DONOVAN

When the auction started and as the items were presented to the bidders none of them really caught my attention. I was thinking of leaving but the curiosity to see the main and last item kept me from leaving. And when it came out and the sheet that was covering the big box came off I knew I wanted it. No, I wanted him.

‘Mate.’ Dorian, my animal self, said in my mind. And he was right, I couldn't stop looking at him, I was delighted with him. His scales, which were a combination of green, yellow, and orange, I wanted to touch them so much. Will they be soft? Maybe scratchy. 

His hair looked like flames that if touched could burn, and his eyes…His eyes, those beautiful amber orbs that I wouldn't mind getting lost in when looking directly at them. Our eyes met and something moved in me, it pained me to see him in that box, his face covered with tears, his mouth muzzled, his wrists and legs chained and barely wearing clothes. I wanted to punish the people who caught him and treated him this way, but that would have to wait. 

“10 billion dollars.” I said out loud making the other bidders stop talking. Silence rained in the room and no one said anything else. I thanked that because I wanted to get my mate away from here as soon as possible. 

Seeing that no one bid anything else the host said the ‘item’ was going to me and thanked all the bidders for coming to the auction as some guys entered the stage and took my mate away. I turned to look at Richard standing and he was looking at me confused. By the look he was giving me I knew what he wanted to ask, but he didn’t.

“We have to go get him. I want to take him out of here.” I said. Richard nodded without asking anything and we walked to the place where I would retrieve my mate.

Outside the woman from before approached us, handed me some keys, and then led the way to a room, as the door opened the scent of him came to me, but when I saw the state he was in, it angered me.

‘How dare they treat him like this?’ Dorian too was angry to see him like that. He was handcuffed and a muzzle covered his mouth. I took off my blazer, placing it over his shoulders to cover him from the people standing in the room and then I took both the muzzle and the handcuffs off with the keys the woman handed me.

“Don’t worry. You are safe now.” I whispered to him and then carefully lifted him princess-style. He didn’t fight or stir in my arms, he settled in them as if he had many times before and I liked that. I liked the feeling of having him in my arms. 

In the walk from the room to getting into the car that was waiting for us outside, he never said anything. Not a single word came out of his mouth. Once the car started to move I turned to look at him and decided to break the silence between us.

“My name is Donovan. What is yours?” I said softly trying not to scare him.

“Piper…” He said in a whisper without looking at me.

“That’s a beautiful name,” I said and waited, but never got an answer back and from the way he was breathing slowly I realized he had fallen asleep. He was probably tired from everything and I hated the people from the auction house for doing this to him. 

‘They should be punished. They kidnapped our mate.’ Dorian with spite in the back of my mind and I nodded. ‘Don’t worry, Dorian. I’ll let Richard know when we get back.’

The way back home was quiet but I couldn't stop looking at the man beside me. Fated mates were weird, I was feeling weird. All of this was new to me, it was different and…exciting? I used to think they were a joke, a myth, and people who talked about them were just being extra or dramatic but I guess they were not lying, because now even when if I only knew his name, I wanted to make him happy. 

The car came to a stop when we arrived home and after getting out of the car I took Piper in my arms carefully not to wake him up and walked inside of the house, earning looks from the maids and butlers we encountered. Calmly I took him to my room and placed him on the bed. I could have taken him to another one but the other rooms were not ready for guests and my bed was more comfortable. I found myself losing myself again in his appearance, his scent was not helping me either and the fact that he was in my room, on my bed was also making it impossible for me to go away and let him sleep. 

But I did. Piper shifted on the bed and I got worried I woke him up but he was just changing positions and covering himself more with my blazer. ‘Oh God/dess…’ I stood and got out of the room before I did something I would regret later, closing the door behind me careful enough not to make any noise that would disturb my mate’s sleep. Outside Richard was waiting for me, I know he had many questions and I was ready to answer them. I gave him a sign and walked to my office. When we arrived and I took a seat behind my desk and Richard finally decided to break the silence. 

“Why did you buy him, sir?” He asked looking directly at me and I sighed.

“Piper is my fated mate,” I confessed to him and his face went from calm to shocked. 

“What?” He managed to say, speechless.

“I know. Shocking isn’t it?” I said chuckling a bit. “The God/dess must be mocking me making a serpent shifter my mate.”

“But you never cared about that, sir,” Richard said somewhat confused at my statement. 

“And I still don’t but I know who will.” I sighed again thinking about my sister. She hated serpent shifters due to the incident with our parents. Richard nodded also knowing who I was referring to. 

“So what are you going to do?” He asked curious. I knew he was a true believer in fated mates. He had Genevith, his wife and also fated mate, and growing up he made sure to teach me about them. I thought it was useless but now that I encountered mine I was glad I learned more about them.

“I’m not rejecting him. I want him to be my mate but I’m going to have to court him first.” I said in a serious tone and the old beta’s expression went calm and I could even see that he was proud of my decision. “It’s going to be difficult knowing how chaotic our first meeting was.”

“What are you going to do about the auction house? I know you are angry with them.” He asked and I furrowed my eyebrows, making my hands fists just by thinking about the people that kidnapped Piper and sold him like he was an object. I despised that. Auctions were to bid for objects and items, not for people. “And I do believe it's quite inhuman to be bidding people around.” 

“Let’s make a report to the police, tell them about the situation, and if we get another invitation from them. Give it to them right away.” I explained the plan to Richard, and told him to cooperate with everything the police needed in the investigation. Bramville was not full of crime but the police force was highly trained for it and I knew the packs and pride would offer their help too if needed. “I want to take them down. All of them.”

“Of course, sir.”  He nodded and I dismissed him with a hand movement. But then I remembered something.

“Oh and Richard,” I called him before he opened the door. “Try investigating more about him. I think you can find him only by his name because it’s very unique.”

As Richard left me alone in the room I started to make up a plan to court Piper and also think what reason I would give him to not let him go back home just yet. I knew I couldn’t keep him in my home forever, he probably had a life somewhere, but it was not safe for him to be outside knowing those people could find him again. I won’t let that happen ever again.