The last thing I remembered was the red flash of pain from the taser as I tried to flee the dais. If I made it into a public space, I might find allies. Someone who would help or at least buy me enough time to recover from the damn tranquilizers. I felt like a zombie, slow-moving and stumbling and slurred, and it worsened as I forced my eyes open.
I sat in a hard wooden chair in the corner of a strange room, four men around a table in the center of the room. I recognized the alpha who'd sold me, and one of his betas, but the other two men were strangers. One looked like a bear in human form with dark shaggy hair and an impressive beard, with shoulders that tested the tensile strength of his fancy suit coat. The other one... He seemed familiar, though I was certain we'd never met. His dirty blonde hair was cut ruthlessly short, short enough that I thought I could see a hint of a tattoo under his hair near his ear, and the strong jaw balanced high cheekbones and a hell of a nose. His face swam as my eyes watered, and I tried to push myself upright. Whatever they talked about, I needed to be part of it.
The blonde guy smiled as he looked at me, and something in my chest eased. Everything would be okay. His voice was deeper than I expected, but still gentle as he leaned back in his chair to speak to me. "Hello there."
The alpha and his second glared at me from the table, mouthing a threat as I blinked and swayed. No doubt they wanted the deal to go off smoothly. Maybe the blonde was a cop. He couldn't have been one of the bastards fighting for a woman against her will. My heart sank. Except maybe he was. There was no other reason he'd be there, negotiating, if he hadn't fought.
The bear shifted in his chair and smiled at me as well, though he presented a hell of an obstacle to the door. I fought to clear my thoughts as the blonde held out his hand. "I've got a question for you, darlin’, before we wrap things up."
I braced my hands on my knees. Between the taser and the sedatives and the wolfsbane, nothing seemed to work right. I couldn't force a question past my lips, my mouth full of cotton. But it didn't matter. The alpha gripped the table, and his beta cracked his knuckles in a clear threat. They needed the money, and they needed me gone. The blonde and his checkbook would solve a lot of their problems in a few seconds.
The blonde waved his hand in front of me and I blinked, forcing my attention back to him, and the smile returned. "There we go. Just one question, and answer me honestly — did you willingly join the Auction? You wanted to find a mate through the fights?"
His blue eyes mesmerized me. I couldn't look away. He was powerful, a strong leader, and he held me captive with just a look. The room swam around me but he remained perfectly steady, perfectly clear. I hadn't felt that way about a man since... God help me.
It took me a few tries to get my mouth to work, but I managed to whisper, "No. Didn't want —"
Before I could get another syllable out, the alpha lurched to his feet. "She's lying. That's bullshit. You already signed —"
The bear stood as well, massive shoulders straining his coat, and held his hands out. "Don't do anything you're going to regret, friend."
"Fuck off," the beta said, and even without seeing the bear's face, I knew that was a bad move.
The blonde squeezed my shoulder as he got up, then faced the two wolves. "You've broken the code and definitely the law. You'll face the Alphas Council, and they will determine your punishment."
"Not likely." The alpha shoved the table toward the two strangers and headed for the door. It swung in and he shouted into the hall, "It's a trap," and then chaos broke out everywhere.
Shouting and growling and grunting reached me from the hallway, men shoving and fighting, and then someone took a swing at the blonde and he lost it. The dress shirt he wore tore at the seams as he tackled the beta who'd threatened me, and I wobbled to my feet as a stray kick reduced my chair to splinters. I leaned on the wall but the alpha grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the hall. He muttered, "You'll pay for this one way or another," and I growled.
The bear snarled and threw the beta into the hall, roaring for someone named Benedict to stop fucking around and fight. I blinked, struggling as much as I could with the alpha gripping my arms, and desperately wished I could shift. The room was too small to fight as a wolf, but a wolverine would tear that place up. They'd never know what hit them.
Except — the strength drained from my limbs and I nearly fell to the ground as someone body-checked the alpha into the door. I looked up to see the blonde lean over the guy, then I blinked up at a tall, skinny guy with a similar cast to his features. He smiled and said, "So you started all this trouble, hm?"
I wanted to deny it, to tell him to go fuck himself, but the room tilted and I fell. He caught me before I hit the ground and helped me brace against the wall. Sound distorted as I watched his mouth move but couldn't understand anything he said. I couldn't breathe. Felt hot and cold all over. My hands shook as I tried to hold the door frame, tried to hold myself up as a battle raged in the hallway. The sharp tang of blood stung my nose and I flinched, searching for the source. Shouting rang in my ears. I needed to sit down. If I sat down for just a moment, I would feel better and could get on with escaping.
Everything turned a little gray, a little muddled, and I slid down the wall.
The skinny guy said, "Edgar, over here," and the blonde froze as he looked up.
At me. At the skinny dude. At the blood that streaked the door jamb and covered the skinny dude's hands where he tried to hold me. Even through the chaos in the hallway, his words landed like rocks around me. "She's hurt. He hurt her."
Everything blurred, but a roar from inside the room rattled my brain and the walls around me. The skinny guy held me up, tried to hustle me out of the way of the brawling men, but something exploded out of the small room in a cloud of gold fur and dark claws. More blood coated the walls and everyone started running. The skinny guy shouted something at me, patted at my back and shoulders and arms as if searching for something, but my mind fixated on the enormous lion raging down the narrow hall, leaving a wake of bodies and white-faced allies.
I blinked again and then the lion stood in front of me, face and chest stained red. He nosed my hip and thigh, a concerned grumble vibrating from his chest, and I frowned down at him as everything else grew dark. A lion. I reached to steady myself on him, rather than the skinny guy, but pitched forward and kept falling into darkness.