Bound To The Cursed Lycan King

Auctioned

ZARA’S POV.

A painful groan slips from my lips as I come to, and I feel a massive headache in my head and ache in my neck, not sure why I passed out. My throat feels dry and my eyes blurry.

I hold my head, a sharp fiery pain tearing through my skull like lightning. It feels as though I have been stabbed with a hundred needles, each stab sending wave after wave of anguish through my body. Where am I? And how did I get here?

The last thing I remember is entering the car with Angela and the driver zooming off. Calling out to my wolf doesn’t work; she’s still in a deep slumber. I try to adjust my eyes to the room and sit up, but I realise too late that I’m on a hard, cold floor and trapped behind metal bars.

The scent of blood, dust and sharp smell of urine assault my senses and I hold my hands up to my nose in an attempt to block the smell.

What?! What is going on? The pain in my head throbs violently and I move my hand to my belly, a sinking feeling of dread taking over me. I am still pregnant. I get to my feet and feel unsteady, making the mistake of grabbing onto the bars and feeling my hand burning with pain. This is no ordinary cage. It’s coated with wolfsbane!

“Ow!” I cry out, cradling my hand. My heart is beating so fast that I feel like I’m about to faint, but then, I notice a figure huddled in the corner… another girl.

She looks younger than me, has dirty-blonde hair matted on her head and is hugging her knees to her chest. I can sense the fear coming from her and I notice that she’s dressed in rags.

“Hello?” I whisper, slowly walking over to her. “Are you okay?”

She looks up at me with brown eyes and cringes away, growling. “Stay away from me!” She exclaims, and I can sense her fear.

I swallow hard and get on my knees in front of her, noting how malnourished she looks as if she hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I say, holding my hands with my palms towards her. “My name is Zara; I don’t remember anything.”

She turns her head to me and sniffs. “I’m Kiera and I was thrown in here after being drugged by my parents.”

Her own parents?

I take her hands in mine, offering her a kind look. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Kiera,” I say, then look around the cage helplessly. “Do you know where we are?”

She sniffs and nods, wiping the dried tears on her cheek away. “The guards mentioned something about an auction? I don’t know what it means, but the auction part scares me. There is news of a moonwolf being sought after by everyone, so there are chances that Ronan will be there. He’s a well-known scientist and evil. Ronan has killed some of the women he bought in the past in the most brutal way. Pray he doesn’t buy you when you’re auctioned because he’ll inject your brain with chemicals and turn you into a scientific tool.”

Ronan? Why haven’t I heard of him before?

I feel a painful lump grow in my throat as I try to process everything I have been told. Apparently, I have been sold, and to a greedy fool, no less. How did I get here? And why isn’t Angela present with me?

The more I try to remember the events of before, the more pain I have to endure until it becomes almost too much to bear. Slowly, the memories come to me. The loud slam of a car door. Me being dragged out of my seat. Legs kicking in the air. An image of the driver smirking down at me. A cloth being pressed to my nose.

“Angela,” I halt, unable to get the words out. This moment, I feel unalive. I’m not quite sure if I feel it, I’m numb, without pain, without feelings. My own friend had tricked me, drugged me with wolfsbane, and sold me.

Before I can work through my feelings, the door gets shoved open and light streams in, blinding us. Heavy footsteps walk towards us and I hear the thud and clattering of a chain being thrown on the concrete floor.

A man with a scar down his face, a crooked nose and a cigarette in between his teeth gets down on his haunches to look at us. The disgusting predatory grin covering his face sends a sliver of fear through me and I know for a fact he must be linked to Angela.

“Well, well; you’re awake now, Zara. That’s f*****g good news considering it’s your turn. We’re ready for you,” he says in a gruff voice then removes the key from his pocket and unlocks the cage. “Move out and don’t even try anything funny, or you’ll be dead before you know it.”

I’m forced to dress up in a red crop top and short skirt paired with fishnet stockings and a pair of black heels, roughly shoved in front of a room filled with thousands of men, the blinding lights hitting me at once.

Their eyes, blanketed with lust, hungrily trail up and down my figure and my heart starts racing so hard and so fast that I can hardly breathe, much less form a coherent thought. My stomach churns slightly and I drag the end of my skirt even lower, irritation and disgust filling me. I’ve never been lusted after like this before, it’s obvious these men want to sleep with me.

While I had had s*x with Leonard a number of times, it was nothing like this. The thought of just throwing caution to the wind and strip-teasing as they’d instructed is sickening. I don’t think I can do something like that. Besides, I’m pregnant.

A man wearing sleek black clothes steps out from the line of the velvet curtain and starts talking.

“Welcome to the tenth annual auction! Thank you all for being here, your continual support means the world to us!” He gushes, then gestures to me with his hand. “We have a pretty fine stock here tonight, wouldn’t you say? Her name is Zara and she is none other than the only surviving moonwolf. So, as usual, let the bidding process begin.”

A thunderous applause echoes from the audience and the moment it dies down, trepidation sets in my heart.

I hadn’t been told this part. The part about being a moonwolf. They have got the wrong person.

The auction begins immediately, and I breathe in deeply, a few more times to steady myself. Bidding goes on and after a while, a short, stocky man stands up from the crowd. He gasps when he sees me, overacting and selling it.

“This one is special; she’s truly the moonwolf and a great healer! Look at her silver hair and moon-colored eyes. She’s just perfect and those curves and the swell of her breasts—!”

“Fifteen million!” A voice devoid of emotion calls from the audience and everyone gasps, heads turning to the person offering the large sum.

“Yo, isn’t that the infamous scientist who maltreats women?” One bidder whispers.

“Seriously, the moon wolf is in for a really big surprise,” chimes in another.

My heart sinks right into my knees and I can almost taste my fear on my tongue. What are they saying?

“Silence!” The man on stage exclaims, his voice jarring. He then turns to me before raising the microphone to his lips. “Ronan is currently the highest bidder for you.”

And just then, my death sentence hangs over my head like a guillotine. I could have been sold to anyone and planned an escape, but not now that I’ve been sold to Ronan.

I remember Kiera’s words about him.

“He’s a well-known scientist and evil. He has killed some of the women he bought in the past in the most brutal way. Pray he doesn’t buy you when you’re auctioned because he’ll inject your brain with chemicals and turn you into a scientific tool.”

That man has just bought me for the largest amount sold here tonight. Terror shoots through me and fear clenches my heart like a vice grip when the man on stage turns back to the audience.

“Do I hear twenty million? No? Going once… twice…”

Suddenly, the scent of earthy forest floor and sandalwood, a delicious mixture, floats through my nostrils. Despite my earlier apprehension, I can barely contain my excitement, my inner-wolf singing in response to this new anomaly.

“No takers?” The man announces again, his gaze roaming over the crowd.

I crane my neck, scanning the faces of everyone in the room. Where are you? Where are you?

Then, suddenly, there he is. I know he’s my mate the moment I lay my eyes on him and I am utterly astonished at the sight. I stand there, mouth agape, staring at the gorgeous hunk who has just risen from his seat. His piercing blue eyes lock with mine, my whole body responding with a shudder.

“I’d like to offer twenty-five million.”