Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 66 : The Harvest Festival

It wasn't hard to find the festival. Before we even got into the main city, I could hear the sounds of music and happy

chatter.

“Come on, come on. We need to hurry," Ashley said, hurrying forward. “We're going to miss all the good stuff."

We rounded the corner to the main street and I stopped, my jaw dropping open.

The street was filled with vendors selling snacks and all kinds of things from exotic clothes to pottery and ceramics,

and jewelry.

There were people playing music in the streets and dancing. String lights with paper lanterns on them were hung

across the streets.

It was so vibrant, colorful, and full of life. I looked this way and that. Everywhere I looked, I saw more shiny, colorful

things that caught my eye.

Ashley was already trying on a fancy scarf from one of the vendors.

This was a harvest festival? I thought there would be more associations with harvests but everyone just seemed to

be celebrating and having a good time.

“What do you think of this scarf?" Ashley asked me, striking a dramatic pose.

I giggled and Ashley immediately paid the vendor and kept the scarf for herself. She went on to the next vendor,

looking at jewelry.

“Payne, can you carry this for me?" Ashley asked, tossing Payne her new scarf while she held a necklace up to her

neck and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Payne sighed and took the necklace that Ashley handed him. He rolled his eyes but I could tell that despite his

frustrated look, he was happy to be helping his sister.

Soren seemed off in his own world. He was looking around but he didn't seem all that interested in shopping. I think

he was watching some of the street performers but it was hard to tell.

I stayed close to Ashley and when she was done looking at jewelry, she looped her arm through mine and dragged

me to the next vendor.

“Awe, look how adorable this ceramic wolf is," Ashley said, holding up the small figurine.

“It is really cute but do you need it?" I asked, smiling nervously. I ran my finger along the edge of a nice ceramic

pot.

Part of me wanted to find a present for Soren but I didn't know what to get for him in a place like this. I didn't have

the money to spend on a lot of nice things and I figured anything Soren would like would be too expensive.

“Okay, I don't need the dog. Come here, check out these pieces," she said, dragging me to the next jewelry vendor.

I picked up a few pendants and rings, looking them over. Then I caught a price tag and immediately put it down.

Yeah, those were definitely outside my budget!

Still, I had fun looking at all the unique vendors. Ashley's enthusiasm was contagious. She wanted to look at

everything and touch everything. She even grabbed several snacks and let me try them.

All the festival food was delicious!

“Hey! Hey!" someone shouted in the street up ahead.

The crowd closed in around the raised voices. I tried to look ahead to see what caused that commotion.

Clatter!

It sounded like something heavy fell in the streets but I couldn't see what it was. Ashley grabbed my arm and tried

to pull me back.

“What's going on over there?" I asked.

Soren and Payne came over to us.

“We should get out of here," Soren said firmly.

“Shouldn't we see…"

Suddenly, security guards ran through the crowd, pushing people aside as they moved into the area where the

commotion had occurred.

“Has anything like this happened before?" someone in the crowd asked.

“Never. He pushed his master… he dared!"

“That slave is dead for sure…"

“The whole batch of slaves will be punished… I bet…"

“Yeah, along with that foul creature."

I looked at Soren, gasping. Slaves?

Ashley frowned and looked at us. “How is slave trading still legal in a city like this?"

“Marno pack makes an exception during the Harvest Festival," Payne explained. “There are strict restrictions."

“Restrictions on slave trading?" I asked, shaking my head.

“Yes. Only criminals and rogues can be traded as slaves. As a result, their masters aren't that nice to them and

don't treat them well," he continued.

“I didn't think slavery was legal anywhere," Ashley muttered.

Sighing, I bowed my head. If only Ashley knew…

“It's a complicated matter. If these rogues and criminals dare to raise a hand to their slave master, they can be

sentenced to death or whatever punishment their master decides. Seeing as they are criminals, no one cares,"

Payne told us somberly.

“Well, if they are criminals, I suppose that makes me feel a little better," Ashley said, shrugging.

I grimaced and looped an arm around myself. Criminals or not, I didn't like anyone being treated like slaves.

“Let us go!" A deep, male baritone bellowed through the crowd. “You bastards! How many times do we have to say

it? We're not slaves!"

“Yeah, yeah. That's what all slaves say, didn't you know that?" one of the security guards asked.

Another man yellowed through the crowd. “Let me go! You have no right to me! I'm not a criminal, a rogue, or a

slave! I don't belong to anyone!"

I bit my lower lip and looked at Soren. He'd been watching me, clearly picking up on my mood. These men were

being treated wrong, slaves, criminals, or whoever they were.

Not that long ago, I was being sold to Norwind. It wasn't my choice and I couldn't stop it. My whole life, I'd been

nothing but a slave to my foster mother. She'd used me to kill witches and all I was to her was another payday.

But she never treated me with love or respect. She barely fed me or clothed me. If I ever raised my voice, I'd get

beaten. And I was warned that if I disobeyed Norwind once I was there, they'd kill me.

That was why I fought for my life.

“No," I whispered.

I broke away from Soren and the others and slipped through the crowd.

“Mila!" Soren called after me.

I ignored him and pushed through the onlookers. There were three men in the center of a circle of guards. They

slowly circled around the men like they were vultures. Two of the men were pinned down by guards, the third was

sitting on the ground.

All three of them were bleeding.

“f*****g assholes," the sitting man cursed. He spit out blood and glared at the security guards. Growling, he stood

up and pointed at the two subdued men. “Get rid of them."

He must have been the slave trader who the slaves had struck. They'd hit him pretty hard to knock him down like

that.

The slave trader was absolutely furious. He was huffing and puffing, spitting and cursing. He ran over to the two

subdued shifters and kicked them each hard in the stomach.

I cringed as the men groaned and shuddered. The slave trader kept kicking and hitting them.

“You son of a b***h! You dare to hit me! I'm your f*****g master, your god! You can't raise a fist to me, bastard.

f*****g criminal. You're nothing but a horrid, rotten douche and you deserve to die and get eaten by maggots!"

The slave trader kept cursing and striking them.

“I AM NOT A SLAVE!" one of the men cried. He struggled against the security guard that held him.

The guard slammed him into the street and he groaned again, a cut forming on his chin. The slave trader kicked

him right in the stomach again.

My fists clenched at my sides. I couldn't take this, just sitting here while those slaves were beaten and brutalized.

There was no reason for such violence or public humiliation. I had been treated similarly in Saboreef and I'd seen

horrible treatment of criminals and slaves in other packs, too.

Whatever it was, I couldn't handle this.

A heavy hand came down on my back and I whipped around. Soren stood behind me with a somber face. He

rubbed my back lightly.

“You want to help them?" he asked with knowing eyes.

It was too obvious to him that this upset me. I couldn't lie and I couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

I nodded. “Can you help them?"

Soren arched an eyebrow at me. I couldn't tell if he was going to help or not.

“Please?" I added.

Soren smirked and nodded. He walked through the rest of the crowd and grabbed the slave trader's arm. He spun

around and glared at the person who dared interfere with his beating. Soren just leaned in and whispered

something in the man's ear.

The slave trader's eyes lit up. He sneered at the two slaves, even though one was now unconscious, the other

seriously injured. He spit on the unconscious one.

“You two should thank the Goddess for being merciful to you today, thank her that someone is willing to pay for

your asses… otherwise, you'd be beaten to death by my boot," he said, pointing to his bloody boot.

With a huff, the slave trader left.

Payne dismissed the security and started pushing the crowd away. They murmured some in disappointment but

slowly, they dispersed.

“Here, let me help," I said. I leaned down to help the conscious man up.

He sneered and pulled away from me, going to check on his friend.

“Leave us alone! We're not slaves! You can't buy us!" he snarled.

Soren came over and stood next to me. The man and his recently revived friend looked nervously at Soren as he

crossed his arms.

“Of course, you aren't. We understand that. Don't worry, you're free to go now," he said.

He looked at us suspiciously, forgetting to check on his groggy friend. “...Thank you… but, who are you?"

“It doesn't matter who we are," I said quickly. “You kept saying that you're not slaves. So, who are you?"

He bent down and helped his friend up. The groggy one groaned and shook his head like he was trying to snap out

of a daze.

“I'm Frederic. The groggy one is Murray," the man we'd been talking to said. “We are from a small pack called

Lethe."

“Lethe?" I asked, perking up. I knew the name. It was where the third artifact piece was being kept.

“Unfortunately, our pack land was attacked recently. Most of the pack members were… killed… the rest enslaved,"

Frederic explained.

I gasped and covered my mouth. How would we get the rest of the Blade of Souls?