An Unexpected Turn

[Lucian’s POV]

I stare down at the woman in my arms as she shivers and whimpers, her distress clear in her actions and from her face. If I had known that this would be how I found her, I would have just bought her out of this place the first time I laid eyes on her and her delicious scent enveloped me, making me realize that all this time she was who I had been missing.

Of course, at that time I was simply at the auctions to investigate, to find proof of who was running the show so that I could put an end to it, but when this tiny creature stepped up on stage and when those glowing silver eyes connected with mine, it changed my whole fate.

Mate.

It was just a word that I grew up hearing. One that everyone dreamed about and pined over, but when I came of age and continued to not meet mine, I began to lose hope. I simply accepted that that one woman who was made just for me to complete me and make me feel whole didn’t exist. Little did I know that she was waiting for me to find her in such a place.

“What have you been through?” I murmur, brushing some of her long dark hair away from her sweat-soaked skin. “What have they done to you?”

‘Alpha,’ I hear my beta Pei’s voice in my head. ‘What’s the word?’

‘We are retreating for the evening.’

It was the only logical thing to do, especially when my mate was in such a condition.

“Please,” she whimpers, digging her ragged nails into my shirt. “Please, help me.”

“I will.” I promise her, standing and cradling her against me. “Just wait a little longer.”

“Mmmm.”

Her voice is so weak as she speaks that it damn near kills me, and her body that presses against mine is so skinny that the urge to kill begins to flare.

‘Not yet,’ Aspen, my wolf, murmurs, trying to calm the rage that is flowing through me. ‘If you let yourself lose control now, all your effort to try to put an end to the auctions will be for nothing.’

For nothing. How could it be for nothing when I could simply burn this fucking place to the ground without blinking?

‘You’ll lose your leverage to take down your brother.’

Fuck. That’s right. If I wanted to stop my brother from advancing and becoming alpha of Onyx Moon, I needed to be able to take him down fair and square. As of now, he had more followers than me, and that wouldn’t work in my favor. That was why I needed to destroy him thoroughly and rip off the mask that he wore so perfectly.

“Dammit.” I growl, giving the room around me one last look. “Let’s go.”

Making a decision, I begin to move, storming out of the room that I’m in and into the hall where the madam of the place is waiting with a look of expectancy on her face.

“Well?” She asks, eyeing me and ignoring the woman in my arms completely. “Is she to your satisfaction?”

“That and much more.” I respond, hating how she was speaking about my mate like she was nothing more than an object. “Since I’ve paid the amount promised, I’ll be leaving.”

“Wait!” The woman gasps, holding out a hand. “I know that we came up with a price, but after thinking on it, I’m not quite sure if I can part with my most valued slave for so little.”

“Are you trying to go back on our deal?” I demand, my patience growing thin. “Is that the way you run this business?”

“Of course not,” she smiles, completely unfazed. “But you must understand that…”

“Understand what?” I demand, as my mate presses against me, her hands attempting to break through the buttons of my shirt so that she can take comfort from my skin. “Go on, I’m all ears.”

As I speak, I let my aura slowly trickle off of me, making it clear that I wasn’t in the fucking mood to hear what it was she wanted to say.

“N-nevermind.”

“Then we’re done here?” I ask, though I have no intention of continuing this conversation. “Great, then I’ll be leaving.”

I don’t give the woman a chance to respond before I’m heading down the hall toward the building's exit and then out onto the street where Pei waits for me with our carriage.

“Alpha,” he gasps as his eyes shoot to the woman in my arms. “What is…”

“Later,” I snap, climbing into the carriage and settling in. “We need to get back to Onyx Moon now.”

Pei doesn’t question me, nor does he waste time before the carriage jerks into motion, allowing me to gain some peace of mind, but not for long.

“Please,” my mate whispers, clawing at me, trying her best to lift herself so that she can look at me. “Make it stop.”

“I’m going to.” I assure her, though I know that isn’t what she means.

It was clear from the overwhelming sense of arousal and her actions that she was in rut, but how that was possible given the time of the month it was meant that it was a medically induced rut. That meant that I couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of discomfort and pain she was feeling simply because I wouldn’t touch her or fuck her like she was begging me.

“Please,” she repeats, her hand sliding down my chest to my crotch. “I need you to help me.”

“Careful,” I murmur, reaching down and wrapping a hand around her too tiny wrist. “You’ll regret what you’re doing once you’ve regained your sanity.”

“I won’t,” she counters, completely gone to the drug in her system. “I won’t regret letting you have me.”

You will. I think inwardly while shuddering at the thought of her being subjected to anyone else but me. Just the image of another man taking her while she wasn’t in her right mind infuriated me and made me want to kill the bastard who would, even though he didn’t exist.

“If only you knew what you were doing to me, mate.” I rumble, trapping her hands behind her back so she stops touching me so seductively. “You’re testing every last bit of my patience.”

“Why?” She mewls, fighting against my hold. “Don’t you want me?”

“Not in this way.” I respond, hating how horrible she looks right now. “Later, when you decide that you want me. Only then will I take you. Until then, I’m going to have my personal healer help you so that you won’t suffer anymore. Now, be a good girl and stop fighting me. This will all be over soon enough.”