“You brought this on yourself.”

My dealer says as the front of his steel toe boot slams into my stomach again. I ball my body, but it doesn’t save me from the continuous force of his fist. His calloused hand grips my hair, and he makes me look him in the eyes.

“Was feeding them worth it?”

The stench of his breath forms a noxious cloud in the air, and I struggle not to vomit. He points at the terrified caged cubs.

“They are our property. That means when we want them fed”—he releases my hair and I crumble back onto the floor—“we will feed them. And when we want them starved, they will starve. Never forget that you are our property, too. You are payment for your father’s debt. So unless you want him to rot in his cell, I suggest you learn to behave.”

He grabs my arm and pulls me up to my feet. The buckle of my legs makes him dig his nails into my skin. “Let’s go!” he shouts in my ear.

My legs are shaky, but I keep steady as he escorts me to the auction block. The darkened halls of the elusive, dank building are lined with more cages containing other women and cubs. Some peer at me while others hide their faces. Loud cheers and screams fill my ears as we draw closer to the stage.

“Shift,” the man says to me. “They need to see exactly what they’re getting.”

I want to fight, but the pain of my bruised body stops me. I shift into my wolf and he nods, then trains his eyes on the auctioneer on stage.

“And now for our main event. The beautiful Karin,” the auctioneer says.

The man pushes me onto the stage, and immediately the bidders stand to their feet.

‘Karin, you’re my amazing little ballerina! Now, go on that stage and wow them like you do me every day. Oh, and if you get nervous, just picture everyone in their underwear. Wait. Never mind, that is horrible fatherly advice.’

My father’s words bring me a little peace and for a moment I smile, but just as quickly, it morphs into something dark when I remember what this stage is for, and why I’m here.

“Now do you all see why we saved her for last?” The auctioneer grins an awful grin as he strolls over to me. The clamp of the metal collar he snaps around my neck forces the first of many tears to fall. He runs his hand across the coat of my white fur.

“I’m doing you a favor, folks. I could have kept her to myself, but she’s here, ready to go to the highest bidder.”

His hands run down my legs to my paws, then make their way around my belly. He pats it and his grin returns.

“Amazing. Absolutely amazing.”

He continues his violation of my body as if I’m a show dog, and I hide my snout between my paws. I don’t want to see their eyes as they gawk at the way he touches me.

“…look at the nice round ass on this wolf. Imagine the babies she’ll be able to give you. Low fertility rates? I disagree. Hell, she could repopulate us all on her own!”

I can hear the bids.

“One thousand dollars!”

“No! Two thousand!”

“Absurd! Three thousand!”

He tugs the collar and uses it to escort me into a metal cage that sits in the middle of the stage. Its steel bars cause me to shiver. The door slams, and he waves his hand over it presenting me to the buyers again.

They don’t stop. Each number grows as he continues to show them they made the right decision about being here tonight. They talk around me as if I’m some inconsequential thing that doesn’t deserve a shred of decency.

“Come on folks, I know you can do better than that! You’ve risked imprisonment to be here, after all. If you want the babies of this fine white wolf, you’re going to have to pay!”

“Five thousand!”

“Seven thousand!”

God, I want this to be over. I want to fade away. I want to be in a time when it wasn’t complicated, and it was just my father and me. Like a month prior when I performed at the Capital Theater and shed tears of excitement before I made my entrance. My thoughts are interrupted when a voice louder than the others causes the room to quiet.

“One hundred thousand dollars. I should warn everyone here, bidding against me will not end in your favor,” the man says.

“S-sold!” the auctioneer shouts, practically foaming at the mouth. He bangs his gavel, and I finally gather the courage to look up. Lustful green eyes bore back into me, and my breath catches in my throat.

“Where do I go to collect?” the man asks the auctioneer, though his eyes never leave me. They tell me everything he plans to do to me, and I hang my head again.

I know what’s coming.

‘You brought this on yourself.’

The words ring in my ear until the fragrance of cedar and gin drowns them out, leaving me with a drunken feeling. My fur stands on edge.

It couldn’t be…

“It’s our mate!” my wolf Ada says as she paces.

I can feel her excitement and so much of me doesn’t want to ruin it.

“It’s not him,” I respond. “I know you want to think that, but it’s not. Please, stop. You’re going to make things worse for us.”

“No!” she growls back at me. “It’s our mate! Our mate is here. He came to rescue us. He’s going to rescue everyone! You’ll see!”

I hate hearing her excitement knowing that it’s ill placed. It couldn’t be Ansel. He wouldn’t be here. He’s too good for a place like this. This dilapidated building that holds the secrets of illegal activity and slavery would fall to ruins if someone as respectable as Ansel entered its walls.

“It’s not him!” I snap back. “Did you forget I rejected him?! He despises me!” Just as quickly as it came, the memorable smell disappears, and I bury my snout between my paws again, secretly grateful. “Would you really want him to see us like this, Ada? Hm? Could you imagine how disgusted he would be?”

“It’s him. He’s here for us. I know we messed up before, but Karin, he’s here. I know he is.”

Her restlessness inside me causes me to shift my weight in the cage. The auctioneer glares at me. “Excuse her behavior, she’s normally tamer. I promise,” he says to my buyer as he yanks the chain around my throat. Ada whimpers and stills, and I exhale; at least she’ll be quiet now. “Congratulations on your purchase! You can pic—”

There is a shift in the room. Wolves put their noses in the air as their senses heighten. “Police,” the auctioneer said in almost a growl. My eyes follow to where he is looking and land on the plainly dressed people sprinkled amongst the crowd. “It’s the police!”

A bang pierces the air, causing everyone to jump. Guns drawn; my dealers aim them at the police.

“The second shot won’t be a warning!” another staff member shouts.

“Drop your guns, now! The place is surrounded! You have nowhere to run!”

I shake my head as the tantalizing musk, as strong as its owner’s presence, pushes through the chaos and dirt in the air. Ada paces inside me again, and I can’t deny it anymore.

Ansel is here in this place filled with crooked people and a cage displaying my battered body for the world to see.

Dread fills my heart.

He’s here, and he’s seen it all.

“No…please God…no,” I whisper as I shakingly follow the scent.