Page 6 of Captured

“Come in.”

The call from inside the room drew her attention but she let out a thrill before leaving.

“Be well.”

His eyes lingered on her a moment longer before turning to the door. Seeing her reminded him of how long it had been since he’d been home. His parent had long passed, but he had a brother and sister still on Simise that he hadn’t seen in too many years to count.

Pushing the thoughts away, Gra’ar walked into the Director’s office, taking the man’s hand when he held it out.

“Glad you accepted the assignment.”

Gra’ar grunted, looking around the office as he straightened.

“I had them prepare a room for you in the barracks. I can show you to it then see what I can do about anything you need.”

“There’s no need, I’ll be getting started right away. All I need is something with her scent on it.”

The Director raised a brow at Gra’ar’s announcement but gave a shrug of acceptance. No one was going to argue about him not wasting time.

“I can take you to the room she used while she was here. It hasn’t been touched since she disappeared, and since she’d refused to pack her things are all still there.”

Gra’ar grunted again, jerking his head before turning to leave the office. There was no reason to wait. The longer she had to hide, the longer it would take him to find her, and she already had a lead on him.

The Director followed him out, pointing to a set of lifts back down the hallway. Their boots echoed in the silence as they strode toward it and stepped inside, the quiet remaining as they rode it up. When it stopped and the doors slid open, he moved out into the large room before them.

“This is the omega floor. This is a communal area where they can lounge if they get tired of their rooms, and where we set out food when there are enough of them. I usually don’t have more than a couple at a time, so it hasn’t been used for a while.”

A quick look around had Gra’ar’s lip curling. The space was dusty and dim. The windows at each end of the room had bars over them, making the place feel even more like a prison.

The Director moved across the space, not noticing Gra’ar’s disgust. If he’d been left in that place for as long as Flea had he’d have run at the first chance too. It was a depressing space with nothing to do, especially for someone who’d been used to having to provide for herself.

“This was her room.”

Gra’ar pulled his attention back to the Director as he opened one of the doors along the wall. It seemed no different than any of the others as he approached, but the scent that escaped had his cock rising to full mast in seconds.

An omega’s scent always came across as sweet to an alpha, it was nature’s way of drawing them in, but Flea’s was more. There was a spice to it, a bite that had him sucking in a deep breath once he’d entered the room.

He grinned at the empty space, taking in the destruction she’d left in her wake. Most omegas were neat by nature. They were the caregivers, the nurturers, and they liked their spaces to be clean and organized, but if Flea had kept the room that way while she was in it, she made sure to scatter the evidence.

The bed was nothing more than a bare mattress, the sheets and pillows thrown around the room. Various articles of clothing littered the floor and dresser amidst trays and empty glasses. Each piece of cloth he could spot was a dark or neutral shade, something that would help a person hide in shadows instead of the bright or pastel colors many women favored. The only splash of color he could find was a neon pink thong tossed carelessly over the arm of a chair.

The omega had attitude, he had to give her that. Even gone, her scorn for them could be felt.

Gra’ar let out a chuckle as he reached for the little scrap of pink, wadding it and bringing it to his nose. Her musk added depth to her scent, making his erection twitch and his wings flex with the urge to find her.

Tucking the panties into his pocket, he turned and left the room, still smiling as he stepped out and faced the Director.

“Have what you need?”

Gra’ar nodded.

“Remember, she’s from Ninth-Level and likely tried to return there, but the air’s gone bad. We caught her on camera getting into the stairwell on Fifth, but no surveillance remains below there since the gangs took it all out. Sixth still has patches of people but lower… Even animals struggle to survive.”

Gra’ar slipped a finger into his pocket to stroke the lacy fabric hidden within. If he could pick up her scent in the stairwell he could track her. As long as she hadn’t gone straight down to Ninth, he’d get to her before she got herself into trouble.

“I’ve got it. This won’t take long.”

The Director’s brow raised, his skepticism clear, but Gra’ar was confident. Being able to fly would help him move faster than she could, even if he didn’t know the terrain, and his ability to track her would make it impossible to hide for long. No one had ever escaped him.