The Beta Who Bought Me

Chapter 16 - Fight It

He was still fairly new to the pack, only having recently challenged the previous beta for his position and won. It could be possible that there was a she-wolf here that he hadn’t been introduced to yet. The pack was huge after all, with over five thousand members. His eyes went wide when he recognized it was in fact not a she-wolf of the High Moon Pack, but the frightened brunette on the stage. One of the purchases available at that evening’s Appraisal.

She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and his wolf pranced about his head with delight at having found her. She was a little taller than most females, but her athletic body was drool-worthy, even under the flowing white silk dress. The makeup she wore only enhanced her natural beauty and made her stunning amethyst eyes practically glow. The contrast of her dark brunette hair and milky fair skin was irresistible to him.

He frowned deeply when she noticeably trembled at the lewd comments some middle-aged men in front of him made, and he knew then he would be willing to pay any price to protect her from these perverted men eyeing her like a piece of meat.

There was no way he was going to let someone else scoop up his mate. He had used his position in the pack to let Luna Grace know to help tip the scales in his favor. If someone placed a higher bid, she would mind-link Owen to let him know to raise his own bid. The price was finally set so high that no one but the alpha would have had the funds to top him. She was worth every penny to him though.

With the bidding complete and his victory assured, he mind-linked the Luna to request that Laurel be brought directly to his apartment. Custom usually stated that the winners would pick up their prize personally, but Owen wanted to prepare for her arrival.

He linked a house omega to bring him a variety of women’s clothes, guessing she was about size 12 or 14 from her figure. The omega quickly brought up a large package, and he had just finished placing everything in the drawers of the large black guest room dresser when he heard a gentle rap on his front door.

She’s here, his wolf’s delighted growl echoed in his head.

He could feel her presence strongly through the door… and she was scared. Owen had never been particularly adept at dealing with emotions, but he was determined to try his best to get her situated that night and then deal with it all more in the morning.

After he had sent her to bed, he tried to distract himself with paperwork that he had neglected earlier that day. But he found it quite difficult when he could feel the sadness emanating from Laurel’s bedroom.

When he wandered to bed around midnight, he could still sense she was awake, and he briefly pressed his ear to her door. His sensitive hearing easily caught her muffled sobs, and he gripped his chest in pain for the poor girl. He would eventually need to make all of this up to her, but now wasn’t the right time. There’s no way she would trust him to comfort her yet. And for now, he had a role to play.

When he woke at daybreak, he decided to check on her again. He barely cracked her door open to see her sleeping soundly, her slow breaths rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He decided it was best to let her rest for now, and he would talk to her later when he had wrapped up the morning training sessions he was in charge of. He got dressed in his typical workout clothes, a fitted athletic t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts with trainers, and hurried out to the training grounds.

All morning, his mind wandered from his training back to the woman still nestled in his apartment. Some of the warriors landed cheap shots on him that they never would have on a normal day. It hurt his pride a little, but the thought of getting back to her soon overpowered him. He even called the last morning session short in order to head home and check up on her.

Upon reentering the apartment, her scent hit him right in the face. She had been in the kitchen mostly, as that is where her smell was the strongest, but she wasn’t there currently. He walked quietly along the back hallway and saw the door to this office was wide open. He could hear the sound of shuffling papers, and his blood ran cold when he saw the file in her hand.

He should have hidden it better or even locked it up. How much has she read already? Like all men who had purchased a girl from the Appraisal, he had been given the detailed notes on her genetic profile. Not only that, but other personal information that had been gathered on each girl was included. There’s no doubt that she wouldn’t take it well to know what kind of information about her was in there. And on top of it all, he had added other notes in his own handwriting. That kind of sensitive information could not fall into anyone else’s hands, not even hers. She could destroy everything he was working towards.

His mixed emotions of worry, attraction, and anger came out in a rage. His wolf paced and howled at him not to hurt his precious mate. And her trying to push him away only made him want to chase her down more. It took every bit of self-control he had not to claim her on the spot. She was not ready, and it would not be right to do that to her. He needed to get space from her and quickly. Giving her some simple but stern rules, he finally got her to go back to her room before going to his own.

On the one hand, he was glad to have her mad at him. She had thrown a wrench into his carefully laid plans and having her keep her distance would make his work easier. On the other hand, now that he had his mate close by, resisting her was like resisting an essential part of himself.

He sighed deeply as he flipped himself over on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Fighting the bond wasn’t going to be an option for long, especially once she shifted and recognized him as her mate as well. The full moon was only a few days away, and if she came to him willingly, he knew he would be done for.