Saving Briar

“What in the actual fuck. I need in. I need to be able to bid.” Oaklyn had been out, doing some lite recon, trying to make sure that they were really free and clear to take Briar and leave, when she had run into Brielle. The She-Wolf had acted as if they were still fast friends, although if she was honest, Oaklyn wanted absolutely nothing to do with the other woman.

“You know it isn’t anything personal,” Brielle had assured her, obviously noticing the change in the way Oaklyn was interacting with her, even though she tried to hide it. “Briar obviously wasn’t happy there at the cabin, and she needed to be safely away from her pack. I was just trying to help her. And yes, I knew we’d both earn some cash in doing what was best for her. But that was just a bonus.”

“How generous of you.” Oaklyn knew she was failing entirely to hide what she was feeling, but Brielle didn’t seem to notice.

“I know, right? But all’s well that ends well. Looks like your friend gets his girl, which means she’s safe and sound. And we signed a new girl who is going to be auctioned off tonight in a one of a kind event. Hudson is over the moon about the idea.”

“What’s the one of a kind event?” Oaklyn didn’t have to pretend to be interested, because she was. This was exactly what she wanted to know.

“He’s auctioning this new girl off as a shifter who has never shifted before. She’ll go home with whoever buys her and he can have her in human form until she shifts, and then he can have her for twenty-four hours after her first shift. Basically he’ll get to fuck her in her shifted form before anyone else gets too.”

“How will that work?” Oaklyn’s smooth forehead wrinkled, and she shook her head. “I mean, few species are compatible when they’re shifted. A dragon can’t fuck a deer shifter when they’re both shifted.”

“That’s the genius of Hudson’s plan. He’s closing the bidding to everyone but Wolf Shifters. Word has already gone out and we’ve already heard back from a dozen men. All of them are high ranking wolves. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned working with Hudson, it’s the more limited the supply of something is, the more people are willing to spend for it. By severely limiting both who can bid and saying this is a one time thing, since an adult shifter who has never shifted is so rare, we’re driving this thing up about as high as it can go. Hudson thinks it might get into the seven figures.”

So that was the news that Oaklyn had returned to the suite with. She hadn’t thought Theon was really listening. He had been laying on a couch on the far side of the suite, and while Ted was taking good care of him, Oaklyn had begun to wonder if he would be one of the werewolves who didn’t survive the rejection process. It wasn’t exactly something that happened all that often, but that was because wolves very rarely rejected their mates.

As Oaklyn had explained to Ted what was happening in a low voice, Theon had surprised the both of them by coming to life. He’d demanded Oaklyn tell them exactly what was going on, starting at the beginning. She had done so, simply because she was relieved he was showing an interest in something other than the pain he felt from giving up Briar.

Oaklyn had texted Brielle after explaining the situation to Theon and Ted, and she had agreed to let Theon be part of the auction. He was, after all, an Alpha. And his bank account wasn’t quite in the seven figures, but he had access to more than enough money to win a good portion of the auctions that had gone on in the last year.

“You understand that if you win her, it won’t be as if she’s yours for good. You’ll have her for a couple of weeks to maybe a month tops, depending on how long it takes for the drugs that have been suppressing her shift to get out of her system. She’ll still be under contract and she’ll still have to come back after it happens.”

They were sitting side by side at the computer when Oaklyn said the words. She was afraid what would happen to Theon if he lost the auction, but she was almost more afraid of what would happen to him if he won, spent more time with Harlow, and then had to give her up again.

“I understand how the auctions work.” He ground out, running a hand roughly through his hair. “And no, I don’t like it at all. But it’s the best that I can do. If I can give her two less weeks here, doing the work that she’s agreed to to save the mate that I pushed away, I’ll do it. I’ll spare her whatever I can. And I especially want to spare her having to have sex during her first shift. I mean, who even wants that? She’ll be in excruciating pain during that shift and it’s not like she’ll jump up once it’s done and be in the mood.”

“You really care about her?” Oaklyn said the words because she felt like she needed to say something and she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? As you said, either way, I have to give her up. But if I can win, I’ll spend those two weeks convincing her that no matter what she has to do while we’re apart, I have every intention of waiting for her. If she’ll have me when her time here is done, I’ll be there, ready to help her move on and pick up the pieces of the life she’s being forced to leave behind.”

Oaklyn had nodded, now at a complete loss for words, before slipping away. Glancing back she saw him staring at the computer screen, watching the timer count down the seconds until the auction began. Shaking her head she turned away, trying to give Theon space. But she couldn’t help but wonder if there was any way for the man sitting, staring blankly at the screen, to come out of this in one piece.

--------

“Fuck.”

If Oaklyn hadn’t stepped forward and closed the laptop, slipping it off the counter and back into its bag, she was fairly certain it would have gone flying across the room. She had managed to give Theon space, up until the moment when the first swear word left his lips. She wasn’t close enough to the computer to see how the auction had gone, but she knew by his reaction that he hadn’t won.

“Could you see who won?” Oaklyn asked the question in a quiet voice, taking a cautious step towards the upset Alpha.

“No. Everyone had usernames. The winner was FutureAlpha907.”

“Oh.” Oaklyn couldn’t think of a single thing to say to comfort Theon.

“Now what?” A part of Oaklyn felt like she shouldn’t care what happened to Theon. He wasn’t her problem. Sure, he’d come along on this adventure to save Briar, but he’d also been the one that had set things in motion that ultimately resulted in her needing to be saved. Then again, if he hadn’t made decisions that had practically destroyed his own life, Torin would never have met the woman that Oaklyn was certain would give him a second chance at life, and love, and all the things that he believed had been snatched away on the day that Aria had been so brutally murdered.

Besides, Oaklyn knew what it felt like to make one bad choice and have it haunt you for the rest of your life. She understood at a level that was bone deep that there were moments in your life when you said a word, or took one path, and afterwards there was no going back and undoing what you had done.

“I don’t know. I can’t force this. I can’t go and rescue Harlow, when doing so would break the agreement that she’s made with Mr. Rose, or whatever his name is, which would hurt her more than she’s already been hurt.”

“Did you hurt Harlow?” Oaklyn asked the question quietly. If he said yes it would be easier to stomp out the sympathy that she couldn’t help but feeling for the broken, beaten down man. But when he shook his head, Oaklyn realized that that easy out had been taken from her.

“Never. I would never hurt Harlow. She helped me begin to come to my senses. I thought that she would be safe back home, while I came here with Torin to attempt to right the things that I had done wrong. But everything is so much more fucked up than I imagined.”

“Right now I’m afraid that the only thing I can do is tell her that I’ll wait for her to get through this, if she still wants me.”

Oaklyn nodded, hating the idea, but not sure what else they could do to help the woman who had sacrificed herself, so that Briar could go free. It didn’t seem fair. Oaklyn didn’t think that Theon necessarily deserved any sort of happy ending, but she also definitely didn’t believe that Briar’s sister deserved a minute of what she was going to have to endure over the course of the next twelve months.

Of course, she wasn’t about to say that to Theon. She had a feeling he already knew. And while he wouldn’t be there to see what Harlow was going through,Oaklyn had a feeling that he was going to pay for what he had done every day that she was gone, and then again every moment after she returned, if he ever was even able to bring her back home.