Is this your third husband?

“A sweet female in such a hole, who would have thought?”

The stranger’s voice is full of lust and snarling, vibrating in my sternum.

“Where is Clayton?” I practically whimper, pulling back and clenching my hips.

Everything inside is throbbing; it feels like an emptiness that needs to be filled.

“Who? Ah, that boy,” the man snorts and squats down in front of me.

My gaze falls on his muscular legs; his pant is tightening around his calves, like a glove, like a second skin. The fabric stretches, drawing my attention to the powerful, narrow thighs, and then my gaze involuntarily wanders over his torso, hidden by a dark blue tank top. A pendant hangs around his neck, and his sledgehammer hands are relaxed. He suddenly rises and grabs my chin, lifting my head.

“Refined features, plump lips, steep hips, firm breasts make a good female,” he says aloud, and then his thumb strokes the outline of my lips and opens them as if trying to penetrate.

I clench my jaw and clench my teeth so that he doesn’t dare to commit this indecency.

“Shrew, I like it,” he chuckles, giving me his verdict, and gets up and holds out his hand to me.

I ignore his help, and on cotton legs, I barely get up like myself, feeling how I begin to have a fever, and my skin becomes covered with sticky sweat. Breath quickens, eyes clouded with a fog of desire. I lick my lips and swallow, trying only to look away from the insolent, vicious stranger.

“Who is your father, girl? I will buy your innocence,” the man blurts out and runs his nose through the air, moaning with pleasure. “How lovely, your alluring scent will drive me crazy. Come on, I don’t want to wait another second.”

“Danika?” Clayton’s questioning voice, which I did not expect to hear already.

I jump in place and look behind the stranger. My friend stands there in his home clothes and looks at us in bewilderment.

“Clayton, thank God, we need to talk urgently,” I collect my thoughts and get up from the spot.

I can’t take more than three steps before a big, powerful arm of an impudent man grabs me across the waist and pulls me to him, not letting me move.

“Your toy, nephew?” the stranger’s voice sounds lower and rougher.

“Let her go, Reign,” Clayton immediately comes closer, looking at the man for some reason with surprise in his eyes. “You are not the kind of man who likes to...”

“Shut up,” my friend’s uncle apparently interrupts in a lazy tone, continuing to hold me in place. “I’m within my rights.”

“What else…” Clayton frowns, then trails off as he sniffs the air.

His pupils dilate in shock, and he himself steps back, looking at his uncle with a wary look in his eyes.

“Are you in your first heat, Dani?” he groans, taking steps to the side. For some reason, he looks away.

“Yes, Clayton, dad sent me to you. Only you can help me. The fact is that yesterday we had a visitor….”

“My nephew won’t help you, delicious girl,” Reign growls from behind, greedily inhaling the scent of my hair.

He pulls me closer and presses his groin against my ass. I swallow in fright, jerking to the side, but I can’t move even a millimeter. His cock, swollen and ready for action, is squirming down my pants and pressing up against my buttocks. I can feel the wetness between my legs, and I can hardly restrain the plaintive whimper of a female thirsty for a male. Damn estrus. Stupid hormones spinning my head.

“B-but the letter, this is from my father to Aunt Herman,” I remember the most important thing and raised my hand with the envelope in it.

From an overabundance of emotions, he is now rumpled but still intact. I look pleadingly at Clayton, who looks in horror from me to his uncle, whom I hear about for the first time, horrified.

“I can’t do it, Danika, I’m sorry,” he shakes his head and hurriedly retreats, drooping his shoulders.

“So, here we were left alone, sweet juicy Dani,” Reign turns me around to face him and wraps his arms around me, holding me close to him.

My heart beats loudly with fear, and my legs give way, unable to hold me, but this is not required. Men’s hands perfectly cope with this on their own.

“To whom you are promised? I will re-buy your contract,” he growls in my face, and he wraps his hand around my ass, rubbing it like a rightful owner.

I’m so scared that I can hardly squeeze out a lie:

“Beta Deegon.”

If I had known that this was the biggest mistake of my life, I would have bitten off my own tongue.

“Beta, you’re talking,” Reign says ominously.

His name rolls around on my tongue like I’ve heard it somewhere before. But I can’t remember it because of my own confusion in my head.

“Y-yes,” I repeat, less confidently.

His hand is still holding my waist, not letting go of his embrace. And I rest my palms on his stone chest, which continues to rise often. The man’s gaze falls from my face down and down, Adam’s apple in his throat twitches, and he himself grins. At this moment, I seem to feel discontent and the burning breath of a wolf on the back of my neck. It’s as if he’s bifurcated and enveloped me on both sides.

“You shouldn’t have said that Dani girl,” he grins wickedly, a fierce cold in his eyes.

Chills run down my spine, my skin sweats, clothes become sticky, and unpleasantly touch my body. I swallow and try to pull away but only get a slap on my ass, which vibrates and groans out of my throat.

“Submissive bitch,” the man whispers in my ear; his breath feels warm on my skin.

Everything pulsed between my legs, wanting a man, but my mind rejected my unconventional desires.

“Don’t you dare… Don’t you dare…” I hate myself for how weak and uncertain my almost birdlike voice sounds. “I need to go home...”

To my lamentations, he is silent; only a snake smile flows on his lips.

“Come on, let’s not delay. I will pay more than Deegon, your father will be pleased. I’m rich, sweetie, so don’t be stubborn,” he grins brazenly and viciously as if he is sure that I will now jump over the moon.

I open my mouth in amazement at his arrogance.

“Cover your juicy mouth, you’ll need it for something else soon.” His fingers touch my lips, and then his palm lifts my lower jaw, causing my mouth to close.

My chest heaves with the indignation and vulgarity spewed by his cavalier mouth. 

“You ... You ... Shameless ...” I gasped in excitement and incipient rage.

But the man does so in a typically masculine way: he wraps his two palms around my ass, squeezes my buttocks, and then spanks them in turn. He hints to me: you, woman, talk as much as you like but know your business.

“All right, let’s do it. I’ve been too good to you. And your business is small—to obey me and please. I will open your hymen, and I immediately say: if I like it, I will buy you as a temporary wife. You’re a pretty damn good girl, aren’t you?

He talks like I am nothing, pulling me along in tow without asking anything. We leave Clayton’s house and walk along the street. As luck would have it, right now, for some reason, it is crowded, and I see members of the pack here and there. Shamefully I lower my head, but at this very moment, the feeling of a large palm, in which my small paw has sunk, gives me a sense of security.

“Here you are, you juicy girl, wow,” Reign grins when we approach my father’s house, sniffs the air and winces defiantly as if someone’s smell is unpleasant to him.

I wondered for a second how he knew where I lived but quickly shook my head. He is a wolf; smells are his element. We enter the house, the door of which is ajar for some reason.

“Reign, what brings you here?” the cold voice of Deegon immediately greeted us.

I raise my head anxiously and look around our living room. A disgruntled Beta, a joyful Uncle Elion. And Dad, clenching his fists and glaring furiously at his brother. I obey my instincts and do things that surprise the red wolf and me. I hide behind his back, hiding from the exchange of glances. It’s safer this way, whispers the inner voice of mine.

There was so much tension in the air that if I’d lifted my hand I could have touched the viscosity.

“Deegon,” Reign nodded, grinning at the corner of his lips and no longer honoring the beta with his arrogant attention.

“Who the hell are you?” Who did you bring, Danika?” It was the first time my uncle had allowed himself to be so rude in front of my father.

This had never happened before; I even bit my lip from the fear that was seeping under my skin. Had the balance of power changed? And why was Dad clenching his fists but lowering his head guiltily?  

“Watch your tongue, Elion,” Deegon lay siege to Uncle in a lazy manner.

He twitches and lowers his head in submission, tilting his neck open for a bite. In human form, this is impossible, but in this way, he demonstrates a willingness to bow to a stronger male.

“I initiate the King’s right. I will give four hundred gold coins,” the statement of the man, who still has not released my hand from his palm, sounds like a bolt from the blue.

I’m suddenly out of breath. Four hundred gold...

I raise my eyes to my parents and see my father’s gloomy face as he frowns, my uncle falls into a slump and leans back in his chair without strength. His weight made the wood creak wearily, as if his legs were about to buckle, toppling him over.

The only one who remained calm in this whole situation was Beta. At that time, he is staring at me, scanning my body with such a look, as if he is ready to stick out his tongue and taste the air near me. The wings of his nose flutter in the desire to inhale the air into his lungs deeper, richer.

“Five hundred,” the corner of his lips twitches when our eyes meet.

I take a cautious step back, trying to pull my hand out of Reign’s large hand. It doesn’t escape Deegon’s scathing gaze.

“This is…” Uncle Elion croaks, interrupting our exchange of glances.

I am forced to look at his embarrassed but radiant expression. He twitches his tie with his hand, trying to loosen the knot, and his eyes swivel from side to side. At this moment, he reminds me of a fly rubbing its feet in anticipation of food, only in this case–gold.

“You are blushing, brother. Are you get sick, by any chance?” Dad grimaces, raising his voice for the first time.

He straightens up in his own chair at the head of the table and purses his lips, looking sternly at my father. His gaze is eloquent, leaving no doubt who exactly called the beta and notified him of my estrus.

“No, no, I’m just concerned about the fate of our girl, Rehan. And who is this impudent man who so stubbornly holds our Danika? King’s right, puppy? Seriously? Who are you?!” Uncle changes the topic and attacks the weak link, in his opinion.

He always does this when he is cornered and has nothing to say. I feel bitterness, seeing the sadness of my father, which he cannot hide. The younger brother is his shame, the burden that he was forced to carry through his whole life.

“Is that your uncle, sweet girl?” Reign raises an arrogant eyebrow and asks me, ignoring Elion’s rude attack.

On his head is a hood that hides the color of his hair. That is why my uncle allowed himself this egregious rudeness.

“Apparently, not only your eyesight, brother but also your hearing failed,” my dad grins, surprising me as well. “Danika, as I said, is my daughter, not yours, so I myself will decide her fate somehow. You can go.”

He nods at the stairs leading to the second floor. Even I understand this is an act of neglect on the part of the head of the family. My uncle’s neck and face instantly turn purple, his veins bulging with frustration, revealing a man’s anger. All he can do is curl his lips in anger.

“You’re right, Rehan,” he seems to resign himself and then throws out a trick, turning to the beta. “Mr. Deegon, you haven’t decided anything about Dalila. Let me bring it up so you can think again.”

There is the silence after his words. Even I understand that this is a ploy to legitimately stay in the negotiations. I’m a little feverish from what’s going on. Inside, everything is twisted in a tight knot of fear, in the stomach, there is a bottomless emptiness.

Beta looks at Elion, then at my father, who’s disgruntled, and then at me. A snake smile appears on his lips, and he, continuing to hold my captive gaze, replies:

“Bring her in,” he orders at the same time with a nod and throws a sly look at Reign as if he is preparing a trick for him.

But the expression in his eyes becomes steely and cold so quickly that I doubt whether I have drawn the right conclusions. Uncle beams and quickly retreats, almost running, apparently afraid of being late for the climax of the auction.

“Six hundred gold coins,” the red-haired Reign says in deathly silence.

My father only frowns more and purses his lips.

“Seven hundred,” Deegon easily interrupts, leaning back in his chair as if everything has been decided in his favor already.

“From two hundred to seven hundred, Mr. Deegon. This is big money. Isn’t it better to buy Dalila in this case?” my father is trying to divert the conversation in a different direction, demonstrating calmness.

Except I can see sweat trickling down his temples and his hands clasped on the table in a lock, tense. This is what he does when he sees no way out of a difficult situation.

At that moment, when dad offers my sister to this man, my uncle and Dalila enter the living room. She immediately glares at the beta and shines like a polished teapot. But her joy fades when she notices me. Then she looks at Reign. Back to Deegon. Back again. And freezes, slowing down halfway. Her pupils dilate as she silently stares at the man. Reign tenses; I can feel it in his rippling muscles.

“Unexpected meeting, isn’t it?” Deegon’s merry voice quite dilutes the silence.

“What’s happening?” Uncle senses something wrong, throwing angry glances at his daughter.

She comes to her senses and obediently sits on a chair next to her father. Everyone is silent.

“Is this your third husband, Dalila?” Or second?” The Beta’s satisfied tone.

I swallow, blinking my eyes. And finally, I pull myself out of the hands of this man, who glares at Deegon with an aggressive look. Dalila, on the other hand, is aggravated at me again for some reason, burning with a gaze full of undisguised hatred.