Good. Some progress. “Then my question becomes, which quarter was he from?”
Woods chewed his lip, hesitated. I wished he would just open his mouth already. I already knew the answer to this particular question, thanks to my friend the knight, but I wanted to hear the words from Woods himself. I wanted him to admit it.
“Technically, he was from the lower quarter. But… he…”
Beneath the table, Marianne yawned. He was even boringherto death.
Finally, Woods got the words out. “I purchased him from the alpha market, Your Highness.”
Now we were on the same page. His information had caught up with that of the knight. But this was just the beginning because I hadnoidea what the alpha market was.
Obviously, from the name alone, I surmised it was a place in which alphas were available for purchase. But the knowledge that such a place even existed was a revelation to me. A mind-blowing new concept. A terrible and disgusting concept, yes, but a novel one. Who in their right mind would ever want to purchase an alpha?
I tented my fingers together on the table and said, “Tell me more about this market.”
“I…” Woods paused, looking at me with slight shock. “You don’t know, Your Highness?”
Patience dwindling, I said, “Why don’t you enlighten me, Mr. Woods?”
Woods sat back in his chair and took a deep breath like he was getting ready to take me on a mental journey.
“The alpha market is a place in the lower quarter where one can purchase an alpha’s contract and keep him for… personal use.”
It sounded like a sick joke, but one I couldn’t help but be intrigued by. As low on the hierarchy as alphas were, I never would’ve thought to purchase one outright like an item, or a pet. Then again, I supposed as a prince I would never be in that kind of situation. Pedigreed alphas were presented to princes on a silver platter. The idea of us going out of our way to seek one was absurd.
But I supposed commoners didn’t have that luxury. If an omega wanted to procreate, he had no choice but to find an alpha to impregnate him. The simplest way to do that seemed to be with cold, hard cash.
It made sense. I could understand its appeal to omegas like Woods, who apparently could not find a noble-blooded alpha to be his donor. Though with the way he’d thrown himself on the ground like a child having a tantrum, it wasn’t difficult to see why he had difficulty finding a partner. Even an alpha would be disgusted by such behavior.
By now, the problem made itself clear. It was forbidden for omegas to ‘mate down’, meaning an omega with noble blood (however diluted, I thought, looking at the pathetic Woods) could not take an alpha donor from the middle quarter, or worse, the lower quarter. When it came to breeding, the castes were to remain within their quarter, with few exceptions.
“I see,” I said. “This alpha of yours—”
“Bjorn.”
My eye twitched, imperceptibly. If he interrupted me again, I would’ve thrown Woodsintothe woods.
“This Bjorn, who was purchased from the alpha market. He was a citizen of the lower quarter?”
“Yes,” Woods said. “He voluntarily put himself up for purchase, and I was the one who bought his contract.”
“Then you owned him? Legally?”
Glancing at me uneasily, Woods said, “Not exactly. The alpha market’s legality is…”
I filled in the blanks myself when he trailed off. “A grey area. Something the King would not approve of if he found out.”
Woods rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced at the door, almost paranoid. “I wouldn’t know, Your Highness.”
There was an unspoken understanding in the air. Woods didn’t want to say it, but he didn’t need to. I’d already figured out that the alpha market filled some kind of niche for many omegas, or perhaps even betas who wanted a taste of knot, and they were happy to indulge in secrecy. It wasn’t like my father went down to the lower quarter on a regular basis. It was out of sight, out of mind. Besides, I had trouble imagining Father fretting over the fates of lowly lower quarter alphas.
Therefore, Woods had proved himself to be even more of an idiot. If he’d kept his pet alpha on a tighter leash, they wouldn’t have been seen together in public, and they could have lived happily ever after. He didn’t even bother to dress up Bjorn like he actually belonged in the upper quarter. Someone had probably seen him, panicked, and immediately alerted a knight.
Both my patience and sympathy for Woods had waned to the faintest sliver, but there was still something bothering me.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Woods,” I said. “I’d like to ask you one more thing before I take my leave.”
“Yes, highness.”
