His Purchased Mate

Dammit...I had cried so much, my eyes felt heavy and dry... I was going to be sold on an auction, today. There was no point crying anymore. No point praying to a Moon Goddess who clearly didn’t give a damn. I knew I was going to be bought by someone tonight….Sold like some f*****g object. The silver chains around my wrists burned against my skin as they dragged me onto some raised platform in the center of the underground hall. Wolfsbane smoke filled the air, thick and bitter. It made my wolf weak, she was so quiet, I almost thought she was dead. The place was huge and expensive, with crystal chandeliers above, velvet seats and champagne going around. Wealthy Alphas and men in tailored suits, their eyes glowing faintly gold in the shadows. One of them would buy me today and do whatever they want with me. "f**k!" I whispered under my breath. Fucking Predators, every single one of them. I stood under the harsh white light, barefoot with blood and bruises scatteall over my once ivory skin, wearing nothing but a thin black dress that barely covered my thighs. The cold air bit at my skin, but the stares were worse. They weren’t looking at me like I was a woman. They were looking at me like i was some f*****g meat. I straightened my spine anyway. Let them stare. If I was going to be humiliated, i would not f*****g tremble. The auctioneer stepped forward, smiling like a damn snake. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he drawled smoothly. “Tonight we present something very rare. A pure-blooded she-wolf, unmarked. unmated, and very much untouched.” A low murmur rolled through the room, I swallowed every bit of it. My pack had been slaughtered three weeks ago. I still hear the screams whenever I try to sleep or close my eyes. I was the last surviving daughter of the Silverclaw bloodline, apparently thats what makes me so valuable. “Starting bid,” the auctioneer continued, “at five hundred thousand.” A card lifted instantly. My heart sank at the sight of more hands lifting to bid on me and buy me. “Five fifty!!.” “Six hundred!!” “Seven!!!” The numbers climbed fast like I never thought it would. I stopped listening at some point. Instead, my eyes locked on the man sitting in the front row. Wearing a Black suit, with broad shoulders, Dark hair pulled back, His face was calm, too damn calm almost like he was bored of everything going on. But his eyes…His eyes were steady on me, not my body, Me…..his gaze was cold, sharp, and Calculating. But i noticed he hadn’t lifted his card once to try and buy me. My wolf stirred weakly inside me. The bidding passed one million and my stomach twisted, so bad. Who the hell pays that much for a person? “Two million.” The voice came from the back of the room. Everyone went silent, even my breathing stopped for a moment. He stepped out of the shadows slowly... Dammit, he was tall and massive. Power rolled off him like heat. He looked like he could break me with just a snap of his fingers. His suit looked simple, but it fit him like it was sewn on his body. His jaw was sharp. His expression unreadable. But when his eyes met mine, My heart slammed so hard it hurt. It wasn’t fear, It wasn’t attraction, It was something else. Something that made my wolf jolt awake. MATE. The word echoed in my skull like an electric shock. No….No f*****g way. My mate would not be here. My mate would not be bidding for me. The auctioneer cleared his throat, feeling excited. “Two million from Alpha Kael Nightbane. Do we hear something higher?” The name rippled through the room. Nightbane. The most ruthless Alpha in the north. The man who crushed packs and took their territories without blinking. My blood ran so cold. No one dared to outbid him. “Two million going once… going twice… sold!” The gavel slammed down. Just like that, I now f*****g belong to him. Kael walked toward the stage slowly. He didn’t rush as he walked. Even when some alpha's smiled nervously at him, he didn’t smile back. I watched as his boots echoed against the marble floor. As he walked closer to me, my pulse pounded so loud in my ears. He stopped right in front of me. Up close, he smelled like cedarwood and iron, And power, So much damn power. He didn’t touch me...didn’t even look at the chains, he was looking straight into my eyes as mine held his. “I guess you’re coming with me, Kitten” he said quietly. “Go to hell,” I spat. A flicker of something crossed his face. Amusement? The guards unlocked my chains and shoved me forward. I stumbled, but he caught me before I hit the ground. His hand wrapped around mine. The contact exploded through my body as My wolf roared inside me. He felt it too. The mate bond... I saw it in his eyes, the flash of gold, the tightening of his jaw. But then, It disappeared as quickly as it came. He immediately went back to being Cold and Controlled. He released me immediately like i burned him. “Don’t misunderstand this,” he said low enough that only i could hear him. “I didn’t buy you because you’re my mate.” My heart dropped immediately. “Then why?” I whispered, I hated that my voice shook. His gaze darkened. “I bought you,” he said, “because my pack is the one that slaughtered yours.” The world just stopped, my lungs forgot how to work. “What…?” The word barely formed out of my mouth. His f*****g expression didn’t change one bit. “And if I hadn’t bought you tonight,” he continued calmly, “my Beta would have, and he wouldn’t have kept you alive.” The ground suddenly felt unsteady beneath my feet. He leaned closer, his voice brushing my ear. “You should hate me, Lyra.” My name on his lips felt so wrong that I felt like giving him a hard punch on his f*****g face. “You will,” he added. Then he straightened himself and turned to leave, expecting me to follow like I had no choice, Which I didn’t. As he led me out of the hall, i glanced back one last time, and froze. Because the man from the front row, the quiet one who never bid. He was standing now, and his eyes, they were glowing silver, not gold, Silver….. Silver like the eyes all the wolves in my bloodline had, and he was smiling at me..Not a friendly smile. Like a knowing one. My stomach dropped, Because silver eyes meant only one thing….Royal blood. Which is impossible. The Silverclaw royals were extinct. I was the last one, hold on a minute.…or wasn’t I? And why the hell did he look at me like I belonged to him? Kael’s grip tightened around my arm. “Don’t look back,” he ordered. It was already too late. The silver-eyed stranger mouthed two silent words across the room. “You’re mine” And suddenly, I wasn’t sure which of the men I should be more afraid of.