Page 14 of The Female

Gray’s new female continues to peer around, her legs shaky as the seller steps forward and helps her off the podium. She flinches when he grabs her elbow, but she otherwise doesn’t react.

Aziel and I stand to leave as the female is escorted out. Gray will be handling her delivery, and I need to get back to work.

“Have you seen her fate?” Aziel asks.

I shake my head, silently admitting to the ties she’ll have with me. “She’s a full human,” I say after a moment of silence.

Aziel nods, lifting his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. We didn’t come here today for such a weak female, and I know he shares the same reservations as me. Our presence will exhaust her, and Gray’s use will kill her.

We’ve seen it happen before, and it seldom takes long for humans to succumb to the darkness of our breed.

“It’s only a matter of time before Gray grows bored and sells her,” Aziel says.

I shrug, unsure about that.

“You once said that about us, that he would grow tired and return to his den,” I remind him gently. “That was, what, a hundred and seventy years ago?”

Aziel sucks on his teeth, his anger permeating the air before he tenses and teleports back to Wrath. I run a hand through my hair, annoyed by his rude departure, before following.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

5

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CHARLOTTE

IDON’T THINKmy lungs are working.

My chest heaves as I’m led out of the auditorium, an overwhelming feeling of suffocation spreading through my body. Objectively, I know I’m getting the oxygen I need to survive, but my brain isn’t getting the memo and is forcing me to hyperventilate as I make my way down the hallway.

That wasn’t as awful as some warned it would be, but I know this experience will stay with me forever. Every second I was forced to stand under that light felt like hours, and the sounds of excitement that emerged from the darkness were horrifying.

How many men were there, their eyes raking over my bare flesh as they decided whether or not I was worth their money? I could see dim screens light up as Anthony read out my information, but I refused to let myself count them.

The number seemed to grow once he said I have good odds for twins, and I hope my shock wasn’t too evident. Did my parents know? It almost guarantees that whoever bought me has breeding in mind.

I’m uninterested in knowing how many men tried to purchase me today, and I’d rather die than hear how much I was sold for. I wasn’t in there for as long as the women who went in before me, and I hope that means something good.

Either that or I’m desperately reading into things that have no meaning. It’s probably the latter.

It usually is.

I continue struggling to breathe as I follow Anthony down the hallway and into a room I’ve never been in before. He beams as he gestures for me to enter, and it takes everything in me not to lash out and attack him.

Dirty fucking man.

He made us believe he was, at least to some extent, on our side. His pitiful glances and occasional encouragement were all a facade. I curse myself for not recognizing it earlier, but seeing the joy currently spread across his face shows the truth.

He only ever saw us as paychecks.

My vision grows blurry as my eyes fill with tears, and I turn and enter the room with a defeated sigh. Fighting him will only make things harder for me.

“Somebody will be by shortly to groom you to your male’s preferences,” he says, closing the door.

The unmistakable sound of a lock clicking into place follows, but I hardly find myself surprised. It’s not the first time I’ve been locked in a room, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Being in this facility has taken a lot from me, my hopes for freedom first and foremost.

All the women who were called into the auction before me are here, most currently being groomed. Some lie on beds receiving full-body waxes, and a few are getting their hair cut.

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