“Look, if he has a mate, then the sale’s off. I’m not housing another wom...” my rant trailed off when a new guard entered the room.

Peering out from behind him was a tiny child. She was trying to hide herself away but couldn’t fight her curiosity. Her large hazel eyes scanned around the room, and as soon as she saw the Alpha unconscious on the floor, she cried out,

“Daddy!”

She ran towards him, but the guard reached forward and gripped her by her long brown hair. He yanked her head back with such a force that the poor thing fell to the floor beside his feet. The heartless guard ordered the child to stand, and when she couldn’t, he pulled her into the air by her hair. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and it instantly triggered flashbacks from my own childhood and my anger boiled over. I rushed towards them and wrapped my arms around the fragile girl’s body, holding up her weight as she helplessly dangled in the air.

“Let her go!” I snarled at the guard.

He glanced over at the Beta, and my eyes followed his so that I was soon scowling at the plump jerk. The Beta nodded, making the guard release the girl instantly. I caught her and placed the girl onto her feet, before squatting down in front of her. I glared up at the guard, but all he did was roll his eyes at me in agitation before turning to leave. With my hands gently placed on the girl’s face, I looked into her sad hazel eyes and asked,

“Are you okay?”

She nodded slightly, but I could feel the poor thing trembling beneath my touch. She looked a sorry state. The auction made sure that the Alpha's and other slaves were clean and well-fed, but as this little girl didn’t have to go in front of the public, I guessed that they didn’t care what she looked like. She was all skin and bones, covered in dirt, with a matted mass of brown wavy hair. An oversized nightdress was all she wore, no shoes or even socks to keep her little feet warm.

As she pulled her tatty old teddy to her chest she began to cry, and my heart absolutely broke for her. I sat down and gently pulled the girl onto my lap. She instantly rested her head on my chest, and I couldn’t believe how natural it felt to cradle her. While carefully stroking her matted hair, I began to hum a lullaby that my mom used to sing to me as a child. I couldn’t remember all of the words, so humming the song would have to do. The girl’s sobs calmed considerably and were soon replaced by a soft snivel.

The clink of chains alerted me to the Alpha and panic set in. I wasn’t sure if he would be angry with me for touching his child, but when I glanced over at him, my panic washed away. He was sat on the floor with his arms casually wrapped around his knees, letting his shackled hands flop down over the top of them. The sweet smile that lit up his face, let me know that he was okay with me comforting his daughter. I returned the smile, then snuggled the girl some more. I rested my head onto hers while her dad was unshackled and allowed to get dressed. When he was fully clothed, they put his chains back on. I tilted my head to the side and whispered into the girl’s ear,

“Hey, look who’s finally awake.”

She shot her head around faster than I thought humanly possible and shouted,

“Daddy!”

I thought she would run right to him, but she didn’t. Instead, she looked up at the guards either side of her father, then back at me. She was clearly scared that they would hurt her again if she attempted to move.

“It’s okay, they won’t hurt you. I promise.”

As soon as my sentence finished, she jumped up from my lap, running as fast as she could into her dad’s arms. I didn’t take my eyes off the pair as I stood up. He was kissing her head and talking to her, and I won’t lie, I was envious. You could feel the absolute love and devotion that he had for that little girl, and I wished I’d had the same with my father. I couldn’t remember one time that my father had held me or cuddled me like that. I knew that my father’s behavior toward me wasn’t normal. When I was young, all I wanted was for my dad to comfort me, or show me some sort of love, but as time passed by, I just wanted him to leave me the hell alone. I shook the depressing thoughts from my mind and strolled over to the Beta.

“I’ll take them both. But mark my words, if anyone touches that little girl again, I’ll have your fucking head. Understand?”

He waited for the cash machine to beep before answering,

“Of course, Miss Mountford. They now belong to you, and they will be treated with the utmost respect. We will deliver them first thing in the morning.”

He began to walk away.

“No! You will deliver them tonight.”

He casually turned to face me, and with a sarcastic chuckle he replied,

“That’s impossible. All the slots are booked up from earlier sales.”

I grabbed my purse off the table and stormed over to the tiny, pathetic excuse of a man. Stretching myself high above him, I repeatedly poked him in the chest with my finger.

“You look here, little man. If I don’t have them delivered to my home by the end of the night, I will be contacting your boss. My father was a close, personal friend. So, I suggest if you'd like to keep your pathetic job, you’ll do exactly what I want.”

With a silent nod of his head, he left the room. I turned back toward the Alpha and his daughter. He was now standing, with his little girl curled up in his huge arms. She looked so dinky against the backdrop of his enormous body. He smiled widely and whispered,

“Thank you.”

I felt a blush pinch my cheeks as I returned the smile. The guards were scowling at me, so I cleared my throat and snapped,

“Make sure they have a decent meal before they leave. Got it?”

They both stood to attention and bowed their heads in unison. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and strutted out of the room. I made my way back through the corridor and into the auction hall. I guessed that my scent had died down, because hardly anyone noticed me. Just the usual drunken Beta guys. I walked past a table of boisterous men and one of them grabbed my arm and pulled me onto his lap. Normally I would have played up to him, taken him home and let him try to satisfy me, but not tonight. For some reason I didn’t feel like having sex with a random stranger, which was a new thing for me. I stood up from the guy’s lap and tried to walk away, but he wouldn’t let go of my arm.

“Don’t leave sweetheart, the party’s just getting started.”

His words would have usually spurred me on and made me accept the challenge of seeing if he would be someone that could finally satisfy me, but now all they did was make me cringe. I didn’t understand the sudden change, all I knew was that sleeping around didn’t appeal to me anymore.

“Let go of my arm,” I snarled into his face.

He laughed at my dominance but didn’t let go.

“I like my women feisty,” he announced with a chuckle as he glanced around at his drunken friends. He was clearly trying to show off his nonexistent dominance, which in turn elicited a roar of laughter from his table of peers.

‘Slap'

“I said Let go!” I screeched while slapping him across the face as hard as I could.

The shock made him drop my arm instantly, so I quickly pulled it away and out of his reach. His friends howled with laughter, but he didn’t find it funny in the slightest. He stood up, raising his clenched fist into the air. I instinctively cowered down and held my arm up in front of my face to defend myself. I also made sure to close my eyes while I waited for him to strike me, like my father had done so many times before.

I jumped a little when I heard his fist collide with skin, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t my skin that his fist connected with. The surrounding crowd grew silent, and all I could hear were snarls and growls from right in front of me. I cautiously opened my eyes just in time to see Jaxon punch the guy right in the face. The drunken man stumbled on his feet a little, then dropped to the floor. Jaxon took my hand and dragged me out of the auction hall and into the corridor. Once we were outside, I yanked my hand out of his.

“What the hell are you doing here, Jax?” I yelled while standing firm and folding my arms across my chest.

“Your mother called me to collect her. I guess you hadn’t told her about us, or Harper?”

“I did actually. But the woman seems to think I should give you another chance.”

He looked at me, hope filling his eyes. How he thought that I’d just forgive him and move on, I didn’t know. The guy was as delusional as my mother.

“And what do you think?”

“I think you can rot in hell with that skank of yours!”

“Damn it, Lia. Can’t we talk about this like adults. We could just wipe the slate clean all. Start a fresh?”

I scowled at him and replied,

“Why in the hell would I agree to that? I could forgive you if it was in the past, but you fucked her less than an hour after we agreed to give our relationship a go. How could I trust you after that?”

I began to rub my arms because I’d left my jacket at home and the cold night air was sending a chill throughout my body. I think I was a little in shock too, so the chill felt like an artic wind. Jax took off his suit jacket and I felt like telling him to shove it up his ass, but I was way too cold to refuse.

“Look, I know I screwed up.”

I rolled my eyes at him while thinking, well duh! He threw the jacket over my shoulders and wrapped it around me.

“I went around to her house to tell her that we were over. That you'd finally agreed to give me a chance, and that I didn’t want to mess that up by carrying on with someone that meant nothing to me,” he said while straightening out the jacket collar for me.

“Then explain how you went from dumping her, to butt-ass naked in her bed?”

He nervously ran his hand through his hair, before saying,

“She made me.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of my mouth. The thought of that tiny girl making Jaxon do anything he didn’t want to do, just sounded ridiculous.

“Okay, sure, she made you. Good one. Look, if you’re going to blatantly lie to my face, I’d rather you just leave.”

I stormed past him and towards the craft.

“Lia please. I’m not lying, I swear” he cried out while spinning me around to face him. “She has videos of us, you know, doing it. I didn’t know she had cameras in her room. She said if I didn’t sleep with her one last time, she'd wait until we were married, and then show everyone at the reception, I couldn’t start our lives together like that.”

His words were sincere, and he was right, that would have been utterly humiliating. Regardless of his excuses, I didn’t care what else he had to say, the pain they'd both caused me was still raw, and I didn’t want to forgive either of them. As far as I saw it, there were other options. One of which would have been, him coming clean. He didn’t have to sleep with her.

“You think she would have just let it rest after one last time?” He nodded with a shrug. “Christ, Jaxon. Then you’re even more stupid than you look.” His eyes grew wide at my insult. “She would have blackmailed you with it every time she wanted something from you. She’s in love with you and has been ever since we were in high school. Can’t you see that?”

“What? Then why hasn’t she ever told me?”

“Because she knows you’re in love with me.”

“I am, Lia. I love you so damn much it hurts. Please, give me another chance.”

He moved in closer to me, so I stepped back slightly, then placed my hands on his face.

“I know you do, Jax. But I’m not in love with you...” He cut me off before I could finish.

“Maybe you could learn to love me? I’d be willing to wait.”

Slipping my hands away from his face, I replied,

“I’m sorry, Jax, I can’t.”

I took off his jacket and handed it back to him, then walked towards my mother’s craft. I left him standing behind me with his head dropped down in defeat and I knew that I’d broken his heart, but it was better for him in the long run. How could I marry the guy, when I wasn’t in love with him? I would have spent the rest of my life trying to love him the way he loved me, then felt guilty when I couldn't. How could I trust him after what he'd done? Sure, he might have changed, and never cheated on me again, but that trust was broken, and I wouldn’t be able to promise him that I’d ever truly forgive him.

There were so many reasons why we shouldn’t be together, and few reasons why we should. I couldn’t be with him just because he loved me, and my mother liked him. I deserved to be fulfilled and happy, and so did he. When I reached my mom's craft, I could see that the door was open, but there was no one inside. I could hear her talking, so I went to the back of the craft to listen. I peeked around the craft and saw that she was shouting down the phone at someone.

"She smells like slick for Christ’s sake. How is that even possible? Are the suppressants not working anymore?"

Suppressants? What is she talking about?

She listened to whoever was on the phone then shouted back,

"Her Mate? What? No, that can't be... She can't have found her mate. You need to give us stronger suppressants...” She had to be talking about me, but I couldn’t make any sense of it. “What do you mean they won't work?” She said in annoyance then paused again.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. From what I could make sense of, that smell in the auction house was in fact slick. My slick, and by the way I felt around my new Alpha slave, I concluded that he could possibly be the mate she was talking about. But if that was all true, that meant that my mother had been secretly feeding me suppressant’s my entire life.

What the hell is going on? Have I been lied to my entire life? How could my mom keep this from me? Is she the one that was controlling all of this?

There were so many questions and thoughts running through my head, that I couldn’t separate them long enough to form a full sentence. I walked around the back of the craft and into full view. My mom gradually turned around while still shouting down the phone, at who I could only assume was our family doctor. She didn’t notice me at first and continued to rant with the cell stuck to her face. She began to walk back towards the craft.

“No. That's not an option. She can't find out she's an Omega!”

She stopped dead in her tracks and her rant trailed off when her anger-filled eyes met mine.

“Mom, what the fuck is going on?”