Chapter 6 VELVET CURTAINS

YVAINE

To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

I stared at the two men, confusion clouding my expression. What did that mean? Someone's property?

“Someone—I don’t understand.” Didn’t Roan say they registered me as a rogue? What has that got to do with becoming property? What—

“You’re being sold. We are at an auction ring that specialises in rare lots. Repressed omegas like yourself who have never shifted, a hybrid. Or you could say anything with a pretty face and fuckable holes.”

It took a whole minute for his words to register, and my heart slammed hard into my rib cage. My eyes widened.

“Auction…” I stuttered, making sense of what he just said. Roan sold me?

He… Was that what he meant by ‘the transfer’?

“That’s not—that’s not true. Roan wouldn’t—even though hates me, he wouldn’t do that to me… He’s my mate. He wouldn’t…” Pain sliced through my heart as my own words registered to me.

Wouldn’t he?

He wanted me gone above all else. It didn’t matter how many times I let him use my body. He hated having me around and hated knowing that I was his mate. But I never would’ve guessed he hated me that much to sell me off to an auction ring.

My stomach lurched as everything spun. My world despite how small, shook to its core. My mate.

He sold me to traffickers.

My own mate sold me like I was some cheap piece of furniture he was tired of seeing. He... Oh goddess, without a second thought. Was I so hard to love?

The enforcer reached through the bars of the cage and grabbed my chin. “You’re kind of pretty, little wolf,” he said, saying the words like it was supposed to be a compliment, tilting my head up, but it only made me feel dirty. “They’ll pay a lot for you. I can already tell.”

The delight in his voice made bile rise in my throat, and I jerked away from his touch, a snarl ripping through my throat, but it sounded weak and pathetic. He laughed in mockery, shaking his head while the other man scoffed.

“Save your energy for when your new owner needs use of your body,” he said. “You’ll fight plenty then, but the majority of these men like the ones who fight.”

Two new men came up behind them as he spoke, dressed similarly to the enforcer. “Type?” They asked, without even sparing me a glance, as they stopped beside the enforcer. “R.O.,” he replied.

“Good,” they replied in unison. In the next minute they opened the cage, hauling me out with their gloved hands. A blindfold was placed over my face before I could protest or fight against their strong grip, and they were moving. I could tell we went down some flight of stairs, only didn't know how many. The place reeked and my body vibrated with fear and anxiety because I didn't know where exactly they were taking me to.

When they took the blindfold off and stopped moving, I found myself in a room with a stage at the far end and velvet curtains separating me from whatever was on the other side.

The two men who had hauled me inside left without saying a word. My movement was frantic as I turned and caught sight of several others. Some of them were in cages and a few others had a collar around their necks and they were chained to the wall.

Each one of them regarded me with a blank stare, and their eyes looked bare and hopeless. Is this what would happen to me? What is waiting for me if I don't get sold tonight?

"Turn around." I jumped in place, the chains binding the hand rattled loudly as I turned to find a new face staring down at me.

His eyes look sullen and his lips busted. I could easily tell this person was an omega just like me, but his eyes looked dead and his face exhausted.

He stripped me without a word, cold hands wiped me clean and then rubbed something onto my scent gland. He brushed my hair afterwards, painted my lips, and then locked a collar around my neck. I had expected him to give me back my clothes but he bent down to pick them up to toss.

“Number fifty-one,” someone called from the other end of the velvet curtains. “Time to present,” the voice announced.

The omega flinched as the door opened and another enforcer walked in. I couldn’t help the way my skin jumped as his hand landed on my shoulder and a cynical smile played on his lips.

“Smile, little wolf,” the handler sneered before grabbing the chains. He dragged me towards the velvet curtains and pushed me onto the stage.