Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 848

Chapter 54 : Class Reunion

*Jared*

Archer nudged the black mass of the dead wolf with the toe of his boot, his face twisted in a grimace.

I could scent both women in this cave. The fire they’d started was cool to the touch, but the charcoal was still oily from whatever they’d used to start it. I rubbed the ash between my fingers as I crouched, looking around.

“How’d they get so far off course?” Brandt said from the entrance of the cave as he slid his favorite dagger back into his belt.

“Lock was here too,” Archer said quietly, his boots leaving bloody footprints as he walked out of the cave and looked around. “And two scouts, I think.”

“I know,” I breathed, rising from my position and running my fingers through my hair. I didn’t mention that I could smell blood other than the wolves. They knew it too, but none of us were willing to admit what that meant.

“All of their things are gone,” Brandt said absently as he turned to glare into the setting sun. We’d been running for days through a colossal storm. Picking up their scent again had felt like a miracle, but now….

“f*****g Lock,” I said through gritted teeth, glancing around as I scanned the area around the cave. We weren’t far from the edge of Abel’s territory. We’d make it there by morning if we traveled through the night.

If we didn’t run into Lock, first.

“I haven’t seen that prick in years. Not since the war,” Archer bit out, dragging the wolf out of the cave by its tail. I watched him as he bent to examine it, pulling back its fur to show the deep gash on its neck. “Think he did this?”

“Eliza did it,” I breathed, closing my eyes for a moment.

I let myself be momentarily racked by guilt at the thought of Eliza having to defend herself from this rogue. It was a true rogue, too, the soulless kind who had no master but itself, driven by primal urges like hunger and the need to chase and hunt.

“Eliza?” Brandt said, his brow furrowed.

I lifted one of its paws, her blood dried against its talons. Archer let out his breath as he rose to his full height, the three of us looking at each other for a moment.

“The other camp we passed had their scent, so they’re likely still alive,” Archer said coldly, his fingers grazing his knife belt.

“Abel wouldn’t kill them. He has no reason to,” Brandt added.

Silence fell again, the space between us filled with the sounds of the forest. The women had made it through the Dark Forest alone, and alive.

“We’ll shift and keep moving,” I said, undoing the buttons on my shirt.

We didn’t have a concrete plan when it came to when we’d eventually reach Abel’s territory. He had some of the fiercest scouts in the lands, and I knew that to be true because Abel and I had trained together for years before he left our village. We were a physical match for each other, but he had something I didn’t.

expecting us. I’m sure he knows we’re here now,” I warned, keeping my eyes on the forest

his coat. Brandt gave me a careful eye,

Lock. He was a shadow, damn near silent as he crept through the woods. He was too striking to be a spy, not with his scar, deep-set silver eyes, and raven black hair that fell down his back, nearly touching his waist. But he was the

it. Lock was terrifying and for the most part, uncontrollable. He was only half wolf, the other

picking up my backpack between

my head to

on her toes, using that big head of hers to think

fallen for it

***

in a humid breeze. The wall around Abel’s village shone in the midday sun, casting a long

made no moves on us and kept their distance. We

the forest until we reached the sweeping plains at the base of the Northern Mountains, then they fanned out around us, forming a barrier between us and the wall to the fortress

we doing this with fists or

I saw figures moving along the

was dressed by the time I’d secured my knife belt over my waist, but Archer stayed in his wolf form,

kept my eyes on the men now running along the top of the wall, some of them pausing to look

front door

than eighteen as he hurried through the grass. He was a kid, really, tall and gangly, having not yet filled out his new-found height. I paused midstep, tilting my head at

Move aside. I have business with

“Y-you’re not welcome!”

asking,” I said sharply, fixing him with a dark

gaze slowly back toward the wall, where several

as the boy turned

in the sun. Brandt

one of us do you want

“N-none–”

okay? Trained by the same masters and hardened by the same Dark Forest that separates our villages. Choose me, and I’ll rough you up with only my fists. Choose this guy–” Archer jabbed his thumb at Brandt, “Well, he likes to fight

about him?” the boy said, his face draining of

fought against the shadow curling into knots inside of me, begging to

leading inside the wall opened and several men came out. “We’re trying to help you out, kid. You think we haven’t been in the same position as you, led out to fight some enemy under the careful gaze of our elders? They’re placing bets on you, how many hits you can land.

way, crossing my arms and glancing at the dozen or so men now

cleanly in the jaw. The boy looked absolutely shocked as he staggered backward,

out, grabbing the boy

surprise rang out along the wall, but I was focusing on

out as a few familiar faces came into view. Abel’s departure after I’d been voted

of them knew