Vicious Submissive (BoyxBoy)

Problematic: Leo POV

A heavy sort of silence fell over the room. It seems our problem is much larger than just our area. It made me wonder how far they'd gotten with their influence. Was it the entire country or just the western half? How intricate had it become? Also, the biggest question of why, though I had a few guesses. Money, of course, is at the top. The development of technology that could control someone without the need for any sort of arcane art would be quite profitable. Slavery of any sort was outlawed and all information, any inkling of arcane methodology at all, had been destroyed. Better yet erased. The highest-ranked priestess along with the most skilled and practiced witches had used a form of eradication type arcane energy that had banned its existence from our world about 30 or so years ago. It cost half of them their lives, but it worked, for the most part.

All information regarding arcane enslavement methodologies and theories, which was the most effective and widespread form, disappeared. Anyone that had been enslaved through the use of any arcane arts was immediately freed. Not to say that the issue of slavery as a whole was completely fixed, but in the grand scheme of things, it was easier to free someone from physical and chemical shackles rather than nearly indestructible, unbending arcane ones. It'd truly helped for the most part, and it had lessened the area of effect for the slave trade as a whole. What had once been countrywide and spanned overseas had become a smaller network of cities. Now it seems the slave trade was trying to revive itself, and in a much more dangerous way.

To my understanding, from a mixture of my dad and history classes, the drawback of arcane enslavement was that it gave no actual control to the person, in terms of thoughts and most actions. In other words, it wasn't all-encompassing. Under arcane enslavement, the victim would have their natural abilities heavily restricted if not negated completely. They would be incapable of attacking or injuring their binded owner, either. There would also be a sort of invisible tether that connected them to their binded owner as well. If they got too far, they would feel a sort of backlash and then be teleported to the close proximity of their binded owner. There were also extra things added on at times, such as the forcible removal of the binding could lead to a quick, but excruciating, death or things similar. With all that being said, the bindings didn't control the victims' perception, emotions, or thoughts. They wouldn't start to love their master or listen to them with unquestioning obedience. At the end of the day, they were still themselves, just weakened and captured.

These devices, though, were the opposite in a way. They offered some sort of control over the mind. Enough that a person was forced into a feral state...and who knows what else. Having that sort of power could create more than a few problems. You could make an army of ferals and erase an entire pack. Or capture them. Thankfully, this looks like they're still in the earlier phases. Still experimenting and testing, but the scope is dangerous nonetheless. Iris was actively chewing his lip in thought while Evin's brows were furrowed in concern. Eventually, Evin stood up, turning to us at the same time,

 "I need to make a call in light of this information. I'll return as quickly as possible. Please, excuse me."

We nodded and once the door had clicked shut, Iris looked back at the both of us,

 "I'm going to continue the interview if that's alright with you. The information you may be able to recall will be pertinent towards the investigation even more so."

Cy nodded and Iris spoke once more,

 "The person I'm about to name is no longer living, but he is connected with some of the other people involved in this issue. Have you heard mentions of the name of Karter Blood-Claw?"

Cy shook his head, but the name was familiar to me. He was a slave trader that had operated heavily maybe 40 or so years ago. Dad always likes to brag about how he knew the hero who took him down. He'd been an Alpha of a pack that, later, had to be disbanded. The Alpha was killed and the Beta, and most of the Head Warriors, were arrested. Iris nodded and turned the laptop leading to my baby flinching in my arms. He made a sound that was a mixture of a whine and growl as he looked away from the image. His body shivered slightly. I held him close, combing my fingers through his hair and whispering calming words in his ear and through our link. Iris had turned the screen back to him almost immediately when he saw my baby's reaction; a remorseful look on his face. It took a little bit to calm Cy down. His heartbeat wasn't as fast and his breathing was calmer. He took a few more breaths before looking towards Iris, his voice quiet,

 "Can I...see the image again?"

Iris looked uncertain,

 "Are you sure?"

Cy nodded and Iris still looked as if he wanted to protest, but my baby spoke once more,

 "Please."

The snake shifter sighed and showed the screen once more. Cy's reaction wasn't as noticeable as before, but his breaths became slightly shaky nonetheless. The more Cy looked, the calmer he became, his gaze becoming more calculating before he spoke in his usual neutral tone,

 "Why does he look so much like M-...that man?"

I kissed Cy's cheek, knowing he was still pretty unnerved after the scare. Iris, on the other hand, had a look of realization before he spoke again,

 "Do you know if Marren is a hybrid?"

Cyrus hummed in agreement,

 "He is, but I never really saw him in either form. A vampire/wolf hybrid, to be more exact."

Iris hummed,

 "Well, the man that's in this image is Marren's father. He had been running a slave market through his pack, along with the help of his Beta and about half of his head warriors. Of course, when they were found out, they were raided, and he was killed during it. Your father had been the one to lead the raid at the time. In fact, your father had been one of the higher-ranked enforcers from Ensis, the law enforcement organization that works directly under The Council. It's one of the reasons that your pack's eradication was so alarming despite its size and how new it was. It was a pack registered under Ensis and the fact that it had been cut off so completely was viewed as a direct attack on The Council. It would also explain while Marren proceeded to only take such extremely aggressive actions towards your pack in the first place. He would have been fueled by revenge for what happened to his pack and father."

Cy growled slightly before speaking,

 "I thought The Council placed the children orphaned by pack disbandment into homes in other packs."

Evin's voice came from the door as he re-entered,

 "They do. There's an entire sector dedicated to abandoned and displaced pups. The problem with Marren's case is that he ran. I was there actually, but I didn't know the pup's name. I only knew that he was the former Alpha's child. When they were trying to help him out of the Alpha's personal panic room, he attacked the enforcers with pepper spray, claws, and fangs before jumping out the window and shifting. As he ran, we had to tend to the wounded. One of the enforcers died from bleeding out and the other was seriously wounded, though I doubt he did so on purpose. It was more so out of desperation, it seemed, since all of his attacks were aimed at the legs of the enforcers. That being said, because we didn't immediately go after him, we lost his trail. He would have been about 13 then. By the time he attacked your pack, he would have been in his early twenties. More than enough time to grow a grudge and who knows the kinds of experiences he had before going through with the attack."

Iris spoke up then,

 "From the way you spoke about it, though, young Luna, it would seem as if he had established himself criminally and his influence only grew during the time you were captured."

My baby nodded as he looked towards Iris,

 "He already was handling what I thought were contract killings at the time. At least, that's all I knew about."

Evin hummed thoughtfully,

 "Then it would be good to find any information on his dealings during the 9 years before he attacked. We might be able to better flush out this network that's been slowly created in the shadows."

I nodded at that. It's obvious he hadn't been quietly sitting in a corner, biding his time if he'd attack Cy's family with a group of over 40 wolves under his command. What had been disturbing and painful had become even more problematic.