His Sold Fated Mate (Riverville Fated Mates #3)

Chapter 1 - Klaus

“Klaus?” There was a knock on my office door, and I glanced up from my laptop just as Cal stepped into my office.

I had the lights off with my lamp on right next to me.

I wasn’t in the best mood since I was working on the town budget, which was never a fun time.

Cuts had to be made, and someone wasn’t going to be happy.

I groaned as I glared at Cal. “This better be important. You’re interrupting my focus time, and you know how long I’ve been working on this.”

Cal glared at me. “I know better than to open the door when you’re in the middle of budgets unless it’s important, Klaus. I’m not a complete idiot.”

I leaned back and sighed. “What is it then?”

Cal stood up a little straighter. “The council is here.”

I frowned. “What do you mean the council is here?”

“Exactly that. The council is here.”

I looked down at my calendar and scowled. The council visited us on the fifteenth of each month, and it was only the seventh. So there was no need for them to be here. I hadn’t called them here.

“Did they say they were coming?” I asked, suddenly wondering if they had called to change the date, and no one let me know.

He shook his head. “No, they just showed up. They said they had an urgent matter to discuss with you and that they couldn’t wait. They refused to take no for an answer.”

I looked at the time and saw it was a little past seven now. I rubbed a hand over my face and pushed myself out of my chair. “Someone better be dead then.”

Cal snorted as we stepped out of my office. We headed down the hallway toward the front of City Hall. It was quiet since everyone was already gone. I spotted that the light in the meeting room was on and stepped inside. Cal followed, shutting the door behind us.

Inside, the council was already seated. I recognized all of them. Jasmine was sitting with a cup of tea in front of her. Laura was sitting next to her, looking tired. Dean and Kelly were both tapping their hands on the table.

“It’s about time,” Dean stated as we came in. “We told you it was urgent. You took your sweet time going and getting him.”

I scowled, “Maybe next time send word you’re coming down rather than just showing up. I don’t have time to just drop everything because you need something.”

Cal smirked next to me as he leaned against the door. I walked over, pulling a chair back, and sat down. “Because I have a very busy schedule, which is why we have a meeting scheduled every month.”

My pack was farther from the others. We were separated by a large lake and a small river. We often missed issues as they were happening, and I was okay with it. We were our own group, and I liked the separation from the others. They had their own issues, and we had ours.

“We have an urgent matter that needs to be discussed.”

“Obviously. Someone better be dead for you to come here at seven at night.”

Jasmine sighed while she shook her head. “No one is dead, Klaus. We have found your mate.”

I blinked, and then I blinked again. I stuffed a finger in my ear and rotated it because, clearly, I had heard them wrong. I turned to Cal. “Do we have a gas leak?”

Cal smirked as he shook his head. “No.”

I turned back to the others. “Have you all been drinking?”

“This is a serious matter,” Laura added. “Take that into consideration before you say anything else.”

“I don’t recall asking you to find my mate for starters,” I snapped. “It’s insulting, is what that is. Did you seriously come all this way to insult me? I thought you had better use of your time.”

Dean shook his head now. “You know that we are matching everyone up and finding them mates. You know…”

“No, actually, I don’t.” I crossed my arms. “I don’t know anything that happens across the river, and I like it that way. You all have your issues, and we have ours. It’s separate.”

“It’s not,” Dean snapped. “You are a part of the packs that we monitor, which means you are included.”

I scoffed because my pack was nothing like the others. I kept a tight ship around here, unlike the others. “We don’t need to be. We do just fine by ourselves.”

Mostly because I didn’t want the extra drama, I had no issue with the guys, but I liked my space. I liked my privacy. And I didn’t need anyone in my business.

“Klaus, you like to think you’re separate from the others, but you’re not. The river might divide you, but that is it. You are more alike the others than you think.”

And I didn’t have time for this. I had a budget to finish up. I had a spreadsheet I needed to update and 10 other tasks to get done this week. “And I think this meeting wasn’t as important as you’re thinking it is. I think you’re wasting my time.”

Jasmine frowned. “Klaus, this is a serious matter. The packs are all being affected, and you need…”

I sighed while I leaned back in my chair. “Not this again. I already told you that this pack doesn’t have any issues. We’ve been fine this entire time. There is no dark magic here.”

“And we’ve told you that just because you’re fine now doesn’t mean you will be moving forward. The others were fine until they weren’t.”

I felt like we were talking in circles. We’d had this discussion before, many times, actually.

They brought it up every time they were here.

“I don’t have time for this. I have budgets to review and a schedule to glance over for next week.

I don’t have time to sit here and bicker with you guys about something that isn’t concerning to my pack. ”

“It is!” Dean snapped, slamming his fist onto the table. “And we are telling you that we found your mate.”

“Fine.” I snapped back. “Where is this woman I am supposedly mated to?”

Laura pulled a paper from her pocket and slid it toward me. “She lives in a small town west of here. It’s a bit of a drive, but that shouldn’t be an issue. The address to her location is on the paper.”

I frowned. “Why isn’t she with you?”

Laura made a face. “She’s never seen a shifter before. So, rather than us going and scaring her, we figured you could bring her here.”

I laughed. “You have got to be kidding me!”

They all shook their heads. “No, we aren’t.”

“So, you’re not only here to be telling me that I’m to be the next Alpha that gets mated, even though I’ve told you repeatedly that I don’t have time for that. But you want me to find this woman and drag her back to the pack and force her into a marriage?”

They all remained neutral like they weren’t asking something completely insane.

The council had always been set in their ways, saying they were doing things because it was best for the pack. Most of the time, I could understand, maybe even get behind them if I was in the right mood. But this… this was insane.

I crossed my arms. “You’ve got to be kidding me right now.”

“You have a week to get your bond created.”

“I have a pack to run,” I growled back. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Your Beta looks like he has free time on his hands.”

I could hear Cal growling at them now, insulted. I ground my teeth together, looking at each of them for a moment. I didn’t understand the urgency in their tone. Why did they think these needed to happen as soon as possible?

“And if I don’t agree?”

Kelly tilted his head. “It would be in your best interest to do what you’re told, Klaus. We want what is best for the packs.”

I inhaled slowly, grinding my teeth together. I gripped the chair, waiting to tell them no. But I knew that they were capable of. I couldn’t refuse them. I’d worked too hard for things to get ripped away from me right now. This pack needed me, and I couldn’t let my emotions get in the way of it.

So, I guess I was going to find this woman. “Do you at least have a name?”

“Her name is Aubrey.”

I ground my teeth together and looked down at the paper. I read the address and knew that this would take a couple of days.

“Cal, you’re going to have to push the budget meeting back a couple of days.”

“Great,” Jasmine popped up. “Now that everything is settled, we are good to go. We will see you for our scheduled meeting on the fifteenth, along with your bride. Don’t disappoint us, Klaus.”

I remained seated as they slipped out. I drummed my fingers on the chair and glanced over at Cal. He stared back at me.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked.

I tapped my foot. “I have no idea, but I know something isn’t right. They were too pushy for this not to mean anything.” I looked outside the window and sighed.

The next day, I stared at the information that the council had given me. I had no idea how I was going to even go about this. They just gave me an address and a first name.

“You going?” Cal asked as he stopped at my office door.

“I don’t really have a choice,” I grumbled as I tossed the paper down. “But I do have something for you to do while I’m away.”

“And it isn’t watching after the pack?”

I shook my head. “I need you to figure out what’s been going on in the other packs. The council is hiding something, and I want to know what it is.”

“I can do that. I can reach out to the other Betas. What did you think it was?”

I had no idea. The council had said little about the other packs and only told me about the issue with them a few months ago. But it never concerned me. I had my pack to worry about.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like secrets. I want you to dig if needed.”

“Understood.”

I left a little after lunch. The drive was long, and I was growing irritated by the time I arrived there. It was late at night, and I was cranky. I followed the navigation to a large, run-down building. I felt the hair on my body rise as I parked.

The structure reminded me of a sketchy bar. It was dark, and the windows were all tinted.

I looked at the address, making sure I had it correct. I frowned, wondering if she worked here. I wasn’t even sure it was open, but I headed to the front door.

Inside was a bar. A few people were sitting around, and a man was running the bar. I walked over to him and cleared my throat.

He looked up from some glasses he was cleaning. “Can I help you?”

“Is there an Aubrey here?”

The man raised an eyebrow at me before he looked me up and down. “You here for the auction?”

I frowned. “Auction?”

He nodded. “She’s part of it.”

What kind of women had the Council thought I was mated to? She worked in this place? Ran an auction?

I scowled. “Sure.”

He nodded toward the door next to the bar. “Go through the door and down the stairs. Third door on the right.”

I frowned as I took the door and headed down the stairs. I walked down a small hallway and pulled open the third door as instructed. I froze as the door opened up to a huge underground space.

There was a large stage a good hundred yards ahead of me, with chairs staged in front of it. Bright lights shone on the stage where a man was speaking. He was wearing a full black suit with his hair combed back.

“We are going to bring the next lady out onto the stage. Her name is Aubrey. She’s got spunk. She’s got grace. Here she is.”

I curled my hands into fists, wondering what the hell I’d even stepped into. I wasn’t getting a good vibe from the people around me. The room smelled like cigars mixed with sex. I couldn’t even count the number of men sitting around staring at the stage.

The lights dimmed, and you could hear heels on the stage. I turned my attention, and my eyes widened. A woman stepped out wearing a deep red dress that stopped just a few inches from her ass. She had on black heels, and her short brown hair looked like it had been shoved up in pins.

When the guy said “auction”, I thought maybe she ran it, not that she was in it.

“The bidding goes for ten thousand dollars.”

My eyes widened even more, and I watched as paddles started to go up.

“What the fu…” I whispered to myself, completely frozen.

She stood in the middle of the stage, her eyes looking around, almost afraid. A part of me felt a tug to protect her, but I knew better. I couldn’t think about that. I had to think about the pack rather than whatever mess she’d gotten herself into.

“Twelve thousand dollars.”

“Thirteen thousand…”

I turned and spotted a paddle stash by the door. I walked over and grabbed a paddle.

“Fifteen thousand…”

I turned and held my paddle up. “Twenty thousand.” My voice echoed around the space, and I watched her eyes snap toward me.

I felt that tug deep in my chest differently from before. I raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if anyone would counter, but none did.

“Sold,” the man said, waving a hand. He gave me a disgusting smile. “Come claim your prize.”