Chapter Forty-Five: Briar

Briar sat on the edge of the bed and took one long, slow breath after another. She had done it. She’d signed the contract.

She wasn’t sure what she had expected when she’d begun to read through it, but her mind had gone spiraling in so many different directions that she’d had a hard time focusing on the words in front of her. Still, she’d managed to make out that the terms were what she had agreed to with Mr. Rose during their meeting earlier. He was promising to get her sister and mother out of that Goddess-forsaken pack within a week following the close of her auction.

“The auction is tonight?” Her head jerked up when she read the date, thinking that there had to be a mistake. “Or is that some sort of typo?”

“Yes, it is on the schedule for tonight. We have a large clientele base that knows that these sorts of things are often announced last minute. Honestly, I think that that’s part of the appeal for some of the men. Not only is it hard to get on the list to begin with, but once you’re on it there’s a real chance that you might miss the announcement, since we often give them less than six hours of notice. It keeps them on their toes, anticipating the text or call or email, depending on what they’ve signed up for, but not knowing it might come.”

Briar sucked in a slow breath, overwhelmed at the idea that not only was she going to do this, but that it was going to happen so very soon.

“I’ve also learned, over the years, that it’s better this way. You wouldn’t want to spend the next week fretting over what this is going to be like. You might lose your courage. And I’ll give you my word, once you’ve held up your end of the bargain I’ll send a team to move you sister and mother within twenty-four hours. I’ve spoken to a pack leader in Northern California and he’s already said that he’ll accept them into his pack based on my recommendation.”

If Briar had begun to doubt what she was doing, that little news about her sister and mother being moved so quickly renewed her courage. She’d leaned forward and signed her name, holding her breath until she’d finished, before setting the pen back down on the table.

“Here.” Mr. Rose leaned across the table, handing her a sharp, thin blade. “Now you just need to prick your finger and squeeze a drop of blood onto the document, near your signature. Then it will be binding.”

Reaching for the knife, Briar sucked in another breath. She remembered that he’d said something earlier about a witch making sure that the contract was unbreakable, but actually signing it in blood brought into focus how serious this man was that there was no way out of this contract once she’d signed it. Closing her eyes for a moment, Briar pictured her mother and sister in her mind’s eye before lightly brushing her finger across the razor sharp tip of the blade.

It was so sharp she hardly felt it, and for a moment she thought that she’d somehow missed her finger tip, although she knew that that wasn’t right.

“Press your finger down, on the paper, now.” Mr. Rose’s voice was firm and Briar automatically did as he’d commanded, surprised to feel the warm wetness of blood beneath her skin. When she pulled her hand back, Briar saw the bloody outline of her fingerprint where she’d touched the paper.

“There.” She pushed the paper back across the table towards him, unnerved when he glanced at it before looking up at her with a huge smile.

“Good. Good. Brielle had to go deal with something, but Misty will take you to a room we have prepared so that you can get ready.” Briar nodded, feeling oddly numb as she watched the skin on her finger begin to heal.

All the nutritious food she’d been eating was obviously making her stronger. Never in her life had she healed so quickly, or even imagined that her body was capable of healing like this. She’d always thought it came from being an Omega, that it was just another way that she was weak, when in fact, it seemed that her body just hadn’t been able to heal itself while she was so malnourished.

Briar followed behind the blonde woman who had appeared at Mr. Rose’s door moments after he’d said her name, hardly taking in her luxurious surroundings. There was nothing like this where she was from. Even the Alpha’s house, which she cleaned a few times when the woman who normally had the task was sick, didn’t hold a candle to the floor in Mr. Rose’s building that Misty was guiding her through.

“Here you are.” The woman said, smiling brightly at Briar, as her eyes swept over the younger woman. Briar couldn’t help but feel that she was being evaluated, but Misty’s expression didn’t change as she pushed open the door that they’d come to, her smile still glued in place as she gestured for Briar to walk into the large, bright space.

“This will be your room until it’s time for the auction. There’s a rack of dresses that Brielle approved, and you can select the one that you’d like to wear. You have time to take a nice long bath if you’d like, and a team will be here in around an hour to deal with waxing and makeup and to style your hair.”

Briar nodded, her eyes wide, completely at a loss for words.

“Well, if you need anything, pick up the phone and dial 8. That will connect you to the line in the office and either I’ll be there or Brielle will be there if you need us.”

“Thank you.” Briar managed to force out the words and the woman nodded before turning and walking out of the room, leaving Briar alone with her thoughts and a decision to make about what she was going to wear to the auction that hardly seemed real.

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An hour later Briar had just finished drying off her body and she was standing, wrapped in a towel staring at the large rack of dresses that had been left for her to choose from, when she heard a knock at the door. Before she could even move to open it, the door swung inward, revealing two women and a man who were just barely visible behind the large cart that one of them was pushing into the room.

“Oh she’s perfect!” Briar pulled the towel more tightly around her body as the man who had just spoken stepped to the side so that he could get a better look at her. “They are going to go crazy over you tonight, Beauty.” The tall man who had spoken had white blond hair and a wide smile as his appraising gaze took her in with a smile.

“You’re scaring her, Stephen. Look at the poor thing. She’s terrified. And you didn’t even wait for her to answer the door. You just came bursting in here, as if you own the place.” The woman who spoke was the oldest of the trio. She reminded Briar vaguely of her mother, except with her dark hair bleached a bright golden blonde.

“It’s fine,” Briar managed in a soft voice.

“Hudson was right. She’s perfect.” The younger of the two women crossed the room, her eyes sweeping over Briar as she nodded approvingly. “They’re going to go crazy over you at the Lair.”

“You two. I swear. You haven’t even introduced yourself.” The older of the two women spoke again. “Sweetie, I’m Margot. I’m an esthetician, and I’m here to help get you waxed and ready for your big night. And this is Jasmine. She’ll do your makeup and nails. And Stephen is in charge of hair. You’ll see us all regularly now that you’re working at The Dragon’s Lair.”

Briar nodded, trying not to let how overwhelmed she felt show on her face. The three of them appearing to help her get ready made it perfectly clear how close she was to actually doing the thing she’d only just come to terms with doing.

“Come with me and we’ll get the most uncomfortable part of this whole thing out of the way. Then I’ll help these two get you ready. Have you decided on a dress yet?”

“Not yet. They’re all beautiful.” Briar glanced back across the room at the rack of dresses she’d been sifting through before the group arrived.

“I strongly suggest you go with white. It’ll look beautiful with your complexion and honestly I’m surprised Hudson let’s the girls going to auction wear anything else. Girls who wear white usually make about 20% more than girls who wear any other color. I think it’s because it’s a reminder of how you’re supposed to be pure and inno-”

“That’s enough Stephen.” Margot shook her head, but did walk over to the dresses, flipping through them so quickly that Briar didn’t know how she could even get a good look at them before she’d moved on to the next dress. “But he’s right. You’ll probably make more if you wear white. While it probably seems odd, Mr. Rose has practically made making money in these auctions into a science. There’s some math guy that works for him that keeps track of so many different things that affect how much you girls make. And he figures out how to help you, and as a result Rose Industries makes more money.”

Briar nodded numbly before finally managing to find her voice.

“Why don’t you three decide on the dress then. Since you probably have a good idea of what will go over well. It doesn’t really matter to me what I wear.” Margot frowned at the sadness in Briar’s tone as she reached up and ran a hand down one of the shimmering gowns.

“Then let’s get you ready, my Dear. You have a big night tonight and we’ll do everything we can to make sure that you’re ready for it.”