TF 8

 Singto

"He also said that if it weren't for the mating bond, we wouldn't be together! It's like I'm banging myself on a wall! Why is he like that?! He was not listening to me at all!"

Singto grabbed another bottle of beer and chugged it down in one gulp. Despite the inability of getting drunk, excessive drinking of the strong liquor eased the burn in Singto's throat.

"Ai'Sing, maybe you should have explained to him that the betrothal papers were dated years ago. Why did you keep them anyway?" Neww can't help but ask Singto. He knows that Singto has no plans to settle down.

Well, that was true until a certain omega was brought to the estate. Neww inwardly smirked at the thought.

"I didn't know they were still there. Shit! Maybe he thought I'd marry some alpha girl and still have him on the sidelines!" Singto felt hurt thinking that his mate had little trust in him. If he knew that Krist would read those blasted sheets of papers, he would have burned them into ashes!

In the middle of the talk between Singto and Neww, Earth strode in carrying some peanuts and fried chicken. "Have you ever told him that you are serious about him?"

"Do I have to? Establishing the bond and putting a mark on him are enough proofs that he is mine as much as I am his. Saying sweet nothings are totally unnecessary."

Neww threw some peanuts at Singto.

"Reassuring your mate that you are serious with the relationship is a basic requirement for strong bond! You having no sense to verbally express your seriousness towards N'Krist is the root cause of all those shit going on between you two. That's exactly why he was so mad at you! Not to mention that you kept things from him and made him feel that he is insignificant. Mates decide on important things together, Ai'Singto. I learned that the hard way. Mating bond? That's nothing if a mate doesn't want to complete the bond anymore. Unless you'll force N'Krist."

"No way! My turtle is free to do whatever he wants. He was even able to leave me here." Singto pouted.

Earth laughed. "Leave you? You've got to be joking N'Singto! The ride that fetched the little omega was one of the elite betas we have. I doubt he'll be able to leave without you keeping an eye on him."

Neww teasingly pinched his mate. The two are obviously enjoying His Highness' troublesome love life.

"Don't tease him too much, Phi. His Highness is broken hearted."

Singto glared at his two skilled men. In his current mood, their deadly skills in combat will be wasted on them if they keep on acting like stupid men in front of him

"What you have with N'Krist is a fated mating bond. Whatever you two will do, the bond will always be there. The harder you try to extinguish it, the hotter it burns you. You and your mate shouldn't take a fated pair's mating bond lightly. Just take Oaujun and Fiat as an example. No matter how hard a fated pair tries to dissolve the bond, it won't be nullified as easily as a usual mating bond." Earth explained.

With a frown, the alpha asked his friends, "What should I do to make him understand?"

Neww sighed.

"Maybe it shouldn't be the omega who will do the 'understanding' but you, Ai'Singto. Your bond is still weak with a lot of ways for anyone to breakthrough. N'Krist was right when he said that you should spend more time with each other. Right now, you need to gain his trust. Getting to know each other enough to establish unbreakable trust is what it takes for mates to stay with each other despite their differences. If you get the little omega to trust in you, asking for permission from him to conduct a risky mission will be as easy as one, two, three."

"N'Neww is right. N'Krist must be confused with how fast the bond between you two develops as well as the intense emotions that go with it. Spend time with him and make him feel secure. Telling him you love him once in awhile is a good way to make him feel special. You do love him, right?"

Neww hit his mate on the head hard.

"Of course he does! He wouldn't be acting like an abandoned dog just because his mate left him if he doesn't." Neww glanced at Singto. "You love him, don't you?"

Awkward silence filled the room as the pair waits for His Highness to answer their questions.

Singto cleared his throat. "How do I know I love him?"

The two almost kicked Singto's ass for being so oblivious. If only it weren't for Oaujun who interrupted them with a crying Bas in tow, they would have taken turns flattening His Highness' ass.

"Is something wrong?" Worried, Singto immediately asked.

"Bas can't contact N'Krist even though the latter promised to call him back before 10PM. It's past 2AM already. P'Art also called a few minutes earlier about an attacked taxi along the way to the omegas' house."

Oaujun motioned for Bas to hand his phone to Singto who took it and dialled his mate's number right away. He was led to a voice mail asking him to leave a message after a beeping sound.

On his third attempt to reach his mate, Mew strode in with Art. The latter looked worried.

"You guys weren't answering my calls. We have a huge problem." Art said.

Singto stopped dialling and asked. "What is it?"

Mew threw a couple of keys at him. "We believe that N'Krist was captured by some alphas working for the syndicate we plan to annihilate in a few days. The taxi was wrecked and the driver dead. Only his faint scent and those keys were left in the vehicle."

Art was about to add something when Singto hastily left the room, heading towards the estate's gates.

"He's not going to change into fatigue clothes?" Oaujun asked.

Neww and Earth smiled. The answer to their questions is as clear as Singto's need to secure his little turtle into safety.

Krist

What the fuck is this place?

Krist can't believe what he is seeing. In cages similar to his, male omegas are locked. But unlike his clean state, most are wearing torn clothes and were obviously roughened up before being locked inside their cages.

Clearing his throat, Krist caught the attention of the dark haired omega locked in a cage next to his.

"Where are we?" Krist asked the boy.

"I don't know. When I woke up, I'm already locked in here." The young omega, about his younger brothers' age, answered in a husky voice.

"How long have you been here?"

The boy paused to count in his head.

"A week at most. Some were already here before me. Others are just like you who was brought in hours ago. But you are luckier compared to the ones who came with you since you were locked in here."

Krist can't believe that the boy would consider him lucky when he is locked inside the same cage as the boy.

"How can you say that?" Irritation and disbelief coated Krist's question.

The boy shyly glanced at him.

"I didn't mean to sound rude. I just think that we are luckier here than those who were brought somewhere else to be dispatched to trainers."

Trainers? What trainers?! Shit! What the fuck did I get myself into?!

"I'm sorry for sounding rude too. I just feel uncomfortable in here. Can you tell me more about this place?" Krist did his best to make his tone calm despite the turmoil of emotions inside him.

The younger omega smiled.

"Sure. But I don't really know much. What I do know though is that kidnapped omegas are segregated into 'slaves' and 'possible mates'. The ones the kidnappers appraised as top quality gets locked in these cages like pets while those who they deem as 'slaves' will be sent to trainers. Who the trainers are, I don't know. When they'll be sent, I have no idea as well. All I know is that omegas like us here are treated way better than those omegas outside since slaves don't need to be virgins when sold."

(Slaves don't need to be virgins when sold.)

The words of the boy echoed in Krist's head. He can't shake off the feeling that if he wasn't as good-looking as he is, he would've lost his V-card hours ago.

"Can we escape?" Despite his fear, Krist needs to get the hell away from this place he is in. He still has brothers who depend on him.

"We can't. Some have tried a couple of times to fool the guards when they brought us food. Unfortunately, the doors need a gate pass which only the people on top of this syndicate have. So, even the guards who take care of us can't open the door on their own."

Kristi glanced around and noticed that in total, there are nine of them inside the room. About six look dead tired. Obviously, these are the omegas who tried to escape.

When he was about to ask another question, the younger omega hushed and told him to act like he is sleeping. With a questioning look on his face, the omega followed  the request of his new friend.

A few seconds later, a swooshing sound was heard as the door to their room opened, revealing a stocky man in leather with eight men in suits following him.

"These are the best goods we've accumulated so far. All are top quality but the one I see as the best is this one."

Footsteps stopped in front of Krist's cage. Krist tried his best to continue breathing normally as if he is in a deep sleep.

"We caught him earlier. Unfortunately, we haven't taken off his collar yet since we cannot find the keys. But as you can see, he is of top quality."

Krist shivered deep in his bones. His body instinctively knows that it is in grave danger with the way the nine men leered at his sleeping form.

"Can I touch him?" A malicious voice asked.

As an answer, Krist heard his cage being opened followed by another shuffling of feet as the men entered his cage. He almost cried when he felt hands caress his body over his clothes. When a tongue licked his right cheek, Krist was not able to keep his act and reign in his temper. He instinctively punched the perpetrator with all his strength.

The middle aged alpha was taken aback at his sudden attack. Then, a masochistic smile painted his lips.

"Feisty! I like that. How much is this one?"

The stocky man who Krist identifies as his kidnapper mockingly laughed. "As much as you men are willing to pay for him."

One of the men in suit, a beta, voiced out his opinion by saying: "We don't mind sharing. Give us the highest price for this omega. He is more than enough for us tonight."

The other men nodded their head in agreement. The physical features and the fire in the omega's eyes are more than enough to satisfy their lustful hunger. Sharing is not an issue especially when the said object of sharing will only last for a day. . . Or maybe a few hours before broken.

Happy that the men has taken their pick and will be paying a hefty amount for it before the actual auction, the stocky snake-like man hauled Krist up.

Krist did his best to shake off the big man. Still, his strength is nothing like that of an alpha.

Is this how he is going to die? Krist can't help but ask himself. As if he is watching his life play before his eyes, he remembered the times he had with Singto. His mate might not be perfect but he always helps Krist whenever the latter is in dire need of it. May it be making decisions for his brothers, hearing reassuring words when he is in doubt, or when he simply needs to feel secure in his mate's arms.

I shouldn't have been so harsh on him. Can't anyone come and save me?! I still want to be with my lion. . . I haven't told him I love him. Yet. Please. . . help!

Krist's heart wept thinking back of how mean he was when he told his mate that they were together only because of the mating bond. If he only knew this would happen to him, he would have glued himself to Singto and begged the alpha to make him his right away.

I'd rather lose my virginity to a mate who I need to share with someone else but means the world to me, than with these alphas who are less than trashes for me.

When the stocky man got tired of Krist's resistance, he punched the smaller male. This caused Krist to fall to his knees and hunch over in pain. His eyes tearing up in pain.

Despite the pain, Krist can only think of one thing, I'd rather die than yield to these crazy fuckers!

Singto

In his entire life, this is the first time that Singto feels disappointed for not being a pure blooded shapeshifter.

I want to know how my mate is, goddamnit!

As a hybrid with diluted abilities of shapeshifters , he doesn't have the ability to communicate with his mate nor can he link his emotions with his little turtle. If only he can, he'll definitely gauge his mate's current situation right away and reassure his mate who is surely really scared right now that he'll be there in a bit.

Singto once again curses in his head when he noticed that he's still wearing his homey clothes rather than the proper fatigue he and his men wear when they do the dirty work. Still, he paid it no mind and continued walking inside the huge warehouse where his mate along with a number of male omegas are being kept. Singto knows the right passages in the said warehouse since he has memorized each nook and crane of the place due to Art's detailed report of the vicinity. That's why he didn't have a hard time locating the exact rooms where his mate could be in.

The strange thing about the whole infiltration business Singto is conducting is that no guards tried to stop him. In fact, the place is too peaceful to be a warehouse of a syndicate. A bit troubled by his lack of opponents, Singto hastened his pace a bit. When he got into the 2nd floor of the warehouse, he noticed a strange light emitting from the door located at the very end of the floor. A scream followed suit.

Knowing that the door leads to the room where high class omegas are being kept, Singto abruptly entered the door in high hopes that his mate is inside and that he'll be able to get Krist out of the place right away.

"Is that N'Krist?"

Oaujun who was following behind Singto asked in a voiced filled with astonishment.

Singto's surprise with what he saw when he passed through the door was blurted aloud by his companion. Never in a million years would he have thought that his little turtle is capable of anything else other than being adorable!

"Is it just me or are those frozen men?"

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