Chapter 108 Going Off The Script.

    SERAPHINA

    As Asher shoved Finn and Ronan out of the hall, my eyes flicked toward Ronan’s retreating figure, only to have my jaw bseize /broughly by the brothel owner’s bhand/b.

    “Eyes only on me,” he said, voice low band /bslow, thick bwith /blust. His stare raked over my face like I was nothing more than a trinket on a merchant’s table. “Yes, like bthat/b,” he purred, his breath brushing across my skin like oil.

    His thumb dragged from the corner of my lips, tracing the outline of my mouth with deliberate slowness, as thoughmitting every inch to memory. I forced myself not to recoil, my lungs coiling in silent protest, the air thick with bile. Then his fingers slid lower along my jaw, down my throat every inch bstoking /ba fire of nausea beneath my skin.

    My bwolf /bsnarled deep within me, the growl almost audible, pressing against my control. My fists clenched in mypb, /bbwhite- /bknuckled.

    Just as his fingers neared the low cut of my bodice, a hand firm and strong wrapped around my

    neck from behind.

    I choked on a gasp as Ryker’s arm yanked me back against the steel wall of his chest. The growl that rumbled from his chest wasn’t for show. It vibrated through my spine, dark and territorial.

    “I don’t like others touching what’s mine,” Ryker said coldly, his voice lethal enough to silence the entire bhall/bb. /b

    Wait, what? His? Even if he was going off the script, he did not need to say such things.

    The brothel owner’s expression hardened, “You brought him here to sell. Now you’re saying bno/b?”

    Ryker didn’t flinch. His hand, once bpossessive /band rough, softened against my throat. His fingertips brushed the hollow of m throat with calcted ease. He was still acting, I reminded myself, but the way his body curved over mine…it felt too instinctual. Too real.

    “I bsaid /bI might,” Ryker replied with azy smirk, “I never said I would. A deal only happens when both sides agree and when both sides offer something of equal worth.”

    His tone was velvet band /brazors, smoothb, /bbbut /bsharp enough bto /bbleed.

    The brothel owner bnarrowed /bhis eyes, studying Ryker like a man used to getting bhis /bway only to suddenly realize he might not. “You’re a shrewd, Alpha_” he muttered. He waited, probably expecting a name, some bsign /bof who Ryker truly was, but Ryker remained bstill/b, silent. A smirk tugged at his lips as if to say: You don’t get to know who the fuck am 1.

    The owner scowled, then finally turned on bhis /bheel with a snap of his fingers. “Fine,” he barked. “Let’s see bwhat /bI can tempt you with in exchange of this dollboy.”

    A momentter, his bwolves /bmoved btoward /bthe bcurtain /bbat /bthe end of bthe /bbhall/b.

    “Bring in the new she–wolves!” the brothel owner bellowed, his bvoice /bbcracking /bblike /bba /bwhip.

    The sound bechoed /boff the high ceilings. Every nerve in my body bwent /brigid.

    This

    This was the reason I’d swallowed every ounce of pride I possessed. The reason I let myself be pawed at, sold, and paraded

    Mark had been clear, there were only two way’s we’d find bGrace /bEather Ronan, Fun, or Asher would locate bher /bin the private or shed be brought into this chamber for auction

    bAs /bthe velvet curtains parted and the first girl stepped out my stomach dropped.

    A beautul she wolf was led forward in chams, head bowed, her lips painted bright red, her dress bsheer /benough to leave nothing to the imagination Her bhands /btrembled where they were bound in front of her and her eyes were nk, as if her soul had already abandoned her body..

    The Alphas stirred

    11:57 AM P P

    Chapter 108 Going Off The Script

    +8 Pe

    Bidders leaned forward in their seats, greed and lust warring in their expressions. The scent of desire thickened the air lik

    1

    I kept my expressionposed.

    One by one, the girls emerged.

    The second. The third. The fourth.

    None of them were Grace.

    Some of them smiled, though their beyes /bwere hollow. Some had bruises on their arms. One girl couldn’t even walk on her own. She stumbled across the stage while the bguards /bbarked orders at her to “stand straight” and “lift your chin.”

    bPhina /bgrowled in my bmind /bwhen we realised they had been abused.

    Still no Grace

    My heart raced, pounding louder with every passing second.

    Where was she?

    The sixth girl walked in. Then the seventh, Eighth.

    None of them were her.

    A whisper of doubt crept up my spine, and my wolf stirred uneasily inside me. Has something gone wrong? Has she been moved: Had we arrived toote?

    Ryker kept looking at me, instead of the she–wolves being auctioned, “Your disguise is slipping,” he whispered near my ear. His breath was hot, teasing the sensitive skin of my neck, and I shivered more from rm than anything else. My hand was about to instinctively go to my hair fearing that my perfume had worn off, letting my scent bleed through.

    Until I caught my reflection in his eyes, clear,posed, male. At least for now.

    1 steadied my breathing. “What are you talking about?” I muttered through clenched teeth.

    Ryker just gave me a devilish smirk bthat /bmade my blood bboil/b.

    Was bthis /bman seriously joking around right now? In the middle of all bthis/b?