Ethan grabbed himself around the middle, as if to keep from flying apart. Black dots began to swarm in front of his eyes. He bit down on his lip hard, tasting blood in his mouth. The pain helped him focus again on the poisonous words spewing from the speaker.

“Won’t you be sorry to see him go ?” The question seemed to come from Jagger. Were they all discussing him then? Laughing at how worthless he was. A stupid omega, only fit to sell to the highest bidder.

“Not really,” Konnor replied . “I mean, sure I’m a little attached to him, but I’ll get over that. After all, he’s a lot of work.No, he’s just become a great deal of trouble, and someone else could give him a better home. I’ll sell him and get what I can for him.”

Ethan slammed his fist into his mouth, biting down hard as icy, black self-loathing filled his heart, crowding out all the other emotions. So he’d never really cared for him at all. It had all been lies. ‘Trust me,’ Konnor had told him. ‘I’ll take care of you.’

Ethan should have killed himself like he wanted to that first day. For some time now, there had been no mention ofEthan’s offer to act as Konnor’s slave. Konnor had been treating him more like a mate, even though most of what they did in the bedroom was rough and hot. He’d loved it, though, and his submission in the bedroom was exactly what he wanted. He’d begun to think that Konnor really cared for him.

His ridiculous fantasies of a life as an alpha’s mate se emed to rise up and mock him. Was that what was really behind all the Dominance and submission play with Konnor? That must be it. How could an omega ever be good enough for any self-respecting Lycan, let alone an important alpha like Konnor Balenescu?

He thought about how tenderly Konnor made love to him each night after their play, how he kissed him like he couldn’t get enough of him. Yeah, right. From what he just heard, Konnor had more than enough of him. Stupid, worthless Ethan. Only a burden. What was it he said? A great deal of trouble. Just like today. Konnor had to cut short his ride on his vetami to bring Ethan back home because he got motion sickness.

A stab of pain jolted his stomach like the time he was in the orphanage, and they gave him spoiled milk. He’d known it was spoiled—it smelled and tasted awful, but he’d been so hungry, so anxious for somethingto fill the void, he’d taken the first thing he was offered. Latched onto it and gulped it down, not caring that it might ultimately sicken or even kill him.

Still holding himself around the waist, he eased the door open quietly and carefully slipped down the hall. There was a back exit, so it took only minutes to make his escape. He ran outside blindly, not caring where he went or what happened to him. He only wanted to get away to clear his head. He ran behind the house and down toward the city center, only a few blocks away, not really caring or even noticing which direction he was moving in.

Konnor had told him these streets were dangerous, because of the taverns. There weren’t a great deal of visitors to Lycanus 2, but they did have a few traders and businessmen coming in and out of the city. Some of these men were Voyagers, not known for their overly civilized demeanors. That must have been why Konnor had warned him about walking alone in the area, because naturally, he wanted to safeguard his property. After all, he was planning on the council selling him to the highest bidder and he would get a nice percentage for his training efforts. He said he needed the money. Another sob racked his body, and he ran blindly out into the street.

A strong hand grabbed his arm and pulled him back, just as a jeep whizzed past on its huge tires, barely missing him. Ethan looked up dazedly into a pair of black eyes. “Look out there, pretty boy, you were about to have an accident.” The man peered down into his face, his bushy black beard bristling. “Are you Lycan?”

Ethan gazed back at him for only a moment before he closed his eyes in misery, nodding his head. “I’m an omega,” he said softly, sagging in the man’s arms. He wasn’t sure why he was telling him, other than the fact it was uppermost in his mind. He had to face what he was now, with no more pretense.

The man hissed in a breath. “A Lycan omega?” He glanced around uneasily. “Where’s your master?”

Ethan shook his head. “I don’t have one. I don’t belong to anyone.”

The man with the beard smiled, and fastened the hand on his arm more tightly. “You do now, boy. You do now! Do you have any idea how much I can get for you? ”He put his hand on Ethan’s hip and drew him in closer. Ethan could smell the strong Lycan whiskey on his breath. “What’s your name, pretty thing? Or maybe I should just call you Blondie.”

A strange, deep voice sounded behind the man who was holding him. “Over my dead body, you son of a bitch!”

Ethan looked over the man’s shoulder to see Konnor coming at them, already half shifted, his head changing into a Lycan wolf head, and his fangs and claws extending. The bearded man holding him, his face a mask of terror, shoved him away as hard as he could, right into Konnor’s arms. Konnor gave a terrifying growl and pushed Ethan down on the ground behind him, his claws biting into Ethan’s shoulders. Once he had Ethan safely on the ground, he whirled back around to go after the trader, who was running at full tilt down the street, and only the arrival of Nikolai on the scene prevented him from catching up to him and leaping on the man, tearing him apart. Nikolai did the only thing he could do to stop him. He tackled Konnor to the ground and sat on him until Konnor calmed down enough to shift back.

When Konnor was finally back to himself, he looked up at Nikolai. “Get off me, you big bastard.”

Nikolai laughed and stood up, offering Konnor his hand. “Sorry, cousin, but Lucas doesn’t like it when we kill our visitors. I was only saving you from filling out all kinds of paperwork.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Konnor grumbled and turned a furious gaze on his mate. Ethan was still sitting on the ground where Konnor had put him and watching in fascination. “You,” Konnor said, pointing at him. “Have some explaining to do.” He jerked Ethan to his feet and held him at arm’s length, looking him up and down. “Did he hurt you? If he did, I’ll…”

“N-No…” Ethan said in a shaky voice. “He didn’t hurt me. I’m fine.”

“What in the hell are you doing out here? Why did you leave the house? If I hadn’t come to check on you when I did and found you gone…” He shook Ethan hard. “What if he’d hurt you? Or tried to steal you away?”

“Then you’d have lost your investment, I guess,” Ethan said in a small voice.

“My investment? What in the fuck are you talking about?”

“When you sell me at auction on Lycanus 2. I heard you talking about it when I woke up.”

“When I…” Konnor looked confused at first and then he shook his head in disbelief. “Oh, for the gods’ sake.” He took Ethan’s wrist tightly in his hand and pulled him along the street behind him. “I’m not going to discuss my personal business in the streets for everyone to hear. I’ll talk to you when I get you home,” he said gruffly, over his shoulder.

When they reached the house, Konnor took Ethan directly to their bedroom, pushed him in and locked the door behind him. Ethan could hear the voices of Nikolai and Jagger outside in the hallway for a while, but they gradually faded, and he heard the front door close. Everything was so quiet after that, he figured they had left, and Konnor was too angry to come and speak with him. At least thirty minutes passed before the door opened and Konnor stepped inside. He leaned back against the closed door and stared at Ethan, saying nothing for so long that Ethan got fidgety and he spoke, even though he’d promised himself he wouldn’t be the one to say anything first.

“Well, are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” Ethan asked, irritation evident in his voice.

“You don’t really want to smart off to me right now, Ethan. I’m trying to be calm.”

“Why, or you might beat me? Isn’t that what you like to do? Why deny yourself the pleasure? What do my feelings mean anyway? I’m just a slave.”

“Ethan, Nikolai warned me not to discipline you while I’m so angry, but you’re making it very hard. You remember what I told you I’d do to you if you ever ran away from me again?”

“S-Spank me?” His voice shook a little, but he squared his shoulders, stood up and leaned over the bed. “Well, go ahead. I’m not afraid of you.”

“Oh really?” Konnor said, walking slowly toward him. He took hold of the waistband of Ethan’s pants and pulled them down to his knees in one rough motion. He put a hand on the curve of Ethan’s hip and let his fingers trail over his ass gently. “Anything you’d like to say, Ethan?”

“No. Just do it.”

A hard slap landed on his ass cheek and Ethan winced, but stood still. “One more chance. Tell me why you ran away from me again.”

“No.” Another hard slap came down on his bottom, and Ethan let out a single sob.

“Oh, damn it!” Konnor pulled him around to face him. “Stop fucking around, Blondie. I want to know what’s going on with you, and if you don’t tell me, I swear I’ll…”

“Beat me? Sell me at auction?”

“That’s the second time you said that. What is going on in that head of yours?”

Ethan cast a hurt gaze up to him. “Why didn’t you just tell me I wasn’t really your mate? Why did you have to lie about it?”

“Not my mate? What do you mean?”

“Oh, stop pretending, Konnor. I overheard you talking with Nikolai and Jagger while you thought I was asleep. I heard you tell them how you planned to sell me at the slave auction.”

A light seemed to dawn on Konnor’s face. “Not you, damn it. I was talking about selling the vetami. There are auctions for livestock on Lycanus 2 every month, and I decided to sell the vetami. No sense in keeping him if you get sick when you ride. I’m not home enough to make it worth the money to stable him anyway. He’s an expensive luxury I don’t need, especially if I can’t enjoy riding him with you.”