"Your Majesty!"

Dominic was engrossed in discussion with Agravaria's Minister for External Commerce and Inter-Kingdom Trade when he turned to see an omega rushing his way. His nostrils flared with irritation, heightening by a whiff of confusion when the guard reached them; panting and his physical appearance looking out of shape. Dominic guessed he'd no doubt run the entire six flights of stairs up here instead of taking the elevator — which was prohibited for omegas anyway, except for important dignitaries and members of the royal families.

His eyebrows shot up in worry. "What's the matter, Gaston? Did something happen?"

"Your Majesty," pant, pant. "I've been instructed to tell you," pant, pant. "That Princess Sabrina — "

"Speak properly, young man," the Minister groused, equally irritated. "It's the future Grand King you're talking to."

The omega stilled. "I'm so sorry, Sir. Prince Roman has revealed that Princess Sabrina hasn't returned home for days. They think she's missing."

"Sabrina?" Dominic frowned, trying to remember where he'd heard that name from. "Who's Princess Sabrina?"

"Prince Asher's sister, My Lord," the Minister helped him recollect. Damn, he didn't even know the siblings of his mate. "From Melissa."

"Right, right," Dominic felt his face burn in embarrassment. He said to the guard. "When was this?"

"It's been two days now, My King. At first, he wasn't bothered because he thought she'd gone to stay in the Melissa Castle, due to the fight they had the other day. But after two days of hearing nothing from her, he went up to the Castle, and Queen Ruth...said Sabrina never came by. The Kingdom of Melissa is thrown into disarray by the news when they also found out that Prince Asher — "

"That's impossible," Dominic cut him off. "She couldn't have just gone missing like that. Have they checked up with her friends? They're mostly part of her ladies-in-waiting."

"We've done that, Sir. Neither of them agreed to have seen her. We've also scoured the entire Melissa but she's nowhere to be found. Same with Delver."

"You must be out of your mind," the Minister bristled with rage. Dominic found him rather annoying than helpful at the moment but made no comment; he didn't want to sound disrespectful to the elderly man. "Where else could she have gone? She must be hiding somewhere."

"I agree with the Minister," Dominic leveled his eyes on the omega. "She's somewhere around. Find her."

The omega lingered in hesitation. Dominic's harsh gaze burned at him, compelling him to bow and scurry away. The Minister shook his fat head, distaste dripping off his voice as he said.

"They're the laziest caste ever made."

Again, Dominic disagreed but did not comment. Pleasing the Ministers and agreeing to whatever fucked up idea they had in their shallow brains would be helpful to him in securing the throne. Asher's birthday was months away, and he hated that he had to wait till the snot turned eighteen before rightfully ascending the throne. He hated the fact that he needed Asher more than the Prince needed him.

But when a few weeks passed and no concrete result borne forth from the intense search all over the twelve kingdoms of Jo, Dominic put his work and sentiments aside and gave the troubling issue his full attention for the first time.

There was also a few concerning issues aside from Sabrina's disappearance. He'd tried to find out if Roman had annoyed her deeply for her to leave their home, but the Delver Prince had revealed that he felt his bond with Sabrina weaken after his last trip to Giordan. He still felt her emotions, but she couldn't feel his. Then Dominic had compelled him to try communicating with Sabrina through their thin mind link, but he'd hit an impenetrable wall - one that left him dizzy, sick, and hurt.

Sabrina had blocked him from her mind. The development suggested that the Princess was off the island.

But, it wasn't possible. He'd queried the omegas in charge of the ports in Melissa and Delver, and none reported to have helped Sabrina off the island. Granted, she might have solicited help from a witch to teleport her off Jo, but the idea was too absurd and far-fetched. The few witches living in Jo had sworn their allegiance to Agravaria, and none knew anything about Sabrina. They'd tried a couple of spells to try and reach her but it brought forth no result of Sabrina hiding within the island.

Nothing made sense anymore. It was hard to believe that a woman — and omega — had single-handedly left the island quietly without taking a ship, or teleportation spell. She left no trace of her disappearance. It wouldn't have been a surprise if it was a man who'd pulled it off.

But when Queen Ruth pointed out that Asher hadn't returned from his one-week-long holiday in Cedric, and no one in Cedric even saw him this past week, Dominic sighed. How convenient. He opened his familiar mind link to Asher and confirmed that the little snot was far away from Jo for Dominic to stop hearing his thoughts and feeling his emotions.

In hindsight, perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. He should've picked up the hint when Roman told him that Sabrina had visited Asher the last day he'd seen her.

From the stories he'd heard surrounding the Melissa siblings — they were all thick as thieves. Theo had left the Melissa Castle to his home in Giordan where he stayed with his wife and princess. His relationship with the other two was going well, but he hardly came around anymore. Asher was closer to his sister and was neither a good nor bad influence on her.

He was a bad influence on the poor girl if he'd helped her run away from her mate and responsibilities to him as a wife.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Dominic headed into the garden at dusk, stripping off his princely robes slowly as he brainstormed where they could be. He needed to check the human town, which was a little off Cedric, to be sure that they'd completely gone off the island. Though the town wasn't a part of Jo, it was located within the axis — with a small lake separating it from Cedric. Dominic had a faint idea about how humans normally breached their boundaries and wandered into Jo for illegal business. He hoped to get hold of the miscreants after this little mishap with Sabrina and Asher.

"Estel, tell Mother I'll be going to Cedric and visiting the human town for a few days to check if Asher and Sabrina had gone there. She should handle my official affairs, or delegate it to someone trustworthy while I'm away."

The omega nodded and sauntered off to deliver his message. Briefly, Dominic contemplated confronting the people who helped them — Prince Enoch or one of the other princes of Jo, no doubt — but he didn't think they had the mental capacity to help Asher pull this off. Granted, Asher was exceptionally brilliant, mixing with dull-brained people made him seem aloof sometimes. And neither of the princes were exactly fond of Dominic, so they wouldn't even tell him what he needed no matter how long he threatened them and so everything would be a huge waste of time.

He couldn't afford that.

Standing in the moon's glow in only his pants, Estel returned sooner than he'd anticipated. "I delivered your message, Sir. It took a while to convince her but she sends her blessings."

"Thank you, Estel. You may leave."

He waited till the omega disappeared into the Castle before stepping out of his pants. Standing stark naked in the full moon's glow, he shifted smoothly, the bones on his back-breaking, fur growing out from within, and claws sticking out of his hand. He howled after the transformation was completed and took off into the woods, well vast in knowledge about the forest routes that led to Cedric.

He ran till morning, trees whipping past him, as well as the kingdoms — Agravaria, Melissa, Phineas, Giordan, Delver, and Selkirk. He eventually reached Cedric by midday and ran past the palace to the port. He didn't want to waste even a second. The sailors and port officials recognized him instantly and led him to a storeroom where he shifted back to his naked human form.

"Get me some clothes," he ordered the short, stout man with wavering black hair who was to assist him. The man nodded, dashing off. Dominic surveyed the storeroom, which was filled with herbs, grains, and other food commodities that were seized from Jo traders by the customs officials. The man returned with a pair of black pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

"Here, Your majesty."

"Thank you. You may leave."

Dominic slipped them on without hesitation and hurried out into the ticket area. He needed to join the current ship that was loading traders and headed for the town. Thrusting a silver chain to the ticket man, he was ushered onto the dock.

"Be safe, your majesty."

Dominic nodded without saying a word.

It didn't take thirty minutes till they arrived at the town — Salvatore — and he walked out of the port onto a busy street. Through his werewolf abilities, he could read the minds of virtually every human around him, as well as feel their emotions. He shielded his aura from spreading onto the atmosphere and causing eyes to turn to him. He could feel Asher's emotions again, as well as catch glimpses into the snot's head. It left him oddly pleased.

But their bond — Dominic could feel how weak it'd gotten. Asher's emotions didn't come easily to him unless he concentrated hard on the brat, and that left the Agravarian Prince aching. Unease settled in his gut as he recalled what Roman had told him about Sabrina not feeling his emotions. He became suspicious.

The good part however was that he could find out their location from Asher's head. The two siblings weren't together as he saw Asher in a shop, talking with...Seth? Fuck, his face burned. Of course, Seth. He hadn't exiled the cowardly Prince off the island as his instincts had told him to. For some reason, a surge of jealousy lodged itself in Dominic's chest and he hurried through the bustling streets in blinding fury.

After an hour of walking, he stopped in front of a tall building at last. The shop was on the second floor, so he used the stairs.

Pushing through the door and stepping into the room cramped with clothing material, he zeroed in on Asher dusting the shelves. The little snot had his back turned to him as he cooed in a fake, high-pitched voice that made Dominic's ears burn. "Good evening, Sir. Welcome to Elgrande, the finest cloth store in Salvatore. Is there anything you need?"

"Yes," Dominic's lips curled into a smirk when Asher whirled around in shock. "I need you to come home with me. That's an order, mate."