Page 10 of Auctioned to the Kodiak Shifter

And there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

ChapterFive

Ava

Before this whole auction ordeal, the worst idea I ever had was trying to steal a box of lip gloss from the store where my aunt worked. My best friend at the time had pressured me into doing it even though I hated lip gloss.

I successfully slipped it into my bag while my friend was on the lookout, but as soon as my aunt saw my burning red cheeks, it was over. It was a whole thing.Everyonefound out about it. I was humiliated.

Well, that’s a distant second now compared to the mess I’m in at the moment.

“And do you, Ava Lennon, take this man to be your husband?” Coco St. James asks as she stares me down with those intense light blue eyes.

I cringe as Troy Novak reaches out and takes my hand. His skin feels like alligator scales. I hate it.

Thisis the guy who bid on me?Thisis the guy I have to marry?

What happened to the gorgeous guy they dragged out of here? Why couldn’t he have been the one?

I want to scream and run out of here, but those guards are blocking the stairs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Coco shot laser beams out of her eyes if I say no. She’s terrifying.

She clears her throat and I squeak out a ‘yes.’

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

My stomach drops. I nearly bend over and retch. This can’t be happening. This can’t be my life now.

What was Ithinking?

I wanted adventure? Since when does adventure ever end well for anyone?

Maybe there’s a happy ending in movies and in romance books, but real life is always so different. There’s never a hot guy at the end of it, carrying you into the sunset. In real life, you end up with a weird old man like this guy who kind of looks like the Penguin from some old Batman movie.

As I’m being dragged to the exit by my charming new husband, my mind keeps going back to the man who was roaring in agony as he was thrown out. Who was that guy?

The way his warm hazel eyes felt when they were on me… It felt like the wrong man won the auction. It felt like I belonged to him. That possessive look in his eyes made me feel like I was a part of his territory. Like I was his.

“Where are we going?” I ask as Troy grabs my wrist too hard. It hurts and I try to yank my arm away, but he’s got an iron grip on it.

“I’m taking you home,” he says in a chilling voice that gives me shivers.

His four enormous guards surround us as he pulls me outside through a back door in the large tent.

I can’t go with him. If he takes me away from here, I might never be seen again. I might never get out of his clutches.

He pulls out his phone and I glance at the screen, watching as he texts someone named Sylvio to start the helicopter.

We step outside into the dark night and the cool air hits my face. I was enchanted with the gorgeous Montana mountains and the stunning scenery when we were driving in, but now, surrounded by dark wilderness, I’m scared of all the deadly creatures that may be lurking about.

I should be more scared of the dangerous creature clutching my wrist right now. This dangerous creature who is now my husband.

A helicopter at the end of a row of private jets lights up. The huge rotary blade begins to spin as I’m pulled toward it. It roars so loud that the tiny hairs on the back of my neck rise.

Only… the sound is coming from behind me.

We all turn around with a gasp as a huge bear comes charging out of the darkness, thundering forward on massive paws. Its lip is curled up in a snarl over long gleaming white teeth and its eyes…No way… It has the same possessive hazel eyes as the man in the auction. I’d recognize them anywhere. My whole body reacts to them in the same way it did before—erupting in tingles as I’m drawn to that protective stare.

Troy Novak turns to two of the guards. “Kane. Marcus. The one who brings me the severed head of that Kodiak bear gets paid double. I want to hang it over my fireplace.”

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