Chapter 4

BLAIRE

Put it together, Blaire. There is always next time. Only there wasn’t a next time, not really. The next Bind and Pack Match auction was months away, and after tonight, my father would surely be on to me, I will be more suffocated and trapped in his walls. Hell, chances were he had already noticed my absence and was tearing apart our whole land searching for me. Not because he cared, no . . . Jacob Ashbourne cared for no one but himself. He valued no one’s life over possessions, power, riches, and his pack.

But I was useful to him. Useful because one day, I would be his bargaining chip. A virgin offered to grow his power and fortune, which was the only reason he kept me stored away, rarely letting me leave his house at all, I was only but a living rumor people hardly knew or saw.

I knew that day was coming close, I’d heard the talk, the bargaining, the counteroffers. It was close, and I thought maybe escaping to Bind and Pack Match was my way out, but I failed. Now, not only would I be beaten and locked away, but my father would be furious at the match I tried to form, he would be furious about people knowing he had a daughter who wasn’t soo useful to him except for my virginity as a trade for more power.

The whole room was silent as the woman fumbled to open the envelope, the sound of paper rustling amplified through the microphone. Finally, when she got it open, she stared at the paper, blinking a few times before speaking. “My goodness, oh my, someone must want you, Darling. This is the highest bid I’ve ever seen for a woman since the opening of this foundation and in my entire experience as a pact holder and maker .”

She cleared her throat, and my vision started to go black. No. You will not pass out from utter embarrassment, I reprimanded myself. You will never see these people ever again. This would all be over soon. Hopefully.

“The last claimed bride is . . .” she turned her whole body to watch us and let a pause settle over the room, most likely to draw out the suspense, but instead, she was highlighting my shame. “Blaire Ashbourne. Step on up darling, come claim your man.” She paused and tilted her head at the paper again, “Fredrick Marlowe. Come claim your man. Blaire, you’ve been bought by Fredrick Marlowe of the Ice Peak pack. Fred come snag your woman so we can all get the ceremony underway.”

I didn’t move. I was frozen in place, my wolf suddenly reacting. I hadn’t been the one rejected after all. The relief that flooded me was soon replaced by the terror of knowing I had been bought by the same man who spoke to me with a tone filled with resentment Fredrick Marlowe. My stomach tightened, both from fear of the rumors I had heard about him and from the uncertainty and unknown nervousness I was feeling.

Fredrick Marlowe was as mean as he came, well at least that’s what the rumors said. My father’s hate for the man ran deep, so deep in fact that he vowed to one day destroy the whole pack, leaving nothing but bones and ash in his wake. But his scent, I couldn’t deny it was enticing and at the same time making my wolf back down in fear when he stood so close to me earlier, the little space he kept only heightened the cedarwood scent of leather and a spicy musk.

I must have zoned out completely because the next thing I knew I blinked, and my vision was filled with six men. Six very handsome and large men with the most handsome being my new husband. Panic began to set in at the realization of what I had done. Sure, being married off to someone twice my age wouldn’t have been ideal, but binding myself to my father’s enemy that’s as large as this . . . at once. Large, I couldn’t even dare think of how larger he would be down there!