Universal Auction

Chapter 29-Taken

Hey, y'all, it's been a minute! School has started for me so time is limited, but the inspirational stick whacked me in the middle of homework and wouldn't stop! So I wrote this all in 45 minutes and I now have to get ready for work, so I hope you enjoy!-A.B.

Mal's POV

Two weeks later~

"We found something."

It was news we had been anxiously searching for. An explanation, a reason, hell, even a coincidence.

The reason Theo was taken.

It has been two weeks since we initiated the bond. We all made the collective decision to go slow, but, being that the bond has started, slow progress is required. We've been careful with how we approach the mating, but Theo has taken everything with stride, even being the one to initiate contact with us. No one has yet to complete the bond, but we've found other ways to keep Theo occupied. It seems the mating is making Theo bolder by the day. It's only a matter of time before neither I nor my brothers can deny him anything longer.

But something else was also decided, before the mating the even began. We needed to find out why Theo was taken by the Dumarian's, and what there plans were with him. And what had happened to his parents.

And Vel just walked in, seeming to have some answers.

"What's "something"?" I asked, needing clarification. No reason to expect too much. Our searching has lead to minimal yields as of late.

Vel sat down across from me at our large dining room table. He produced his information tablet, and set it to project in between us. Displayed on the screen showed two Dumarian's. But they weren't random, if I remember correctly, these are the same two that had originally kidnapped Theo from earth. "Who are they? I remember them, they took Theo."

"Their names are Vic'nal and Tor'ell. A former military medic for Dumarian's forces, and his assistant, a pilot who recently finished training." Vel explain, showing me both of their credentials. "They gave us minimal explanation of their reasoning for taking Theo when they were in our custody, and the information we did collect was from the omega, Tor'ell, when he began his heat, who very likely didn't know as much to begin with."

"And this helps us how exactly?" I inquired. I was curious to see where he was going with this.

"Well, apparently Vic'nal knew more than he let us know about."

"We suspected as much. But we couldn't detain them any longer. IRO law states we can't hold an omega in heat. We also have to allow someone to aid them, either to somewhere safe or through the heat, so they aren't harmed. But even then, I doubt we could have gotten any information from him. If you're suggesting we try to contact them for information, I'd request that you give up on that. It's a dead end." I explain.

"I thought so as well. Until they contacted us two hours ago."

"What?" I sat up straighter. "What did they say? Did they have any information about Theo?"

"No just about Theo, about the whole operation." Vel said, his tone going more melancholy by the syllable.

I felt my chest hollow out. "What?"

Vel, usually the brother who has no issue in over explaining, seemed hesitant to share what he knew. "This wasn't just one kidnapping. It's been many." He paused, the words seeming to struggle to find there way out. "Theo wasn't the first one, he was the last."

I felt my breathing pick up, my shoulders tensing, my body reacting to finding out this new information. "Tell me everything." I ground out.

And then he explained it. "We were right about Tor'ell not knowing much, but Vic'nal knew more than we could even picture. He said this was his fifth trip to earth, and he knows for a fact that there are other medics employed. Apparently, the medics are sent to earth to collect designated Terrans and take them back to sell."

"What designates a Terran to be collect?" What could have made Theo a target for this horrendous crime?

Sadness converted all of the features of Vel's face. His eyes shown and downcast, as he said, "He's an orphan."

"What? But we know he has parents." I was confused, but Vel explained further.

"He was an orphan. The people he said are his parents adopted him 18 years ago." Vel touched some things in his table and pulled up a new file. This one showed a picture of Theo, but he was clearly a couple years younger, and he looked so happy.

"What is this?"

"Vic'nal was able to collect some files for me. The files for those to take are directly sent to the collector, not the ship, so if they got caught it couldn't be traced back." Vel explained.

The pieces were clicking in my mind, but not nearly fast enough, Vel saw, and filled in the rest.

"Orphans from earth are adopted be designated "raisers" as Vic'nal called them. They are raised is caring, loving environments, and are then abandoned for a period of time before being collected. This creates a "space" in their lives for a bond to be made. But from what Vic'nal told me, not everyone collected has been raised like this, just the ones with "potential" for premium buyers. A lot of them are just taken, the only criterial being that no one will miss them."

"But Theo already had a bond started long before he left earth! What if the bond didn't take to the buyer? It could have killed him!" I Exclaimed, feeling more enraged by the minute.

"Vic'nal said the same thing, that's why it's not to be done." He slide his finger across the table, showing another slide from the same file. But this one was labeled "special instructions". "Whatever organization was running this apparently denied the buyers, in this case, we know it was Sil'nyy's, request to expose Theo to bonding hormones before they made contact. That's why Sil'nyy did it behind their backs. He contacted the raisers and paid them to expose Theo and leave him immediately, and then he contacted Vic'nal to give him the special instructions."

I had almost everything lined up, but one thing still didn't make sense. "If Sil'nyy went behind the organizations back to expose Theo to hormones, than he can't be running it. Who is?"

Vel looked down at the tablet, and swiped a few more times. Then, suddenly, displayed on the screen was a face I had seen all too recently.

Lilar.

Surprise surprise! Finally, an explanation! I feel like a lot of you were onto me about parts of it, but I hope I got some of you! And now you all also get to see how I'm going to continue this series! "Finding humans scattered across the galaxy. Taken from their homes, their lives. And though they have no family left on earth, they have someone looking for each of them, their forever, their mates." Hope you're interested! Thanks for reading and let me know if I surprised you at all!-A.B.