Captive Mate BL-Chapter 623: - - -

Jael went right to the last bar he had seen Gage at, a couple of years back, when he had to search for the Alpha. Asher hadn’t known why he had taken a couple of days off, having no qualms giving him that and more.

It seemed like Asher constantly vying for him to take a vacation was the one thing that would never change.

It was noon when he stepped into the bar, it was scarcely populated, the few people at the tables more interested in their conversation than drinks.

He walked right up to the counter, "I’m looking for someone."

The bartender wiped down a shot glass, giving him a once-over. "I can’t give out information about our customers."

Jael pretended not to hear him, "Have you seen an older Alpha recently? Dark, graying hair, pretty intimidating, drinks only soda?"

The bartender paused his actions, looking him over again. He had expected to be asked about a woman, a lot of guys at the bar tended to have a hard time dealing with rejection.

The description he had been handed was so specific that he couldn’t help himself. "Yeah," He answered despite himself. "Who’s asking?"

"His kid," Jael lied with a straight face, "I haven’t been able to reach him for a while now."

The bartender relaxed slightly at that, the Beta in front of him did have the same intimidating demeanor and surprising politeness. "He left late last night, haven’t seen him since then."

Jael bit back a curse, wishing he had given in to Asher’s needling and headed out the day before. "Thanks."

His worst fear had been actualized. As he drove to the next bar, he hoped that he would be lucky to find Gage drinking soda in a different bar, maybe for a change of scenery.

The next bar he visited was less prickly about his questions, quick to answer as long as he ordered a drink. He got a mocktail, completely uninterested in anything alcoholic.

After getting a drink, the bartender’s lips got real loose.

"If you’re looking for someone, you should check in with the police," He was saying after disappointing Jael with the news that Gage hadn’t been by their bar.

"There would be a much better chance to find them if you make a missing person’s report than searching by yourself."

Jael listened to him ramble without adding any input, focusing on finishing his drink so he could be on his way. He could just up and leave, but he was trying to leave a good impression, in case he had to return to ask more questions.

His search hadn’t gone all badly, right after coming here, he had confirmed Gage’s presence in the town. He only hoped that he hadn’t missed the Alpha.

Reporting Gage to the station would only complicate things. Mafia Kings were anomalies outside of Haines, there wasn’t exactly a category for them in normal society. They weren’t exactly criminals but at the same time, they wouldn’t be treated like average citizens.

Besides, Jael had access to all of Asher’s men. If he wanted more hands, he would get them instantly, but he didn’t want the men involved in this. Gage wasn’t in mortal danger, he was still a Knight.

He wasn’t as inhuman as Asher but it would be very difficult to kill the Alpha. The only danger to him was himself, and that was the reason Jael was going through all this effort, to try to prevent that.

After the fourth bar, what little hope he had, had started to fizzle out. There were only so many bars in an average town, despite himself, he was starting to believe that Gage had already left the town.

-+-

After an hour of dancing, Caspian and Lake were tuckered out. Lake was seated on the padded floor and Caspian was lying face down, completely out of breath.

Angelo looked down at them, concerned. They had mostly been learning a few dances in the past hour, Cora taking her time to make sure they were all doing the moves correctly so no one hurt themselves, yet they were both exhausted.

"I’ll get us some drinks," He offered, the only one capable of moving.

Cora didn’t know her way around and Caspian, and Lake looked like they weren’t long for this world.

"Water," Cora was quick to interject, "For everyone."

Angelo had no issues with that, heading for the doors. He froze when he bumped into Davian and Asher on his way out of the gym, not expecting to meet the Mafia Kings in there.

He kept a poker face, walking right past them like he couldn’t see them. He could probably ask them to get water and they would be happy to but he would rather not have a conversation with them.

Their sharp gazes had taken on the same quality at the sight of him and he knew that it wasn’t at all because of him or his clothes but the thought of their mates wearing similar clothes. Thank goodness Nikolai was out.

"Is something wrong?" Davian was the first to approach him, putting down the weights he had been working with.

"Nothing, just grabbing water." Angelo tossed over a shoulder without slowing down, his long legs taking him out of the gym.

He was relieved when he saw that he wasn’t being followed, considering getting some water for both Mafia Kings as well. They both looked like they needed it.

The kitchen was on the first floor, so he had to go through the foyer and up the stairs. It was a good thing the house was empty because he hadn’t thought much about the fact that he would be walking quite the distance with the clothes he had on until he was already out of the gym.

He grabbed the bottles of water from the kitchen and made his way back, freezing partway down the stairs when the doors opened without warning.

Angelo froze at the sudden appearance of Nikolai, the Mafia King stepped in and closed the doors behind him, stopping to stare at him.