This is fucking stupid, I told myself for the sixth time as I stood across the street from 34 Blackborne.

I don’t know what I was thinking, leaving the hotel and coming down here. Maybe it was boredom, or maybe it was some rebellious move against my father, or maybe I was just an overly curious guy, but there I was.

Thirty-four Blackborne was a pretty bland-looking townhouse set in the middle of the street. It was obviously expensive, but somehow gave off the impression that no one actually lived there. It looked like it had either been built yesterday, or was professionally cleaned every single day like there was going to be an open house.

Everything was neat, clean and impersonal. There were no plants, the garden was basically nonexistent, the door had no knocker and I didn’t even see a mailbox. And then there was the guy standing on the steps.

He was wearing a thick black coat, black dress pants and black boots, and although he wasn’t that big, looked somehow dangerous. I could tell from his scent that he was a beta, but he was a strong one, and from the way he held his hands in his pockets, I was betting he was armed.

This is fucking stupid! I told myself again. Just turn around and leave!

The snow was still falling, and the town was quiet. We were only a few blocks from the hotel and I could easily get back without my dad ever noticing. But I felt like somehow I’d just tripped over something and fallen into this secret world. Was this guy part of the Illuminati? Was he a mafia goon? What the Hell was going on?

I had to find out.

Summoning all my courage, I stepped across the street and walked confidently toward the house. I could feel the doorman’s eyes on me as I approached, taking the steps slowly and deliberately like I wasn’t the least bit nervous. As I stepped up in front of him, I glanced around, reached into my pocket and produced the card Harvey had given me.

I said nothing, just held my eyes on him as he inspected the card, apparently for authenticity. He flicked it between his fingers, turned it over then looked up at me.

“I don’t know you,” he said. His voice scraped across my bones like a cheese grater. “Who gave this to you?”

“Harvey,” I replied lazily, as though it should have been obvious. He nodded then stuffed the card into his pocket.

“Well, you’re late,” he told me with a look of disgust. “They’ve already started.”

The man reached into his pocket and I heard a click as he pressed something. A buzzer sounded behind the door and I heard the latch snap open from within. It swung open on perfectly oiled hinges and he nodded at me.

“Thanks,” I told him, stepping past him into the house.

The sight that greeted me inside 34 Blackborne was something I hadn’t been prepared for. I’d envisioned a luxurious mob den, with lazy gangsters lounging around on leather sofas with high-priced escorts on their arms. I’d thought maybe I’d walk in on a wild orgy with men in masks, or just an ultra exclusive party and Harvey’s strange behavior had just been a big weird act and this was just a regular get together with Portsmouth’s elite. But what I found inside was a total shock.

A single chandelier hung from the ceiling of the foyer, which was flanked on either side by two doors, both shut, carved from dark walnut, so dark it was almost black. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture on the checkered black and white marble floor, and in front of me stood an omega, barely out of his teens, completely naked with his skin oiled and gleaming beneath the warm light pouring down from above.

“W-welcome, sir,” he stuttered, straightening himself as I stepped into the house. “Can I offer you a refreshment?”

He was holding a tray of drinks in both hands that he raised out toward me as I approached. I could smell the fear on him.

“I’m…fine…” I said slowly as I looked past him at the solid black door he was working. “They’ve…started already?”

“Yes, sir,” he said. “You can go right in.”

Go— fucking—home! I thought, but I felt myself stepping forward. This omega was being held hostage, clearly, and I had to know what was behind those doors.

I stepped past him and his fear filled my nostrils. Before I reached the door, I stopped and turned back.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Sir?”

“What’s your name?” I repeated.

“T—Terrence,” he said softly. I nodded, burning the name into my brain.

“I’ll be back, Terrence,” I told him. Turning back to the door, I took hold of the large gold handle, twisted, and pushed it in.

The light was beyond dim inside. I could barely see as I stepped into the large room, which seemed to have been cordoned off at intervals by standing half walls that looked like they could be moved around if needed.

There were hushed whispers all around me as I took my first steps forward, my heart pounding in my chest.

What the fuck are you doing!? I asked myself over and over as my eyes moved across the grizzly scene.

Behind the first half wall, were two alphas, dressed in black suits, their eyes hidden in shadow, inspecting a completely nude omega who was on a small circular raised podium that came up from the floor. I should have kept moving, but my body stopped listening to me.

One of the men slowly turned, and when his eyes found mine, panic set in. But to my surprise, he simply nodded and turned back to the omega. The poor boy had tears in his eyes and couldn’t have been any older than eighteen.

“How much?” The man who turned to me asked. The other figure replied.

“Seventy thousand,” the man hissed, his voice the sound of a snake slithering over sandpaper. “Certified pure.”

I willed myself forward before I could hear the man’s reply.

As I continued on, I passed more and more omegas on display, with more men inspecting them, and I realized what this was – an auction. An auction where omegas were for sale, being bought and sold by ultra wealthy alphas. I’d heard rumors of stuff like this going on in places like New York, but I never thought these types of things happened here.

As I kept moving, the ages of the omegas seemed to get younger and younger – disgustingly so. Cigar smoke filled the air, along with the scents of wine and designer cologne. Finally, I reached the back wall of the room and found myself face to face with a second door.

Turn back now, I thought. You can still get out of here unseen. Get out of here and call the police.

But what could the police do?

These were shifters. Alpha shifters. They’d tear the humans apart. And not only that, our existence was a secret, and if I called the cops, and somehow it got out that a group of men that could turn into wolves were living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, it would be disaster for all of us.

With a deep breath, I took hold of the doorknob and turned.