presented – willing or not – had a bearing on the outcome. The first one had seemed content with her lot. This one definitely wasn’t. She refused to comply and I heard a ripping sound followed by several appreciative whistles and not a few growls.
“Sixteen thousand dollars,” was the opening bid.
It didn’t get much higher and soon she was sold to one of the older men. I saw the woman he was with slap her several times as they made their way to the exit.
Then it was my turn. I did a twirl to order and even managed a small smile before I intercepted a signal between the auction guy and a powerfully built male at the back of the room.
I could have stopped him from unzipping my dress but I didn’t. Thinking of Willow, I told myself she would do the same for me. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure.
As the dress pooled at my feet the bidding began, including one of the women, and I heard to my disbelief that Alpha Lewis was involved.
I worked it out after the first offer from Lycan Adam came. He was the one who had called, “Next,” earlier and was also responsible for me standing there in my underwear.
Maybe the idea was to relieve the Lycan King of some of the money reputed to be in his war chest. And perhaps the Alpha was taking a cut from the auctioneer’s profit by pushing up the price.
Had he done this before? I wondered.
A shiver came out of nowhere and I tuned out the sounds only to receive a cuff to my ear.
“Lycan Adam wants you on all fours,” the vendor said, brandishing his flogger menacingly.
I sank to my knees and did my best to comply. The floor was filthy and dotted with nails holding the planks together.
“Crawl.”
I moved slowly across the stage, hoping this farce would be over soon.
“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Most people fell away after that. In fact everyone except Alpha Lewis. Was he delighting in my humiliation or just making it look good? It could backfire, though I supposed he knew that as well as anyone.
When the bid reached an even two hundred thousand, the Alpha conceded defeat, and I watched in trepidation as Lycan Adam shouldered his way to the front of the audience.
He made short work of jumping up onto the stage and attaching a collar and leash to my neck.
My new owner hauled me upright by yanking the chain and I got a whiff of his scent, patchouli and woodsmoke.
'Mate.'
Olga was ecstatic while I wasn’t so sure. This was a complication I didn’t need. And he hadn’t acknowledged the bond; why would he?
Yet how could I betray him now?
“What’s your name, Omega?” he growled as we made our way to the exit.
The satin dress was lost to me just as a certain someone had predicted.
“Rose, sir,” I replied.
“Obey me, and you’ll last longer than the others. Cross me and you’ll long for death.”
“I – ”
“Don’t think I haven’t felt it too, the feeble pull of the mate bond.” He sniffed my hair. “Lavender and cinnamon. Pathetic. I may reject you in time. Until then, whenever I choose to slake my lust on another female – and that will happen a lot – you will feel the agony of betrayal, just as …”
His voice tailed off. Had he been made to suffer in the past?
“I will try my best not to disappoint you, sir,” I murmured.
“Do you know what it means to be a slave? You will be my only submissive. That makes you unique, special, and do you know why?” I shook my head. “Because you will be the only one sharing my pain. Except, this time, I will be the one meting it out.”
Rose’s POV The Lycan’s cruel words hit me like a punch to the gut. Alpha Lewis had seemed so plausible. Like his sidekick, Connor, the driver-cum-guard. No-one at any point had used the term ‘sex slave’ and this sounded like a whole lot more than just making my body available to Lycan Adam 24/7. I had to admit he was attractive in a rugged kind of way, with a broad chest and the most incredible blue eyes. That night he took me to a fancy hotel. It was humiliating to stand there in reception wearing only lingerie while he asked for a double room with an emperor size bed. I found myself plucking at the hole in my stockings as he negotiated a favourable rate. At least they didn’t charge by the hour. My worries weren’t over when we got into the elevator. It had mirrored glass and he didn’t hesitate to pounce, lifting up my bra cups and showing me my reflection. “Now you look like the slut you are,” he told me. But he wasn’t done yet and soon his fingers were making my panties sag a
Rose’s POV I obeyed on shaky legs only to find, “There’s no underwear, master.” “Get used to it. I’d only tear it off.” “In the dining room, master?” “Anywhere and everywhere. You’ll learn, Rose, that what I want I get. I have done ever since I took over as Lycan King.” Had I known he was royalty? That would explain a lot. Nobody else would get away with treating hotel employees like servants. I was trying to remember, but everything was fuzzy in my head. Especially when he started to roll down my stockings using a combination of teeth and fingers which traced my bare skin lustfully, setting me on fire. I’d never felt like this in my whole life. Was it the mate bond? Were the sparks and tingles a result of that or did every couple feel like this? We weren’t mated in the proper sense and I knew he would never claim me with honour. Yet I could dream, couldn’t I? That might just make all this bearable. The long velvet gown was the more modest of the two. Even so it had a slit at e
Willow’s POV Joan told me my sister was working for the Alpha and that I might not see her for weeks. While I missed Rose I realised this might be my opportunity to have some fun. All harmless, though I knew she would never understand with her being so prim and virginal. I thought Dean was the hottest of them all, but it was her breasts he stared at rather than mine. I had my eye on a guard named Connor, the one who’d approached us in the corridor. But it seemed he was taken with a blonde and I began to flirt with Jason, another driver. “No-one will know,” I argued. “And I’ve been dying to see his new movie for weeks. If you sneak me out, I’ll make it worth your while.” “What are you talking about, Lolo?” I was happy he had remembered the way I preferred to be called. “Tony Stevens. He’s cute.” “And human,” he huffed. “I don’t care. He’s a real action man.” “Snuck out to the flicks often, did ya?” I fluttered my lashes. “That would be telling.” “Anyhow, it’s a no-can-do. I
Rose’s POVI woke the next morning to find I had barely an inch of space in that huge bed. A muscled arm was lying across my naked body, but the monster was still asleep. I didn’t dare to move, though I needed to pee, and the soreness between my thighs brought everything flooding back.A bird tweeted somewhere outside. I cringed, assuming he would stir. He didn’t. The deep breathing remained the same.He’d taken me brutally, there was no denying that. But there was pleasure, too, and far less humiliation than when he’d forced me to parade in front of his friends. Like a walk of shame before the event.I replayed the scene in my head. Could I go through that again – and more? How long before Alpha Lewis pulled me out?A sudden stabbing pain made me hiss.Lycan Adam groaned and opened his eyes. I shut mine, expecting further cruelty. But he just rolled over, freeing me from his grasp.“Shower,” he said.I took it as a signal I was to leave the bed. Once it was steaming, I put my head ar
Adam’s POVI couldn’t believe it. What a time to be out of control when I should have been closeted with my ranking warriors planning the takeover of the werewolf world. Total domination. It was my destiny.Instead I had a new plaything: Rose.As soon as I saw her on that stage I had to have her. She reminded me of Clare, the same colouring, that ability to transcend her surroundings.I don’t suppose she saw it like that.It was wrong of me to call her a slut when she so clearly wasn’t, unlike my late wife. Clare sought only prestige from our marriage; her favours were free to all.Remaining friends with her sister was my way of atoning. Jane introduced me to the BDSM scene after Erica confided in her that my inner beast was losing control. I soon acquired a taste for it, appeasing Marlon.And now, it seemed, I had a second chance mate.Well, Moon Goddess be damned, I didn’t believe in all that.Yet there was something about Rose which led me to think she would last longer than the ot
Rose’s POVI felt the pain radiate everywhere from the region of my chest for the third time this week. Sometimes, Lycan Adam made me watch as he serviced another. More often than not it came as a surprise, waking me from sleep and just about destroying my wolf.The clock was ticking and, as usual, I had little to report.On a positive note, the Lycan King had no plans to make a move on Alpha Lewis’ territory until he had secured sovereignty over all the clans in his county. I doubted the Alpha would be interested to know he was intending to strip a rival pack of their monopoly on the growing of beets, yet I had to pad my meagre information out somehow.My lack of real progress was worrying. I didn’t want Willow suffering a fate worse than death. That bargain between the Alpha and me, could I count on him holding up his end even if I delivered? I was trying not to think like that. Yet it would hardly be good to provoke Lycan Adam into raiding the only county in the district which cou
Rose’s POVI knew Alpha Lewis wouldn’t come in person, but I didn’t expect to see Willow with Connor. For one thing, she was under age. The signs everywhere stated you had to be over twenty-one. Maybe they had faked her ID.“Is this wise?” I hissed, as he stood beside me at the bar.Lycan Adam had gone ahead to “personally prepare the scene”.My sister was looking all around in awe.“He ditched his ex for me,” she confided.Connor frowned. “I’ll explain later, and no, but I’m not the one in charge.”The bartender overheard.“Tonight you are,” she laughed. “Unless the little missy is a dominatrice, which I very much doubt.”I followed them to a corner sofa.“I don’t have long,” I said.“Rose, what are you wearing?”The strappy leather outfit left nothing to the imagination. I reddened.“Don’t even go there, Lolo.”“It’s good to see you, sis,” she said, sucking up vodka noisily through a straw.“And you shouldn’t be here. At all,” I said, wiping the happy grin from her face.“You said i
Rose’s POV Imagine my surprise as I went through the door only to see Alpha Lewis reclining on the bed. “Did you miss me?” he smirked. I wanted to hurl myself at him and pound my fists against his chest. His bare chest with the scorpion tattoo. “Where’s Lolo?” I demanded. “I want to see her.” “You’re in no position to make demands, Rosie.” His careless use of a name which had never been mine made me furious. But I needed to keep a cool head. “I’m not saying a word about what I know until I’m sure she’s safe.” “That does it. Bring the thumbscrews, Connor.” “You wouldn’t dare … ” Would he? I was probably dispensable now and would be even more so when I had told him my news. I began to back away, only to run into a solid wall of muscle. There was no comfort to be had there, just restraint. “Only joking, Rosie. I must say, you’re looking mighty fine. Fancy a tumble first?” I struggled, but the Beta was far too strong for me. “Don’t toy with her, Lew,” he said. “Rose isn’t the