The Beta Who Bought Me

Chapter 6 - Get Ready

Both girls slept restlessly that night. They tossed and turned as their minds wandered with the worries of the possible outcomes of being held captive here. Of being with an unknown man and becoming an unwilling mother. Or what might happen if they tried to run away.

When the first sparkles of daylight came through the tiny window, the tattooed men who brought Wendy in returned.

“Get up!” The bigger of the two men commanded them. Both girls quickly stood at attention, unsure of the man’s intentions but not willing to make him mad purposefully either. “Follow me,” he motioned gruffly, and they fell in line behind him obediently, followed up in the rear by the still silent other man.

The girls were led down a dim, empty hallway to a set of stairs. They eventually twisted up to another hall that was much brighter than where they had been. A whole wall of large white-paned windows showed that the building overlooked a garden covered in fresh snowfall. Surely it will be stunning come spring. As they continued down the hall, Laurel noted it was quite well-decorated, with vases of dried flowers on small decorative tables and paintings of forest landscapes in gilded frames on the walls. It honestly reminded Laurel of a high-class office or hotel.

“In here,” the man stopped abruptly and opened a cream-colored door with a sculpted long golden handle. Inside was a warm parlor space. A few antique-looking vanity tables with plush burgundy velvet ottomans dotted the side wall. Another door at the end of the room opened as they entered, and two radiant women walked out.

“We’ve got it from here, boys,” the first woman smiled sweetly at the two men. Similar to Luna Grace, she had platinum blonde hair, but hers flowed loosely down her back in soft waves. She wore a simple black dress that hugged all of her curves beautifully. One of the men sternly nodded in reply, but the other offered her a flirtatious wink that she happily returned by blowing a kiss. Without saying another word though, they closed the hall door firmly behind them and left with their usual heavy footsteps.

“Come, ladies! Have a seat!” The second woman motioned to Laurel and Wendy for them to take a seat at a vanity. She was the spitting image of the first girl, but with fiery red hair instead of blonde and sported the same style of black dress.

“I’m Mary, and she is Maisie,” the blonde introduced herself and the red-headed woman. “We’re here to get you both ready for tonight.”

Tonight?

"What’s tonight?” Laurel scrunched her eyes and flicked her gaze from Mary to Maisie and then to Wendy. Wendy shrugged her shoulders, having no information to offer. Mary and Maisie both looked excited though.

“Tonight is the Appraisal!” Mary clapped her hands together with a cheery smile making her cheeks dimple with her delight.

Appraisal? She mulled over the word. It sounds like we're buying a house or something...

“…and that is?” Laurel quirked her brow as she verbalized the question. “I have never heard of this event in my life,” she explained, and again looked at Wendy. She still looked just as confused as Laurel felt.

“The Appraisal is where you will be evaluated!” Maisie chimed in unhelpfully, tossing her bright red locks flippantly with her hand. Clearly, being anything less than completely clear was pointless with these two.

“Will someone please tell me - plainly - what this whole thing is?!” Laurel huffed in exasperation, throwing her arms up dramatically. Why can’t anyone here just say what they mean?

“You know… to be chosen by male wolves from our pack,” Mary replied, as if it was a completely normal thing to say. Laurel gulped audibly. Her words seemed to confirm what Wendy had told her earlier.

“Uhm… but how does this work exactly?” Wendy spoke up now.

Mary shook her head and frowned slightly. “It’s not for us to explain the details, sorry. Normally, we have more time to help you girls get prepared for the Appraisal and your new lives, but the alpha is rushing this one to happen before the full moon.” She almost looked sympathetic now. “What I can tell you is that we will make you both so gorgeous that no man will be able to resist you! All you will have to do is stand there and look pretty.” She went back to her charming smile just as easily as it had fallen moments before.

Dread welled up in Laurel’s chest. Living her life as the forced mate of someone she didn’t even know - or love - scared her to death.

“So some guy is going to choose us possibly, just based on our looks?” Wendy asked.

“Not quite… they have some important information that will help them make their decision,” Mary replied.

“Okay… but what if more than one man wants each of us?” Laurel added in her question to the conversation.

“Then he better be loaded!” Maisie and Mary leaned in together and giggled.

“Why would that matter?” Wendy inquired. Her arms were now folded across her chest.

Laurel’s face went white and her arms dropped loosely at her sides when she realized what Maisie had meant.

“We’re for sale.”

Mary and Maisie’s smiles turned to firm straight lines across their equally full lips.

“For sale?! This can’t be legal, surely?” Wendy took a step to move next to her companion, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“There is no way we’re agreeing to go through with this!”

Wendy grabbed Laurel’s hand firmly and stomped over to the door. Her only thought was to find a way out of this room before they were taken to the mysterious Appraisal and sold off. She wriggled the door handle to the hallway, but it resisted her efforts.

“I would rethink that if I were you,” Mary’s sweet tone had changed to one of darkness. She reached into her dress pocket to reveal a syringe of the same liquid the guards had before.

“You can make my job easy or hard, but either way, it gets done!”