Chapter 1
Fiona
For an underground market, everything was pretty f*****g out in the open. The sun glared down on the open field where shifters roamed as tables were set up. There were a few tents but no signs.
Still, it didn’t take a genius to see that nothing here was legal. The scent of wolfsbane filled the air, along with the cackle of idiots who couldn’t wait to leave the area before ingesting the drug they’d procured.
“Stop dragging your feet,” Jared growled as he pulled me forward. I had no idea what we were doing here. He’d woken me before dawn, pulling me off the floor and shoving the white dress at me. The chill of the air had seeped into my bones, and it had taken me too long to change out of the long nightgown into the short dress.
The bruises on my abdomen were a reminder of what happened when I pissed my half-brother off. So I picked up the pace and wondered why I had to be here while he was buying his drugs.
A strange tug formed in my belly, and I stumbled. The slippers he’d given me were worthless in the melting ice. They were also white—or at least had been when I’d put them on. Now, they were a muddied brown. I slipped again, this time falling onto the soggy grass. The hem of my dress immediately grew transparent.
“Stupid f*****g bitch.” Jared hauled me to my feet. “You’ve suddenly forgotten how to walk?”
“No, I...”
“Just shut up. It’s too early for your whiny voice.”
You’d think by now I’d have learned better than to try and talk back to Jared. Since my parents had died, he was the one who’d raised me, fed me, clothed me. At least, that's what he sneered whenever I did something to piss him off. Despite how isolated we were, I knew he was an asshole, but I still tried to defend myself.
Maybe this was my chance to find my freedom.
The tug happened again, this time accompanied by a strange feeling that warmed my chest. Gritting my teeth against the sensation, I tried to ignore it. I’d be damned if I had some horrible disease kill me today when I might finally break free from Jared.
“Omega,” a voice snarled, and rough hands grabbed me. I yelped just as Jared pulled me back and snickered.
“She is indeed. If you want her, you can buy her. Ten grand.”
Buy her? Wait, buy me? Jared was selling me?
“No!” I cried out and struggled against my brother. “No, you can’t do this!”
“Well, well, well. Ten grand is an awfully steep price. Most don’t go for more than five here,” the newcomer mused as he tugged at my dress. He was a beast of a man, clearly an alpha, but he smelled like he lived in the sewers. It was all I could do not to gag.
“She’s untouched,” my brother boasted. “Never bonded with anyone. Never been bitten. Never fucked.”
“Jared, you can’t sell me!”
“It’s the underground market, darling. Where do you think all the unschooled omegas go?”
Jared’s grip tightened while the stranger pulled up my dress. With a yelp, I pushed back, but it was no use. There was nowhere to go.
“Too skinny,” the alpha grunted. “And look at those scars on her ribs. Who the f**k would want her? I’d probably get her for half of that on the block, but I’ve got my sights set on a pretty blonde who came in about twenty minutes ago. The curves on her are probably going to break my bed, and I’m gonna ride that b***h all the way down.”
His companions laughed, and Jared shoved me to the ground. “Scars, Fiona? What the f**k? I’ve never put a mark on you!”
I didn’t say a word as I pushed myself up. My chest tugged again, and when I raised my head, a man was standing in front of me.
An alpha, a powerful one, judging by how the others cleared a space around him. Time seemed to slow down as dark eyes seared into mine, and I saw something akin to rage in them.
“Help me,” I whispered, my heart beating wildly inside my chest, as if reaching for him. It was a foreign feeling, unlike anything I’ve ever felt for anyone.
Hope blossomed inside of me as he took a step closer. He ignored everyone’s gazes as he bent down and whispered in my ear.
“No.”
A whimper escaped my lips, my body reacting before my mind could grasp the meaning of his words. He moved away to meet my eyes and, with a cold expression, he murmured, “I reject you, little omega. May we never find each other again.”
Confused, I opened my mouth to question him, but before I knew what was happening, a blazing pain ripped through my chest. I gasped, trying to breathe through it, but I felt like I was drowning, tears escaping my eyes without my consent. I must have blacked out because the next time I opened my eyes, the stranger was walking away from me without even looking back once, taking a piece of me with him.
Defeated and only semi-conscious, I couldn’t even get back up. Snarling and looking back and forth between the retreating alpha and me, Jared picked me up, slung me over his shoulder, and carted me across the field.
“She conscious? She gotta be able to stand on her own,” someone grunted.
Jared laughed. “Please, I've seen what you’ve been selling. Not that it matters. She can stand.”
My body flipped in the air, and I was back on my feet again. Tears welled in my eyes as I stared at the scene before me. We were at the end of the market, behind a small stage. There was a small group of women before me. Every single one of them was bound, and several beta shifters circled them, keeping them trapped. Next to me was a small fire pit and a man with a clipboard tucked under his arm.
“Sylvester!” the man bellowed. Jared handed me off, and no one had their hands on me for a split second.
I didn’t hesitate. Pivoting, I scrambled for the crowd and away from the stage. Jared shouted behind me, but I didn’t even turn around.
Confusion made the crowd part for me, and I thought for a moment that freedom was right at my fingertips. I felt fast, nimble, and free, but I barely got more than twenty feet from my brother before I slipped and fell. Landing on my belly, I slid forward right into someone’s boot.
“Look at that. A f*****g omega already kissing my boots.” There was an ugly laugh before I was again picked up like I was nothing. Bile rose in my throat as I stared at the alpha’s sneer.
“Please help me,” I whispered. “He’s going to sell me.”
“Lucky for you, I’m here to buy.” He carried me back to the stage, and Jared drew his fist back, ready to strike me.
“Down, beta. I don’t want anything to mark that pretty face,” the man with the clipboard cautioned him. “Now she has a reputation for being feisty. The crowd is gonna like that. You got her, Sylvester?”
A man grunted behind me, and my dress was once again hiked to my armpits. “No bite marks. No stretch marks. You say she’s a virgin?”
“Pure as the day she was born.”
“We’ll start her at three thousand. You get sixty percent of what she goes for. Sylvester, turn her around.”
Sylvester turned me as the man with the clipboard retrieved a hot poker from the fire pit.
I tried to fight, but it was useless. The man swept my hair up, and torturous pain seared in the back of my neck as I was branded. A hand wrapped around my mouth as I screamed, and when I was put back on my feet, all my fight was gone. I swayed, not even sure I could walk. The man tossed the brand back in the fire, and I whimpered.
“Number six,” he bellowed, and Sylvester pulled me toward the other women. In shock, I stared as he looped a thick, coarse rope around my wrist and tied me to a post.
The sun had risen slightly, but I had no idea how much time had passed. What started as a small group in front of the stage grew larger and larger until the first girl walked up. Then the second and the third. Each of them was bid on before they were handed to their winners.
When I reached the stage, I thrust my chin forward and glared at the crowd. Maybe if I seemed unlikable and difficult, nobody would want me.
“Alphas, do we have a special treat for you! Number six may be unschooled, but she is also unspoiled,” the speaker began.
“Save it,” a voice boomed. “Ten thousand.”
The audience fell silent, and I closed my eyes in horror.
“Ten thousand, going once. Going twice. SOLD!”
