Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 791

Chapter 2 : The Man in the Mask

“Please!” I panted, the word catching in my throat and coming out as a hoarse cry. “Please, wait–”

The masked man picked me up with his arm around my waist, hoisting me over an ice-covered boulder. We’d been doing this for what felt like hours, the masked man dragged me along behind him as I tried to match his pace, which was close to a sprint.

I hadn’t looked back, not once, not since he pulled me through that window and into the unforgiving darkness that swallowed us both whole.

He set me down and grabbed my arm as he broke into a run again, but my knees buckled, my legs so frozen I could no longer feel my feet. I fell to the ground, the wet, half-melted snow biting into my skin. I couldn’t stop the tears as I tried to rise.

I was shaking so badly from the cold that my teeth were chattering as I wrapped my arms around my middle, shielding myself from the spray of rotten snow being carried by the frigid wind. The dense forest around us groaned as if it were in pain, the wind snapping branches and whistling through the canopy above our heads.

The man’s grip loosened on my arm and he took a step away from me, dropping the worn leather backpack he’d been carrying onto the slush and ice between us.

The daggers he wore on his belt flickered in the faint light of the moon peeking from the clouds overhead as he knelt, pulling a few items from the bag.

“You can let me go–”

“You won’t survive out here by yourself, not in your condition,” he replied, cutting me off with a wave of his hand. His voice was a distorted murmur behind the thick mask he wore, but I heard him curse under his breath as he rifled through his bag.

He pulled out a pair of thick socks and a shirt, which were heavily patched from repeated mending. He grabbed the back of one of my calves, and I had to steady myself with my hands on his shoulders as he took my frozen foot in his hands and gently rolled one of the socks onto it. “I’m going to carry you.”

“Just let me go, please! I won’t… I won’t tell anyone–” I whimpered as he took me by the waist again and positioned me on a boulder so my feet weren’t touching the wet ground. He rolled the second sock on, his calloused hands warm on my skin. It was a needed comfort, one that made a fresh wave of tears roll from my eyelashes and over my cheeks before they froze to my skin.

“Arms up,” he commanded, and I shakily complied. He pulled the shirt down over my head and took a step back to inspect me. The moonlight dusted his eyes through the mask, illuminating the crimson flakes that felt so familiar.

“Are you going to hurt me?”

“No,” he said firmly as he bent to gather his belongings.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Away from here–”

“But where? Why?”

“Do you always ask so many questions?” He was looking right at me now, his body rigid with frustration, maybe even annoyance.

once over, but then he looked over the top of my

I barely had time to duck before it brushed the top of my head with the thick

you long enough,” the masked man said to a man who jumped over one of the

a multitude of weapons. The contents of the bags spilled out as he threw

the wolves that were gathering us. How many of them were

the man

turned my gaze to the

new captor had a

other wolves and men began to

been fighting, however. I’d witnessed the beginning of it before Jared

a satchel tied to his waist. “We got what we needed for the bounty,

the man’s tawny blond curls tremble. He was a large man, very large. He could crush me between his palms if he wanted to. I stiffened as he

eye on her for a moment.” He turned and began barking orders at the men and wolves

me, giving me a crooked smile.

fought the urge to say something cutting and sarcastic in response. How’s it going? Well, I’d been better. That was for damn

said,

tighter and shot

brows at me, thoroughly amused. “Nice to meet you, too,” he said sarcastically, then plopped down next to me on

wasn’t frozen to the boulder, I would have moved away from him in an instant. I would have shot up and run. But as I looked around at the half dozen or so men and wolves, I realized there would have been no logical solution to my situation. I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t outrun them. I was entirely at

are going to shift,” Jared said as he walked back over to us, tilting his head toward the men standing behind him. “I need her to ride on your back. Seamus, Odin, and Fritz are

focused on the fact that Jared said I’d be riding on Archer’s back. I bit my lip as Jared’s eyes moved to mine. I wished I could see what he looked like. He hadn’t been the only one wearing a mask when I was taken from the auction, but he was the only one wearing a mask now. Was he just as scary as the brute of a man sitting next to me on the boulder? Were the crimson flakes I saw in his eyes

be a rogue. No one had addressed him as Alpha. They called him by

clothes falling away in tatters as he shook off what remained of his leathers and the belt that hung heavy with daggers around his

cautious step toward me. “You’ll be

taking me?” I breathed, my voice carried

my spine, but it wasn’t out of fear, no. His words were laced with a silent challenge, something I couldn’t quite

say something. He was waiting, I realized, for me to argue with him. I felt that realization

said coolly, then turned on his heel and walked

***

I held onto Archer’s fur, my legs clasped around his middle. He was big and fast, but he moved in a gentle, rhythmic way that had my eyelids

on his fur as my head slumped forward again, and I woke with a start, gripping him tightly once again. I felt his warning growl reverberate through his chest. If I could mind-link with him, I was sure he’d be telling me to stay awake, warning me that I

for a moment, and the next I was flat on my back, the air knocked from my lungs and my

with stars. Figures surrounded me, talking over each other as

Back up–” Jared’s voice rang through my ears as I fought for breath, my