Page 2 of Dark Sold Mate

His wolf did not just say mine as it should when it realized their mate was there. It roared it. It tore at his chest with an urgency that caused his jaw to lock; his fingers clamped onto the chair, denting the metal frame. His whole body stiffened, his eyes flicked amber at the edges, and he fought to maintain an expressionless look on his face and remain seated.

What was that scent? It was nothing like he had ever smelt in his decades of being an Alpha. He could not name it. He only felt like it was a key that was turning somewhere in a lock that he didn't know existed.

The girl stepped out from the side door, her head held high as she walked onto the stage.

Her head was up as she walked onto the stage. But he could see how frightened she was from where he was, across the room. Her brown hair was long and dark, and her dark brown eyes scanned the crowd, looking anxious and stern at the same time.

This was Elle Jones.

Silas's heart started to thud painfully against his chest. His previous thoughts dissipated, and he could think only of her.

His last encounter with her had been eight years ago.

Eight years ago, when his father had sent her away from the pack, she looked at him with so much hate in her eyes. He had not forgotten how she had glared at him. Those eyes that used to look at him with love. However, that was eight years ago when she was still in Starville.

Thoughts of her remained with him. Even after many years. The thoughts of her still haunted his dreams at night.

She had changed from the slim woman he knew. Now, she was a grown-ass woman. Her dress was ripped in some places, but it was unable to conceal the fact that she now had fuller curves. Her features were no longer as soft as they used to be. They had become sharper. But her eyes…those eyes had once looked at him, eager for a response to the question she asked him, and he had replied to her in a terribly vile manner.

“Look at this one,” the auctioneer pointed at her. “Soft curves. A nice thing to have in any collection.”

Elle's eyes narrowed into silts. Silas noticed the rage in them, but she immediately concealed it.

He could sense that Elle was no longer the silent girl who would accept the insulting comments from his pack without replying. Something big had changed.

His wolf scratched against the surface of his skin, tearing at the restraint he was trying to hold on to. “Mine. Ours.” It wanted him to ensure that everybody knew that she was his. That she belonged to both of them.

“Bidding starts at ten thousand.”

The mission took a backseat in Silas's mind.

It was no longer a priority for him. The only thing that he could think of was the woman standing on that stage.

The woman who had asked him eight years ago whether they could really be mates. The woman he had mocked and stood up. The woman that was sent away, and he could not do anything to stop it.

His mate.

One man in the crowd spoke up. Another wolf shifter, “Twelve thousand.”

Anger coursed through Silas's veins. All the rules that he had been brought up with, all the laws that seemed so very serious to his pack, all the training on the fact that human beings were taboo—all these were forgotten in the few seconds when his wolf and primal instincts took over.

She belonged to him. No one else.

Another person countered the bid with fifteen thousand.

Silas stood up, his chair grating on the floor. The crowd stared at him with a mix of curiosity and confusion. But he couldn't care less.

Nothing mattered to him but Elle. “Fifty thousand,” he announced his bid.

His wolf was so close to the surface, demanding to be let out.

The eyebrows of the auctioneer shot up. “Fifty thousand dollars. Is there anyone who disagrees with that?”

Elle simply stood on the stage, searching the crowd with her eyes for him. When she eventually saw him, her eyes widened and her mouth slightly opened. Then her face hardened.

“Fifty-five,” the bear shifter countered.

Whispers rippled through the crowd. Fifty thousand was already too much. Now, it was up to fifty-five?