Page 73 of Dark Auctioned Mate

Alanis slowly took a step back, her heart beating wildly against her chest, as she looked for a means of escape. The window was behind her, and they were on the second floor. Derek was standing in the way of the only door. And he was an Alpha—stronger, faster, more dangerous than the buyer she had just taken down.

“It’s over, Derek. You should run while you still have the chance.”

“We have an escape plan.” He entered the room, shutting the door behind him. “Backup vehicles, by-pass routes. We will be gone before they even finish processing everyone downstairs.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“You won’t.” He took a step closer, and Alanis saw the moment his rage crystallized into something colder. “You’ve ruined it all. We’ve spent years in this business, expanding it to several states. And you—you worthless, shiftless piece of shit took it all away.”

“Good. That was the plan. “

“We gave you a home!” Derek snarled. “We tried to make you useful, and you paid us back by running away and coming back, just to ruin us?!”

“You tortured me!” Alanis snapped, frustration, disbelief, and hurt evident in her tone. “You and the pack made my life a living hell and tried to sell me like livestock. So, yeah, Derek. I am so fucking glad this all came crashing down!”

Derek lunged at her, grabbing her shoulder and flinging her into the wall. She immediately grabbed the chair by the desk and threw it at him.

He caught it with one hand and tossed it away like it weighed nothing.

“You’ve always been weak. Trying to fight back when you should have been content to accept the way things are. You reckon you can beat me—even now?”

“I don’t have to beat you,” Alanis drew in a shaky breath. “I just need to live long enough to wait for back-up.”

“Your backup is engaged downstairs. It is only you and I, cousin, and I have been waiting years for this “

He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up off the ground. Alanis tore at his hand, unable to breathe, black spots creeping into her vision.

“This is what becomes of traitors,” Derek hissed.

The knife that Alanis had stolen from a guard was hidden in her sleeve. She slowly pulled it out and drove it into Derek’s forearm with the remaining strength she had left.

He bellowed and let go of her throat. Alanis fell to the ground, choking. She tried to crawl away, but Derek regained himself quickly.

His fist connected with her ribs and then on her face, causing her vision to blur.

“You never knew when you were beaten,” he gasped. “Stubborn bitch.”

The last thing Alanis saw before darkness claimed her was Derek’s fist coming at her head again.

***

She woke up to cold ground beneath her and chains around her wrists.

Alanis slowly opened her eyes, trying to figure out where she was. Her vision cleared slowly, and she realized she was in the woods, with her hands bound up above her head to a small tree branch. And there were seven Caldwell pack members around her.

Derek stood right in front of her, his wounded arm bandaged. “Good. I would like you to be awake for this.”

Alanis pulled on the chains. They were strong, but not impossibly to work with.

“Let me guess,” she said, hoarsely. You will take revenge on me because I ruined your operation. Kill me, maybe?”

“Killing is an easy death. I will make you sorry you were ever born.”

“Big talk from someone whose whole business just closed down. None of it is coming back, Derek. You lost everything.”

“There are still some resources. Contacts. Money in offshore accounts.” Derek grinned in a sadistic manner. “We will re-establish, go smaller, be more cautious, and we shall not forget you—the traitor who believed she could ruin us.”

“You can never rise again out of ashes.”