Chapter 4: Up For the Highest Bidder

 

Aria's POV

 

"Fine!" I shouted. "I'll get in!"

Maria nodded, with not even a hint of a smile on her face to show that she was joking. "Get in the tub." She said.

"You weren't going to call them, were you?" I asked for good measure.

She didn't reply. Her eyes told me all I needed to know. She was serious, she was actually going to call the guards to bathe me!

"The last girl misbehaved." Maria said, At last." You can guess how it ended. And trust me, they will do more than bathe you." She said it with a crazy smile on her face.

That was disgusting. There's no way I'd let such hands touch my body. The only one who had touched me was....

My head filled with thoughts of Logan again. I hissed in annoyance. That traitor. I shouldn't be thinking of him again!

But alas, my thoughts always flitted toward him. It wasn't an easy task to forget him. At random, my mind will be filled with memories of when he was my love. And the pain would start all over again.

I undressed and got into the tub. The water was warm. It had been weeks since I last had a hot bath. But Maria reminded me I wasn't here to relax. She immediately went to work, dumping shampoo on my hair and roughly washing it. Even in such a rough bath, I felt my nipples get hard. The memories of intimacy with Logan still lingered. As Maria rubbed her hand against my body, it seemed to be one of Logan's strokes, the kind that would make you wet in a split second.

 

With a pour of water, a little hotter than usual, I snapped out of my imagination.

By the time she was done, my skin was raw and red. But I felt clean from top to bottom. She applied a sweet-smelling lotion to my skin and some oil to my hair.

"What's all this for?" I asked.

She didn't reply.

Next, she pushed me back into the makeup room, picked out a dress, and held it up in front of me. All the color drained from my face when I saw it.

"I'm not wearing that!" I cried out. "It's disgusting!"

"You don't have a choice." Maria said simply: "Hurry up, the other girls are on stage already!"

"No! "I won't wear that trash!"

"Very well. I'm calling the guards!"

"Fine!" I screamed out of frustration. "Fine! I'll wear it! Are you happy now?! "Does this make you happy now?!"

"No." She said it plainly and threw the gown at me.

I wanted to vomit as I pulled it on. It was a short red lace gown. It barely covered my ass when I wore it. It came with some fishnet tights that were just as terrible at covering anything up. Paired with it were heels, and even more debasing underwear.

I felt disgusting wearing it. 

Maria put some makeup on my face and sent me out to go on "stage." There was a guard waiting outside. It was the same guy who punched me every morning. 

"Let's go." He said that and turned to leave. 

I followed behind him, pulling the gown down, but that didn't help. The front side only went down, revealing my cleavage as I pulled it lower.

I gave up, hot tears pricking my eyes. 

I still had no idea what this damned stage was all about. Was it some freaky sex thing that Dane put up? I mean, I wasn't going to sing on stage, judging by the outfit I wore.

The closer we got, the louder it became. I could hear men's voices. There are a lot of them. My heart dropped into my red heels.  Oh my goodness, it was a sex thing!

"Go in," the guard said gruffly as we got to what looked like a back door.

I turned and glanced at him. He was glaring at me. Without further words, I turned and walked inside.

It appears to be backstage of some kind, and the noise was even louder here. I kept walking until I could see the outline of a stage.

"Go out there." I heard someone say it behind me. 

I didn't want to. The person pushed me, and I tumbled out into the open. The crowd went silent, and I felt color fill my face.

 

Men. There are a lot of them. It looked like a party of some sort, and all of them wore masks. I turned to see five other girls on the stage. They're all wearing the same ridiculous outfits as me. The stupidly bright spotlight was on us, making it impossible to see the crowd except for vague outlines. And I was standing in front of them, half naked.

Great. Just fucking awesome. 

"Finally, the belle of the ball!" Dane's voice rang out through the arena. Even though he wore a mask, I could recognize that it was him. He walked over to me and placed his hand on my lower back, pushing me forward. "I present to you..."

"I'll take her." A voice from the crowd said, Shivers ran down my spine as I heard how deep and authoritative it was.

As all eyes turned to see who it was, murmurs rose from the crowd. I couldn't see the crowd clearly, with the bright spotlight in my eyes. But in the crowd, I could see a man's silhouette. One thing that stood out was how big he was. Even sitting, he appeared bigger than everyone else. 

Was he the one who had spoken?

"She's not for sale, this one," Dane said, clearing his throat. "She's my prized possession. And I.."

"I'll take her. Or did I stutter, Dane?"

"No, not at all." Dane said it hurriedly. "My apologies, but this one is taken."

The crowd apparently didn't like that, as they broke out into shouts of disagreement.

I felt dizzy and nauseated at the same time.

"Please calm down, there are other girls here too." Dane said. "Just make your pick and...."

The man stood up. And, according to the goddess, he was like a tower, tall and imposing. Heads turned as he walked through the crowd, and they parted ways like they knew who he was.

"Sir, please remain seated. The party is still in...." Dane was saying: However, the man didn't seem to hear him. Or perhaps he didn't care. "Sir?"

The man walked right up to the stage. I felt it. A tug. It was small and unnoticeable, but it was there. And his eyes through that mask were just staring at me, I felt my body grow hot under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Follow me." He said, his voice making goosebumps cover my skin.

"You can't do that yet!" Dane cried out. "You haven't yet paid for...."

 

A bag of gold coins was thrown in Dane's face with such force that it shattered his mask. The man turned his head slowly and stared at Dane. I could feel the murderous aura radiating from him.

"Is that enough?" he asked. 

"Y-yes. She's all yours now." Dane stuttered. I glanced at him, and h was bleeding from his forehead.

If I wasn't so scared of this man, I would have said serves Dane right.

"Go with him." Dane said to me. I saw fear flash in his eyes for a moment.

Yes, I was more than eager to leave this place. But with his man? I wasn't so sure. My heart was racing, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. He turned and walked out. I followed behind him. 

The crowd was silent. 

The further away we got from the party arena, the slower the noises started again. By the time we were out of the pack house, I could hear the party back in full swing.

It bugged me just how much money this man had given Dane for me. Who was he? What did he want? Why did he pay that much money for me?!

 

A carriage was waiting outside. I assumed it was his ride. And then he would take me to wherever he came from. Until now, I had no idea what he was going to do with me. 

The man paused. I didn't see it on time, making me slam into his back. I grabbed my nose, wincing in pain. He didn't make a single noise, nor did he move. I slowly walked up to his side. 

"Alpha Aria, what are you doing here?" He asked. 

My eyes went wide. He knew my name. The first thing on my mind was to deny it. I didn't know this man. Who knew what kind of person he was?

"I'm not..."

He took off the mask and turned to me. The first thing I noticed was the long silver hair that flowed down his back. I thought that hair looked oddly familiar, until I saw his face. I gasped as my hands flew to my mouth. I knew him! I knew exactly who this man was!

His face was hard to miss. "Alpha Anthony..." I breathed. "You're....but how?" 

He turned and faced me. His eyes were narrowed. And he looked pissed. "What are you doing here?" He asked again. "How did that filthy scum named Dane get his hands on you?" What happened back at the Nightfang Pack? You were fine the last time I visited. Aria, are you...."

 

"Stop, please," I said, my voice hurting. I couldn't handle all his questions. It was making my head swim. I felt the dizziness returning. I feared I would faint if he continued.

This was all too much to bear. There was no way the Lycan King himself, feared by all the Alphas in the country, Anthony Bourdain, had just bought my freedom.