Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 509

Chapter 11 : There’s Something Out There

Xander*

I found Henry in the warehouse. He’d laid the creature on a tarp and was sitting on an upside down bucket nearby, looking pale.

I walked toward the old man, not bothering to announce my presence. He knew I was there. He knew I’d be coming to him with questions.

“It’s a wolf, isn’t it?* I said, stopping short of the tarp. I looked down at the body of the wolf, noticing for the first time the lack of blood on the tarp, and on Henry’s clothes. I peered at him, narrowing my eyes as he rose from the bucket. “Who is it?”

Henry shook his head, looking exceedingly exhausted. He ran his hand over his face, looking down at the tarp through his fingers.

“Gretta was the only worker unaccounted for in Bethany’s count.”

I closed my eyes, picturing the soft-spoken young woman with glasses and softly curling blonde hair who I had seen at breakfast the morning before. She hadn’t been at the bonfire, of that I was certain.

“What did this to her?” I asked, but Henry shook his head, wiping his hands on his pants as he rose from the bucket.

“I don’t know.’

“Lena and I heard something in the woods during the bonfire, something large-”

“It didn’t come from the woods, which are inside of the perimeter,” Henry breathed, giving me a look of annoyance. “It came from over the wall.”

“Has this happened before?” Adrenaline was coursing through me. My fingertips prickled as I knelt down by the tarp, taking a closer look at the remains of Gretta’s wolf form. There wasn’t much left.

“No one is allowed to shift on the property, especially after dark. Some do… but near the village. Never here.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said sharply, watching the old man closely as he stood with his hands tucked in his pockets. “What happened to her blood?”

I’d noticed blood staining the ground where her body had been found, and a splatter of it on the wall, but not nearly enough to have bled her dry like she was now. I reached out to touch the wolf, running my fingers over her fur.

“I don’t know-‘

“Then who would know? Have the authorities been alerted?”

“Radcliffe is on his way.”

“What authority does he have to investigate this? I’m talking about the police or the warriors belonging to the Alpha!”

“Radcliffe will determine what needs to be done,” Henry scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“This girl has been murdered, and violently-”

“We don’t know that-‘

“Are you kidding me?” I rose to my feet, clenching my hands into fists in an attempt to stop myself from reaching out and throttling the man. “She was ripped to pieces not even a quarter mile from where the rest of US were sleeping!”

I glanced back down at the remains of the wolf, shaking my head as I closed my eyes. It was the most awful thing I’d ever seen. Henry was hiding something. His face betrayed his calm, somewhat uninterested tone. He looked just as terrified and uneasy as I was sure I did.

to what happened, first

you mean to do with that girl, anyway?” Henry asked, staring directly into my

f*ck do you mean

a bed

for one. Two, don’t try

know,

what?” I blinked at him, taking a cautious step in his

came a sharp voice from the

my shoulders as Maxwell Radcliffe walked into the warehouse, followed by a tearful Bethany. Her face was reddened and raw from her tears, and I noticed she kept her gaze off the body of what I assumed had been a

bobbing his head

to physically move

out, clutching her shoulder and pulling her

at Maxwell, then Henry. “Why

terrified, which made me want

What is the matter with

looking me up and down before a smirk stretched across his

then walked out of the warehouse. Henry watched her go, his eyes glossed over with

even glance in our direction as

on Maxwell, not bothering to hide my contempt. He seemed unphased by the fact that someone had been murdered on his

“What’s going on here?”

*No need for

often has someone been

Only that people do go missing here. The wall is more than a boundary, you must understand. Those hills to the west… well, no one exactly knows what’s out there. That’s why it’s a rule that my workers cannot shift on the grounds. If they go into the village, that’s one thing, but here?” He tucked his hands behind his back, walking a wide circle around the tarp as he peered down at it. “I can’t help those that run into trouble outside of the boundary. Past the wall, they’re no

within the walls,’ I argued, but

Creek has already been notified. If it

suits him?”

is short-lived. He has a short

said, not going into

this as all

I’ll have you cover the body. Keep everyone out of the warehouse for the

I asked in a low, serious

heartily. “Oh Goddess, no. Henry looks and acts tough, but I’ve known him since my childhood. He’s reclusive now, but he didn’t used to be, no. Lost his mate when he was my age, from what I

continued to look down at

mate?” I asked, hoping I didn’t already

implement the rule of not shifting on the property. The hills… they call to you in your

watching him as he walked away.

***

bun she had piled on top of

me. She wordlessly grabbed the kettle off of the woodstove and poured US both mugs of strong, black tea. I watched her as she stirred sugar into the mugs, her gray eyes lined with fatigue. In the soft morning light coming through the window I could just see the strange flakes of blue around her

I accepted the mug of tea from her, what would’ve happened between us last night if we hadn’t

quelled the searing desire I felt toward her.

down in the chair by the door, gripping her tea between her hands as she looked up at me, waiting

her as much as I thought was useful, not wanting to scare her to death by describing the violent

had been a

were just-just at the firepit. We hadn’t