Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 250

Chapter 30: You Let Her Die!

Maeve

“Get away from me!”

I was running, frantic, tripping and stumbling through the dense greenbelt that lay between the castle ground and the village below. There was noise all around me; screaming, shouting, the eerie high-pitched howl of wolves.

I could hear him behind me, his breath catching in his throat as he cursed aloud, begging me to stop.

“You’re running right into it, Maeve. You need to stop for a minute. We need to come up with a plan to get to the port-”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” My face was tight from my dried tears as I spoke.

“Look around!” he bellowed as he clutched me by the shoulder, pulling me to a stop. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was in incredible pain. One arm was dangling at his side, bent and bleeding profusely from a terrible, protruding fracture in his forearm. I should help him, heal him.

No. I wouldn’t. He was as good as dead to me.

But he was right; fire was blazing in the village. We could see the amber light through the trees and the smoke beginning to drift into the canopy of leaves over our heads.

I turned to him as his hand left my shoulder. He cradled his arm again, his chest heaving with effort.

“Who the f*ck are you?” I said, unable to hide the heartbreak in my voice.

He shook his head, sweat dripping off his jaw as he bent forward, leaning into a tree for support. “I’m really hurt, Maeve. I can’t shift like this. I thought we had more time.”

“More time for what, Troy? If that’s even your real name-”

“It is.”

“What is happening right now? What happened to Gemma?” My voice cracked as I said her name. I hadn’t processed it yet. Everything that had happened within the last half hour was a total blur, only little fragments of memory floating around in my mind. But Gemma’s screams were clear. They were still ringing in my ears.

* Alpha Damian of Poldesse is invading. He’s taking over Drogomor.”

“Why? Is that why you’re here?”

“No. At least, I didn’t know this was his plan. I thought,” he swayed, pitching forward. I felt my body moving to help him without my permission, but I righted myself, my fingers curling into fists. “Romero he-Damian used me. I was a decoy to keep you and Ernest distracted while he made his move.”

“What does this have to do with me? I’m not the Luna yet-”

He looked up at me, his eyes shining with unimaginable pain, “Damian wants you for something I don’t understand. Romero was in on it, he tried to explain it to me but I thought he was just a mad old fool, I-”

A scream ripped through the air around us and I jumped, startled.

“We don’t have time for this. I’ll explain later. I can’t think straight. I need to get you to the river,” he said.

“I already said I’m not going anywhere with you.” I started to walk forward again, grinding my teeth as my skin prickled with mingled guilt and fury. I didn’t need him. I could figure things out on my own, right?

“I need to get you to my ship. You’re not safe in Valoria. All of Damian’s men will be looking for you.”

“You let her die,” I said, turning around to face him once more. “She was right there. She was just behind the door, and you didn’t help. You didn’t do a f*cking thing.”

“They would have killed her regardless. They would have killed me, too. They would have taken you to Damian, and I am certain your fate would have been worse. I did it to protect you-”

“That wasn’t your decision to make.” I swallowed a sob, blinking back a fresh batch of hot tears.

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Chapter 30: You Let Her Die!

“We have to go, Maeve, We can’t talk about this now.”

“And then what? I just – trust you? Let you take me to your ship? Where exactly are we going to go, Troy?”

“You have to trust me.”

“I don’t-”

*Then trust that I will keep you safe, Maeve. I will reunite you with your family.”

“And what about Ernest? He’s my family. He’s out here all alone”

Fire flashed in Troy’s eyes for a second, then he looked away, hurt lining his face. “Ernest wants to be on his own. He doesn’t need us to help him do what he needs to do.”

“What does he-”

“He just lost his mate,” he said. “I have no way of describing to you what that feels like. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Neither would you!”

He looked into my face, searching for something behind my eyes. “I do know. I know what it feels like to find your mate. To lose her.”

“Oh?” I felt ill as a sudden rush of jealousy rippled through my system. I swallowed it down, praying it didn’t show on my face as he continued to watch me.

Almost lose her,” he continued, lowering his gaze before struggling to push himself off the tree. “Let’s go, please. I don’t have a lot of time left.”

“Time? What are you-” I looked at him, my gaze leaving his face and settling on the blood-soaked sleeve of his shirt. He was pale, his eyes hazy and sunken.

I bit my lip, inhaling deeply as I bit down even harder, enough to draw blood.

And then I took his face between my hands and kissed him.

“Goodbye, Aaron,’ I thought as he opened his mouth to mine. Nothing would ever be the same after this. Every feeling, every touch had been a lie. The man met in the market was gone. The man who teased me, who tossed me in the grass and ran his fingers down the rise of my hips while we laid naked in the library was gone. A ghost. A figment of my imagination.

And I knew my powers were weak. My own wounds from our fall from the fourth-story window were slow to heal. The minuscule amount of blood l had given him might have been enough to take the edge off his pain, give him enough strength to lead us to the river and guide us to the port.

But his arm would still be broken. His ankle would continue to swell. He wouldn’t be able to shift and function with only two of his limbs in working order.

He pulled out of the kiss, his face tilted up to the sky as he breathed in, closing his eyes.

*Never touch me again,” I whispered, my heart shattering to pieces.

***

Old Town was in chaos as we pushed through the smoke. I was supporting Troy, his good arm wrapped around my shoulder and his broken arm tied to his chest in a sling I had made from his shirt.

The market stalls were only embers now. The old stone buildings were being licked by flames, and their thatch roofs blackened and fell in, showering the street in sparks of heat.

People ran by us as we made our way down the center of the road, unintelligible shadows amongst the smoke.

Johnny’s Bar was up in flames, the covered porch cracking and collapsing on itself.

Damian would inherit ruin, not a pack. Not like this.

“Maeve?” came a scream from the smoke-filled street ahead of us. A figure limped out of the smoke, her long gray hair billowing out behind her like a cloak as she helped her burden along.

“Cleo? Myla?” I almost dropped Troy in surprise. He was barely conscious at this point, his head bobbing against my shoulder.

I could see what was once their home through the smoke, flames totally engulfing it. Violent thunder boomed over our heads, drowning out Cleo’s reply

“We need to get to the river, now,” Troy said hoarsely, shaking his head.

*Cleo! Hurry! Come with me!” I waved my free hand as they approached, Myla hanging off of Cleo much like Troy was hanging off of me.

“Where? Everything is on fire. I tried to get to the train station, but it was blocked.”

“The river. We’re going to the river!” I cried out over the sound of toppling buildings. Cleo nodded in understanding, looking down at Myla, her face lined with concern.

“Myla is barely holding on—”

“1 know. I’ll help her. As soon as we can find a boat, okay?”

We limped through the smoke-filled streets, a storm brewing over our heads. People were running around us, some shifted and snarling, some in human form screaming, the sounds growing louder as we neared the train station.

Wolves were everywhere. It was impossible to tell who was friend or foe.

The river was tucked behind a row of buildings near the train station. I could hear it before I could see the red gleam of the water as it reflected off the flames. By some miracle, a small skiff was rocking in the river’s current, tied to a post that hadn’t yet caught fire.

Troy was able to grasp the side of the skiff as I helped him into it. He cried out in pain, holding onto me for dear life as I eased him inside. Cleo waded into the water behind me, Myla clutched to her chest as if she weighed nothing. –

“I barely got her out of the house, Maeve. She was asleep. She can’t breathe.”

“I know, it’s going to be okay.”

I pulled Myla onto the boat, laying her down next to Troy, and then pulled Cleo aboard. Cleo held Myla’s head steady as I lifted up my arm.. pressing the exposed cut to Myla’s lips as the blood began to flow.

My blood had done barely anything to help Troy. I prayed it would at least keep Myla alive for another hour or so until we could ride the river’s swift current to the port.

A few minutes had passed, and I didn’t notice Cleo’s absence until Troy let out a blood-curdling scream. I turned, the hair standing up on the back of my neck as Cleo clutched his broken arm, twisting it until an audible crunching sound reverberated throughout the boat. Troy was panting, sweat pouring down his face as he shook his head, silently pleading with her to stop.

“You dislocated your shoulder too, honey,” she said gently, cautiously reaching for his elbow, “I have to set it back in place or-”

“No, no-”

“Maeve, hold him down!”

I let go of Myla and threw myself on Troy just as Cleo pushed with all of her might on his elbow, twisting his mangled arm as she did so.

There was a sharp popping sound, and then he passed out, his eyes rolling back in his head as he slumped into Cleo, who gently laid him back against the back of the skiff.

“He’ll feel better when he wakes up,” she said as she swiftly redid the sling, tilting her head toward the steering wheel. “Do you know how to drive this thing?”

“No,” i said, untying the knot keeping us anchored to the post and grabbing the wheel as the boat was taken by the current.

Cleo got the engine started within a matter of seconds, and suddenly the boat was speeding forward with me at the helm, my hands trembling as I held onto the steering wheel for dear life, one hand fixed on the throttle.

We raced under the railway bridge that separated Old Town from the city of Mirage, and I looked over my shoulder at the flames reaching for the clouds over the village, the sky flashing a bright, electric blue as lightning cracked over our heads. –

“What now?” I whispered, looking down at Cleo, who was holding Myla in her arms and had one comforting hand on Troy’s thigh. “What now?”