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“My love, please have hope. You’re not alone. I told you I would never leave you. I can’t show myself, but I will protect you the best I can.” Kellan’s familiar voice swirls through my mind, striking me in both my heart and soul.
Tears burn in my eyes, and I release a little gasp, trying to remain composed. Kai and Asa misjudge my reaction as fear, and they grin at each other as if they get satisfaction from seeing me weak.
Kai smacks my ass. “Good. That’s what I thought.” Turning to Asa, he says, “Get ready to show her off. The alphas will want a good look at her.”
My muscles tense at his words. I don’t even have to know his silent command to understand what he means by showing me off. Not only has my freedom been stripped for me, but so will my humanity and my modesty as these bastard wolves plan to expose me in a way I should be used to.
Asa dips his chin and tightens his fingers around my arm. If he squeezes any harder, he will leave a bruise. Possibly break my bone.
He huffs a breath. “You heard my alpha. It’s time to show your possible mates exactly what they are competing for.”
Snatching my shirt in his fingers, he yanks at the fabric. I screech in surprise and lock my hand to his wrist. Grinding my teeth, I brace for him to smack me.
“Please, I can do it myself. Give me a chance.” It doesn’t change these disgusting circumstances, but it does make me feel more in control doing it myself. It makes me feel as if I am the one in charge of my body.
Asa tightens his jaw and flares his nostrils. I expect him to rip off my clothes anyway, but he relents and releases the fabric, letting it flutter around my thighs.
Taking a step away from him, I heave a breath and lock my fingers to the hem of the shirt. I tug it over my head with one hand and let it fall between the two of us, resting on his arm because he still doesn’t let me go, taking Kai’s commands seriously. Asa switches hands, holding my other arm instead. He snatches my shirt and brings it to his nose, inhaling a deep breath. His whole body shudders as he savors my scent. Looks like him supposedly having a mate doesn’t matter.
“You control yourself now, Asa. You can’t blame your body’s reaction on me.” I know better than to say the words, but I can’t help myself.
He growls. “What did—”
Kellan’s familiar howl rips through the air, echoing through the trees. It cuts Asa off, jerking his attention away from me. My saving grace. My soulmate. My lone wolf. He just saved my ass from the wrath of this bastard.
A sharp whistle stings my ears, and Kai strides closer, hearing Kellan in his wolf form. “Sweep the area. Kill anyone not permitted on our land. I will proceed with the competition myself. The alphas grow restless.”
I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. I guess I’ll find out.
Stretching his arms over his head, Asa transforms back into a wolf and darts off with a bark. Several other wolves follow behind him, disappearing into the trees.
“Be brave, Eliana. We just need to get you out of this territory. As soon as we find out where you will be taken, I’ll call upon your chosen. Hang tight.” Kellan releases another howl, his wolf drawing the attention of everyone around.
A hot hand grabs onto my wrist and yanks me. I have no choice but to follow behind Kai as he leads the way toward a beautiful meadow full of rainbow flowers. I’ve never seen any of them before in my life, though I wasn’t exactly one to know more than what were in bouquets at the grocery store.
A wave of tranquility rises inside me, Kellan’s emotions filling me in a way that I never knew I needed. I knew we were connected with our supposed soulmate bond, but it had been a while since I felt him on this level. Actually, I don’t even know if I’ve ever felt him like this. It’s been too hard to open up to him ever since I felt like he betrayed me. But right now? He’s all I have. I will take what I can get and think about everything else later.
“Whoa, what a beauty. You said she was decent, but damn. Gorgeous. Turn around, she-wolf. Let me get a good look at you.” A nasally voice strikes me in the heart, the man’s comment catching up with me and cutting me off from Kellan.
My lip trembles, and I suck it into my mouth so no one can see my reaction. Kai shoves his hand into my shoulder blade, forcing me to spin on my feet or fall. The last thing I want to do right now is land on the ground. I can’t believe I’m in this position. I thought something like this wouldn’t faze me, considering that I have bared my body for strangers before, but this is different. This isn’t my choice. I want to kill every last one of them. I want to rip their balls off and eat them as my wolf. Disgusting? Yeah. But so are they.
“Don’t worry, babe. I will beat Garrett so you don’t have to deal with his weak ass. You need someone strong. Someone who will take care of you and all of our children. You will be mine.” A smooth, deep voice wraps around me. It only makes things worse. I bet his sick ass thinks that his comment will make me feel better. All it does is make me glower at the ground. I refuse to look at him. I won’t look at anyone. Someone will have to yank me by the back of my hair and jerk my head up to get me to meet anyone’s gaze.
Kai shoves me again. “Go closer and let them get a good sniff. Lift up your hair and get it out of the way. They need the best view possible.” Growling, Kai takes a step toward the men. I only see their shadows cascading across the ground in front of me. “No one touch her. That wasn’t part of the show. The winner gets that honor. You have thirty seconds to decide whether you are going to proceed or give up the chance of this opportunity.”
My heart races, and sweat trickles down my neck. Stupid body. I’m sure they will lap up the scent of my fear to jerk off to it later.
“Why don’t you bend over, so I can imagine what it would be like to mount your sweet, sweet ass, Eliana.” This comes from the man at the end. I refuse to look at him.
Be a good girl. Do as they say. If you comply, you won’t get hurt.I chant the words to myself over and over again, giving me the strength to do as the bastard says. It feels as if my mind disconnects from my body, and I don’t realize that Kai calls them to attention until after the shadows vanish from the ground in front of me.
“Come take a seat beside me, she-wolf. I want you to watch your future alpha, so you know exactly what kind of power he has. You will better appreciate what I’m doing for you. Your life could be far worse than this.” Kai smacks my ass again, making me jump. He forces me to stay by his side in silence. Motioning to the ground, he commands me to sit on the dirt while he sits on the only chair around. I guess this is to show his power over the others in this moment. He probably wants them to know that he’s doing them a favor, and that technically, he can keep me if he wanted to. Who knew I’d be thankful that he doesn’t? Well, I did, actually. But still.
“All right, fuckers. Two names from the bag. You will be first up. The winner of this round will face the winner of the next and so on. Do you understand? There are no rules. You will fight in whatever form you please. If you decide to forfeit, you must do so by bowing down to your opponent.” Kai pulls a small bag from his pocket. Holding it out to me, he shakes it. “Come on, she-wolf. I’ll allow you to do the honor.”
His eyes flash gold as if he expects me to thank him. Instead, I shove my fingers into the small opening of the bag and feel the slips of paper. I consider yanking them out and shoving them in my mouth to give me another moment, but that’s my rash side thinking. I need to be smart. I need to do what Kellan said and just wait it out. Hopefully these guys will kill each other, and we’ll have fewer dickheads to deal with. Maybe this is in fate’s plan all along. They’ll think they get me, but instead all they will get is death. They will get what they deserve.
Kai doesn’t give me a chance to look at the slips of paper before he snatches my hand and plucks them from my palm. My arm drops like dead weight, and I wince as my knuckles hit the compacted dirt.
