Dionne
The collision with the stranger left me disoriented, his touch burning through the thin fabric of my degrading costume. But before I could process what had just happened, I heard it. A small, broken sob that cut through all the chaos around me.
"Mama?"
My head snapped to the left, and there she was. Nora. My baby. She was huddled in the corner of the hallway, pressed against the cold concrete wall like she was trying to disappear into it. Her eyes were swollen and red, her nose running, and her small body shook with silent sobs.
"Nora!" The scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. I lunged toward her, yanking free from the guard's grip with a strength I didn't know I possessed. The collar around my neck flared with pain, trying to suppress my wolf, but I barely felt it.
I crashed to my knees in front of her, my hands frantically running over her small body, checking for injuries. "Baby, are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"
"I was scared," she whimpered, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her face against my shoulder.
"Shh, I'm here now. I'm here." I held her so tightly I was probably hurting her, but I couldn't let go. Tears streamed down my face. "I won't let them take you again. I promise, I won't—"
Pain exploded across my scalp as someone yanked my hair, dragging me backward. Nora's scream pierced the air as she was torn from my arms.
"You stupid bitch!" The short man from the dressing room had a fistful of my curls, pulling so hard I could feel strands ripping from my scalp. "You think you can just run around here? You think you have any goddamn rights?"
"Please," I gasped, my hands clawing at his wrist. "Please, she's just a child. She needs—"
He backhanded me across the face. The world tilted, stars exploding across my vision. I tasted blood.
"You'll behave, or I'll throw both of you to the rogues we keep in the cages downstairs." His breath reeked of tobacco and something sour. "They'd tear through a soft little omega like you in minutes, and your daughter would watch every second of it."
Terror froze the blood in my veins.
"Now listen carefully." He released my hair but kept his meaty hand clamped on my shoulder, his fingers digging into the bruises already there. "A very special guest has shown interest in you. Someone with very deep pockets and specific tastes. You're going to go out there, you're going to smile, and you're going to put on the best damn show of your pathetic life. You understand?"
I nodded frantically, not trusting my voice.
"If you make me look bad, if you cost me this sale, I'll make sure you regret it for however long you have left to live." He leaned closer, his lips brushing my ear in a way that made my skin crawl. "Now move."
I stumbled, my legs barely supporting me. A guard grabbed Nora, and I wanted to fight, wanted to tear his throat out, but the collar around my neck pulsed with suppressive magic, keeping my wolf buried deep. All I could do was watch as they carried her toward the stage entrance, her small hand reaching for me.
"Mama! Mama!" She screamed out and I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach as she reached out for me.
"I'm coming, baby! I'm right here!" But my voice was lost in the noise as more women were herded into the staging area.
They lined us up like cattle. I counted twelve women, all omegas, all wearing the same degrading costumes. Some were crying. Others stared at nothing with dead eyes.
The sound of the crowd beyond the curtain was like a living thing. Male voices, laughter, the clink of glasses. They were enjoying themselves, treating this like some kind of social event instead of the horror it was.
"First up," a voice called from the stage, "we have a lovely young thing, barely eighteen. Perfect for breeding stock or domestic service. Let's start the bidding at twenty thousand."
My stomach churned. They were selling people. Actually selling them, like we were livestock.
One by one, the women were called. I watched them stumble onto the stage, watched the way the crowd reacted. Some bidders were enthusiastic, driving prices up to fifty or sixty thousand dollars. Others let women pass with barely any interest at all.
Then I heard it.
"Next up, we have something special. A matched set, if you will. An omega and her pup. The mother's a rogue, freshly severed, which as many of you know makes her quite the omen. And the child, well, she's young and trainable. Together, they make a fascinating package."
No. No, no, no.
A guard grabbed my arm, shoving me toward the stage. Another one carried Nora, who was screaming and reaching for me.
The lights hit us like a physical force. I couldn't see past the first few rows, the stage lights were too bright, creating a wall of white that hid the crowd. But I could hear them. Murmurs of interest, a few crude comments that made me want to vomit.
"Mama!" Nora's voice cut through everything else. They'd set her down on the stage, but a guard stood between us, preventing me from reaching her.
"Starting bid is fifty thousand for the pair," the announcer called out. "Do I hear fifty?"
"Fifty!" someone shouted immediately.
"Sixty!"
"Seventy-five!"
The bids came faster, and each one felt like another nail in our coffin. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to cover the exposed skin, but there was too much of it.
"One hundred thousand!" a voice called out, and the crowd reacted with appreciative murmurs.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. All I could do was stand there under those burning lights while men bid on us like we were furniture.
"One twenty!"
"Do I hear one fifty? One fifty?" The host called, but I could barely concentrate.
Nora was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath. I wanted to go to her, but the guard's hand on my shoulder kept me frozen in place.
"One eighty!"
"Two hundred!"
The bidding continued, climbing higher and higher. Part of me wondered who had that kind of money to spend on slaves. What kind of person did you have to be to participate in something like this?
Then a voice cut through all the others, smooth and cold.
"Four hundred thousand."
The crowd went silent. I tried to peer through the lights, searching for the source of that voice. All I could make out was a figure in the third row, but the lights were too bright to see details.
Then he stood, and my blood turned to ice in my veins.
It was him. The man with the cruel thin lips and cold blue eyes. The one who'd looked at me earlier like I was nothing more than an object to be acquired.
He was smiling now, and that smile promised nothing good. It was the smile of a predator who'd cornered his prey and knew there was no escape and at once I knew he was the Alpha, the short man had been referring to.
"Four hubdred thousand going once," the announcer called out, barely containing his excitement. This was apparently more than they'd hoped for.
I felt my knees start to buckle. If that man bought us, if we ended up in his hands, I could already imagine the suffering that awaited. The way he'd looked at me earlier, the calculating coldness in his eyes, it had been the look of someone who enjoyed causing pain.
"Going twice—"
"One million dollars."
The voice came from the back of the room, and I could've sworn my heart ceased to beat inside my chest.