Chapter 14
From this vantage point, slants of mirrors reflected me washed in yellow-toned lighting.
All I could see was myself, unlike I’d been able to standing on the other side.
Through the windowpane, the platform had seemed small, but now that I stood here, I realized I hadn’t understood the gravity of the size.
Oddly enough, only being able to see myself was a comfort.
“Go in the middle,” Marge whispered. I turned back to find her peeking around the curtain. I wiggled my fingers at her. She smacked her face, and I turned away from her, striding to the middle of the platform.
After meeting Demi, I doubted Pack Greymont would purchase me for my time, so I best put on a show for the rest of these Alphas. Hopefully a good-looking Pack would make the purchase.
I grinned at my reflection and shook my hair out. My cleavage popped in the lacy bra, and the sheer skirt fluttered around my legs, caressing my skin with each step.
“Walk the stage,” Marge’s hiss floated to my ear. That’s right. I was to show myself off.
A show. I could give a show; I’d done them before for my father’s friends. The tips of my hair tickled my arms and my back, covering my scars.
The horrid circular burns across my shoulder blades were scattered, but contained to the area.
The first burn Father gave me was when I was thirteen and refused to go to dinner with him and his weird friends that liked sniffing me to see if I was ‘ready’. My stomach churned at the disgusting memory I’d done everything to stifle. There was no point in dwelling.
A thud echoed from one of the glass panes. Turning to it, I cocked my head.
I stared at myself, my brown eyes glassy.
Were my Scent Matches behind this one? A small evil smile reflected back at me.
I approached with my hips swaying with each step, stopping shy of the ten-foot fall to the dark wood floor.
Staring down into the mirror, I ran my fingertip along the swell of my breast.
A memory for my Alphas. To know they allowed their Scent Match to be paraded in front of other Packs would destroy them.
Especially in such an obscene manner. But I didn’t care, not after what I’d heard.
The bastards had purchased me only to gain access to this fucking decrepit hole, and all for another woman.
Only for that would I want them to know. Only if I knew I could successfully escape them.
Another thud echoed on the glass, and this time, I could see the surface move. A starburst cracked across the glass. Swirling in my stomach settled the barest amount, but so slowly, it morphed until it burned.
Wracking pain, so sudden it took my breath, twisted through my veins. I dropped to all fours, my hair falling forward to shield my face.
The lights went out. Footsteps thudded across the platform, nearing me.
“Are you okay?” Marge whispered, and she gripped my arm, tugging me to my feet. All I could do was follow after her, my eyes blinded by tears. “One of the guards ordered me to get you back . . . “ Her voice faded, and I groaned, agony twisting my gut.
“Where are you taking me?” I heaved and yanked my arm. She stumbled, but quickly had me back at her pace through the curtains and down a pitch-black hallway. I was at her mercy, not knowing where I was going.
“Where is she?!” Dorian’s roar reached my ears. Shouts and screams were nearing, not getting further. Marge was taking me toward the shouting. Curtains brushed my arms, and it stung.
I flinched, yelping and stumbling.
“Baby.” Cade’s voice shook, and he curved his arm around my waist, sweeping me against his chest. I groaned into his chest, breathing him in. His large hand pinched my jaw and forced my face up. “Her pupils are blown.”
“What did she take?!” Dorian roared. I couldn’t answer because I was shivering so much. The Repressitol was so fucking pure it’d made me high.
“She was with the Betas. They’re not allowed to be on anything,” Elias bit out. Alpha pheromones coated the room, and it was making my stomach cramp even more.
“What the fuck is on her back?” Rafe’s gruff voice reached through the cobwebs of my rioting thoughts. A touch brushed against my spine. “So many scars.”
Why did he sound horrified . . . and more importantly, hurt?
I grunted and wiggled my shoulders, trying to dislodge Rafe’s touch from my scars.
“Let’s go.” Cade’s chest vibrated against my ear, the deep thrum sending a shiver down my spine. Oddly enough, his touch didn’t hurt. It seemed to soothe the fire blazing on my skin.
“Go? You offered her heat for auction!” Elias’ voice boomed across the room. “My Pack will purchase the time with her.”
“No,” Cade snarled.
Rafe’s hand was already around my upper bicep. I sought out Dorian’s gaze. I expected to find him watching with cold, dead eyes, but when my gaze clashed with his, anger was clear to read.
The agony twisting my stomach was beginning to fade.
“She’s no longer for sale,” Rafe bit out. His calm rage battered against my back. Instead of making me want to take off, it soothed my anxiety.
My smile faded. All this. They purchased me because they were looking for another woman. The posturing was because they were losing their bargaining chip. Enough with the lies. I wiggled free of Cade to take in the room. He gripped my arm, but I managed to stay with my feet on the ground.
“I’ll spend my heat with Greymont Pack.” The room fell silent, and everyone’s eyes swung to me. Elias’ humored ones, the shocked Betas, and the enraged ones belonging to the Ironwyld Alphas.
“You don’t have a say,” Dorian sneered. “Get her out of here.” I tried to move forward, but Cade blocked me by wrapping his arm around me to tuck me close to his side.
I strained in Cade’s arms, twisting to meet Elias’ eyes. “Tell them where Susanna is and I’ll have my heat with you.”
It felt like the air was vacuumed out of the room. Even Cade’s grip softened enough to allow me to slip free. The leading Alpha of Pack Greymont. His pack-brother, the Alpha with his hair shaved close to his scalp, watched with a glint in his eyes.
“Don’t speak to him,” Rafe snarled, gripping my jaw so hard I winced.
His thick eyebrows pushed together, forming a line between them.
I flattened my lips into a thin line and jerked my head back, freeing myself.
Cade didn’t allow me a single step. He was at my back, arms around my stomach, and lifted me.
Oxygen burst from my lungs as he did.
“Cade, let me go,” I spat, kicking my legs out.
“You don’t want to make an enemy out of me.” Elias’ nose flared, and he inhaled. “You won’t be allowed back, Ironwyld Pack,” Elias’ voice reached through the disorientation clouding my thoughts.
“We don’t need your fuck-ass club,” Cade spat.
Dorian smoothed the collar of his suit jacket. “Send me a bill for the damages.” With Dorian’s final sentence, Cade managed to yank me out of the room.
My surroundings were beginning to blur. I could barely struggle in his arms.
“Let me go,” I bit out, fisting a hand and weakly hitting him. I blinked, then the stars of the night glinted above.
I’d passed out.
With a groan, I clasped my temple.
“There she is,” Cade said gruffly and with . . . relief?
I had to be mistaken. My heart thundered as if it were trying to escape.
“I hate you,” I slurred, pushing against his chest so hard I rolled, free falling.
A hand settled on my elbow, catching me before I hit the ground. Rafe grabbed me from the other side. I dangled in their grips, my feet hovering off the pavement as I kicked with desperation.
It was the parking lot right outside, so I must have been unconscious for just a few moments.
They toted me with such ease, as if I were as light as a feather. The spurt of energy the anger gave me allowed me awareness, but in my next breath the blurriness in my vision returned. My head felt much too heavy, and my neck refused to continue holding my head up.
“Fuck,” Cade spat, and strong arms cradled me.
I blinked up at Rafe. “What did you take?” he hissed.
I mumbled, but couldn’t open my mouth sufficiently to formulate words. Rafe’s jawline twitched as if he were grinding his teeth.
“Tell me about your fucking scars.”
“Hate you,” I slurred, and my eyes were too heavy to keep open. It was as if my body and mind were disconnected.
Rafe snarled. “You said she was well taken care of. Spoiled by her father. Dorian, what are those fucking scars on her back?” I had never heard Rafe string so many words together at once. His deep intonation with his gravely tone swept over me, calming my agonized hurt.
“I. Don’t. Know.” Dorian sounded just as tormented. What, were they upset my body wasn’t perfectly preserved?
Father had likely promised them it would be. There was a beep and the sound of a car door. After some jostling, Rafe settled me closer into his arms. The engine roared to life.
“He would have told us where Susanna was,” Cade murmured. “Why couldn’t we control ourselves?”
All of them stayed silent for a few moments.
“With everything we’ve looked into about Greymonts, there was no hint of Susanna.”
“Just admit you like the—”
“I took the fucking chance, Cade,” Dorian growled, interrupting him.
Pride was why they hadn’t agreed, not because of any feelings for me.
“Greymont doesn’t know shit.” Rafe’s chest rumbled under my ear. I furrowed my eyebrows and groaned. A touch smoothed the spot between my eyebrows. “Shh Omega.”
“Is she all right?” Cade’s voice held a hint of emotion, but he couldn’t be worried about me, right?
Rafe grunted.
“Thank God,” Cade sighed. The relief in his voice took me utterly by surprise.
“She’s a lovely little thing.” Dorian now. Didn’t they know I could hear them? “If we kept her . . .”
Rafe’s chest jostled with his laugh. “What? Until we get Susanna back?”
“Only until then.”
“You don’t sound convinced, Dorian,” Cade mocked. They settled into pensive silence, and it lulled me into oblivion.