Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 265

Chapter 45: Duck and Run 

Troy

“Look at that thing.” I said to Keaton as we pulled the skiff to shore once again, the high tide beginning to retreat as we dragged the skiff onto the beach. I tied the rope to the stake above the shoreline, double checking the knot before looking back at the dog, who was following Maeve around as if she were a mother duck, and he was the duckling. “That’s it. That’s his name.”

“What is?” Keaton asked, wringing water from his shirt. We had almost capsized the skiff as we broke over the reef where the waves crashed into the shallows with vigor. Keaton had gotten the worst of it, the wave soaking him from the neck down.

“Duck, that’s a perfect name for him.”

“You’re naming the thing now? I thought we weren’t keeping it.”

“Try telling that to Myla and Maeve,” I said, shaking my head.

Robbie was walking towards us, looking out over the water before stopping short of us, allowing us to catch up to him.

“The crewmen we sent out as scouts last night are back,” he said, motioning to the group of men congregating around Olly’s cooking fire. “Pete said they saw no signs of the other skiffs.”

“Any signs of other people?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair.

“No, not even a scent. They did pick up on a lot of wildlife, though. Pete went a little nuts, according to the others.”

“Well, none of the crew has shifted in weeks. I don’t blame him for feeling the urge to chase lizards through the brush.” Keaton leaned over and shook his wet hair back and forth, spraying me and Robbie with water.

“I could use a shift,” Robbie said, wiping the water from his shirt as he glared down at Keaton.

“Aye, we all could. Go ahead, Rob. Let us know if you run into anything worth noting,” Keaton said as began to walk up the beach ahead of us, his sights on Myla.

“Want to come with?” Robbie asked.

“Sure, why not.” 1 shrugged, glad he asked. I hadn’t shifted since I was at the castle and had access to the grounds.

We walked up the beach for a moment with the intent of letting the others know I would be joining Robbie.

But then I had an idea.

Maeve was sitting on the beach, rolling a seashell in the palm of her hands as we approached. She looked up, shielding her eyes from the Sun with her hand.

“Hey, what’re you—”

“Where’s the dog?” I asked, looking around. Robbie whistled loudly behind me, the sound startling me and making me flinch.

The dog came bounding up the beach towards us, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.

“How big do you think his brain is?” Robbie asked.

“Pretty small. I mean, look at him,”

“Leave him alone, Troy!” Maeve laughed, patting the dog on the head as he came to a stop in front of her and leaned into her, sitting down on one of her knees as he looked expectantly up at Robbie.

“You’re coming with us, Duck,” I said to the dog. He seemed to understand this. He barked excitedly, his tail smacking Maeve repeatedly in the face.

“Ow!” she squeaked, shielding herself from the attack. Duck bounded past us, zooming across the sand in a wide circle at least three times. Robbie watched in delight, clapping his hands as Duck did a fourth circle, kicking sand in his wake.

“Something’s wrong with that thing,” I said, reaching down and ruffling Maeve’s hair just to annoy her. She swatted my hand away.

“What did you call him? Did you say Duck?”

“Yeah, that’s his name.”

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Srce when that’s a terrible name for a dog.”

1’ll tell you later I’m going out for a run with Robbie We’re taking the dog with us.”

She looked a little upset about this, but I couldn’t tell if it was because she couldn’t shift or because we were taking the dog with us. “You might scare ham if you shift

“Hedant just appear out of nowhere, Maeve. He was obviously someone’s pet at one point. We’re just taking him seeing what he can do.”

She pursed her lips looking down at the shell in her hands

“Find some more. We can decorate our tent with them. I said, and she glared up at me, tossing the shelt back into the sand. I’d take you if VOU could shift Maeve.”

“How are you even going to run with your arm still injured)

It feels fine, really i insisted. The break was healing just fine, and the bruising from being tossed across the ship was starting to fade. need to do this. Maeve I’m feeling”

know. It’s fine,” she sighed, stretching her legs out in the sand, Just don’t lose my dog, okay?”

I smiled, crouching down in front of her. Things had been easier between us, but there was still an obvious rift. I kissed her, nonetheless, thankful when she returned the kiss with a soft one of her own.

it was a small win.

I resisted the urge to ruftle her hair again, my hand clenching into a fist to stop myself from messing with her just to see the rush of annoyance color her cheeks.

I caught up with Robbie, who was still watching the dog run excited circles around the camp, and soon we were walking in the dense, humid jungle beyond the beach, reaching the freshwater pool.

We stripped out of our clothes, Duck sitting patiently by the water’s edge.

*Try not to scare him. Maeve will kill me if he takes off,” I said to Robbie as I shook out my stiff muscles, moving my neck from side to side

I shifted, wobbling a bit as I pawed the ground, testing out my hurt arm. Well, now it was technically my leg.

Robbie came up beside me, his deep chestnut coat shining in the soft sunlight coming through the canopy of the trees

Duck was staring at us, his eyes wide. He was trembling slightly, his tail slowly moving back and forth on the ground where he sat.

“Do you think he can understand us?” I asked Robbie over the mind-link

‘Ask him something, Robbie replied, sniffing the ground.

“What do I ask a dog?’ I stared at Duck, tilting my head from side to side,

“Hey, dog!’ Robbie said, ‘Do you want to GO, GO OUTSIDE?

‘We’re already outside Robbie,’i huffed, pawing at the ground again. “He can’t understand us, man. Don’t tell Maeve we tried to do this!

We turned, walking away from the pool, looking back over our shoulders at Duck, who had risen to all fours and was nervously shifting his weight. I barked, once, getting his attention. His ears perked up, accepting whatever silent invitation passed between us.

And we were off, running into the depths of the jungle

It had been a few hours since we left camp, and the sun was beginning to set. Duck was lapping water from a small creek we had found, panting happily as he turned from the water. He was having fun with us, and he had kept up like a champ. That boy could run, that was for sure.

‘I reckon he’s a greyhound. He looks like one,’ Robbie said as he sniffed the air

‘Like from the races in Avondale? I haven’t thought about that in years, ‘I answered, sitting down and resting my front legs. I could definitely feel my injury now. The bone was sore and catching occasionally when I ran.

We rested for a moment, talking about running along the beach on our way back, just to scope things out

But suddenly Duck stilled, his ears perking up and eyes going wide as he lifted his snout to the air and sniffed.

“What is that smell?’ Robbie asked as he sniffed. I lifted my snout, smelling.smoke?

‘Where is that coming from-‘

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Chapter 45: Duck and Run

Duck started to bark, frantic, and then took off into the brush, his head popping up a few yards from us in the brush, willing us to follow.

But it was too late. The smoke was thick, tinged with something that made my eyes water and my nose itch like mad.

‘Troy! We need to get out of here!’

‘What is that-‘

I started to feel numb, my head beginning to spin.

‘Robbie?’ I turned, looking for him. He was laying in a heap on the ground, back in his human form. I looked down, seeing my fingers instead of the dark brown paws I was expecting.

I saw torches, flames dancing in the smoky air as several figures approached, their faces hidden behind strange, distorted masks.

I fell flat on my face as my arms gave way, the smoke filling my lungs. “Robbie!” | croaked, reaching toward him. But my view of him was obscured by legs. I looked up at the figure as it crouched beside me, tilting its head to the side as it lowered the torch to get a better look at me in the dim, smoke-filled light.

“Get back!” I yelled with all of my might, but my voice came out as a choked cry. What the hell was happening to me?

Robbie groaned as three men picked him up, his feet dragging on the ground as they carried him away.

“Hey! Let him go!” I tried to say, but I had no voice left. A slow, creeping paralyzation was taking over. I couldn’t help but close my eyes, barely noticing as I was picked up and carried away as well.

#*

I woke with a start, my heart practically leaping from my chest as I bent over, my stomach threatening to spill all over my lap. I was slumped against a stone wall, my legs sprawled out in front of me. My legs were tingling painfully as I tried to move them.

“Where the f*ck-”

I saw Robbie slumped in a similar position, dressed in an odd shirt and matching pants made of what looked like coarse, homespun fabric. I looked down, seeing the same fabric on my own body, my arm wrapped in a makeshift sling.

“Robbie!” I hissed. His eyes fluttered as his head fell forward, then back up again, trying his best to wake up.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“I have no idea.” I looked around, seeing nothing but bright sunlight drifting through a break in the stones, the light flooding the space between us. “It’s day, though. We’ve been out since sunset yesterday.”

Robbie nodded his head, then turned to the side, vomiting.

I winced, looking away as my stomach turned painfully.

“Wolfsbane,” Robbie said, his voice cracking.

“Wolfsbane? What’re you—” The realization swept over me. The smoke. The smoke had had a strange smell to it. It had caused us to shift back involuntarily. It knocked us out cold.

And whoever had taken us had been wearing masks.

Suddenly, a door opened, and three men stepped into the room, slamming it behind them. One of the men stepped forward, looking down at Robbie and then over at me. He crouched in front of me, looking into my eyes.

I didn’t have the strength to even turn my head to look at him fully.

“Why are you here?” he asked, his voice lifted in an unfamiliar dialect.

| snorted, shaking my head. “You’re the one who brought us here,” I replied, my mouth numb as I ran my tongue over my lower lip, “Why don’ t you tell me?