AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She giggles with delight when the ridiculously handsome shifter jumps on stage, snarling and growling, and takes her in his arms for a passionate kiss.
And I have tears of joy in my eyes because this is actually really romantic.
And the good news is that I’m next and not once has Mr. Tusk bid on any of these young women who went before me. Or at least not enough to win any of them. Maybe I’m wrong and he’s left? Oh shit.
“Camila Harper, you’re onstage.”
Well, I’m committed so I’m going out there whether I like it or not. I pass my half-full champagne flute off to a staff member, straighten my back and walk out to the sound of St. James announcing my height, weight and measurements, just like she did for everyone else. I pause in the spotlight and toss my hair over my shoulder and push out my chest, like I’ve seen the other girls do. And I try for my best seductive smile.
I cannot believe I’m doing this.
The music starts and I walk down the stage to the beat, focusing on not falling on my ass, considering my heels are so high. Mainly I just try to not embarrass myself and I copy what everyone else did before me, because I learned from the masters.
When the music finally stops, I stop too, with my hands on my hips and my gaze out towards the audience.
The crowd erupts with claps and whistles.
Oh wow. I guess I did good?
Coco starts the bidding. A deep voice I haven’t heard yet this evening yells from the back of the dark audience. “One million.”
And I instantly know it’s him. My whole body heats and there’s a sudden lump at the back of my throat. He waited forme.
Derwen Tusk is here and he’s bidding on me. Perfect. Not even bothering with the silent part of a silent auction.
Coco is at the podium, busy managing the flurry of silent bids. She looks down at her screen. “Two million,” she announces.
“Five million,” Mr. Tusk shouts back. I try to see him, but the spotlights are too bright. I can’t really see anyone beyond Coco.
“Twenty million,” he thunders.
There’s a general hush of awe from the crowd under the entire tent.
And before the bidding can conclude, three heavily armed men both wearing black masks and coverings from head to toe rush the stage. Suddenly there’s a gun pressed against the side of my head and a burly arm is around my neck.
Holy shit.
I scream with dismay. But then I’m pissed as hell.
What if Mr. Tusk gets hurt? The whole point of me being here tonight is to protecthimand I’m the one with a gun against my head?
Why is life so freaking unfair sometimes?
2
Derwen
Thirty minutes earlier…
A human in tonight’s lineup has a name I instantly recognize, and I’m intrigued.
Camila Harper is the name of my excellent human virtual assistant. And I’ve now learned that one of the young females offering herself for mating tonight has the exact same name as my assistant? It must be a common human name. I find myself wanting to see this one female though, who is last, because I’m curious to see the human with the same name as the female in my employ.
Besides, I need something to draw my interest. All these females offered tonight at the auction house are much too young and none of them interest me. And I’m growing more irritated. I’ve been to ten other auctions over the last moon cycle and not once scented my mate. Or even a female I would’ve formerly approached as a pleasure mate. Nothing. Why am I continuously being paired with younger females? And in the audience at auction after auction, I often see males older than me. How is this acceptable to humans?
But my future mate is somewhere amongst these humans on planet Earth so I continue to arrive at these mating auctions.
Or at least I think she’s here…
