~Zarek's POV~
"Now, remind me why I have to meet with these nincompoops at… what the hell is that place called again?" I snapped, turning to my beta and best friend, Orion, who seemed less affected by this scorching heat, and totally unfazed by the fact that Duke Princeton and his cohorts were asking us to meet at some secluded godforsaken auction house in the middle of nowhere.
"The jungle auction house." He supplied, casting a glance at my almost strewn-off necktie, before adding. "You might want to take that off."
I understood why he'd say that but right now, I didn't care much about it. He knew that I hated constricting materials like this and now, his best guess was that it was probably why I was so irritable today.
But he was wrong.
I was this annoyed because these men, Duke Princeton and whatever people must flock around him, had come to me all in the guise of setting our differences aside and coming to a common ground. They wanted us to reach a truce after our year-long feud; but I knew that that was impossible and that it was a facade.
However, Orion knows this too but has chosen to be on his best behavior today— much to my chagrin. He for some reason believes that if we walked into the Duke's trap like gentlemen, then maybe we could be treated as one too. But I knew better.
Irritatedly, I snapped the tie off my neck as we stepped out of the car but before we stepped into the building, I took a minute to glance around. To check if we were being spied at and if— like I had suspected— they had a devilish plot up their sleeves, and to my amusement, they did.
The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the presence of six burly bodyguards by the gate, and with a smile, I turned to Orion.
"That's it for treating us like gentlemen."
"They're only bodyguards guarding the Duke." Orion argued, a hint of mischief glinting in his eyes and I scoffed.
"He's heavily guarded and yet he insists that I either come alone or come with you at most… in my books, that's not how gentlemen behave." I snapped, to which Orion responded by nodding his head.
For the rest of the trek into the main building, I couldn't help but notice how more and more of the Duke's soldiers were scattered all across the compound, and for some reason, they all had their eyes on me— their target.
"Do not do anything yet." Orion's voice cut through my thoughts and this time, I was the one who nodded.
However, as soon as we got in and I realized what this building was made for, a feeling of utter disgust crept up my skin. I was so disgusted and perplexed that my irritation soon doubled by a million fold.
The building was an auction house alright but rather than putting up objects for sale, they were putting up people. Human girls and Omega of different colors and sizes, all young and with a youthful exuberance to them that I couldn't quite tear my eyes off.
Anger rose like a bile in my throat and I stepped forward, only to be snapped out of my haze when I felt an arm on mine. My first reaction was to slap it off and it wasn't until after I'd done that that I realized it was Orion's. He looked around the room cautiously, and with a voice barely above a whisper, he said; "Thread carefully Alpha, the people here are brutes."
"They're trafficking people here." I snapped back, my voice gruff, "…that is wrong."
As soon as I said that, I saw Orion's eye flash with an emotion that I couldn't quite place, saw the way he looked up at the stage up front where a pretty blonde girl now stood with nothing but fear in her eyes; and then, he sighed;
"I know that, but this isn't why we're here, Zarek. For now, let's pretend to enjoy the show."
"I cannot enjoy—"
"Pretend!" Orion snapped, shocking me by the tone of his voice. "At least until we're sure we're safe because right now, I doubt that we are."
Something about his words made me look around us, and lo and behold, Princeton's men were closing in on us pretty quickly. I could see their intent in their eyes, it was clear as day— they wanted to kill us.
However, I got into action quickly enough. It happened that at that moment, a beautiful ginger head was taken up to the transparent cage. She was the next item to be bought. And while the girl was indisputably beautiful as fuck, I was shocked to see that she was with a child— a beautiful young daughter not above 4 years which these brutes wanted to sell off along sides her mother.
The look on the girl's face, plus that of her daughter snapped something in my dead heart and I squeezed my eyes shut. She was beautiful… breathtakingly so and somehow, for some reason had me successfully enthralled. And as the crowd buzzed around us, I could only pay attention to her. To her beautiful wild hair cascading around her face, falling straight down to her slender waist, and to her big bright blue eyes. They were beautiful… They were pretty expressive, and very much the only thing I wanted to stare at until dusk.
Suddenly an angry growl erupted from the depths of my chest when a man leaned close to her, as if to sniff her. But then she lifted her gaze.
My breath caught in my throat when her eyes met mine, even if it was for a fleeting moment. But for the first time in ages, I felt something akin to peace settle in the pit of my stomach. For the first time, my beast wasn't fighting to get out… to wreak havoc, it was simply attuned with her.
Simply wanted to drink in her sight.
(He finds out she's his mate)
Then the smell of her fear hit my nostrils. She was obviously scared. She and her daughter. I could see how much they hated it here, and they were just about to go from the frying to the fire.
Again, I turned to Orion who for the first time this evening looked uncomfortable, and with the most uncaring voice I could muster, I turned to him and asked; "What do you think about that girl?"
At first, Orion seemed confused. It took him a moment to pinpoint who I was talking about and when he did , he chuckled; "Ahh the demi goddess? She's beautiful… but we don't care about them, right?"
"Oh that is where you're wrong mate, we do." I snapped, to which he cocked his eyebrows at me.
"But we don't." He whispered harshly, and when I still wouldn't respond, he grabbed my arm and rushed out; "What are you trying to do?"
Pretending that I was about to play Duke Princeton's games, despite the gnawing in my chest, I smiled. I leaned against my chair and with my eyes latched onto the ginger head up front, who was so beautiful, she had my entire mind in a twist by just staring at her, I grinned.
"I'm trying to buy us some time. And while I do that, I'll buy myself that beautiful maiden as well."
Orion's eyes widened in shock.
He opened his mouth as if to say something but before the words could come out, he was interrupted by the host's boisterous voice.
"Our fourth item for today… Dahlia Sinclair. An Omega, 5'3. Blue eyes and luscious ginger hair. Perfect for bedroom services! She has a daughter… the little one standing close to her."
Orion and I exchanged glances.
"Bidding price starts from one thousand dollars!"
Dahlia Sinclair… Her name sounded familiar. Even her blue eyes too that now searched the crowd as if looking for a messiah, seemed familiar too. However, I was far from being a messiah, if anything, I was just the opposite of that. I was a beast. A man meant to take and take until I've taken it all… and right now, all I could see was her beauty. It was like a light in my dark world. A light that I wanted to take… to keep as mine for as long as I lived.
I felt a twitch in my pants and when I looked down at it to see that it was my body's own way of showing its own interest in the girl, I smiled, picked up the bid card on my table and yelled;
"Four million dollars!"
And as soon as I did that, the crowd went silent. All the cheering died down and so did everyone turn to look at me… including the girl too.
I felt her eyes on my face before I felt others' and it made my heart flutter traitorously in my chest.
I still do not know why I did that… I had no idea why I had decided to pay so much for a girl I barely knew. But I knew that I wanted her… and that I needed those defined curves of hers wrapped around my otherwise sturdy frame.
However, I was snapped out of my thoughts for the nth time today when a burly looking boy came over. He bowed to us and muttered; "Alpha Zarek, Duke Princeton would like to see you now… in private."
The smile that crawled over my face then was devious. It was dark… It was a stark contrast to the girl I had just bought. I turned to Orion and with a wink, I whispered;
"You shouldn't go with me. Get that girl and her daughter out of here—"
"Why?" He interrupted with a frown. I suspected that he wasn't going to listen but at least, I had to try anyway.
Again my eyes found the pretty girl and I turned to Orion. "This place is crawling with vipers and I doubt I'll walk out of here alive. If I don't, I want to be sure she's been taken to safety. These men are ready to devour her."
Well me too… but that's beside the case.
But he didn't move an inch. Without a word, he followed me out of the room and bounded down the corridor like the grim reaper himself.
And trust me, that was the best way to put it.