First came the end of a particularly great school year, where our soccer team placed third in the state championship, the highest West Barrington High had ever placed. I gave all the credit to the kids, of course. I was just the coach. But that didn’t stop a recruiter from Barrington University scouting me as a potential member of the university’s soccer program. I would hate to leave the high school, but BU competed on a national level, and coaching there was a step toward coaching professionally.
 
 Then came the invitation to test out the Dark Fantasies Club’s new auction format.
 
 I’d been with the Dark Fantasies Club since college. Yeah, I was kinky. I had a sadistic streak a mile wide, but ninety percent of the people who knew me didn’t know that and would never have guessed. I was friendly Coach Landsdown on the outside,and I definitely needed to protect that image to keep working with young people.
 
 The fact that I was frequently mistaken for one of the students had been a problem for years. I was twenty-five, but thanks to genetics, I looked like I was about nineteen. I definitely didn’t feel that way, though. Especially when I had a nubile omega bound and gagged while I held them down and fucked them hard, preferably when they were in heat.
 
 Outside of the thrill of winning a major competition and bringing home the trophy, taking omegas through heat was my favorite thing in life.
 
 I’d actually signed up to be an Emergency Support Alpha through Bangers & Mash, but when I was sent to service the heat of the older brother of one of my students—one who had graduated before I’d started teaching and coaching, thank God—I knew I couldn’t do that anymore. I absolutely, a thousand percent, could not ever put myself in a position where it would look even a little bit like I was taking advantage of a student.
 
 So the Dark Fantasies Club had become my go-to way to get my many, many rocks off. It worked, especially since I had that dubious side of myself that got off on being mean.
 
 Which one could argue is also the definition of being a coach.
 
 “Thanks so much for helping us test this new program,” Hamish Farrow said to the large group of alphas, all of us in suits, who were gathered in the conference room of the Grand Hotel that had been transformed into a sordid stage area. “We have high hopes for the effectiveness and popularity of this program, but we wanted to test the concept with our most highly-rated players before we open it to the rest of the club.”
 
 I grinned like a fool, honored to have been chosen for such a prestigious job. I felt the responsibility to make the whole thing work down to the tips of my toes. Not only did I owe the Dark Fantasies Club for giving me an outlet for the aggressive, superalpha part of me, I admired the charitable work the company did. We wouldn’t be bidding on omegas with real money today, but I fully intended to donate as much as I could to them anyhow.
 
 “We’ll begin the auction in a moment,” Hamish went on. “We’ve just settled the omegas in the next room and gotten them into the right headspace.
 
 “You’ve each filled out your survey for what sort of omega you’d like to play with for the next few days,” he went on. “We’ve taken all of that into consideration, and Denny is coming around now with the lot number of the omega you’ve matched with.”
 
 No sooner had he said that than the cute, sassy beta—who I’d played with once and enjoyed, even though he wasn’t an omega—came around, handing out cards to all the alphas assembled.
 
 “Listed on the card are the limits and safewords of your omegas, as determined by their Dark Fantasies Club account and the pre-auction interview we’ve had with each of them,” Hamish went on. “I trust you’ve all checked into your suites upstairs?”
 
 A round of nods and yeses sounded around the room.
 
 “Good.” Hamish continued. “Special equipment has been provided for all of you who’ve asked for it.
 
 “Now, the way the bidding will work is as follows. You’re free to bid once or twice for any omega that’s presented on the stage, but that’s it. The alpha who has been matched with the omega on stage can go as high as they want in terms of price, since money isn’t an option. We have plants in the audience who work for the Dark Fantasies Club who might make it look like a fierce bidding war, which is mostly for the benefit of the omega. We’ve promised them as authentic an experience as possible, so you can get into character as much as you’d like.”
 
 “That should be fun,” one of the other alphas said.
 
 A bunch of us laughed with him. The room was buzzing with expectation. We were all eager to give this whole auction thing a try. And we were all horny as hell.
 
 I liked how controlled and safe the new auction format really was. I like how the parameters were all super defined and the rules of the game were laid out. It would keep the omegas safe, all while they felt incredibly unsafe. That was a huge appeal to me.
 
 There were more rules that Hamish went over, but I only heard them with one ear. I was too busy looking at my card.
 
 Lot number twelve. My omega would be the twelfth one to be auctioned. The card said his name was Darby and he was in his mid-30s. The name Darby was unusual, but it rang a bell. I couldn’t figure out why, though.
 
 I breathed a sigh of relief over his age. I’d specifically asked for an older omega, and it looked like the Dark Fantasies Club had delivered.
 
 Not only that, apparently Darby had no limits. He’d put in a special request for harsh treatment, saying he wanted to play hard. Nothing was off the table, not pain, not degradation, and not forced heat.
 
 I smiled. I’d requested a bottle of Heat Lightning pills for our room, along with the usual floggers, canes, and restraints. Not only did I like omegas in heat, I’d discovered I had a particular itch for pretending to force them into heat then threatening to breed them. Heat Lightning pills had only been on the market for the past few years, but so far, it didn’t look like it was possible for an omega to actually get pregnant during an induced heat, even though they could have breeding orgasms.
 
 “So if everyone is ready, we’ll start the auction,” Hamish said, gesturing for his business and life partner, Caden, to take the podium.
 
 “Let’s get this started,” Caden said with his usual bright and cheery smile. “Play it up, guys. Everything short of getting your cock out and jizzing on the omega up for bids is welcome.”
 
 A few alphas laughed at that.
 
 Moments later, Caden slipped easily into character and growled, “Lot number one, a fresh little thing we grabbed off the street last night who has just gone into heat.”
 
 The fantasy had begun. Right from the start, it had blood pulsing through me and my cock going hard. Especially when the panting, whimpering, naked, and wet omega who was brought onto the stage from a side room’s heat scent wafted heavily over all of us. For a moment, I thought it would overwhelm the alphas in the front and send half the room into rut.