Selling myself to the highest bidder had never once crossed my mind.
Not until today.
I stood on a small glowing platform at the auction, wearing nothing but a glittering golden thong that might as well have been made of shame.
Rich alphas drifted past me in tailored suits, their eyes sliding over me like I was merchandise behind glass.
Some nodded with lazy approval. Others barely glanced before moving on, noses wrinkled as though I smelled of something sour. One of them actually snorted. I flipped him off before I could stop myself.
Stupid. I knew it was stupid.
All I had was eighty-three dollars in my account and no safety net. If no one bought me tonight, I'd be back on the street by morning, hungry, sick, and invisible within a month.
I had no right to an attitude anymore. And yet the resentment still burned hot under my skin.
I'd been raised to believe I was more than an omega waiting to be claimed. My father had drilled that into me. Widowed early, he'd raised me alone, taught me to read voraciously, to question everything, to want more than a knot and a nursery.
The Blakes had always been broke, but we had our pride. I'd clawed my way to a full scholarship at Grant University, third year. Top grades. A future I could taste.
Then, twenty-one days ago, everything detonated.
My father, an English teacher at Golden Oak High, with thirty years of service, had been caught sleeping with one of his seventeen-year-old students.
The news hit like a bomb. Photos. Messages. His tearful non-apology on the local station.
The school board moved fast. The town moved faster. And when the dust settled, the wreckage wasn't just his.
My scholarship was revoked. My part-time tutoring job at the university vanished the same afternoon. Every job application after that died the moment they saw my last name.
No one wanted to hire anyone related to that man.
So here I was. On a platform. Half-naked. Waiting to be purchased by someone who'd never ask about my degree, my dreams, or the way my stomach still twisted every time I remembered my father's voice cracking on television.
I closed my eyes, trying to swallow the sick wave of humiliation.
"Are you not feeling well?"
The voice was low, calm, and far too close.
I opened my eyes.
An alpha stood directly in front of my platform, mid-thirties, maybe a little older. Dark glossy hair with silver just beginning to thread the temples. Sharp cheekbones. Full mouth. And eyes so pale blue they looked almost arctic.
The punch of attraction hit me so hard I nearly swayed. He was, without exaggeration, the most beautiful alpha I had ever seen.
He tilted his head, studying me.
"You don't want to fall off… that," he said, gesturing vaguely at the fiberglass box beneath my feet like it personally offended him.
I cleared my throat. "I'm not going to fall."
He didn't look convinced. His gaze dropped to the placard bolted to the side of the platform.
"Number 334. Asa." His voice softened slightly, as though tasting the name. "Unusual. You're only twenty-three?"
"Yes." I lifted my chin, heat crawling up my neck.
He squinted up at me with an unreadable expression.
"You look like a prince," he said.
I blinked. "I do?"
A faint, almost amused curve touched his lips.
"You have a very… princely way of looking down your nose at everyone."
The words landed like a slap and a caress at the same time. My jaw tightened.
He didn't move away.
He simply stood there, watching me, as though he'd already decided something I hadn't yet been told.
I frowned at him, not sure how to respond.
"Aren't you a bit young to be… offering yourself up like this?"
I swallowed hard. "I had little choice in the matter."
He lifted his dark brows. "You're being forced?"
I shook my head. "No… well… I mean, sort of."
At his scowl, I added quickly, "By circumstances. Not by another person."
Relief seemed to paint his handsome features. "Oh, good."
Another alpha joined him, around the same age. He was blond and fit. This alpha was attractive too, but not on the same level as the first alpha. "There you are, Zev. I've been looking all over for you," he said.
Zevran gestured to me. "Don't you think this one looks like a prince?"
"Yeah. He does." The second alpha nodded, running his salacious gaze up my mostly naked body. "Fuck. This one is sexy."
The heat flooded back into my face, and I avoided looking at them.
I felt like a piece of meat. Hell, I was a piece of meat.
The only reason they wanted to purchase me was to breed me. My appearance was the only thing that might save me from starvation. I'd been gifted with good looks and brains, but from the lusty looks I'd been getting all evening, it wasn't my intellect anyone was interested in.
"Don't stare at him like he's a steak, Finlay," Zevran said huskily. "Have some respect."
Finlay laughed. "He's for sale. I'm supposed to look."
He wasn't wrong, so I said nothing.
I shifted uneasily as two more alphas came over. I shivered when one heavyset alpha ran his finger down my thigh. They weren't supposed to touch me. That was one of the rules: no touching unless you bought the omega.
But this paunchy alpha didn't seem to care about the rules. He leaned in and pressed his nose to the skin of my thigh, inhaling deeply.
Gritting my teeth, I looked down at him. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to see if I like your scent." The alpha licked his lips. "I do. You smell sweet as honey."
God, please, don't let him win me at auction.
Zevran frowned, eyeing the alpha who was pestering me. "For goodness sake, Nigel, you aren't supposed to touch the merchandise."
Nigel smirked. "I'd fuck him right here to see if he's worth my money, if it was allowed."
I shuddered, and Zevran looked disgusted.
Three more alphas approached, and sweat broke out on my face.
I wasn't sure why I was suddenly so popular. There were a dozen other very attractive omegas on display, mostly males. Why was I suddenly getting all the attention?
Finlay chuckled. "Looks like everyone wants to see who you're so interested in, Zev. I guess they figure if an omega is good enough to catch your attention, he's good enough for them too."
"Who said I'm interested?" Zevran frowned. "He just looked like he was going to faint. I stopped in case I needed to catch him."
Finlay grinned. "How heroic."
Nigel, the alpha who'd touched and sniffed me, scowled. "I didn't think you were in the market for an omega, Zev. Has something changed?"
I met Zevran's cool blue eyes, hoping against hope he might be interested. But he looked completely uninterested. "No."
My hope that maybe he'd bid for me plummeted.
Of course, he wasn't interested in a nobody like me. He could probably have any omega he wanted. No, with my luck, I'd end up with the bald, ill-mannered alpha, Nigel.
I tried not to think about how repulsed that made me. The very idea of that alpha breeding me made my stomach heave. I'd never even had sex. I'd been way too focused on my education to date.
It had never, ever been my intention to offer myself to an alpha, unless we naturally fell in love. Now I was being pawed and leered at by disgusting, horny alphas simply because my father had disgraced our family name.
This can't be happening. How can this be my life?
Two more alphas fondled my legs and inhaled my scent, and I shuddered.
My legs were cramping, and I felt light-headed with fear. The room was so warm that it was difficult to catch my breath. I was a hair away from screaming at them to leave me alone when the final bell rang.
Relief washed through me as the alphas began to wander away toward the main hall.
Once the room was cleared, I got down off the box. I sat on the base, rubbing my sore legs, and was filled with dread.
This was the moment of truth. I was about to find out which alpha would buy and breed me. The other omegas milled around, talking and laughing with each other.
Why didn't they seem as horrified by the process as I was? Was it because Dad had encouraged me to dream, and they'd always assumed this was their fate?
"The bidding will begin shortly, gang." A tall, thin female alpha with pinched features stopped nearby. "You know the drill. Move it, people."
I stared at her blankly.
"Number 334, are you deaf?" The woman scowled at me.
"I'm Asa Blake," I said softly.
"Yes, number 334." She scanned her clipboard. "We need to gather all the omegas in the holding chamber. You'll be able to watch the bidding from there on a big screen."
I stood slowly. "Okay."
She sighed as she took in my dejected demeanor. "Don't look so sad, kid. At least you were accepted into the Auction. Lots of omegas are rejected."
"I'm grateful I wasn't rejected," I said in a dull voice.
Was I, though?
One of the other male omegas stopped beside me. His expression was compassionate.
"First time?" he asked. He was attractive, with blond hair and blue eyes. He seemed confident. Relaxed. "The Auction is rough on first-timers."
"You've done this before?" I frowned.
"Twice before." He shrugged.
"Nobody picked you those times?" I asked, horrified. I hadn't realized not being chosen was even a thing. I'd assumed all the omegas were picked if they entered The Auction.
He sighed. "Both times, it was a much bigger lot of omegas. I'm really hoping because there are fewer of us this time, I'll finally get chosen."
"I see."
He smiled. "I'm Riley, by the way."
"Asa." I shook his hand.
He patted my shoulder. "You look terrified."
"This is all very… surreal for me." I didn't bother going into detail, and he didn't ask.
"That's the life of an omega, right? Waiting for an alpha to notice us."
"I guess."
"I think you'll probably get picked. I mean, you had Zevran Cross' attention. Odds are, he'll be your alpha."
"Zevran Cross wasn't interested in me. He just thought I was going to faint."
"Huh?" He looked confused. "Never mind," I mumbled.
"Anyway, let's go to the holding room. There's food and drink in there. Even if we don't get picked, we can stuff our faces, right?" Riley laughed happily and turned away.
I followed him because he had a nice, warm energy.
And at the moment, he was my only friend.