Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
I recognize her immediately. She’s my mate. The one I’ve been looking for. The one I would kill for.
My bear perks up inside. He recognizes her too.
Her delicious scent cuts through the hundreds of others—perfumes, make-up, shampoos—and fills our lungs with fire. I shiver all over as I stare at her in awe.
She’s brushing her long brown hair while looking in the mirror, completely oblivious that I’m falling in love with her on the spot. I’m already obsessed. I would already kill for her, die for her, do anything for her.
The other girls notice me, but she doesn’t. Some are checking me out, some are looking at me funny, some wearily, but I only have eyes for her. I was born for her. Born for this moment.
I take a step toward my angel when several strong arms wrap around me from behind.
“No!” I roar as the three lion shifters pull me back outside.
My girl turns as I’m being dragged out. Her stunning blue eyes lock on me and I can see the recognition in them. She knows I’m different from all the other men who she’s laid eyes on. I know she can feel it in her heart just like I can.
The moment is over so quickly. The three lion shifters drag me out into the warm evening air and toss me onto the grass. I roll back up with my bear raging inside. He’s desperate to get out. He’s desperate to annihilate anyone who stands in the way of my girl.
I want to let him out, but that’s no way to introduce myself to my mate. She’ll take one look at my furious grizzly tearing through the place and she’ll jump on the next plane out of here. I might never find her again.
Easy, I tell my bear. He doesn’t want to hear it. He wants his mate by his side no matter how many people he has to cut through to get to her.
“Get the fuck back in your house,” shaved head shouts with a warning look.
I’m looking past him at the tent. My mate is in there. I’m stunned to the core. The breathtaking vision of her sitting there brushing her hair is already burned into my brain forever. She’s already taken over every thought. I have to get to her. I have to have her.
Coco St. James comes charging out of the tent with a fierce look in her icy blue eyes. She marches right up to me with her hands balled into fists.
“You, Mr. Hensley, are supposed to be in your house,” she snaps. “You’re breaching the contract.”
“I don’t give a shit about the contract,” I snarl. “My mate is in there. The girl in the pink dress. I want her. Now.”
“Those women are off limits,” she says with her chin in the air. “They are being auctioned off. If you would like to participate as a bidder, we can arrange that, but I must tell you that the starting bid is one million dollars and the price quickly increases from there. Do you have that kind of money on hand?”
My heart is pounding as I stare at her. I can’t outbid these billionaires, but I can’t let them take what’s mine either.
“That’s what I thought,” she says as she glares at me. “Return to your house, Mr. Hensley, if you know what’s good for you. You three, do your fucking jobs. Lions out. Now.”
They all shake violently and then burst into roaring lions. The three of them pace around the tent while glaring at me.
Meanwhile, Coco St. James is standing in the middle of them and not even flinching.
“We had a deal, Mr. Hensley. Mate or not, there will be severe consequences for breaking that deal. This event must go off without a hitch. I run a flawless auction house for the most important people on the planet and not a lovesick bear or a redneck hick with a crush is going to ruin it. Understand?”
I glare at her.
“Do you understand?”
I could let my bear out and he’d unleash hell on these people, but it’s not the smart move. There are dozens of billionaires here with an army of bodyguards—human, shifter, and a couple of aliens from what I can smell. Not to mention, the three lions prowling in front of me. They’re not going to go down without a vicious fight.
My mate would probably be loaded on a plane and escorted out of here before I got close to that tent.
No. I have to be smart. Stealthy. I have to play this right or I might lose her forever.
“Alright,” I growl as I step back toward the house. “You won’t hear from me again.”
She watches with those cold blue eyes as I turn and walk back with my heart thundering in my chest.
This ain’t over.