Hunter wipes the blood from his hand with a white handkerchief, as if it's wine and not the blood of a man. Calm, collected, and unbothered.
He turns back to me, and his eyes... goddess, his eyes pin me in place. "You come with me now," he says, his voice low and final.
I don't move. I couldn't, even if I wanted to.
He doesn't offer a hand. He doesn't ask if I'm okay. He just turns and starts walking. And I follow. My legs tremble, but I follow. My body obeys before my mind catches up.
Because something about him... his voice, his presence, the violence I just witnessed, triggers something deep. Something primal. A buried instinct that tells me, don't resist. Not yet.
We walk out of the front of the auction house, past silent witnesses. No one speaks. No one dares let out a squeak.
A sleek, black car waits outside. The back door opens as we approach. His beta, calm, sharp, and utterly unreadable, gives me a curt nod as he holds it open.
I slide in. The leather seats are ice-cold. My dress feels too thin now. My skin still burns from where I hit the carpet earlier. Everything is too much and not enough.
Hunter enters after me and sits next to me, close but not touching. His warmth is there, but he doesn't speak. He doesn't even look at me.
The car hums to life, sliding into the dark streets. I fold my hands in my lap and stare straight ahead. The silence is thick, suffocating, but he seems comfortable in it.
I'm not.
My thoughts are spiraling. I'm not okay.
I just watched a man get mutilated. I've been bought. I've been claimed.
Reagan. I need to get to Reagan.
My heart pounds faster, beating against my ribs like it wants to escape. Just like I do.
I glance out the window and recognize the street. We're close. Too close.
Then the car slows. A stoplight. Or maybe traffic. I don't wait to find out.
I move fast, so fast that I shock myself. The door handle clicks, and I throw the door open, the night air rushing in. I'm barefoot, but I don't care. I bolt.
I hear someone yell behind me. It's Hunter's beta, I think, but I don't look back.
I run like hell. I cannot be caught by him.
The cold pavement bites at my feet. My lungs burn. My vision blurs. But I don't stop because in my mind, this is the last chance I'll get. If he takes me now, it's over.
Back in the car, the beta curses. "Alpha, should I go after her?"
Hunter doesn't move. Doesn't flinch. He just watches me through the tinted glass as I disappear into the night.
"No," he says, his voice quiet. He sounds almost amused.
"Let her think she's gotten away."
I stumble through the doors of the hospital just before they close for the night, out of breath, half-frozen, and barefoot. The nurse at the front desk doesn't even have time to stop me before I rush past the waiting area.
I know these halls. I've run through them a hundred times before. But tonight, they feel endless.
Reagan.
I make it to the hallway outside her room before my legs give out.
I crumple to the ground like my strings have been cut. My body curls in as I hug my knees to my chest, shivering. My dress is torn at the hem. My feet are raw. My skin still carries the sting of the auction house carpet, the bruise from the manager's grip.
I don't know how long I sit there, minutes, hours maybe, blinking back tears that don't fall. I don't even have the energy to cry.
Eventually, my body gives out, and I fall asleep.
"Ava... Ava..."
The voice is soft, female. I blink, groggy and disoriented. It's light out now.
"Ava, sweetheart." A nurse who has now turned my aunt crouches beside me, her face full of concern. "You're freezing. How long have you been here?"
I sit up slowly. "What... what time is it?"
"Morning," she says gently. "The doctors said Reagan's surgery started a few hours ago."
I bolt upright. "Started? How... what?"
She frowns. "Didn't they tell you? The expenses have all been covered. Completely. Her file's been cleared."
I freeze. "What?"
My stomach turns over.
"No. That's... that can't be right. I didn't... I haven't paid yet."
My aunt tilts her head. "Well, someone did. An anonymous donor, according to the hospital. They said the money came in just after midnight. Everything paid in full."
My heart slams in my ears. No. It wasn't the auction house. I didn't complete the deal. I ran. So how? Who could pay for me?
"Stop thinking about that now, Ava. You'll have time for that later. Right now, Reagan is in surgery. That's more important," she says, and every thought of the anonymous donor flies right out.
Reagan is in surgery. My sister will finally be okay.
It took hours. Five? Ten? Twelve? I don't know.
Finally, they were done.
Reagan's out of surgery. Alive and breathing. Her chest rises and falls in a gentle rhythm. I stand over her, overwhelmed with emotion. She looks pale, but better.
My fingers brush her wrist as I take her hand in mine. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I tried. I messed everything up, Rae, but you're okay now. That's all that matters. You're okay. Once you're okay, we'll be out of here." I whisper. I had it all planned. I spoke to my aunt already. She would lend us her cabin only the other side of the country. We will stay without contact for a while until Alpha Hunter forgets my face and the fact that I scammed him.
After that, I'll rebuild my life with Reagan.
I kiss her hand and sit back into the chair beside her bed. Just for a minute. Just to breathe.
And then I feel it, a shift in the air.
The hairs on my arms rise instinctively, I glance toward the door, and my stomach drops.
It was him. Alpha Hunter.
He walks in like he owns the room, like he owns everything. Dressed in black, crisp and perfect. Looking just as gorgeous as he did yesterday. His gaze finds mine immediately, and it's like being pierced through the chest.
"Y-You," I whisper, standing too quickly.
My knees wobble, but I don't fall.
Hunter steps into the room like he owns the air I breathe. That same slow, predatory grace. Like he's not walking... he's stalking.
He doesn't say anything at first. Just looks at me. Looks through me.
I shoot a quick glance at Reagan, still unconscious, still fragile. I can't let him near her.
"Come with me," I say, my voice tight.
He lifts a brow.
"To talk," I add quickly. "Outside."
There's a flicker of amusement in his eyes, but he nods once.
I lead him up to the rooftop, knowing that was the only place for some privacy, where I could get on my knees and beg for him to leave me alone.
The hospital rooftop is empty. Below us, the city hums, unaware of the storm brewing above.
I turn to face him.
He's already watching me, standing with his hands in his coat pockets, like he's waiting to be entertained.
"Did you pay for my sister's surgery?" I start.
"I did."
My heart stutters at this. I should've known. "Why?"
He tilts his head slightly. "Because you belong to me."
I flinch at this, memories of the shameful act I did yesterday coursing through my mind. "I ran. I didn't go through with it. The deal—"
"Doesn't change what you sold," his voice cuts in smoothly. "Your virginity. Your body. You. I paid the price, Ava. I always pay for what I own."
I take a step back, my breath caught in my throat. "You can't just... buy a person. That's not how it works."
He takes a step forward.
"Then explain to me," he murmurs, his voice low and dangerous, "why I feel your fear from across the room. Why your scent is burned into my lungs like fire. Why the moment I knew another man laid a hand on you, I wanted blood."
He closes the distance between us with terrifying grace. "You made a choice. Desperate or not. And now I've made mine."
"I didn't—" My voice cracks. "I didn't know who you were. I didn't know—"
His hand comes up, not touching me, but close. Close enough to feel the heat of him. "Now you do. I'm not just any alpha, Ava. I'm the one they tell stories about to make pups behave. Alpha Hunter Draven of the Bloodmoon Pack."
The name slams into me like a physical thing.
I swallow hard, my fists clenched. "So that's it? You paid for the surgery, and now you think I owe you everything?"
He leans in, his breath brushing my jaw. "No, sweetheart," he says darkly. "You owe me everything because I saved everything."
He pauses. Then, quieter. "And now you're mine. Body and soul."