Auctioned off To The Ice Hockey King

Chapter4

Serena Vale.

With the blindfold strapped against my eyes, I can't see anything. Just total darkness and immense fear coursing through every nerve inside me.

As I sit on the cold, bare floor, I struggle against the rope that is used to bind my hands together, but that is a futile effort. Even my mouth is trapped. Tears flow down my face freely as I pray desperately to the Moon Goddess internally.

Please save me.

The only thing I can feel are the powerful auras and addictive scents pressing down on me, and without being told, I know I am in a room with some of the most powerful Alphas in the kingdom. The thick smell of cigars fills my nostrils.

If someone had told me that my life would go downhill in just three hours tonight, I would have argued with them. One minute, I am trying to look presentable for my mate's proposal, and the next minute, I am being dragged away from my home into a car helplessly.

If I had known I would be taken to be auctioned off for my mother's debt, I would have listened to Kate and spent the night at the mansion.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” a smooth masculine voice says, booming through the microphone. “Tonight, we are here to auction off some Omegas whose parents owe gambling debts. We have over three of them here, and they will be sold off to the highest bidder tonight.”

My body trembles hard at his words, and I curl into myself. I expect hands to grab me, but no one comes. I take it that I am not the first child to be auctioned off tonight.

“This Omega is just eighteen years old,” the moderator's voice comes again seconds later. “As you can see… she is so beautiful, innocent, unmated, and would entertain any Alpha who gets her really well, especially as a breeder. Her father owed thirty thousand dollars. He made a bet that the Winterfang Wolves would lose in the just concluded championship.”

My breath seizes completely. Like… I can't breathe at all… and with my mouth bound, it feels like I am really going to die.

The gamble is on hockey?! The same hockey whose matches I cover? How? Why? It isn't just a game?!

He continues, his voice rising higher. “She will be going for thirty thousand dollars.”

There is a long pause.

“Thirty-five thousand dollars,” a husky voice says.

“Thirty-five thousand dollars,” the moderator repeats with a small smile. “Anyone else?”

Another pause…

“Forty thousand dollars.”

“Fifty thousand dollars,” another voice follows immediately.

“Oh wow… we have fifty thousand dollars. Is anyone willing to go higher to acquire this beautiful, unmated Omega? Going once… twice… thrice…”

There is no response.

“Fine. She has been sold for fifty thousand dollars.” The sound of his gavel reverberates through the room, sending shivers down my spine. “Take her away and bring the next person.”

Before I can figure out if I will be the next person or not, I feel rough hands dragging me up to my feet and leading me to climb a small staircase.

“Our next auction is this beautiful, sexy, and mated Omega. From the way she smells so seductively, one can tell that she will be very experienced and would serve her new owner well.”

Goddess…. Please.

“Her mother, who is a chronic gambler, made a bet that the Alpha prince would not make it into the NHL team. But he did, as we all know, and now she owes fifty thousand dollars.”

My mother made a bet on Kaden?! My ex-mate?!

“She will be going for fifty thousand dollars,” he states.

There is a long tense silence in the room.

No one bids on me. Of course, who would be willing to throw away fifty thousand dollars just to acquire a mated Omega like me?

The lack of interest makes me breathe in relief. Maybe… just maybe, there won't be a buyer tonight. But then… if no one shows interest in me, how would they recover their money?

The moderator lets out an awkward laugh. “She smells so captivating, Alphas,” he presses further. “Her scent is enough to make you aroused.”

He is right though. My scent of pine and jasmine with a chocolatey flavor is enough to make the strongest Alpha go crazy, especially on the night of the full moon when I am usually in heat.

I get the scent from Emilia. It is the reason why men swoon over her.

When I am younger, I used to hate my scent—hate the way men stare at me like a meal to be devoured and the way women insult me, saying I smell like a w***e who has just crawled out of someone's bed.

But later, growing up, when I begin to love myself, I love the scent too, especially since Kaden won't stop complimenting me. Thinking about it now, it must be the reason why he won't let me go.

“Fifty-five thousand dollars,” a voice bids.

My chest slams against my rib cage, and my hope of being saved evaporates into thin air.

“Fifty-eight thousand dollars.”

“Sixty-five thousand dollars.”

Soon, everyone is bidding on me as if they are just realizing my worth. My stomach knots with every higher price offered until… a deep, quiet, authoritative, yet oddly familiar voice says,

“One hundred thousand dollars.”

The entire room stills.

“Yes,” the moderator says, excitement dripping in his voice. “One hundred thousand dollars. Is there anyone else?”

No response.

“Sold.” He hits his gavel. “She has been sold for one hundred thousand dollars.”

My legs become numb, and I almost stumble, but the same rough hands grab me.

“Take her away while we move to the next Omega.”

As they lead me out of the room to where God knows, I keep wondering who would buy me for a whopping one hundred thousand dollars.

After tonight, I don't know what my fate will be. My life, my job, my dear friend Kate… I will never have them again. I bet Kate will be sick with worry about my disappearance.

The cool evening air bites into my exposed skin, and I can tell we've gotten outside. Seconds later, a hand begins loosening the rope that binds my hands together. Then he removes the gag from my mouth.

I breathe heavily, spit drooling out as I try to catch my breath.

Then he unbinds the blindfold.

I open my eyes slowly. My vision is blurry. But when it becomes clear, I realize that I am standing in the parking lot of Winterfang Arena. My jaw drops when I realize that my fate has just been decided in the same place I have entered for the past two years.

The boss from earlier stares at me briefly before he opens the back seat of the Lamborghini I am standing before.

“Go in,” he commands.

I hesitate, my eyes darting around me. For a moment, I think of running away, but when I see men in dark polished suits standing in front of a black SUV, I quickly cancel the thought. Besides… I am too tired to lift my legs.

He gestures inside. “Go in.” He sounds like he doesn't want to repeat himself a third time.

My body trembles as I slide into the back seat of the car. The door slams shut, sealing my fate. There is really no escape route, is there?

The scent of cinnamon and something dark and dangerous mixed with expensive cologne fills my nostrils. I force myself to look beside me, and there sits a man dressed in a dark polished suit. I guess he is my buyer.

And when he turns toward me, my breath catches.

It is him.

Him.

The Alpha King.

NHL chairman.

Daron Varkov.

My ex-mate and best friend's father.

He can't be my buyer, can he? Of course not.

My eyes dart around, and I try to unlock the car, hoping that the man must have led me into the wrong one, but I can't.

“Where do you think you're going?” he

asks, his voice like music. Then the corner of his lips lifts in a taunting smirk… silence stretches between us.

“You belong to me now.”