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“How you feel is the only thing that matters. Don’t let the concept of right and wrong make you suffer for nothing. Life is rarely more than shades of grey, and no one can determine where your limit is but you. You have the right to tell them to stop, alpha or not.”
With those last drops of wisdom, she pulled back the curtain and gave me a gentle push. The stage lights were blinding after the darkness of the back, and I blinked rapidly to relieve the burn as I made my way to the center of the stage. There was another woman standing at the front corner of the space, wearing a gorgeous gown as she held a hand aimed in my direction, like a gameshow host revealing the next prize.
I almost laughed at the accuracy of that thought as I took my place and faced the audience.
I hadn’t heard a word the woman said before I’d walked out, but it was hard to ignore what she was telling the audience now. The flagrant description of me left my face burning as the woman paused before delivering the final detail that would make me more valuable according to Leo.
“And sweet Blossom here is a virgin! Completely untouched. To be the first to have her, bidding will start at twenty thousand.”
My eyes widened as I looked into the audience. That was a shocking amount to start from, and the fear that no one would think me worth the cost returned.
I could make out the closer chairs in the theater and the dark shapes of men seated in them, but the bright lights shining on me made it impossible to see any details. I didn’t know what I had expected once I came onstage, but it wasn’t like the auctions I had seen on TV. The woman wasn’t going so fast I couldn’t understand her, but she still seemed to be calling out numbers at a shocking speed, and I missed the first few before the numbers began to register.
“Okay, I have thirty, can I get thirty-five? Thank you! Thirty-five, is there forty? Forty, now forty-five! Can I get fifty?”
My head began to spin as I tried to keep up. I heard fifty-two called out before my brain refused to keep doing the math to figure my cut minus the twenty-two thousand my brother owed. All I knew was that his debt was covered, and I would be going home with extra money in my pocket on top of it.
The sudden, “Sold!” jerked my attention to the auctioneer.
“Fifty-six thousand dollars for this sweet, innocent Blossom!”
I stopped breathing. My eyes bulged as I worked to swallow the lump in my throat before I could suck in a lungful of air.
I hadn’t moved once since I took my spot centerstage. Hadn’t posed, or flirted with the crowd the way I’d seen a couple of the other girls do.
Yet I’d sold for more than any of the others. Even the other two I’d pinpointed as omegas hadn’t commanded that amount.
Fifty-six thousand dollars.
Was my virginity really worth that much to these men?
What would they expect of me for that price?
The woman was smiling at me and waving her hand like she wanted me to move closer. It wasn’t until then that I realized none of the other girls had come backstage again after being sold.
Shuffling forward, I ducked my head and tried to look through the glare of the lights. Once they weren’t shining directly in my face, I could see the other girls in the audience. Some were kneeling next to stern-faced alphas, while others were sitting in the lap of whoever had purchased them. One was even bent over someone’s knees, her arms pinned behind her as her captor and another man fondled her, not that she seemed upset about it.
My thighs trembled and my knees threatened to give out as I took the last few steps to the front of the stage, where I’d stood with Leo and looked out at the empty theater when he’d proposed this deal. A drop of sweat trickled down my spine as I stared into the audience, searching the faces for any indication of who had purchased me.
Suddenly being bound didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.
For a second I hoped Leo was the one who’d bought me, but even after searching the room twice, I couldn’t spot his white suit. It didn’t really make sense for him to talk me into being part of the auction, and then purchase me himself. The reason I only got half of my price was because he collected the rest, so he wouldn’t want to lose out on the money from another sale.
Especially one with a price tag like mine. Twenty-eight thousand dollars was a lot.
At least, to me.
Swallowing the disappointment, I noticed the woman was pointing to the stairs beside her, telling me to go down. An alpha dressed in a simple blue suit stood at the foot of the steps looking up at me, his blank expression giving no hint to whether he was the man I belonged to for the night.
I studied him as I stepped down, careful not to trip due to how shaky my legs were. The alpha’s dark hair reached his square chin, and once again I was struck with the feeling of familiarity when looking at a handsome man any woman would be panting over.
He gripped my elbow once I was within his reach, steadying me as I took the last steps to the floor. His eyes glanced over my body before he turned and began walking through the room, not releasing his hold on me. He smelled like caramel and fresh bread, the hint of arousal in his scent sending a shiver through me at what it meant.
I could feel the eyes of others on me as we walked through the room, and I ducked my head to keep from seeing how many were tracking me. It reminded me of how the gazelle must feel right before the lion pounced in the nature documentaries I used to watch, except there was an entire pride of lions waiting for me to make a wrong move.
Skin tingling with awareness, tremors passed through me as we wove between seats and people. I may have accepted what was going to happen, but that didn’t stop the nervousness. I didn’t know what to do, and a wave of gratitude washed over me as I changed my mind about my arms being bound. Having them tied kept me from fidgeting or needing to figure out what to do with my hands, and I had a feeling that was exactly why Madame had done it.
The alpha leading me stopped beside a chair in the second to last row, away from everyone else, and released my elbow to take a seat. He reclined back, legs spread to each side of my thighs, and my already racing heart stumbled over itself as I sucked in a shaky breath. I was scared to look up and meet his gaze again, so I stood awkwardly in front of him until he finally spoke.
