[Wanted: Leah King.
Age: 18
Crime: Arson.
Dangerous criminal, contact the council or the human policemen if you catch sight of her. Beast form: Not known.]
**
"And the next piece of the auction!" The emcee, who stood in the middle of the stage with a mic in his hands, looked at the many auctioneers in front of him. He smiled mysteriously at the masked men and women before announcing excitedly, "A young, untouched female shifter. She turned eighteen just yesterday! Though latent, her beast form is said to be a pallas cat. And I know how many of you would love to suppress and play with a prideful pallas cat!"
Upon hearing the words of the emcee, there were a bunch of low murmurs. Though the latency of this new piece did make a few of the auctioneers disinterested, some of them were still interested in buying this woman, as they knew how difficult it was for someone to make a female shifter who was a pallas cat submit.
While the auctioneers were deciding whether to buy this new plaything that had been put on auction, a young woman stood behind the curtains backstage. She was scantily clad in a single white dress that barely reached her thighs. Her long black hair, darker than the midnight sky, had been curled and left in waves behind her.
As for her green eyes, they were flickering around the backstage area, no doubt looking for a way out of this place.
"You better not be thinking about escaping, Leah." A woman, no older than forty, stepped forward. She looked at Leah and then waved her hand at the makeup woman who was spraying the glossy highlighter over Leah's brown, tanned skin.
The makeup artist walked away almost instantly, just as the middle-aged woman came to stand in front of Leah.
"Mhmm, you still look ugly and useless as always. But this will do," remarked the woman.
"You should show some fucking gratitude to someone whom you are about to auction off, Florin," snapped Leah. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. She knew that her stepmother was one evil old crone, but she never thought that this woman would one day stoop to a whole new low by auctioning her off.
Auctioning her. Like she was some showpiece or an item that could be put on display.
"Language, Leah," chided Florin. She rolled her eyes and then looked her up and down. "I thought all those years of training would help you a little, but it seems like it was just a waste of my time and money. You are still the same… crude… weak and unsightly."
Her words stung, but Leah refused to show it on her face. She pursed her lips and said in a sweet voice, "And yet this weak, unsightly old me is bringing you some piping hot money, momma. I wonder if my dad knew about your side business; he would have imprinted on you."
Florin raised her eyebrow. She stared at Leah with a hint of distaste on her face, but a second later she smiled. "I would have slapped you for the fucking audacity that you are showing me. But I wouldn't want to ruin that below-average face. I need at least one man to find you fuckable."
"I need to know if you were worth all the effort that I put into you."
And by effort, she meant keeping her alive.
"You better prove your worth to me, Leah," Florin spoke up, putting a halt to Leah's thoughts, and Leah, of course, knew what she meant by those words.
'You were supposed to keep it a secret.'
'This was never supposed to happen.'
'If only you kept yourself locked away.'
Leah shut the voices within her head and turned her head to face forward. Yeah, the foolish one was her. She didn't need the voices in her head to tell her how stupid she was to run into Florin when she found out that she was not a normal shifter and let the woman in on the secret that should have been kept hidden.
If she had—if only she had not blabbed like a fool, then maybe she wouldn't be standing here in the middle of the auction house.
"You are going to die a horrible death, Florin. I will pray for it every day."
The woman merely smiled at her, as if the rage that Leah was showing her never meant anything, as if she were looking at a little pup who was throwing a tantrum.
"I will wait for that day." Florin caught hold of her jaw and then clenched it hard. "But for tonight, the one who will be seeing hell is you."
"Bring her out!" The workers of the auction house pulled Leah's restraint that was tied around her collar like she was a fucking pet and pulled her out. As Leah stepped out on the stage, the bright lights fell on her.
Because she moved from darkness to light, her eyes instinctively closed on their own, as she couldn't adjust to the sudden change in the lighting. When she opened her eyes, she saw several eyes looking at her, and all of a sudden, Leah became even more aware of her nakedness in front of so many people.
However, she couldn't even bring her hands to cover the important bits, as they were already tied by the people of the auction; she could only stand in the middle of the stage as the emcee sang praises of her skin and virginity. As if these two things were the only things that mattered about her.
'In here they do.'
The voice in her head spoke once again, and Leah ignored it. She once again shot a furtive look around the entire auction house because there was no way she was going to let a man buy and sleep with her.
Before that happened, she would love to die first, please and thank you.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the auction worker pulled her by the chains, making her walk a lap around the auction house, doubling her humiliation. Leah lowered her head in hope that if she didn't look at these people, they would disappear as well, but then a gaze – so sharp and heated – made her raise her head and look to her right.
*************end of chapter*******