Luca was suffocating.

He felt like the blindfold around his eyes was actually around his throat. The handcuffs he wore dug into his skin and his arms ached at being tugged back behind the chair for so long. He wanted to scream, but the assholes who drugged him had clapped a black muzzle over his mouth after he'd bitten one of them.

Too bad they were smart assholes.

Still, he was only able to breath through his nose. Worse still, he only had what? Two days until his heat hit him full force, but he suddenly felt like he was going to sink into the sexual abyss any second. He'd been mostly fine half an hour ago. If you call being restrained to a chair, muzzled and blindfolded, and put on display for a bunch of sickos fine.

Yeah, he was totally fine.

However, for the past half hour, he felt as if a noose had been tightened around his neck. His chest was heaving as he struggled to inhale through his nose. It felt like a pressure had suddenly started in the room and was closing in on him, making him feel claustrophobic. Even worse, a reeking smell filled the air that reminded Luca of petrichor. The rich earthy smell of rain after a dry spell. The smell was oddly nostalgic for him and he wasn't entirely sure why. Something about it made him feel... warm.

Too warm.

It made him hot. Too hot. Horribly uncomfortable.

Holy fucking Mother on a subway, I'm dying, aren't I? This is it. I'm going to fucking die and I haven't even taken that stupid cunt with me, Luca thought in agony. He squirmed a little in his seat, but he felt so oddly numb. Maybe his entire body had fallen asleep, kind of like when a limb fell asleep. Whenever he moved, he got that eerie tingly static sensation throughout his body. He went still, hating the pin prick feeling.

Voices. He could hear voices. There were people talking, but it was muffled by the curtain they'd drawn around him. It sounded like a man's voice... Three men?

Luca moaned. No, no fucking way.

Stay away from me! Fuck off!

No way was he going to let himself be sold to some ugly old alpha who'd probably lost his mate, or didn't give a shit either way and would fuck him if he wanted in front of his own mate. As if he'd let that happen. He'd been doing pretty damn good for himself so far, and he was not about to lose his winning streak.

He squirmed again, wanting to get free, but the handcuffs only seemed to bite into his skin further. If anything, he could feel warm blood trickling from his wrists from the attempt.

Okay, look, calm down. Big deep breaths. Come on. Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale-- Holy fuck. I have to get the fuck out of here. I have to get the fuck out of here right fucking now. Luca cursed inwardly, struggling to maintain some semblance of calm.

Okay, okay, look. Worst case scenario, the guy buys you. So what? He won't fuck you right there in the chair. Nah, he'll take you back to his mansion... or his mother's basement. Either way, you have a shot at escape once you're purchased. What are the chances the guy who buys you is gonna be able to take you on all alone? With that cemented in his mind, Luca forced himself to relax once more, going still in the chair at the same time the curtain was drawn back.

He heard voices, more clearly now, and goosebumps crept along his skin at a few lecherous comments. Except, after a moment, he barely heard them over the roar of blood rushing in his ears. He inhaled deep through his nose and that earthy scent infiltrated every part of him. He felt drunk from it, took a deep breath once more. He inhaled that steamy scent and tried not to moan.

He had no idea why he felt so nostalgic whenever he smelled it. He'd never had any memories that made him feel this way. And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling of warm comfort. Of... home? But that made no sense. He'd never had a home, not really.

"Fifteen-thousand." Luca froze. The voice that had spoken was rough, deep, and strangely soothing? He scowled, dipping his head down a little as he listened to the voices that lowered. He could still hear that deep rumbling voice, but he couldn't make out what the guy was saying, just that he was talking to one of the men who'd tied him down earlier. He strained to hear their conversation to no avail. Not that he needed to because a second later, a confirmation came over the speakers.

"Item thirty-two, sold to guest twelve. Please follow the handler and prepare for transfer. Thank you and enjoy your purchase." Luca swallowed thickly. Shit, he'd just been bought, hadn't he? Purchased like nothing more than a meat carcass at the butcher's. That's all he was to these fuckers. A piece of meat to be sold for money.

And, wow. This probably wasn't the best time, Luca thought dryly, but he was strangely pissed that he was only worth fifteen thousand. Or was that a lot in the human trafficking world? Like he had a fucking clue? Either way, there was a cold sense of dread in his stomach, overpowering the scent from earlier.

Despite this being good for his plan to escape, it still filled him with the reeking stench of fear... which in turn made him fucking angry.

Fear was pathetic. Fear got him nowhere. He'd been terrified of his mother. Terrified of the world. Of alphas. Even betas. Hell, he'd been terrified of Killian for the first few weeks as well. Except, that fear had gotten him nothing and it fed everyone around him. Alphas in particular got a sick thrill from scaring omegas. He'd lost count how many omegas he'd seen backed into a corner, cowering and whimpering in fear, shaking and offering nothing more than pathetic pleas because they were too weak to defend themselves.

Fuuuuuuck, that pissed him off.

It choked his fear off and replaced it with the good ol' warm hatred that had kept him going for all these years. He latched onto that feeling and rode with it. It seemed to clean his system of whatever that scent had done to him earlier. Gone were the weird creepy warm fuzzy. It was all replaced with a malice so foul, it was like bitter poison on his tongue, like a coldness in his heart. He relished it.

As he allowed his anger to bring him to an eerie sense of calm, he felt the handcuffs being undone behind him. He jerked out of instinct, ready to fight, only to quickly reminder himself that now wasn't the time. Not with all the creeps around him. So he feigned obedience, twitching and shying away from touch every so often just so they wouldn't suspect he was being docile for a reason.

After all, he'd fought tooth and nail the moment they'd kidnapped him. He had bitten at least three of the guys, kicked one so hard it was a miracle if he could reproduce, headbutted another, and almost ripped another one open. But all that fighting had only driven them to drug him with heavier shit, to restrain him, and right now, he needed to get away without causing trouble.

Even though it killed him to obey. By nature, every day of his life was opposite day. Everyone expected an omega to be subservient, to be delicate, soft spoken, gentle. And he loved shocking the shit out of everyone by having a vocabulary limited to fuck and motherfucker, of spitting and biting, of punching and kicking.

He was omega.

But he was his own version of an omega.

Luca felt himself get walked along, led by an arm on either side of him. He walked slow, stumbled every so often, both to fake it and for real. The drugs were still in his system after all. He still felt like the world was moving in slow motion, still felt like something was pressuring him, but he managed to get to some location at some point where the hands left him.

"Here you are," came the growl from one of the men who'd restrained him earlier, "Proper documentations. To thank you for your generous contribution, we'd like to send you with a small care package as well. This includes sedatives and a mild... accelerant, for mating, of course." Aphrodisiac, Luca thought dryly. Like fucking hell that was going anywhere near him.

"Thank you," said the deep voice that actually made Luca hesitant and cock his head, "It was a pleasure doing business. I look forward to returning and seeing what other selections you have available."

"Of course," the masked man replied. There was some shuffling and moving around before a strong grip landed on his arm and tugged him forward. He stumbled, caught off guard by the abrupt movement, then quickly caught up with whoever was leading him. It wasn't one of the masked man, because they wore gloves and the leather of them seemed to creak softly whenever they grabbed him. Not to mention, they dragged him around like a fucking rag doll. This new person had a firm grasp on him, sure, but there was something a little more humane to it.

Luca remained silent and docile as he allowed himself to be led. He could hear someone else's footsteps along with them, a third set of feet that moved a bit sluggishly, like a drunk man.

They walked for a good long while and Luca felt the man holding him help him up a couple of steps before there was the loud sound of a door cracking open.

The fresh air outside hit Luca like a fucking train. He inhaled sharply through his nostrils and choked, coughing and grimacing as his ears strained against coughing into the muzzle.

"Shit," the deep voice muttered. Luca felt fingers working at the buckle on his muzzle and a second later, the muzzle was removed from his mouth. Unable to stand it, he took in deep gulps of the fresh crisp air outside. He panted, breathing it all in like it was the holy grail of all air.

Even though it reeked of garbage, vomit, and piss.

Luca didn't care.

He'd never been so fucking happy to smell human filth in his life.

"Where's the car?" The deep voice demanded. Luca was confused, because why was the guy asking him?

"U-Uh, it's down here," a voice said from his left. Luca jumped at the sound of it. He'd almost forgotten the third person. They definitely didn't sound like one of the masked guys. He sounded drunk and freaked out. Luca had heard plenty of that shit back at the bar. Still, he remained silent because he wasn't entirely sure he could handle two guys with his blindfold still on and his hands handcuffed behind his back.

Luca felt the grip on his arm return and he was led along. He was too busy sucking in breaths of air to care about taunting them. He sniffed at the air, smelled the garbage in the alley, smelled... ah fuck, he smelled that earthy scent again. It crept up his nostrils like a snake, made his heart pound and his skin get all warm, his stomach getting... what, was that fucking butterflies?

Hell no.

Luca focused on the smell of the garbage as they walked along. He wasn't all that cold. It was still warm out, but he could feel a bit of moisture in the air clinging to his skin and it did give him a slight chill.

They came to a stop and Luca listened to someone moving around, using a key fob to unlock a car. He cocked his head, trying to figure out what size the guys were until he felt a weight fall on his shoulders and he stiffened right up, realizing it was some kind of stiff jacket. A blazer? Suit jacket?

"Don't say anything," the deep voice said way too close to his ear for comfort, making him reel back for a second, "Just get in the car." Luca tensed. He didn't like being told what to do. He wanted to roundhouse kick the guy just for thinking he was in charge.

Except, he kind of was, considering Luca was handcuffed and blindfolded.

So Luca only nodded and allowed himself to be led a few feet before someone helped him into a car. His bare ass hit the seat, even with just the jacket on. He grimaced at the feel of leather on his skin, but said nothing as a car door was shut behind him. He could hear someone getting comfortable in the front seat and starting the car while the door on the other side of him opened and the car bobbed as the other man got into the back seat with him.

Some hip hop station was playing until the guy in the back seat hissed at the driver to shut it off so they rode in silence. Luca hated it. He hated that silence. Worse, he hated that the guy shut off the radio because his favorite song by Twenty-One Pilots was playing, but he wasn't about to speak up about it.

The ride was dead silent for the longest time. Luca settled down and leaned his head against the door and feigned sleep. It was easy to do with the drugs still pumping in his system, making him feel slow. Once he'd faked sleeping long enough, apparently big guy beside him decided it was safe to speak.

"We are never going to a club ever again," the deep voiced guy growled.

"How was I supposed to know they were selling literal people?"

"Aaron, do you even know the fucking definition of a black market auction? Were you born that stupid, or did you have to work at it?" Luca fought the urge to smirk at that.

"Okay, look, I was just trying to be nice and invite my friend out for a good time after he experienced a tragedy, okay? My bad for trying to be a good friend."

"Taking me to a club is fine. Taking me to a black market auction is not fine."

"Shit on a stick, Jacks, don't crawl up my ass about it. I mean, at least you got something out of the deal."

"Shut up."

"What? He's kinda cute, I guess. I still don't get why he was the only one with a muzzle, but whatever."

"I don't get it either and I don't care at the moment. We need to get him to my place. I want to get him comfortable and... shit, I don't know, figure out what to do next. Probably take a blood test to figure out who he ever is, first of all. When I asked for a name, they just called him Item thirty-two."

"Long name."

"Fuck off, Aaron."

"I just might," Aaron groaned, "God, that champagne was wicked strong. On top of that, dumping a bunch of borderline heated omegas? I'm dropping you and your new toy off at home and heading back. I'm gonna spend the night in a drug induced sleep. And if you think for one goddamn second I'm gonna go into work tomorrow, you are wrong."

"Fine," Jackson answered dryly, "But keep what happened tonight between us. The last thing I need is Ethan finding out I bought..."

"An omega."

"Shut up."

Luca struggled to focus on their conversation, but suddenly, feigning sleep had turned a whole lot more real as he sighed once, long and deep, and all of his senses faded away.