Auctioned Off To The Cursed Alpha

Six

"Twenty million dollars" Ezra's cold voice resonated in her ears snapping her out of the seeming trance in which she had found herself as she looked in his eyes. The reality of her being nothing but a commodity hit her again as her eyes glanced at Alpha Lazarus who was fuming by this time. She didn't know much about Alpha Ezra but anyone was better than that lecherous fiend Lazarus. In fact, she'd sooner visit the guillotine than let that man have her!

‘Why that....’ Alpha Lazarus tried to stop his raging thoughts from spilling out of his mouth as he glared predatorily at Ezra, who but gave him a sneering smirk that simply added fuel to his fiery rage. "Thirty million!" He blurted like a boistering wind, raising his arm almost like a little lad who was desperate to ask a question. "Thirty million dollars for the lass!" He cried. Mutterings and chattering filled the hall as everyone spoke in whispers to one another. It was totally unheard off that any princess was auctioned off at so great a price, let alone a wolfless princess!

"Your Majesty, what are we going to do?" Mario whispered nervously to Ezra who remained calm in the midst of it all and kept his piercing gaze on the pitiful critter on the podium, trying to ascertain whether he was making the right decision or not. He hadn't felt attracted to anyone all his life so couldn't tell if the hot flush he felt when their eyes met was a sign of something special. "Your majesty?"

"Shut up i***t! I'm not deaf" he hushed his nervous beta as he continued his stare at Dahlia, pondering if he should take the decision in his mind.

"That oughta teach him" Lazarus sneered, giggling with his planetary belly oscillating at the pace of his giggle. Meanwhile, Dahlia's eyes, now filled with dread as she looked at the lecherous Lazarus ogling her with his lewd prying eyes, darted again at Ezra's. She wished above all things that Ezra would save her. Anyone! Anything was better than being with that old lecher!

"Anyone else?" The moderator broke the silence as he glanced around the room, "No one?" The mutters rose a little as anticipation filled the hall.

"Your majesty?!" Mario whispered anxiously to Ezra, whose eyes were closed now in deep thought. Was it worth it to bet so much money on a wolfless princess? What if she turned out not to be his mate? His mind ran wild with thoughts as he assessed every possible outcome of his decision. "Your..."

"Quiet Mario" he said calmly as his eyes opened slowly and met the desperate gaze of Dahlia, who had the visage of kid about to be turned to venison.

"Alright then....." The moderator began as a smile adding ruin to the already grotesque features of Lazarus' face appeared, making him look more like the fiend he was.

"Forty million dollars!" Ezra stood up as all eyes fell on him. He had finally taken a decision. How it would turn out, he had no idea. But going with his guts, he slowly made his way across the crowd of dignitaries, to the podium as everyone made way for him. "I'm taking her and that's it" he said as he mounted the podium and walked up to her, staring into her soul.

"T-thank you" she stuttered, now unable to look him in the eye. He had the aura of a sadistic predator and being so close to her, she couldn't help but cower in fear.

"I didn't do it for you" he said as he took her by the hand and turned again to face the crowd. "I believe I have made myself clear" he said to everyone as his eyes scanned the crowd for any objections, "Good" he gave a slight nod as he led her down the podium and through the sea of werewolf bourgeoise, accompanied by whispers all over the place. "Come on Mario" he said to him as he walked past.

"Y-yes my Lord" the latter ran after them.

Dahlia couldn't help but wonder what kind of future lay ahead of her now........

★

★

★

It was already the second day of the auction party organized at Alpha Cameron's palace. The banquet was still on and the highly dignified guests entertained themselves with the luxuries that the hospitable palace could afford them. It was a merry day for all except the old lecher, Alpha Lazarus- who, by the way, was stomping his way to Cameron's throne room with a fierce look in his eyes. He was just as furious now as he was last night.

"I won't stand for it!....." He muttered with steam oozing out of his polished head as he made his way to the throne room doors. The guards on seeing him, immediately let him in having known him to be a regular visitor at the palace and a close friend of Cameron.

"Cameron!" He thundered, catching the Alpha's attention- who was, by the way, having the kingdom reports read to him by his ministers. Everyone's eyes fell upon the raging hog that was Lazarus as he approached the throne.

"Lazarus?" Cameron was quite surprised at his sudden visit. Turning to his ministers, "Please excuse us for a while" he said to them. They bowed and walked out of the throne room, leaving both Alphas alone in the huge hall. "Lazarus, what's with the look on your face? You don't look so good. Is everything alright?" Cameron enquired with furrowed brows as he wondered why his friend was so furious.

"I won't stand for it! I won't! We agreed that Dahlia was mine, didn't we?" He bombarded Cameron, who remained silent and rather stunned, "Why then did you let her fall into that bastard's hands? I thought we had a deal?" He whined as he got closer to the throne.

"Oh that? That was the reason for the auction, wasn't it? We agreed not to make it look too unfair, remember?" He tried to remind Lazarus, who clearly wasn't in the mood for any explanation, "Marriage is a political affair more than anything and to preserve existing ties with other kingdoms, I had to make it look fair to everyone while knowing that you would bid more than had ever been bidden for a princess. How was I supposed to know that someone else would be irrational enough to pay such an outrageous amount for her?" Cameron tried to explain himself. "Please calm down, okay? I have lots of more beautiful daughters than Dahlia for you to choose from" he attempted to pacify the raging hog that was Lazarus.

Lazarus glared at him for a second or two before conceding. "Urrghh! Fine! But this time, I get to select by myself before that unruly bastard Ezr........"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

They both stopped at the sound of the claps that echoed in the throne room, their gaze darting towards the direction of the claps.

"E-ezra?" Cameron thought aloud as Alpha Ezra and Mario emerged from behind one of the huge pillars in the hall.

"Pardon my intrusion Cameron. I happened to find myself in here while taking a tour of the palace and I was about to leave when I heard an interesting conversation. Why don't we let the nice gentleman finish what he was saying" Ezra gestured to Lazarus, who was now terrified. Alpha Ezra had a reputation for being ruthless even to other Alphas. He had no respect for political relations and would dispose of any as if it were just a one-night stand. "Come now, speak up. You were saying something about an unruly bastard..." Ezra said to him tauntingly.

Lazarus and Cameron glanced at each other and back at Ezra. Cameron was being careful not to let the situation escalate. "Alpha Ezra, I'm sorry you happened to overhear our conversation but I assure you, my friend here meant no evil. He has a terrible temper, y'see? And I'm sure....."

"f**k this!" Lazarus interjected Cameron, "And f**k you too!" He pointed at Ezra who had a sort of ‘wow’ look on his face as he chuckled. "You think this is funny? That's my wife you took! My wife!" Lazarus blasted. Whatever reaction he was expecting from Ezra, he sure wasn't getting it. Ezra was laughing, along with Mario who giggled behind him (not that you could tell that he was giggling had it not been for how frequently his shoulders jerked with his face hidden behind his palms). "Do you think this is a joke?" Lazarus asked in disbelief as Ezra chuckled. He couldn't believe his eyes. ‘That does it!’ he thought as his eyes went golden and he charged at him.

"Lazarus! No!" Cameron got up from his throne exclaiming as he stretched out his hand as if to stop Lazarus telekinetically. A smirk appeared on Ezra's face and Lazarus suddenly froze in his steps and fell face first on the floor. "Lazarus!" Cameron rushed down to his lifeless body and shook him vehemently a couple of times, calling his name too. "What did you do to him?!" Cameron barked at Ezra.

"Relax, he's not dead" Ezra responded as he walked up to them and kicked Lazarus' body half way across the hall, "I wanted to discuss something with you and he was too noisy anyways" he said as he stood over Cameron, who still remained squatting as though Lazarus was still there.

"Something to discuss?" He got to his feet, his eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Indeed. You were saying something about having a lot of daughters......"

***