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Chapter 3. The Dare

Kael stood at the edge of the dimly lit underground hall, his arms crossed. The torches flickered on the damp stone walls, casting shifting shadows over the crowd of eager buyers. He felt out of place in the suffocating air of greed and secrecy, his instincts prickling with unease. The air was thick, heavy with smoke and sweat, and it clung to him like an unwelcome second skin. He hated places like this—hated the cruelty, the greed, and the raw hunger that turned men into predators.

He hated this place. The whispers, the greed, the leering faces of men who saw nothing but their own desires reflected in the lives they sought to buy. This was a pit of human filth, and yet he was here, surrounded by his retinue—his trusted warriors—most of whom seemed disturbingly at ease.

But he was here now, thanks to Garron’s insufferable persistence and the taunts of his retinue. They were restless after weeks of travel, looking for entertainment, for distractions, and Garron had decided that dragging him down into this pit of moral decay would be amusing.

“You need to loosen up, Alpha,” Garron said with a sharp grin, leaning in as though they were sharing a joke. “It’s just a dare. No harm in playing along.”

Kael shot him a glare, his jaw tightening. Garron’s humor always came with an edge, a reminder that even loyalty could grate against his patience. Kael trusted Garron, relied on him, but there were moments—like now—when he wondered if the Beta enjoyed pushing him too far.

He didn’t bother responding. Instead, he turned his focus to the stage, watching as the first Omega was paraded under the torchlight. She looked so youngl, her body trembling as she moved, and Kael felt the familiar churn of disgust twist his stomach.

This wasn’t entertainment. This was something darker, something vile.

“Look at you, brooding again,” Garron said with a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. “Come on, Kael. You’ve faced armies without blinking. Surely bidding on one Omega isn’t enough to scare you.”

Kael’s fingers curled into a fist beneath his cloak, but he kept his voice low and even. “This is ridiculous,” Kael muttered, his voice low enough not to draw attention. “We don’t need anything. And I certainly don’t need to prove anything to you lot.”

“Oh, but you do,” Garron teased, leaning in with a sly smirk. “What’s the point of dragging you down here if you’re just going to brood in the corner? Make a bid, win the dare, and we’ll never let you forget how magnanimous you are.”

Kael shot Garron a glare, but the Beta only laughed, clearly enjoying himself. Around them, the rest of Kael’s small retinue murmured their encouragement, each of them looking far too entertained by his discomfort.

His other men were no better, shifting restlessly around him, some murmuring bets on how much the next Omega would sell for. The noise grated against his nerves. These were the people he fought alongside, who swore to uphold their pack’s honor, and yet here they were, gawking like the rest of the vultures in the crowd.

Kael clenched his jaw, his eyes scanning the room. The buyers were no different—figures with greedy eyes, merchants with fat purses and hungry smirks, and the occasional nobleman with a heavy ringed hand that waved dismissively when a bid didn’t meet their interest. Their whispers rose and fell like the tide, their voices dripping with cruelty and lust.

The poor girl on the stage looked like a broken doll, her chains clinking softly as she was displayed like a prized trinket. This was exactly why he’d avoided these markets for years—there was nothing honourable about this.

Still, he couldn’t back down now. Not with Garron watching him like a hawk, his grin as sharp as the blade he always carried at his side. Kael exhaled slowly, letting his irritation simmer beneath the surface. “Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “But just once.”

The auctioneer clapped his hands, his voice rising above the low hum of the crowd. “Ah, and now, dear friends, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Behold, from the darkest woods of Basmera!”

He suddenly felt it. The scent. Unusual. So strong.

Kael’s breath caught in his chest, a flicker of something he couldn’t immediately name pulling at him. The girl—no, the woman—was unlike any he’d seen before.

She was led onto the stage with a slight stumble, her movements sluggish, clearly dulled by whatever drug they’d given her. Yet, even through the haze, there was something fierce about her. Her back was straight, her chin lifted, her amber eyes scanning the crowd like she was cataloging threats. She wasn’t cowering. She wasn’t pleading. She looked like she was watching them—assessing, calculating, waiting. And the scent… so mesmerising. Woody, delicate, astringent… He never felt anything like that.

Her hair was dark, tumbling in waves around her shoulders, and her amber eyes glinted in the dim torchlight, sharp even as her steps wavered. Her back was straight, her chin tilted upward with quiet defiance.

Kael felt his chest tighten, an unfamiliar twinge pulling at him. The fire in her gaze struck him like a physical blow, and his pulse quickened. This wasn’t fear. This was defiance. Even drugged, even surrounded by men who would reduce her to a commodity, she refused to surrender.

"Through deathly thickets and over treacherous bogs, where lesser men would have perished, I found her…"

Kael barely heard the words. He was watching her, and the longer he did, the more unsettled he felt. She didn’t belong here. Not in this pit of greed and cruelty. She had been dragged into this world, caged like a beast, but nothing about her suggested she would ever accept that fate.

He felt a strange pull in his chest, a sharp contrast to the disgust he’d felt moments ago. His hands clenched at his sides, his nails digging into his palms. She was a stranger, a piece of this broken, corrupted system he despised, and yet he couldn’t look away.

“This one’s got spirit,” Garron said, his voice low and amused. “Wouldn’t it be something to tame her?”

Kael stiffened, a flicker of anger sparking beneath his calm exterior. Tame her? The word felt wrong, sour in his mouth.The Omega swayed slightly, the drug clearly taking its toll, but her eyes never lost their edge. Kael felt a touch of something he couldn’t quite name. It wasn’t interest, not exactly, but... curiosity.

“An Omega with fire in her veins and a beauty to match her spirit," the salesman crooned. "Starting bid: two hundred silver marks!”

Kael’s jaw clenched as the man’s words dripped over her like oil. She wasn’t a marvel. She was a person. And yet, the crowd leaned forward, their interest sharpening, their hunger palpable.

The bidding began, voices rising and falling in quick succession. “Three!” “Four!” The numbers climbed, but Kael barely heard them. His eyes remained fixed on the Omega, watching the subtle tension in her frame, the way her fingers curled faintly as though itching to fight.

Kael’s pulse quickened as he watched her, trying to ignore the growing knot in his chest. What was he doing? He didn’t need this, didn’t want it.

And yet, he couldn’t look away.

And then Garron nudged him. “Dare you,” he said with a smirk.

Kael glanced at him, annoyance flashing in his eyes. He hated the smugness in Garron’s voice, hated the crowd’s leering gazes, hated the entire twisted system that had brought them all here. “You’re insufferable. That’s a fortune, we don’t need an Omega.”

“I know,” Garron said cheerfully. “Eight hundred, and we’ll call it a night. Go on.”

But someone from the right was faster. A large overweight nobleman, in in expensive silk-embroidered clothes, called the next bid:“Eight!”

“Eight hundred marks! Do I hear nine?”

Kael’s jaw tightened. The words were a challenge, a needle digging under his skin. He wasn’t about to let Garron win this round, not with that smug look on his face. And the girl… Something felt not right about giving her up to that pudge, so full of himself that he wasn’t even able to stand. And not even giving her to the other present here, at this altar of filth and greed.

Kael exhaled through his nose, forcing the irritation down, but his hand was already rising before he could think better of it. “Thousand,” he called, his voice calm and measured.

The crowd turned toward him, their murmurs rippling through the hall. He barely noticed. His focus was on her. Her amber eyes snapped to his, locking onto him with a sharpness that startled him. Even through the haze of whatever they’d injected her with, her gaze burned, defiant and unyielding.

The room fell silent, the previous bidders withdrawing one by one. The auctioneer paused for dramatic effect, scanning the crowd before slamming his gavel down. “Sold!” he declared, his voice ringing through the hall.

The finality of the word echoed in Kael’s chest, heavy and irrevocable. Garron laughed beside him, clapping him on the back like it was all a joke.

“Well done, Alpha,” Garron said, his tone dripping with mockery. “You’ve just purchased the fiercest Omega in the room. Should be fun.”

But Kael wasn’t listening. His eyes remained fixed on her as the guards moved to unshackle her from the stage. The flickering torchlight caught her face, and for a brief moment, he thought he saw something—fear, anger, and beneath it all, a quiet, burning resolve.

Something twisted in his chest, unfamiliar and unwelcome. This wasn’t supposed to matter. She wasn’t supposed to matter.

And yet, as they dragged her toward him, her gaze still locked on his, Kael couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d just set something in motion that he couldn’t stop.

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