“Yes…”
“So, in effect, the doma herself was the one he was closest to, the one he went to with his problems, maybe?”
“Yes, she seemed protective of him, in a way. She said she thought we might have made a terrible mistake, that he was just sensitive, and that she’d never thought he was omega. She said she hadn’t seen him since the day he left, though.”
“Still, the thing about us making a mistake was kind of an odd thing for a doma to say, I thought. Most of the domas who run the homes are strong gammas, not exactly known for their overabundance of compassion or deep analytical thinking.”
“You think she could have been hiding something? Trying to throw us off track?” Konnor looked up eagerly, anxious to latch onto any lead.
“I think we should definitely speak to her again. I think she may know more than she’s letting on,” Larssen said. “This time, why not let your alpha take over just a bit? You can be pretty intimidating when you do. Hell, sometimes you scare the shit out of me.”
Konnor permitted himself a slight smile, but leaned forward eagerly. “You really think she was hiding something, then?”
“I didn’t at the time, but the more I think about it, who else would Ethan have run to for help? He was with her at that group home for along time, wasn’t he? ”
“A couple of years…” Konnor’s head came up. “She’s the closest thing to a friend that he has. He probably trusts her. Of course, he went to her.” He jumped to his feet. “Let’s get out of here. I have a gamma I need to choke the truth out of.”
“Okay, but calm down,” Larssen said, getting to his own feet and throwing some money down on the table. “You can’t very well beat the information out of her, despite that look on your face. Remember, she may have thought she was helping him.”
“If she helped him, she was breaking the law, and she knew it.”
“Well, maybe she thought of him as kind of a son…”
“Son, my ass. I doubt she would have risked hiding him because of compassion. As you said, gammas aren’t known for it. No, there had to be something in it for her. Some kind of profit. She could have sold him to one of the slave brokers and made a lot of money. A Lycan omega is rare and valuable, and one as beautiful as Ethan would fetch a high price. Besides, she didn’t strike me as the overly maternal type. C’mon, Larssen, if she’s hurt him in any way…”
“Settle down. They wouldn’t have hurt him; he’d be too valuable to them. If he was sold, they’d have to give him some training first, and that would take some time. A trained Lycan love slave is worth much more to them. But first we have to find out if we’re even on the right track. Maybe we’re just grasping at this idea because it’s all we have.”
“Maybe, but it feels right. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, except I haven’t been exactly thinking straight since he ran away from me. Let’s get to her before she goes to bed for the night. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy pulling her big ass out of it.”
They left the bar and quickly caught a land transport to the northern city limits, where Ethan’s group home was located. The lights were still on downstairs as they got out of the transport, asking the driver to wait for them. Konnor stormed up the path and banged on the door until it was pulled sharply open by the large woman inside, Doma Helga. She narrowed her dark, surprisingly long-lashed eyes when she saw the two alphas at her door and stood with her large body blocking the entry.
“Alphas,” she said, barely nodding her head. “To what do I owe this pleasure at this time of night?”
“The time an alpha chooses is none of your concern, mistress,” Konnor said in a gruff tone, pushing past her to step inside. His eyes roamed the entryway, and he sniffed suspiciously, trying to pick up any recent scent of Ethan. Nothing but cooking smells and the doma’s own sour, unwashed odor came back to him, along with the faint scents of her young charges upstairs. No sweet, delicious scent of his mate.
He could hear the woman berating Larssen behind him for the late hour again, and he turned and took hold of her arm. “We have questions for you, Doma, on the disappearance of Ethan Capraru. Stop your complaining and show us to a seat.”
She cast him a hard, resentful glance before lowering her gaze, but not before Konnor noticed a hint of naked aggression in her gaze. If this was a gamma, she was the most quarrelsome one he’d ever seen. She almost presented herself as alpha, but what in the world would an alpha be doing in a job like this? Of course, if she was a predator, what better position to be in to take advantage of innocent children? The thought made him ill, and he resolved to talk to the authorities about the woman as soon as he left here, regardless of the outcome.
The last time he’d been here was right after Ethan’s disappearance, and he’d been so distracted and upset, her odd attitude hadn’t registered on him. Now she was making him apprehensive and doubtful.
Motioning them into a small parlor, she stood back and allowed them to enter in front of her and be seated as custom dictated. She came in behind them and perched on the edge of a chair, staring at them almost resentfully, and again, not respectfully dropping her gaze in the least. Konnor got the feeling she’d much rather challenge their right to even be in her home, definitely not gamma behavior.
Before Konnor could say anything, Larssen leaned forward. “Doma Helga, has Ethan Capraru contacted you in the last few days since we saw you?”
She blew out an impatient breath. “No. I would, of course, have contacted someone in the Ruling Council immediately had that happened.”
“Would you?” Konnor asked in a deceptively mild tone.
“Of course!” she snapped back at him, again challenging him with her gaze. Konnor stared back at her, holding that gaze until she flushed, her coarse olive skin turning a dusky purple shade, and finally dropped her head.
Konnor stood up and leaned over her chair, his face only inches from hers. Up this close the sour smell registered not only as sweat, but fear. What was she so frightened of? “I think you’re a liar, Helga. A fucking liar.”
At that, she raised her head and snarled at him, her red eyes darkening and her fangs dropping down. Konnor allowed his fangs to drop from his gums too, and he leaned even farther forward, right in her face now, his saliva dripping on her broad bosom.
“You challenge me, bitch?” Konnor’s voice had deepened as he entered his partial shift. She didn’t back down, though. Instead she pushed up on his chest and almost managed to push him aside. Konnor was younger and stronger, though, and easily managed to control her, putting a huge hand around her throat and forcing her head against the back of the chair. By this time, Larssen loomed over her as well, his own beast coming out a bit at the threat to his brother.
Her eyes flashed from Konnor back to Larssen and she slumped in defeat, lowering her eyes and offering her throat. “Don’t hurt me,” she cried out. “I don’t know where the boy is!”
“And like I said before, you’re a fucking liar. Tell me where he is or I’ll rip off your head and stuff it down your throat. You sold him, didn’t you? Tell me, damn it! ”
She hesitated for another instant, and then seemed to give in. “All right,” she snapped.”I’ll tell you, but let me up.”
“Not a chance, bitch,” Konnor said. “If you tell me, I might let you live, but I make no promises beyond that.”
Her eyes widened in fear. “What is he to you? Why do you want to find him so bad?”
Larssen spoke up beside her. “Ethan is his mate. If you know anything about alphas, and I’m beginning to suspect you do, you know a Lycan alpha, especially a Balenescu, will never stop searching until he finds his mate. And he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way without a second thought. When he gets like this, I can’t control him. If you know where he is, you have about five seconds before he tears you apart.”
“All right! I’ll tell you!” Her face was turning an even more alarming shade of deep purple, so Konnor let the pressure up slightly, even though his wolf was clamoring at him to kill her.
“You’re right. I did sell him to my sister on Europa, the pleasure moon of Jupiter. She runs a high-end establishment there,and she wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt him. He was happy to go! He wanted to get off this planet as soon as he could before you found him. If he had listened to me in the first place, he never would have met you. He’d have been sent to my sister long ago.”
“You sent him to a brothel!” Konnor shifted completely and only the quick thinking of Larssen, who threw himself over the matron’s body prevented Konnor from ripping her apart.
“Calm down!” Larssen yelled at him. “We have to find out exactly where he is! If you kill her, she can’t tell us anything.”
Helga’s eyes were shifting back and forth between the alphas, looking for an advantage. Konnor leaned over her again. “Tell me where he is.” He could barely get the words out of his mouth with it so full of extra teeth. His voice sounded more like a ferocious growl than actual words.
“On Europa, like I said. In The Pleasure Palace. That’s the name of her place. It’s very popular—anyone can direct you once you arrive. You can contact her online too. She probably has his ad up by now…”
“His ad?” Larssen broke in.
She glanced nervously over at him. “He’s being trained, I assume, before she sells him to the highest bidder. She’ll post an advertisement for him before he actually goes up for sale.”
Konnor raised a horrified and tortured gaze up to his brother, who clasped his shoulder. “At least we know now where to look. We’ll find him, little brother, I promise you. We won’t rest until we do.”
Konnor released the doma and staggered back away from her, the bile rising in his throat. Europa…one of the most decadent destinations in the galaxy, and his sweet man was there being trained. Other hands were touching what belonged only to him. He fell back on the sofa behind him, sick and distracted by the images going through his head.