Chapter 21 You Lost My Merchandise pt 1
Alpha James
“Gone? What do you mean, gone?” I asked quietly, rage building deep in my chest.
“She’s not in her cell any longer, Alpha. Warrior Ethan was found unconscious in the kitchen, which had been closed up as normal for the night. He was slumped over the island, as if he’d been sitting there for something. The dungeon door was open, and her cell unlocked. The keys were hanging from the door,” my beta told me. He was standing in front of my desk, as if he knew he needed the distance between us to keep me from strangling him.
“Who alerted us to the issue?” I asked.
“One of the other warriors. They had tried to mindlink him to make plans for after his shift, and when he didn’t respond, they figured they’d just swing by and check on their way out of the ball. Otherwise, we likely wouldn’t have known until shift change.”
I was seething. Someone dared to break out one of my prisoners? There could be only one suspect. Alpha Duncan and his crew. They didn’t have a pack emergency calling them away; they just wanted to escape with my prisoner. I swiped everything off my desk as my rage exploded. “How could this have happened!? Where was everyone? You can’t tell me they just walked out the front door with our prisoner in their arms.”
“Actually…that’s exactly what they did, Alpha. Security cameras picked them up carrying an unconscious woman through the foyer and out the front. I already spoke with the guards on duty myself. They said since they saw two other women with them, they assumed she was a part of their contingent that just had too much to drink at the ball,” George told me.
“I want those guards whipped for dereliction. They should have stopped them and investigated the situation. Crescent Moon didn’t bring any she-wolves with them. If they’d cross-checked the guest list, they’d have known that.”
“All due respect, Alpha, they wouldn’t have known if they had met mates here who were going home with them.”
I glared at him. “I don’t care. They should have investigated. Ten lashes for each guard on duty who failed to do their job properly.”
“There’s more, Alpha.” He looked down at his feet, clearly unhappy with what he had to say next.
“Well? Spit it out.”
“The other two women? I took a look at the video myself. They did a good job of keeping their faces away from the cameras, but I could tell who they were. It’s the head omega Louise and her daughter, Kayla. They took them with them.”
I fell into my chair hard. This is a disaster. I kept Louise in the pack for a reason. She knew too much about what went on with the omegas here, and I couldn’t risk that getting back to the Royal Pack. With her connections to her home pack, she was bound to have a way to reach the King and Queen if she wanted to blow the whistle on my little operation. Which led me to another realization. Seren was no longer here, and Alpha Brian expected to go home with her in two days. Three-quarters of a million dollars in my account demanded that I get her back.
“Send out a team of warriors. Our fastest, strongest group. Twenty of them, lead them yourself. They’ve been gone for an hour; they still have hours on the road. I don’t care what it takes, you get to them before they hit their own territory and you get those girls back. Leave now.” I ordered. He nodded and then turned and quickly left my office.
I dropped my head into my hands. This was a mess. If I can’t get those omegas back, who knows what scrutiny they’re going to bring on us. I got into trafficking omegas years ago because the pack needed the money, and I stayed in because the money was too good to pass up, but I need to be alive to spend it, for Goddess’ sake. Taking a deep breath, I linked Tobias. ‘My office. Now.’
It took a few minutes, but I finally smelled him approaching before he came in. “Yes, Father?”
“Alpha Duncan has stolen Seren from the dungeons, along with Kayla and Louise. They walked right out the front door, under our own guard’s eyes. I’ve dispatched Beta George and a contingent of warriors to get them back. Gather the six omegas Alpha Brian purchased tonight, and put them in the hunting cabin at the edge of the territory. I don’t want to risk losing any more purchased merchandise.”