Chapter Eleven #2
He pressed one last kiss to her forehead to try to reassure her, then rose.
It was time to get into character.
Trent opened the door when the person knocked.
The man on the front porch didn’t look like much.
That had always struck Trent as unfair. He’d dealt with so many monsters over the years, and yet he was still floored by the fact that they rarely looked like monsters.
They often looked like regular people, like ones he might pass when grocery shopping, or like the same exact ones who would come into his gym.
This one was a perfect example.
He didn’t wear a suit, not dressed up the way Daniel, Kyle and Trent were.
Instead, he wore a pair of understated black slacks and a white T-shirt, his short hair spiked.
He was thirty, at most, though the way he walked and his sports car in the driveway said the man had an ego that made up for his lack of years.
“I’m Galen,” he said, not reaching out to shake hands. “I’m here to check on some merchandise.”
Merchandise. The word tripped Trent’s anger, which was a bad sign.
He’d known the game they were playing, yet somehow a few words in, he struggled with controlling himself.
Maybe this had been a bad idea. He’d hated it from the start, but then he’d accepted it as a necessary evil. Now? Now it wasn’t some faceless omega but Alison who was being referred to as property.
Keep yourself under control.
Trent held the door open and gestured for Galen to enter.
The introductions went fast, with the alphas using their fake names, the ones Gregory had used to recommend them.
“Wow,” Galen said, then let out a low, lewd whistle. “She is a looker. No wonder the other team was so pissed about losing her.”
“They were amateurs,” Daniel said.
Galen laughed. “Well, they’ve brought in more product than any other team around, so I’m not so sure I’d call them that. They wanted to take her back, you know that?”
“They’re welcome to try.” Kyle folded his hands behind his back, standing to the side, his face unreadable. Funny how he could slide into a personality so unlike his real one with such ease.
Kyle had always been good at this sort of thing, though.
“Management already told them to back off. If Gregory is right about you three, we’ll make a far larger commission off her from you than we would from them.
They can stake out another location and pull just anyone.
” Galen shrugged, then walked closer until he could crouch in front of Alison. “Can she hear us?”
Kyle answered. “No. Our program requires trust building. We only have one meeting where we’re from, since we’ve already established ourselves there. We didn’t want to risk upsetting our work by your presence, so we figured her not being able to hear was the least risky way to do it.”
Galen reached out, as if to touch Alison.
Trent caught his wrist before he made contact.
The fire in Galen’s eyes when he turned his head made it clear he wasn’t used to being told no. Get used to it.
“No touching,” Trent warned, not giving an inch with the steel of his voice. “Like we explained, our training is delicate. I’m not about to risk it so you can play grab ass.”
Galen rose to his feet once Trent released him. “I’m used to getting to try out the merchandise.”
“We aren’t some used car salesmen here,” Trent explained. “She isn’t a compact entry-level car you can go over to the dealership to test drive for fun. Think of her as a one-of-a-kind, specially made luxury item. We don’t let just anyone touch her.”
He narrowed his eyes for a moment, then let out a soft snort. “You sure think a lot of yourself.”
Daniel gestured toward the couch and chairs in the living room, all situated with Alison in the center.
Galen took the chair opposite her, which allowed Trent to breathe a little easier. He couldn’t reach her from there, and while he rarely took his gaze from her, the distance helped. “We don’t normally accept new scouts.”
“We aren’t new. We’ve been working on the east coast for years.”
“So I’ve heard.” Galen took out a cigarette, lighting it without asking if anyone cared. “But that doesn’t change that we don’t know you. What are you doing out here?”
Daniel sat on the couch. “As you know, your organization has taken a few hits lately. There’s a chance this will be the last public auction for a while. We thought it worth branching out, finding new clients.”
“You don’t have enough product for many clients.”
“We don’t have repeats, though. Just word of mouth. So when we bring her to the auction, only one person can purchase her, but we’ll likely have others who want to go on a wait list. It seems like the best way to handle it.”
“Any client you find from our auction better end with us getting a cut.”
Daniel nodded. “Naturally.”
Kyle reached for a set of files on the side table, then held them out for Galen.
“What’s this?” Galen opened them, flipping through the pages.
“History. Medical record. Tests. We don’t sell anything that isn’t healthy. She has been thoroughly examined and found with no defects.”
Galen closed the paperwork as if it didn’t matter, snorting.
“You are crazy, you know that? Our best sellers are the wild omegas, the ones clients want to break. How the fuck do you think having all of this helps? Who would pay a bundle when one hole is as good as another? I mean, yeah, she’s pretty, but they don’t typically stay pretty that long with our customers. ”
Trent cracked his knuckles, but when the other two didn’t speak up, he jumped in.
He had to hold it together. “Those aren’t the clients we’re looking for.
Anyone can beat a woman, can break one. That’s easy.
Why spend money on a slave if you could get the same thing picking up a girl anywhere? We don’t just sell omegas.”
“So what do you sell?”
“Mates.”
Galen snorted. “Who the fuck wants a mate?”
Trent reached over and toyed with Alison’s hair, using it as a way to keep himself focused on his goal.
“Our training program is second to none. We fetch a high price, but in exchange for that, our clients get a fully trained submissive omega who can be trusted without chains or threats. Our clients can take our products out with them anywhere, and they obey without question. We even file the paperwork to ensure our merchandise is on the delinquent omega registry, which means they have additional legal protections and autonomy when dealing with them. Who wants to spend so much on something they have to keep chained up in a room? That limits the usefulness. Picture an omega who is entirely devoted to you, who will do anything you say at any time. It’s all the benefits of a slave without the downsides or risks. ”
Galen pursed his lips, then stared at Alison as if trying to picture it. “Well, that’s new, I’ll give you that. I didn’t want to let you in, honestly. I don’t like new people, and this whole training thing? Not my bag. Management sees things differently.”
“Then management understands how lucrative this is. Our products typically start the bidding at five times the next highest at any auction. By the time bidding is over? We often make more than people who sold six or seven different omegas.”
“Yeah, well, management has a different idea of what’s best than I do. I think he’s more interested in seeing your product than he is in the money. Let’s just say he’s got a similar idea as you.”
Trent moved his fingers to the nape of Alison’s neck, rubbing over where the collar sat. Tense muscles stood out, and while he doubted he’d be able to relax her, he offered what little reassurance he could. For her, being still was likely the hardest thing.
“So, explain to me the training. How does it work?”
“It isn’t that much different from how you train a dog. It isn’t about fear—a fearful beast is one that’s likely to eventually bite you. Instead, you use positive reinforcement. We don’t hit our products, we don’t scar them. That gives unreliable results.”
“So what do you do?”
“We take everything away from them, break them down with that, then offer them little bits of kindness. They start to rely on us for everything good. This leads them to associating their masters with good things. Eventually, they end up entirely reliant on their masters for everything, and that gives the loyalty and trust people get from our products. It isn’t an easy process, but our work speaks for itself. ”
Galen’s expression said he didn’t believe it—or, rather, didn’t believe it to be worth it. “And they’re happy when they go off to someone else?”
“We do the handover, and we’re available to come for additional adjustments when needed. However, we also offer complete guarantees. If a product doesn’t live up to what we promise, we will replace it.”
“How many have you had to replace?”
“Three. Two because of illness we couldn’t have anticipated and one because of infertility.”
“What did you do with the ones you took back?”
“The ill ones we disposed of.”
Galen sat up, surprise on his features. Could he actually have a heart? “You could have made good money selling them off cheap.”
Nope, no heart.
Kyle chimed in, giving Trent a moment to swallow down the bile that threatened to crawl up his throat. “If we sold sub-par product, it could endanger our reputation. Sometimes there are costs of doing business, and we expect that. It was less risky to just euthanize the ill omegas.”
“And the infertile one?”
“That one we did resell. While many of our clients want offspring, not all do. She was perfectly trained, so she went to a gentleman who saw the defect as a benefit.”
Galen tapped his finger on the armrest of the chair. “All right. I can see the upside. There’s only one more thing.”
The way he said it made Trent close his hand into a fist. “And what’s that?”
“Omega check.”
“You have her medical records.”