Page 105 of Choosing Their Omega

I can’t believe this is my life. I have these wonderful Alphas that adore me, I have this sweet boy who is bonded to me… but I’m also at this fancy place, with these reach people, eating haute cuisine.

The Lily of a few months ago never would’ve imagined that she could’ve had this. I was eating beans and rice every day, struggling to make ends meet in my crumbling apartment. And now I’m here. I’m wearing a beautiful couture dress that had my eyes bugging out when I saw the price tag. I have four mates by my side, and it’s making me feel a bit like Cinderella.

Except when midnight hits, I still get to keep all of it.

“Okay, everyone, thank you so much for coming here!” The emcee for the evening gets up onto the stage at the far end. “Dessert should be coming along shortly…”

The emcee is a comedian, and he warms us up with a little stand-up routine while our entrees are cleared and we’re given dessert. I glance at Knox, and he nods okay when the dessert is set in front of me and I see Ben’s wide eager eyes.

“By the time this whole thing is finished and we get him home any sugar rush will have worn off,” Knox murmurs quietly in my ear so Ben can’t hear.

“I didn’t know comedians did things like this. Is this special?”

“Nah, apparently most comedians make their money doing corporate type stuff like this.” Lawson grins. “Lucky us.”

We finish our dessert and the comedian wraps up. “All right, let’s get started on this auction, then!”

He starts on the various lots, with number one, of course, and working his way up through the numbers. As he reads off the various items and packages that are up for auction, my stomach starts to churn with nerves.

Maybe submitting my own thing for this auction was a bad idea. Everyone’s offering up such wonderful things, I don’t know how my simple little tour around the city could possibly compare.

The closer we get to my number, the more nervous I feel. What if nobody bets on me? What if I have to sit there in embarrassment?

I’ll just have to hope that nobody realizes it’s me, if that’s the case. I don’t need people’s sympathy or pity. Maybe one or two people who are new to town will find it nice, or someone will take pity on me and bid for it. I don’t care if it’s a low number. Of course I’d like to earn as much as possible for the charities represented this evening, but I also just don’t want to be totally humiliated.

I work to keep my breathing slow and even so that my Alphas don’t see how nervous I am when my number is called.

“And this is a very fun and unique opportunity!” Our emcee smiles. “A lovely lady who’s a bit of a bookworm is offering to give a tour around the city to show you all the little independent and secondhand bookstores you’ve probably missed. I know that I’m one of those people that never takes advantage of all his city has to offer. I’m terrible about it. Tourists probably know more about my home than I do! I think this is a great opportunity. So, where shall we start? Five hundred?”

Five hundred seems like a lot, but almost all the bidding has started with that number. These are rich people expected to donate a lot. They spent ten thousand dollars on the hockey sticks that my Alphas signed.

There’s silence for a moment, and I just want to sink into the floor, but then I see the emcee point to someone behind me and say, “Five hundred! Do I hear six hundred—ah! Six hundred!”

To my surprise, a handful of people are bidding on it. The price is going up slowly, in increments of a couple hundred here and there, but then we’re at two thousand. My face heats up again, this time not from embarrassment but pleasure.

Around me, though, the Alphas are shifting. Ben’s dozing in my lap, completely obvious just as Knox predicted, but my Alphas seem restless.

“Two thousand, two thousand, do I hear…”

Cruz’s hand shoots up, his paddle that we’re given to signal our desire to bid raised high. “Three thousand.”

“Three thousand! A big spender over here! Do I hear…”

I stare at Cruz as someone else bids three thousand five hundred. Immediately, Lawson’s paddle shoots up. “Five thousand!”

Oh my god, I mouth at them.

Other people are bidding, their competitive natures sparked, but my Alphas are determined. They keep raising the number, and making not-quite-glares at the other people in the room.

I’m torn between laughter and shock as the price goes up and up for my tour of the city. It seems that people really did want to do it and are also trying to compete against my Alphas, but nobody’s going to beat my men. That’s clear. They’re raising their paddles every time someone even dares, until by the end, everyone gives up.

“And that’s twenty thousand going once… twice… sold, for twenty thousand!” the emcee declares.

My mouth drops open. That’s the most that anyone’s raised for their auction item in a night. It’s my Alphas, which makes me stifle a laugh. They basically paid twenty thousand dollars to have a date with me, when I’d happily give them the little tour I put together for this auction for free.

“I can’t believe you four!” I hiss, careful not to disturb Ben.

“Sorry,” Knox says, clearly not sorry at all.

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