I thought I was free.

The last thing I remembered was Thorne’s voice soft, calming, promising me everything was going to be alright. He said we were leaving the dungeon. That the chains were coming off. That I’d finally be free.

But freedom didn’t smell like smoke and musk. It didn’t sound like male laughter echoing through a dark hall. It didn’t feel like gold bars pressing against my bare back.

No.

This wasn’t freedom, I was sure about that.

This was a display case.

I opened my eyes slowly with a groan and deep sigh. My lashes stuck together, still damp from tears and blood. The light stabbed through me. My body ached so crazily bad, my wrists bound to the corners of the golden cage I was lying in. Every breath I took reeked of incense, alcohol, sweat and something darker.

Maybe Lust as well.

Where the hell am I?

I dimmed my eyes while still slowly rolling them around to understand what was going on. I tried to sit up, but the chains clinked, reminding me just how powerless I was. I looked down and

“Oh God…”

The cloth they’d wrapped me in wasn’t even clothing. Just sheer fabric, translucent and gold-dusted, barely covering my breasts, tied loosely at my hips. My thighs were completely exposed and I was sure everyone could see my nipples and clits clearly. My back was bare.

I wasn’t dressed.

I was packaged.

It was also at that moment I realized that I was very clean. It meant that I was washed because I wasn’t this clean when I left the dungeon. After closer inspection, I saw water around me which was still trying to dry up.

My eyes narrowed in thought and shock and my jaw dropped as I realized that I was washed up there. Which means everyone stared at me while I was being bathed unconsciously.

Shame and embarrassment enveloped me immediately.

A man laughed nearby which diverted my attention. “She’s finally awake.”

“Good. We want her eyes open when she’s sold,” someone else said, voice cruel and amused.

Sold?

What the hell was going on? Or was this just a bad dream because nothing was making sense.

I blinked again, forcing my blurry vision to adjust. There was a crowd. Elevated seats, lined in a circle. Dozens of men, some in suits, others shirtless, all watching like hungry wolves. Because they were wolves.

Alphas. Rogues. Dealers. Traffickers.

And him.

Thorne my supposed guardian but in all these I never saw neither my Mother or father.

He was seated in the third row, hands clasped tightly, jaw clenched. His silver hair gleamed under the lights. His eyes were directly on me, all cold and Calculating.

What is he doing here?

He wasn’t rushing to help me. He wasn’t yelling, or fighting. He wasn’t breaking the bars open like he used to promise when I cried in the cages as a child.

He was just… watching.

“Thorne,” I choked. “Thorne, please help me. Get me out of here.”

He didn’t move.

He didn’t even flinch. In fact he sat as though he didn’t hear what I said.

The announcer stepped forward, tapping a long metal staff against the marble floor.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the final product of the night: a purebred omega with a bloodline that predates the First Moon. Seventeen years sealed, untouched, unscented, unmarked.”

The crowd murmured.

“She is unawakened. Her wolf sleeps. Her scent is undisturbed. Her heat has never come. This is no regular female. This is a miracle. A vessel.”

My stomach turned. I tried to cover myself with my knees several times, but the chains dug into my arms and ankles, keeping me open. Exposed. My lips and legs trembled. I felt every eye on my skin. Every breath they took. The air was thick with testosterone and something worse.

Possession.

“This is wrong,” I whispered with tears streaming down my face and barely able to breathe. “This can’t be happening.” I trembled with goosebumps of shame and fear all over my body

“And it gets better,” the announcer said. “Her wolf’s blood carries a dormant mark a rumored curse that kills her mate if taken by force.”

Someone whistled. “So we can’t break her?”

“Not unless you want to die,” he laughed. “But don’t worry. Our team has developed a ritual that allows sharing of ownership until the curse breaks naturally.”

My blood ran cold.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means,” the announcer grinned, “that our top three bidders will be entitled to a joint claim until one proves worthy of unlocking her wolf and claiming her completely.”

I froze.

Three? Three damn men?!

They were going to split me?

I was shaking so hard the chains rattled. The crowd loved it. They laughed at my panic. Drank to my tears.

“She’s panicking,” one said.

“She’ll learn submission quickly enough.”

“Twenty thousand lunar tokens,” a deep voice boomed.

I turned my head and gasped.

Draven.

My mother’s brother. My tormentor. The man who locked me in a cellar for years and called it “protection.” Though it’s been years I last saw him, that striking jawline and defiant looks were unmistakable.

“Twenty-five,” another voice growled.

Alpha Zev.

Blond hair, longass pointed nose and an onvius dark boiling demeanor. His eyes were dead. His neck was tattooed with symbols I didn’t recognize. A jagged scar ran from his temple to his chin. He licked his lips when he looked at me.

“She’s going to scream so beautifully.”

I threw up in my mouth.

My throat burned.

I was dizzy and Drowning. No. Please. Someone stop this. Anyone. I shot and opened my eyes repeatedly just to wake up from the nightmare but it never left, it was real.

“Thirty thousand,” another voice said, softer. Controlled and Chilling.

Thorne.

I jerked my head toward him and my eyes went wide and jaw dropped heavily. “Why are you bidding?!”

My voice cracked. I didn’t care.

“You said you’d save me! You promised!” Fresh tears rolled out of my eyes. I always looked forward to my 18th birthday because I felt it was my day for redemption, little did I know it was my day of commotion.

Still, he didn’t look at me.

He raised his hand.

“Thirty-five.”

The announcer grinned. “Do I hear forty?”

“Blood vow,” Zev said, stepping forward. “I’ll offer her body to the temple of the Forgotten Moon. Her womb will awaken the fallen god.”

The room went silent.

Even the air seemed to still.

I couldn’t understand what I was hearing. What they were saying. My womb?

“I’m a person,” I whispered. “I’m not a prophecy. I’m not a vessel. I’m not this ” I stuttered amidst the tears.

But no one was listening.

“No more bids?” the announcer asked. “Alright then sold to the top three bidders Draven, Alpha Zev, and ”

“Over my dead body,” Thorne snapped, rising from his seat and launching himself over the railing.

The crowd roared in shock.

Guards tackled him. He fought. Kicked. Bit one in the neck. Blood sprayed.

But it was too late.

The gavel hit the floor with a sickening clang.

“Sold.”

To all three.

My body boiled down in terror.