Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 18 : The Perfect View

*Mila*

I kept the box pinned to my chest as I raced away from the graveyard. Soren could talk to his henchman all he

wanted but I wasn't going to stick around, especially if what Payne said was true and there were other bounty

hunters closing in, I had to get far away.

Just outside the cemetery, my knees started to ache. The pain spread up my hamstrings and into my hips. Every

step sent shocks of pain through my legs. I had to slow down to ease the pain but it still crept through me.

My hips felt loose, like they'd collapse if I took too many more steps. My knees were dizzy and threatened to buckle.

I groaned and clenched my teeth. My lower back started to ache, too. I'd never get far like this.

Why couldn't I just heal already? I'd overcome the worst of the poison and the pain but it just wouldn't go away!

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Someone was tracking me. I could feel it in my bones. They were just on

the edge of my senses and if there wasn't this thick fog, they'd probably be on me already.

For a split second, I thought it was Soren or his henchman, Payne.

Of course, Soren wouldn't just let me go…

No, it wasn't Soren or his friend. Whoever was tracking me felt fouler and more sinister.

This part of the village was in bad shape. My legs shook and I stumbled forward. I reached for the nearest structure

for support needing to rest. My fingers connected with a broken wall. Heavily, I leaned against the wall and

breathed deeply.

“Don't fall down, you i***t," I muttered to myself.

My head hurt and my thoughts spun. The world around me tilted strangely and I thought I'd pass out.

How was I going to keep moving like this?

I couldn't give up. Not here, not now. I'd survived the Trial of Black Fire, one of the only ones to ever do that. I'd

escaped from a powerful alpha like Alpha Chandler. I'd walked through a brutal sandstorm in the hot desert.

Through it all, I survived.

Finding the box meant I was finally going to get some answers and I wasn't going to fall down here and lose that

chance.

I continued to catch my breath and will the pain away, thinking about where to go from here.

My biggest threat was the damn bounty hunters that Norwind had hired. They wouldn't mess around. To them, I was

a payday and it wasn't just me they were after. They were all competing with each other to get to me first.

Only one of them would get paid for my capture.

With the poison still in my blood and my basic self-defense skills, I couldn't defend against them, let alone fight

them all off and I wouldn't be able to outrun them, either.

For the first time, I realized just what kind of trouble I was in. No one was coming to save me. I was unable to make

my escape.

If any of the bounty hunters found me, I might not live to my 21st birthday, and then I'd never shift or know my

wolf. I'd never know who I was, who my parents were, or get my questions answered.

It wasn't like I wanted to live like this forever. Once I got my answers, my goal was to settle down and live a happy,

peaceful life.

What if I never got the chance because I couldn't get through this one moment?

I'd never had peace and happiness… What if I died without ever knowing what that was like?

No! I wouldn't let that happen. There had to be a way.

Soren flickered across my mind. He had behaved so strangely toward me, right from the beginning.

If I was being honest with myself, I couldn't definitely say that I thought he was after me to use me or hurt me. It is

what I suspected but…

He hadn't done anything to hurt me at all.

Whatever his ultimate motivations were, he wasn't treating me like a prize or a means to an end.

He'd already made it clear that if he wanted to, he'd find me or track me anywhere I tried to hide. I'd spent my life

learning to cover my tracks and avoid being seen or followed.

Yet, Soren seemed to always know how to find me.

Was that because I was getting sloppy or because he was better at tracking than anyone else I'd encountered?

He'd only let me escape when he wanted to. That much I knew.

How could I trust someone like that?

There were times when my heart had urged me to trust him. Moments after he was kind to me, I wanted to trust

him and accept his help. The feeling had always faded.

But the more I'd learned about him, and how I'd seen him interact with Ashley and Payne, the more I thought that

he treated me differently.

Not differently in the sense that he wanted something from me. Differently from anyone else he knew.

I wasn't used to it.

He wasn't greedy with me like the people of Saboreef pack. He wasn't vicious like Norwind.

If anything, he was kind. I didn't see him being that kind to the other people in his life. He was more like a boss or a

leader, but to me, he wanted to be a friend. At least, he was trying.

I kept pushing him away.

But if he really wanted to be my friend, it might be worth exploring that.

Sighing, I pushed off the wall and started hobbling back toward the graveyard. The fog had a mind of its own back

there and seemed to want to help me. Maybe, if I could go back, it would help hide me from the bounty hunters

while I figured out what to do.

I made it back to the gravestone and the fog closed around me like a curtain. I felt safe there and I slumped on the

ground, leaning my back against the gravestone where I'd found the box.

I kept the box on my lap, brushing my palms over the lid and dusting off any remaining dirt. Payne and Soren had

left a while ago and I was completely alone.

Whoever had been tracking me must have slowed down or couldn't track me through the fog. I didn't feel them

anymore.

After being hunted for so long, I'd gotten used to sensing when others were closing in or even when they were

focused on finding me. Kind of like a sixth sense.

If I was ever going to live to meet my wolf and have a life of peace and happiness, I needed to get rid of these

bounty hunters.

Soren said that Alpha Chandler had called in the worst of the worst. They'd be hard to throw off or eliminate and I

knew I couldn't do it on my own.

My thoughts wandered back to Soren again. He'd offered to help me and protect me. I didn't want to be protected.

I wanted to fight back and eliminate the threat against me.

If that meant destroying the bounty hunters and Alpha Chandler, I'd go as far as I had to. But could I get someone

like Soren to back me up?

He was strong and powerful and he had a whole group of rogues that followed him. They could easily make an

army.

And after it was settled, I could easily find a way to escape from Soren. By then, I should be back up to my full

strength and I wasn't above hiding out in this immense fog where his senses would be dulled until he lost interest in

me.

Then I could resume my quest to find out about myself and finally start living a real life. There was a chance

Soren's resources and knowledge could point me in the direction of answers. He seemed… well traveled.

The only problem was that I knew he didn't want to get involved in what was going on with me.

Offering protection was one thing. Fighting back meant getting very involved and I wasn't sure that Soren was up to

that.

Well… I'd just have to convince him, wouldn't I?

Smiling to myself, I got to my feet and brushed myself off. My hips and knees didn't ache as much and the pain in

my back was gone. I wondered if the fog helped dull my pain, too, or if I was actually feeling better from resting.

I made my way back to the hotel. Soren was probably there trying to figure out how to track me down without

alerting the bounty hunters.

He was kind of predictable.

I laughed to myself and hugged the box tighter.

All that time and effort and I was just going to show up at his door. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face!

Then again…

I paused outside the hotel and took a deep breath.

He'd extended an offer of help several times now. Each time, I'd thrown it in his face and made all kinds of

accusations. Would he even be happy to see me? Would he want to take another chance on me?

I'd said some mean things and never given him the benefit of the doubt. He could have just as easily gotten tired of

me and decided to move on with his own life, happy to be rid of me.

I would need to gain his trust somehow or make him more willing to help me.

There was one thing that could bend almost all men to a woman's will.

I hesitated one final time and then went into the hotel. Keeping to the shadows, I returned to the room that Soren

had offered me. I still had the door key and I let myself in.

My stomach trembled but I couldn't turn back now. My mind was made up.

I went straight to the bathroom and set the box on the sink vanity where I could keep an eye on it. I ran a warm

bath and changed out of my dirty clothes.

The water felt so good on my dirt-smeared skin and my aching joints. I sighed and relaxed, but I never took my

eyes off that box.

Once I was clean and my hair brushed and detangled, I dug through my pack for the clothes I carried with me.

There was only one dress in there, the same one I'd been wearing when I showed up at Soren's inn.

Smirking, I slipped the dress on. Ashley must have cleaned it and I was pleased to see it wasn't damaged by the

storm at all. It was just a sundress, but it revealed my legs, arms, shoulders, back, and a good portion of my bosom.

Before leaving my room, I pried up a floorboard and hid the box and my pack below. Then I moved the carpet to

cover my hiding place. To the casual observer, no one would think anything was out of place.

Now, I just needed to wait for Soren. Apparently, he hadn't made it back to the hotel yet.

It didn't seem like anyone else was staying in this hotel either. The halls were empty and the rooms quiet. It was

probably because of the fog and gloom that hung over Miltern.

Either that or bounty hunters stayed at lower class motels than a place like this.

I went to the room across the hall and positioned myself against his door. I leaned against the frame in a way that

caused my hip to jut out. My breasts were far more noticeable, and I arched my back slightly.

He'd get the perfect view when he showed up…