Four men had to drag Isabella to the preparation room. It was hard for them to control her. Soon Antonio had enough of her struggling and injected her with a sedative. Her head was getting lighter, and her control over her body started to weakened. She couldn't be sold to another beast to satisfy his needs. But she was smart enough to know there was a reason to sell her. Maybe he wanted to use her to expose the underground activities of the hunters.
Two young women came to take her to the wash up. The room was so simple and plain. The floor was dirty, but the tub looked clean and somehow cozy. They scrubbed her skin, massaged her hair with oils, then dressed her in a white silk dress.
She'd have enjoyed it if it wasn't for these fucked up circumstances. Bella couldn't help but feel disgusted at the thought of those beasts observing her body. She was a natural beauty. Her milky skin with a lovely sunkissed tan contrasted beautifully with her white platinum blonde hair. Delicate freckles lay on her nose and rosy cheeks. Her eyes were a mixture of blues and greens, framed by perfect, long thick lashes. If it weren't for the scars all over her body, she could've been mistaken for a model.
As the women escorted her from the room, Antonio eyed her head to toe. The awe on his face was too obvious, "Damn, Hermosa! Who knew a feisty slayer could look so hot."
Hearing him call her beautiful felt different from the Mexican stranger in the bar. The way Antonio spoke about her made her nauseous. While the stranger in the bar gave her the most beautiful sensation of butterflies in her stomach. As if he could read her thoughts from her expression, he stepped closer and took her face in one of his rough hands, "If it were up to me, I'd wipe that smirk off your face, bitch."
"I dare you to say it when I come for your head. It's forty-eight, darling, and the first head of yours will fall." Isabella flushed him with a deadly grin. She knew exactly what she was saying. She never left a job undone before, and she wasn't going to do this time either.
"What do you mean forty-eight?" He gave her a quick look. "Pfft, you're so helpless that you've become delirious. Come on. It's your turn." He pushed her onto the stage.
She entered the stage, feigning confidence. The presenter babbled something or other to get the audience interested in her.
"Whichever fucker wins the bet over me, you better watch your back when I'm around." She smirked as she scanned the front tables of the theater.
The audience was enthralled by her words. She got everyone's attention, and that pleased the greedy bald-headed presenter. Bummer. "Let's start with three hundred thousand. Anyone bid three hundred and fifty?"
"Four hundred." Said a table in the middle of the room. Vampires. Great.
"Four hundred and fifty." Shouted a table in the back. Demons. She prefers to die than deal with them.
The bidding grew more aggressive until someone interrupted the din with a massive number, "One million." It was the table in the left corner.
A familiar face sat among them. It was the Mexican man from the bar. Her eyes snapped open when she saw him. His eyes met hers, and he grinned at her. The room stirred in silence. It felt like there was nothing but the two of them. The bald man counted, "One million, last call, and sold to the Blood Moon Pack."
The man was a werewolf. Great. Isabella couldn't help but feel uneasy. She'd him under her nose to kill, but she couldn't detect his scent. All the while, she trusted in her abilities. Though, for some reason she didn't understand she felt relieved that he was the one who'd bought her, even though she knew he was no different from all the other men in the room.
She went back to the prep room, feeling dizzy. Her head was killing her, as if a bee were buzzing in it. She leaned against the wall clutching her head in her hands. The sedative she'd been injected with wasn't a normal one.
"Here's the star of the show," Antonio said at the back of her head. Before she could turn to face him, she felt a sharp pain digging into the skin of her waist. He stabbed her with a silver dagger, pinning her against his body and the wall. He whispered in her ear, "Say hello to Rafael for me in hell."
He pulled out the dagger and let the wound seep quietly. She crashed to the floor, unable to move or ask for help. It couldn't be the end. She couldn't die helplessly at a dirty auction backstage floor. She wanted to die in a battle like a hero. The thought of revenge made her blood boil and increased the pain in her chest. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain to stop soon.
"Raf, there she's!" Said a voice in the same room she couldn't make out.
"Who did this to her?!" A familiar voice muttered in rage. Was this the Mexican man she had met? He was the 'Rafael' Antonio had spoken of. That's when it rang her bell. Rafael as in Rafael Valdez. The most powerful mafia leader in LA was a werewolf. However, he was arrested three months ago. She remembered that these mobsters could bribe, kill, and do anything to get what they wanted. Her head was getting lighter with every second pass, and she passed out.
"Now I know why you were late this morning. Damn you, man. You're so lucky. This girl is the definition of beauty. She's too good to be a slayer. I was worried the stitches would leave a scar, but she'd a full body of them. This operation took hours. You know I don't work on humans."
"Valentino Cesare Butera, you better stop ranting and do your job. We need to find out who did this to her as soon as possible." Rafael roared with anger.
"All right. Calm down, I'm doing my best, and Ivan is the cyber guy, not me. You haven't told me how she was. She looks like a wild one."
"Val, we didn't do it. I couldn't even kiss her. She got a call and left me hanging like an idiot. I've never had a woman walk away from me before. She was something. I'd this strange feeling that drew me to her."
"Let me get this straight. You didn't touch the girl, but your scent is all over her body. I could smell it from miles away, and I'm sure everyone in the auction room smelled it. Do you think she could...?" Valentino trailed off when he realized how complicated the conversation was getting.
"Considering the fact that I have covered my scent, there is a possibility that you are right about that. It could be of use to me if I manage to tame her somehow. I think I have something in mind."
Valentino was the beta of the pack. Although he seemed to have a playful side, Rafael had always trusted his judgment.
"Isabella... if you dare lift a finger, I'll tear her body to pieces." She watched as he raped her again and again in a filthy alley. Her cries in pain aroused him. Her vagina was bleeding, and Bella couldn't help but closed her eyes at the gruesome sight. "Open your eyes, or I'll have you next, little Bella," his husky voice fueled the fear in her body.
"Please, let mama go." she pleaded.
The corner of his lips twisted into a devilish smile, "So, you want to take her place, darling?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "Thought so. Your lovely mother didn't have to cheat on me and give birth to you as a prove of her crime. It was so silly of her to think I wouldn't find out." He strangled her mother and choked off her air, thrusting even harder through her cries.
"Stop, please!"
Isabella opened her eyes, confused about where she was. Her memory of the auction and the voices talking in the room before she passed out flashed in her mind.
She rose from her bed. A sensation of gruesome pain made her shudder. She left up the oversized shirt she wore to reveal a big bandage wrapped around her waist. So, it was real. Rafael Valdez had escaped prison and bought her in the underground auction last night. She wondered why he had paid a freaking million dollars for her.
The door to the room swung open, and a familiar man walked in. He made no effort to hide the victorious smile on his face. That's right. He'd won the game of hide and seek she'd started. She hated clingy men so much. She made it clear to him that it was a one-time thing, even if they didn't have the chance to do it that night. His scent was masked. She couldn't detect him at all. This ability takes a lot of practice to master. Most of the alphas she slaughtered weren't skilled enough to do it. "Are you going to talk?" She said impatiently.
"I am enjoying my view. My shirt looks better on you."
His handsome face had some kind of control over her actions. He overwhelmed her. "I would advise you not to test my patience."
His grin widened as he said, "Or what?"
She jumped out of bed, stole the pistol from his pocket, grabbed him by the arm to lift it behind his back, and yanked him against the bed. He eluded her grip, so she kicked him in the side of the knee and pinned him to the bed setting her body on top of him. He was stronger than she thought, just far too reckless. "You better not underestimate me again, Rafael Valdez."
"You have no idea how hot my name sounds when it comes out of your mouth, Bonita." He chuckled, "I am not underestimating you. It took Valentino hours to stitch your wounds. If I end up ripping them, he'll be yelling at me nonstop for the next week."
Without hesitation, he lifted his body with her on his back and turned her toward him. His hand reached for her face and squeezed her cheeks, "I may be gentle now because you're injured, but I bought you for a reason, and once you're healed, you'll fulfill it." He threw her down on the bed and heaved a deep sigh, "Now, let's get down to business. How do you know Antonio Mendez?"
"Oh, no. You don't expect me to tell you that easily, do you? Where's the fun in that?" She shrugged.
"Listen, Bonita. We don't have time for this. He tried to kill you and sent his men to get your body. I've to protect what's mine, and since I bought you, you belong to me. Now tell me, how do you know him?" His expression became deadly serious. There were no more games between them.
She could see how sincere he was. "I was in the process of killing his master. They caught me before I could finish my job." She averted her eyes, ashamed of how naive she was.
"First, it was Salvador Cespedes, and now it's Pedro Mendez," he muttered.
"How do you know Salvador?" She saw him at the auction grinning at her. The demon hadn't forgotten her face even after all these years. She resembled her mother's beauty, so how could he forget her.
"If you stick your nose in my business, it'll only shorten your life." He pulled an envelope from his suit jacket, "I have got an offer for you, Bonita. I already know the history between Salvador and your mother Meredith Foster. I can help you get his head."
She took the contract sheet and scanned it. "And what do you want from me?"
"You're such an intelligent woman. I want you to be my slave until one of us dies."