Текст книги "Heat for sale"

Автор книги: Ursa Dox

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HEAT FOR SALE

by

BLAKE MORENO

An Original Publication from Dark Ink Heat for Sale

Written by Blake Moreno

Cover by Dar Albert

Formatted by BB eBooks

Copyright © 2018 by Dark Ink

All rights reserved.

This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or people, living or dead, is strictly coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written consent from the author.

Kindle Edition

First Digital Edition, 2018

ISBN 978-1-626227-79-8

About the Author

Blake Moreno, an alternate pen name of the author Leta Blake, explores the darker side of erotic romance. As Moreno, the author embraces a quest for intensity and deep emotion. Don’t fear the dark.

Discover more about Blake on Facebook.

Other Books by Blake Moreno

The Difference Between

Written as Leta Blake

The River Leith

Smoky Mountain Dreams

Angel Undone

Heat of Love Omegaverse Series

Slow Heat

’90s Coming of Age Series

Pictures of You

You Are Not Me

The Training Season Series

Training Season

Training Complex

Co-Authored with Indra Vaughn

Vespertine

Co-Authored with Alice Griffiths

The Wake Up Married serial

Gay Fairy Tales

Co-Authored with Keira Andrews

Flight

Levity

Rise

Free Read

Stalking Dreams

Discover more about the author online:

Blake Moreno

Leta Blake

Gay Romance Newsletter

Leta’s newsletter will keep you up to date on her latest releases and news from the world of M/M romance. Join the mailing list today and you’re automatically entered into future giveaways. Click here to sign up!

Leta Blake on Patreon

Become part of Leta Blake’s Patreon community in order to access exclusive content, deleted scenes, extras, bonus stories, rewards, prizes, interviews, and more. Click to find out more!

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the following people:

B & C for being my everythings. Mom & Dad without whom I couldn’t follow my passion for writing. Thanks to all the wonderful members of my Patreon who inspire, support, and advise me, especially Sadie Sheffield.

Thank you to Einat and Neta for beta reading and their excellent suggestions.

Thanks to Amanda Jean for the editing work and to DJ Jamison for proofing.

Thank you to Daphne du Maurier for the inspiration. Thank you to my sister-in-law Cindy for additional inspiration via a passing comment one day.

And, most especially, thank you to all my readers who always make the blood, sweat, and tears of writing worthwhile.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

About the Author

Other Books by Blake Moreno

Gay Romance Newsletter

Leta Blake on Patreon

Acknowledgments

About the Book

Dedication

Part One: Heat

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Part Two: Pregnancy

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Part Three: Birth and Afterbirth

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

Letter from Blake Moreno

About the Author

Other Books by Blake Moreno

Gay Romance Newsletter

Leta Blake on Patreon

In a world where omegas sell their heats for profit, Adrien is a university student in need of funding. With no family to fall back on, he reluctantly allows the university’s matcher to offer his virgin heat for auction online.

Anxious, but aware this is the reality of life for all omegas, Adrien hopes whoever wins his heat will be kind.

Heath—a wealthy, older alpha—is rocked by the young man’s resemblance to his dead lover, Nathan. When Heath discovers Adrien is Nathan’s lost son from his first heat years before they met, he becomes obsessed with the idea of reclaiming a piece of Nathan.

Heath buys Adrien’s heat with only one motivation: to impregnate Adrien, claim the child, and move on. But their undeniable passion shocks him. Adrien doesn’t know what to make of the handsome, mysterious stranger he’s pledged his body to, but he’s soon swept away in the heat of the moment and surrenders to Heath entirely.

Once Adrien is pregnant, Heath secrets him away to his immense and secluded home. As the birth draws near, Heath grows to love Adrien for the man he is, not just for his connection to Nathan. Unaware of Heath’s past with his omega parent and coming to depend on him heart and soul, Adrien begins to fall as well.

But as their love blossoms, Nathan’s shadow looms. Can Heath keep his new love and the child they’ve made together once Adrien discovers his secrets?

Heat for Sale is a stand-alone m/m romance by Blake Moreno, a pen name of author Leta Blake. Infused with a Rebecca-style secret, it features a well-realized omegaverse, an age-gap, dominance and submission, heats, knotting, and scorching sex scenes.

For Rebecca

PART ONE

Heat

Chapter One

ADRIEN PACED BY the window of his dorm room with his cell phone pressed to his ear. He’d known it was coming. Every omega did, but somehow between his day-to-day studies and his research into Hontu tribal materials, he’d managed to forget about it most of the time. But Ron Finch, his university’s professional matcher, had removed any ambiguity about the matter. With a firm and undeniable voice, he’d made it quite clear: the time had come for Adrien to sell his first heat.

All omegas faced this moment, but most of them had family to rely on to help them make a good choice. For better or for worse, Adrien was alone in the world, so the decision of how to proceed with regards to his heat was entirely up to him.

“Review the options again?” Sweat pooled in the small of his back, despite the room’s roaring air conditioner. Adrien wiped at his face, finding his upper lip and forehead damp.

“The first option, and the most popular by far, is to have a family member arrange for the purchase of your first heat by some well-to-do friend or business associate. Since your father, God rest his soul, has passed on to the next world, and you don’t know the whereabouts of the omega who birthed you, the duty could reasonably fall to an uncle or brother.”

“No,” Adrien gritted out, his glasses slipping down a bit on his nose. “I have no family.”

“In that case, the second option is to allow me, as matcher of the university, to see if there are any alphas amongst the alumni who’d like to purchase your heat outright. Obviously, the university takes a small percentage of the price as a fee for service rendered. I admit, though, Adrien, given your financial situation, the third option might be the best one for you.

It’s guaranteed to generate the greatest profit for your valuable and once-in-a-lifetime first heat.”

“And what’s that entail?” He already knew, but he needed to hear it again to make it real.

“An online public auction of the heat. Ninety percent of the proceeds go to you and ten percent go to the university for the trouble. If you want, we could offer an attempt at breeding you at a premium. That will bring in the highest possible bids. Obviously, there are alumni of the university who’ll pay a tidy sum when offered a heat purchase directly, but if you give them an omega to bid on? Especially one as handsome as you? Well, they’ll bankrupt themselves in a frenzy of competition for the right to claim your first heat.

And, if you’re willing, they’ll shell out even more for a chance at breeding you.”

Adrien ran a hand over the flat, toned stomach beneath his soft sweater.

He cleared his throat, words stuck for a moment, until he finally said, “I’m not sure I’m ready to try for a pregnancy.”

“Understandable. But you have to also consider your finances. Certainly you can sell future heats and breeding attempts, but none will go for so high a price as a first heat and first breeding combined. You know how much alphas like to stake their claims—even if it is only for a single season.”

Adrien closed his eyes. He’d face up to ten such ‘seasons’ in his life. No omega had been known to go into heat more than ten times, and most averaged only five, but each successive season was less fertile than the last and brought in less money. Assuming you didn’t fall in love with an alpha and marry him. Then one man handled all an omega’s seasons and became financially responsible for his well-being for life. Such pairings were common but not expected.

“And, as you know, unless you fall for one another, which is highly unlikely, any child you bear is the concern of the alpha. You wouldn’t be required to participate in its life at all. The wee thing would be immediately transferred to the alpha’s care after a period of chestfeeding and then weaning.”

“That’s still a large portion of my life. Four months of pregnancy followed by a year of chestfeeding, at a minimum. The interruption to my college career would be a strain.” To put it mildly. He’d only just begun to really make headway understanding the connection between Hontu woven fabric and their spiritual life.

“College can wait,” Mr. Finch said. “I see in your files your goal is to be named a certified art history professor. For you, an omega, to have that chance the government demands a large fee. According to your university

accounts, you’re barely able to afford another year of education, and I’m not even sure if you can achieve enough funds to reach your goal. Even by selling the breeding along with the heat.”

Adrien’s stomach hurt.

“But, if you truly want to aim for such a lofty future career, then an online, public auction is definitely the only chance you’ve got.”

“Do I have to decide now? About the breeding, I mean?”

“So it’ll be the auction for sure?”

“Yes, as you point out, I have no other choice financially.”

Mr. Finch made a happy sound. “Excellent. We can always get the auction going with just the first heat on offer. Once the pot is bubbling with bids, we can sweeten it by offering the breeding as an add-on. It always creates a frenzy to drop the breeding offer mid-auction. Drives the alphas wild.”

Adrien’s head swam. He sat down on the hard single bed he’d slept on for the last four years of studies. “What do I have to do? What’s the next step?”

“You’ll come to my offices tomorrow. We’ll discuss the protocol for provoking your first heat. Then you’ll pose for some photos for the auction—

naked, of course, so they can see the goods. Make sure to have everything down there looking as nice as possible. A little trimming never hurt anyone!

It can actually help make the package look a bit bigger. After that I’ll work up the wording for the online auction, set it up for you, and get it started immediately. We’ll be able to sense within the first day whether or not we need to be worried.”

Adrien’s mouth went dry. “Why would we need to worry?”

“In your case, based on the photos in your file, I think you’ll be fine.

You’re young and attractive, though that mop of blond hair could be a bit neater. Stereotypically, alphas do prefer brunets, fair or not. Still, there are always the fetishists who love the lighter hair. You have a tender look about you, and that will make them want to take you apart,” the matcher said, a hint of laughter in his voice. “And when you’re in heat, you’ll want him to take you apart, too. Ah, heat. It makes sluts of us all.”

Adrien shuddered.

Would he be a slut in heat? He couldn’t imagine wanting a stranger to touch him, take him, and impregnate him. But the matcher was right; he was running low on the funds his father had left to him when he died. And

without family to fall back on, he was definitely in a place in life where he had little choice but to go the auction route. While he dreaded the thought of carrying a stranger’s child, of interrupting his studies and his student life so thoroughly, he also knew he’d likely have to agree to be bred, too.

If he was very lucky, in a best-case scenario, he’d auction off the breeding for high value, but it wouldn’t take. That way he’d collect all the breeding money without having to pay the ultimate price of time, discomfort, and pain.

Still, he wasn’t ready to admit any of that aloud just yet. It would make it too real.

Pacing the floor of his small dorm room, he agreed to let the matcher set up the auction and make the appointment for him to come into the office the next day for photographs. After a week or so, he’d give his consent to offer up his first breeding, too.

He rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. They stung with sweat. It couldn’t be that bad. Every omega did it. He’d be just like anyone else.

He just wished he didn’t have to be.

Chapter Two

THE MATCHER’S OFFICE was garishly decorated and reminded Adrien of a brothel in a movie, complete with red curtains and wallpaper to match. Mr.

Finch himself was unattractive enough—short, stubby, and stinking of cigar.

He’d been on his cell phone when Adrien first arrived, but he’d waved him into a chair across from his wide wooden desk and smiled. Then he’d swung his feet up on top, leaned back, and lit a cigar, puffing it at the ceiling. A nameplate resting on the front of the desk read Ron Finch.

“I know, Phil, but this one is a doozy of an omega, I tell you. He’s hungry for cash, and you know what that means.” Ron winked at Adrien and flicked his ash in the red tray on his desk. “He’s here now. Yes, he’s handsome. Plus he has a sexy little butt that jiggles just right when he walks. I’m telling you, it’s worth putting up a fight for him. You’ll see.”

Adrien swallowed back bile and squirmed in his seat.

Ron didn’t seem to care or notice. “Now, don’t forget to brag to your friends. They’ll all want to make you sweat for him, I’m sure.” Ron chuckled and then hung up the phone. “Chumming the water for you, Adrien. Getting the sharks hungry.”

Adrien smiled, but there was no joy in it. “Thanks.”

“So, first, let’s review how we’ll trigger your heat. Once the auction closes, you’ll have a week and a half before your heat will need to start.

During that time, you’ll be prescribed two hormones that will force your heat forward. Future heats will give warning signs several months in advance.

Those signals are best not ignored if you want to capitalize on them.”

“Sell them, you mean.”

“Exactly. So long as you’re a student or professor here at the university, I can help you sell those heats, or, once I’ve retired, whoever takes my place can help. If you marry, however, that alpha will be responsible for dealing with the heat. Of course, some married omegas do continue to sell their heats for profit in order to benefit their entire family, but we usually stay out of that and let the alpha handle those arrangements.”

Adrien pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded.

“And, obviously, some older omegas take up the duty of selling their heats themselves on less than reputable sites or in individual transactions. We advise you to stay away from that if possible. You have a stellar matching service here at the university, so you should absolutely take advantage of it.”

There wasn’t any new information in Ron’s little speech, but it made Adrien feel a bit better to hear it all spelled out, and he was glad for any reason to stall for time on the photos.

But it seemed as though his time was up.

Ron stubbed out his cigar. “Now, let’s get started with the pictures. I have a room here where I take them. I try to keep them all in the same tone so no one can accuse me of favoritism. Though if I had a current favorite among the heats up for sale, it would be you.” He smiled at Adrien and winked.

Adrien cringed. “How do the pictures…? I mean, what will I have to do for them?” Adrien knew that auctions were conducted for campus omegas’

heats on a regular basis, but he’d never taken a look at the website himself.

He’d been too afraid of what he might see of his future there.

“It’s easy, really. Naked, hands crossed behind the back for the first shot.

I’ll take a lot of those just to make sure I capture you with the most appealing expression on your face. It helps to show subservience in your eyes if possible. That can be hard for some omegas to accomplish, but I think you’ll be a natural. Then I take that same pose from behind. That frames the buttocks, which, as you know, is every alpha’s obsession.” He laughed.

“After that, I’ll grab one of you bent over with cheeks spread so they can see your anus. Finally, I’ll snap a few of just your face. Again, aiming to capture one with the right mix of innocence, desire, and a hint of fear. And that’ll do it.” He dusted off his hands to indicate a finished product. “And, let me tell you, son, if you’ve got a nice-looking hole, you’ll see the bids jump as soon as I load the pictures to the site. Alphas love a tight, young anus.”

Ignoring the pounding of his heart, Adrien said, “Bids have already started?”

“Absolutely. I put the auction live last night after our conversation with a write-up about you. Alphas are always looking for an intelligent omega to breed, you know. It’s not just about looks. They don’t want stupid offspring who won’t bring any glory to the family name. So your GPA alone was enough to get some takers.”

“But I thought we weren’t going to offer breeding just yet?”

“We haven’t!” Ron waved Adrien’s concern away. “I made sure to mention that you wanted to be a professor. When the early-bidding alphas saw you were ambitious as well as intelligent, they started out with higher bids than usual, rightly assuming that you’d be offering up breeding in the end. The wealthier alphas especially want to make sure their children have some drive to take over their businesses or fortunes once they’re retired or passed on.” Ron grinned.

Adrien noted for the first time that Ron’s teeth were crooked. He couldn’t tell if Ron was a beta or an omega himself, but he knew he definitely wasn’t an alpha.

“How high have the bids gone?” Adrien asked, his heart pounding harder.

“Don’t you fret about numbers yet,” Ron said. “After I post the pictures, the bids will shoot way up. Because, yes, intelligence matters, but alphas are ignited by a sexy body and a pretty face. You’re going to make them cream their pants just imagining having the first go at you. And when you offer breeding after a few days’ time, oh, the fight will be on. Bids will absolutely skyrocket.”

Heat pooled in Adrien’s stomach. A weird sense of pride at the idea of potentially commanding a high price warred with the inherent disgust that swamped him whenever he thought of selling his body in this way. He focused on his earlier question, the one Ron had waved off. “Why are the alphas who want to breed bidding on me when I haven’t offered it yet? What makes them so sure?”

“Oh, they know the name of the game,” Ron said cheekily. “They figure even if you don’t offer it, they can probably convince you in the throes of heat to take on a breeding for less than the price you’d demand if you were putting it on the table right now.”

A rancid bile rose in Adrien’s throat. “That’s not fair, though. Omegas don’t think clearly in heat.”

Ron raised a thin brow. “And that’s exactly what they’re counting on.

Let’s put it this way: the world ain’t fair, pretty pauper. But you won’t have to worry about that because you’re going to offer the breeding beforehand.

Now, let’s get your glasses and clothes off and take those pictures.”

The process of being photographed was humiliating. As Adrien walked back to his dorm, evading the eyes of his fellow students, he wondered how

many of them had gone through the same ordeal. It was hard to tell an omega from a beta, since those sexes appeared so outwardly similar and were only inwardly different. Alphas, however, were easy to pick out. They had a certain swagger and were typically larger than betas and omegas. Adrien could identify them at a distance.

As he hustled down the busy sidewalks, he found himself trying to guess at the sex of each person he passed. He wondered if those he suspected of being omegas had already had their first heat and how they’d dealt with it all.

The alphas didn’t make eye contact with him, which was nothing new, but he found himself darting glances their way, curious about whether any of them had handled an omega in heat before.

He grimaced as an alpha with a thickly muscled neck lifted a brow when he caught Adrien looking. He ducked his head and hurried onward, not wanting to invite attention. Still, he had so many questions. What was a heat like for an alpha? He knew it was profoundly pleasurable—that was why they were willing to bid on omegas so steeply—but he also knew they didn’t feel as out of control as an omega, keeping their head for the majority of the heat.

But he sometimes wondered if handling a heat changed how alphas viewed all omegas afterward.

Seeing a man so undone, so out of control and lost in his lust, taking care of him, and catering to his urgent and overpowering needs…did some alphas stop considering an omega to be fully human after that experience? Is that what led so many of them to resist the changes in omega voting rights and professional certificates?

And what about the omegas who went through these heats? A heat like he was going to be in very soon? Adrien swallowed hard, pushing down the surge of fear. How humiliating would it be to go so entirely feral, to be needy beyond measure, and to be broken down like that in front of an alpha who knew nothing else about him?

Adrien wiped a hand over his upper lip. How was he ever going to get through a heat with a stranger? He’d been so embarrassed to have Ron take pictures of his asshole. It’d been horrifying. His eyes pricked and burned.

Would the shame of bending over and spreading his cheeks for Ron—squat and smoking as he bent over with his camera—pale in comparison to what he was about to face? He didn’t see how it wouldn’t. He’d have to do so much more with whatever alpha won him for his first season.

Just thinking of Ron’s contented sigh when he’d spotted Adrien’s hairless scrotum and bare hole made him feel cold inside. And the way Ron had praised him, saying, “That’s a delicious little pucker. The alphas will want to eat you up,” had Adrien’s small omega-testicles trying to climb up into his body.

“Hey, Adrien!”

Adrien groaned and quickened his step on the sidewalk. Maybe he could pretend not to have heard. Lance was the last person he wanted to see right now. And he didn’t see him, actually. The crowd around them was thick, and his eyes were on the sidewalk. He had plausible deniability.

Not only was Lance his research assistant in the art history department, and thus his underling, but he was also a happy-go-lucky omega with another year and a half at least before he’d have to face his first season. Wealthy and connected, Lance would entertain a completely different situation than Adrien. His father had already sold the rights to his son’s first heat to a friend of the family, a man Lance had crushed on since childhood. There would be no humiliating public online auction for him. Money had its privileges.

“Wait up!” Lance’s voice called out, but Adrien hurried on, pretending obliviousness.

The idea of telling Lance what he’d just been through with Ron and the necessary photographs filled him with boiling, frothy shame. He wondered if there was any way to keep all of this to himself for as long as possible.

Maybe, when the time came, he could just tell Lance and the others in the department that he was taking a vacation, instead of confessing to everyone that he was off to have his heat handled.

In a stroke of luck, a crowd of students burst out of his dormitory building just as he reached it, separating him from Lance’s long-legged advance.

Adrien ducked inside and took the empty stairwell rather than risking crossing the busy lobby to take the elevator up to his hall. He didn’t want to run into anyone he knew and field an awkward conversation, nor did he want to give Lance the opportunity to catch up with him.

He just wanted to be alone to process.

Safe inside his dorm room, he sat down, shaky and sick, in front of his computer. He had to see the truth for himself. He had to know. With clammy hands, he typed in the address of the university’s omega auction site and sat back in his seat, fingers pressed over his mouth.

There on the front page under the heading NEW AND FRESH was his listing.

He stared at the photos that Ron must have loaded as soon as he’d left the office. His asshole was there on the internet for the whole world to see. His own white hands held his ass cheeks apart and revealed it like a secret he’d kept and never wanted exposed.

His entire body flashed hot and then cold, before going so hot again that he felt sweat slipping down the side of his face. He stared at the photo of his face. In it, his eyes glimmered with unshed tears, and his cheeks flushed with his embarrassment. His full mouth was slightly open and looked obscenely red.

Creamy, pink skin! read one of Ron’s captions. These sweet buns are worth grabbing! read another. Adrien shuddered. Apparently, this was what being an omega really meant: being nothing more than a product to sell.

The rest of the write-up was similar:

Adrien is an intelligent omega with a beautiful body, a focused mind, and a pleasant personality. An excellent student with a near-perfect GPA, his goal is to become a professor here at our very own university. Needless to say, a good return on his first heat would go a long way toward making that possible for him.

Adrien’s is a special kind of beauty. Notice the fine hairs on his buttocks.

Though blond, they shimmer beautifully in the light. His fleshy ass begs to be gripped and one can easily imagine how nicely it will bounce with an alpha’s deep thrusts. His skin is pale, yes, but will flush attractively in the throes of heat.

“Painting a picture, creating a fantasy is an important aspect of my work,”

Ron had said while he took picture after picture. “And I know just what I’ll say about you.”

Adrien tucked his lower lip into his mouth, chewing it anxiously, and read on. His eyes flew wide at the next words.

Adrien is untouched. A virgin in every way. Oh, lucky alpha, you’ll be winning more than just his first heat.

How had Ron known that? Did he have access to Adrien’s health files?

He must. The only person Adrien had confessed his virginity to was the nurse he’d seen for his regular checkup, and only because it was part of the questionnaire he’d been asked to fill out for his heat risk assessment.

Shaking, he allowed himself to scroll down, heart in his throat and fingers trembling. The number at the bottom indicated the current highest bid was greater than he’d feared but far less than he’d hoped. What if he did this and didn’t even get enough to pay for his school, much less the government’s fee to become a certified professor? He buried his head in his hands.

He shouldn’t have looked.

After a few long minutes, he lifted his head, noted the highest bid had gone up, but just barely, and closed down the site. Then he clicked open his research files on Hontu dyes and fabrics instead. He had work to do and continuing to fret about something he couldn’t control wasn’t going to change that.

What choice did he have? His first season was coming, and he had a heat to sell. There was no shame in it. Every omega faced these kinds of choices.

As he began to reorganize some of his most recent research notes, he scoffed under his breath. “Tell that to my ears.” They continued to burn hot every time he remembered the way his eyes had met Ron’s camera lens and the resulting image he’d glimpsed online. In it, he’d looked scared, exposed, and vulnerable.

Probably because that was exactly what he was.

Chapter Three

HEATH STARED AT the photo of the boy on the auction page. He didn’t usually look for heats to bid on, but his friend, Felix, had been bragging about holding the top bid on the newest boy offered by their shared alma mater’s matcher. When Felix had described the boy’s looks as being very like Heath’s own beloved Nathan’s, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

And now he was hooked.

The ripe, slightly open mouth combined with the blond hair, almond-brown eyes, and high cheekbones did remind him rather intensely of Nathan, the only omega he’d ever made the mistake of loving. And losing. In the darkest hours of the night, he still tried to convince himself that Nathan had loved him in return. He’d only had five years with his beloved before he’d died from a previously undiagnosed fatal flaw in his heart, but they had been years of such intensity that Heath was still reeling from them. Memories of Nathan, along with pain, rose up in him again, raw and aching.

Shattering grin. Mischievous eyes. A penchant for trouble.

Good God, Nathan had brought Heath to his knees again and again, and then died there in his arms. Tragic, in every damn way. But alongside the pain came a beating pulse of desire for the boy in the photograph. Certainly, though, the lust had little to nothing to do with the boy himself and everything to do with Heath’s memories of Nathan squirming beneath him in the throes of ecstatic heat.

Felix had been right. The resemblance was so strong, so fantastic, that Heath lost his breath counting the similarities. As he continued to study the photos of Adrien, his mind slowly unraveled.

A tangle of feelings and memories, half-formed plans, and calculations possessed him. If the boy in the photos was twenty, as stated in the auction ad, then that would correspond with what Heath remembered of Nathan’s recounting of his first breeding. The one he’d auctioned off when he was still in school. Nathan had been won by an older alpha with kind eyes—that was how he always described him—and he’d given the child up to the alpha

father as agreed in advance so that he could continue his schooling. After graduating with a degree in dance and theater, Nathan had used the bonus pregnancy money he’d earned to travel the world. It was only two years after that he and Heath had met at a party in the artsy city of Waterston in the Northern Province, both of them young and intoxicated. Nathan had flashed that charming smile, and Heath had been quick to fall in love.