* * *
Brianne didn’t know how much time had passed when she heard footsteps moving outside of the room she was in. She didn’t think it could have been long—the sun was shining in through the window—but to her, it felt like she had been here for an eternity.
She opened her mouth to call out to whoever was making the footsteps, but then she shut it again. Whoever was in the house obviously knew she was here—he was likely the one who had taken her—and the last thing she wanted to do was draw his attention to her if there was a chance he thought she was still unconscious.
Her hopes of that were dashed when the door opened. The man who had taken her walked in. He moved to the table and sat down in one of the chairs so that he was facing her, the table between them.
“You’re awake, then,” he said.
“Yes,” Brianne said. “Mind telling me who you are and what the hell I’m doing here?”
The man shrugged his shoulders.
“Sure, why not? It’ll pass the time while we wait for your buyer. Do you want a drink of water or anything?” he asked.
Brianne shook her head despite the fact that she was thirsty. The last thing she wanted was something he could poison her with. And besides, she wanted to know what the hell he meant by her buyer.
“Valerie tells me you know a little bit about the shifter world,” the man said.
Valerie? What did Valerie have to do with this? As soon as the thought came to Brianne, so did the answer. This was her punishment for being with Callin when she knew Valerie wanted him for herself.
“So, Valerie arranged this, then?” she asked.
The man nodded.
“Okay, then. You might as well get it over with. Rough me up a bit. Kill me. Whatever it is you’re meant to do to me,” Brianne said.
She sounded a lot braver than she felt, but she wasn’t quite ready to start begging the man to spare her just yet.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said.
Brianne raised an eyebrow and the man smiled.
“Yeah, I guess that’s pretty hard to believe after the way I got you here. But honestly, Brianne, I’m not going to hurt you. If you have marks on you, your value will be less. I’m a businessman, not a thug. I want to turn over a tidy little profit for you,” the man said.
“What are you talking about?” Brianne asked cautiously. “Are you like a pimp or something?”
“Do you know what a Matchmaker is?” the man asked.
Brianne shook her head, sure he didn’t actually mean someone who set up their friend on a date.
“Right,” the man said. “Well, I’m Riley Morgan, and I’m a Matchmaker.”
She knew in that moment, whatever a Matchmaker was and despite his reassurances, she wasn’t getting out of here alive. He would never have told her his name if she was.
“I’m not sure how much you know. Do you know about Sanmere? The protein that allows a human to turn into a shifter safely?” Riley asked.
Brianne nodded her head. She didn’t know it by name, but Callin had told her about a blood test to see if she could turn into a shifter safely. That must have been what he was referring to.
“Good,” Riley said. “This will make more sense, then. A Matchmaker basically takes women with Sanmere in their blood and sells them to a shifter to be their mate. I know at face value that sounds like a terrible fate, but these guys aren’t looking for someone to hurt or abuse. They want a mate, someone to share their life with, someone to bear their children.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Brianne said. “You’re not so much a pimp as you are a human trafficker?”
“I suppose that’s a pretty close comparison. It’s not strictly the same thing, but for the purpose of simplicity, then yes,” Riley said. “And I’ve sold you to a bear shifter. He should be here within the next hour or so.”
“I… but… what makes you think I have this protein? From what I hear, it’s pretty rare,” Brianne said.
She found that for the first time since Callin had mentioned she might be able to become a shifter, she was desperately hoping she didn’t have the ability to become one.
“You have it,” Riley said with confidence. “Why do you think you’re the one who ended up working for Valerie and not your sister?”
“I… I hadn’t thought about it,” Brianne admitted.
She was thinking about it now, though. And suddenly, she had an answer to another question. Now she knew exactly what it was that Valerie had been protecting her from. The very thing she had sold Brianne into once she had betrayed her.
13
Callin forced himself to slow down. Driving like a maniac wasn’t going to help Brianne if he got pulled over. Riley was good at selling potential mates quickly and Brianne was smoking hot—a deadly combination that meant he likely had a buyer lined up for her already. But that didn’t mean that she would be gone when he got there. It was more likely to be a buyer from out of his district than from inside of it, and that meant he had a bit of time. Enough time to drive normally, but likely not enough time to get arrested and thrown into a cell overnight.
Callin finally reached Riley’s place after what felt like forever. He got out of the car and ran to Riley’s door. He hammered on the door with both fists, pounding on it completely until it was dragged open. Riley’s anger turned to surprise when he saw Callin on his doorstep.
“Callin? What are you…” Riley started.
Callin didn’t wait for the end of the sentence. Instead, he pushed Riley to one side and stepped into the house.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“Where is who?” Riley asked.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Riley. Where’s Brianne, the girl Valerie sold to you?”
“That’s what
