Sent Beast Mate(Beast Mates, #3)(6)

“What kind of information?”

“Anything of value.”

Grrr. “How would I give you information? I can’t imagine they’d let me scribble up some notes, then gimme a phone to use. Oh, and by the way, I don’t even have your number.”

“I have ways of contacting you.”

Of course he did. “And you’ll release everyone? Swear on God,” I said.

“I swear.”

I went back and waited my turn.

Mayhem looked like an inspiration for the male sculpture standing in the corner of the hall. With an elbow propped on the recliner’s arm and one booted leg over the other armrest swinging to the low music in the background, he looked relaxed, as if he were chilling out at the beach. Because of the way he sat, sprawled and comfortable, I clearly saw the size of his thigh through the gap his long brown leather…wait a minute. A kilt? Oh sweet baby Jesus, he wore a kilt.

I’d never seen a man in a kilt before. His thighs…well, damn, they looked strong and hairless. In fact, he didn’t seem to have any hair on his body. All clean-shaven and boyish looking, Mayhem the Barbarian looked like an angel sent to tempt us. I expected a bearded, hairy, unkempt beast with buck teeth. Nope. His long blond mane of hair fell over his hard chest and obscured his face while his gaze fixed on the paperwork in his hand.

A trumpet blared.

Startled, the girls in front of me screeched. My eardrums might just blow.

“Forward!” Lore shouted.

I guessed they wanted us closer to Mayhem’s royal ass, and so we advanced like good cows. Lore dropped more files in Mayhem’s lap. Mayhem didn’t lift his gaze from the one he’d been perusing, but said, “Next auction, can we lose the trumpet for good?”

Lore snorted. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Mayhem sighed and looked up at us. More than one girl whimpered when his orange eyes swept across the room. In appearance, the beasts were humanoid, but different enough from us to be frightening. The bridge of the nose was wide, setting their large eyes farther apart than ours. Ridges marred their foreheads. Their jaws looked stronger, harder, with prominent bones on the bottom jaw. Also, the powerful jaw protruded to accommodate their large teeth. The beasts were hairy, predatory looking, and thus frightening.

Never in a million years had I expected any one of the beasts to look like this. Never. Oh, Mayhem had the wide nose, the larger than was necessary eyes, the funny, bone-rigged forehead, and prominent jawbones but somehow, his facial features, when put together…well, I’d seen one or two beasts here and there and found them ugly. This male was not ugly. On the contrary, he was…pretty. Mentally, I chastised myself, then focused on what needed to be done.

His pretty-boy looks couldn’t sway me. Everyone would be released, and we’d travel to the happy place, wherever that might be.

I ground my teeth as Mayhem called the first girl, hoping like hell I quick-stepped like her as she climbed the steps. I was afraid my feet would fold or even worse, they’d spin me around in an attempt to get away from here.

“Marjory,” Mayhem said with the enthusiasm of a hibernating bear. My stupid loins took notice of his baritone voice. I ignored my loins as he continued, “Turn away from me, face the crowd, and leave your clothes on the floor.” I thought he looked relaxed, but his tone sounded as if he was bored. After Marjory turned and stripped, he ordered her to prance back and forth on the stage. Okay, so maybe we weren’t cows anymore, more like prancing ponies. Marjory even lifted her knees and stomped with a big grin on her face.

“Thank you,” Mayhem said. “You may stand in place now.”

“Yes, Master Mayhem.”

Huh? I looked around the room to see if anyone found that address a bit odd, but nobody blinked an eye, so I kept it to myself. I guess I’d fallen behind on the latest news where we should call the beasts masters. Hell, no.

“It says here you’re an alcoholic.” He pointed to her paperwork.

“Yes.”

“How much have you had to drink tonight?”

“Oh, not too much.”

Mayhem bit his bottom lip and tilted his head. “You’ve listed yourself as the seller.”

“Sure did. Alpha Beast raided our community nearby. No community in New City anymore, and my son had left for Florida.”

“And you have nowhere else to go.”

“I got the street and my bottle.”

“Mm-hm. Bids,” he said.

Beasts shouted, and Marjory was sold for twelve hundred and fifty dollars.

“Congratulations, Harrison. She’s yours.”

Harrison beast man approached the stage and put leather cuffs on Marjorie’s wrists. Marjory then dropped to her knees, kissed his boots, and promised she’d serve Master Harrison best. What mastery? What kind of twilight zone had I entered? These aliens must’ve altered something. Were all these people in the zone, and I was the only sane human left? No, no, everyone looked normal.