Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 97 : This is All About Food

I tried to sit up in bed but Soren held me tightly.

“It is just more rocks, Mila, you've got to try and sleep,” he murmured.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and closed my eyes again.

“You murderers!"

I groaned and put a pillow over my head, trying to muffle out the shouts and the sounds of rock throwing.

Every time it died down, I started to drift off, and then another rock hit the house, waking me up again.

“You thieves!"

“Monsters, get the hell out of here!"

“Soren, how could you sleep through this?" I muttered, my arm over my eyes.

“The patrol won't let them cause any damage or harm to the pack house. We're safe and our temporary base is safe. Don't worry about them."

“It's not the building I'm worried about. They're attacking my hearing, though. With all the banging and the cursing..."

“You killed our Alpha!"

"You don't belong here!"

“Greed turned you all into monsters and murders!"

Soren sighed and nuzzled my cheek with his nose.

“If you close your eyes and relax, you can shut it out, I promise.”

I let out an exasperated breath, but I tried again. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. “You hideous bloodsuckers!"

“Curse you. Curse you and your families!"

“Bastards, you killed my husband!"

"Okay, that's enough,” I said. I sat up.

Soren sat up too. He looked tired, with bags under his eyes, but he didn't seem angry.

“Do you want me to scare them away again?" he asked.

I shook my head. “They wouldn't buy it."

Soren's men didn't chase after them or hurt them. Once they realized Soren wasn't really going to attack them, they would come back again.

“Well, I get cranky and scary when I'm tired."

I rolled my eyes and swallowed my giggle.

“But you're right, they're only being this bold because they don't think I'll hurt them,” Soren said. “You shouldn't hurt them. They are so broken and... desperate.”

"Alright, then you and I will have to try to ignore them again,” Soren smirked. “Payne and Thomas will scare them off again if they get too close.”

I sighed, “Let's keep things as low-key as possible. I don't want to draw more attention to ourselves. These people have been through enough.”

He lay back down and held an arm out to me. I laid my head on his arm and snuggled closer to him He sighed, “As long as you're okay with it."

They were all women, children, and elderly. I didn't want Soren or his men to fight them. They had the obvious advantage and it wouldn't be fair.

Many of those women had lost their mates, children had lost their fathers, and mothers had lost their sons. It wasn't right to pick on them or kick them when they were down. No matter how loud and rude they were being, especially since they didn't really physically attack us.

"Get out here and face us, you cunt!" one woman screamed. “We know your name, Mila Hathaway!" "What?" I frowned.

This time when I sat up, Soren did too, a scowl on his face.

The same woman screamed out again. “You're a terrible jinx. You made us lose everything and now you're hiding in there like a coward! You don't even dare to come and face us! How dare you stay in our territory after what you've done!"

Soren's face turned red and he clenched his fists.

"Okay, now they've done it!"

He jumped off the bed and ran to the window before I could stop him

"Soren!"

“They can say whatever they want when it is about me or my warriors. I'm not going to let them talk about you like that,” he snarled.

He leaned on the window frame and stared out at everyone. “I normally don't hit women, but leave Mila out of this. That's the only warning you get!"

His voice was cool and calm but the power he emanated as Alpha made everyone on the lawn fall silent.

I went to the window and stood beside him, reaching out, I touched his shoulder, trying to pull him back.

It was quiet for a moment. I could see the fear and terror in their eyes, even in the dark. But Soren didn't move.

He just narrowed his eyes and stared at them, his gaze like ice. I'd seen many people cower under that look before, me being one of them!

The woman who had shouted my name stepped forward. At least, I assumed it was her. Who else would be so bold?

She tilted her head back and glared at Soren. Almost like she was daring him to act or trying to call his bluff, thinking he was just making hollow threats.

“We are just telling the truth!" she insisted.

“That's right.”

“We know what she did."

Other murmurs backed the woman up but they were a lot quieter.

"She sits in our pack house, refusing to face us. Instead, she sends you out to threaten us... Women, children, and the elderly, and she demands a big, strong Alpha to threaten us?"

"Yeah."

“What's that about?"

“And you... an Alpha of your stature is willing to do something so shameful against us? We're entirely defenseless!”

Soren glanced at me, a frown on his face.

“Mila, I'll handle them. You should go back to bed.”

"No..."

“There she is! That b***h!"

"You stupid w***e!"

"What kind of a monster are you, to send your attack dog after us!?"

I winced at all the accusations. They hadn't seen me by the window until I'd moved closer to Soren. I noticed that none of them spoke my name and most of their curses were whispered this time. Whispered harshly, so that I would hear.

“Soren, let me handle this."

“Mila—"

“Trust me. Whether they are emotionally hurt or not, they have the right to face me. Besides, I have to tell them the truth about their pack and their Alpha.”

He sighed, “Fine, if that's what you really want to do.” He reached out and touched my cheek with his thumb.

“Besides, you'll be with me to protect me, right?" I asked.

"Always." Soren nodded. He stepped away from the window and I stepped up, facing the crowd.

I cleared my throat and spoke loud enough for the crowd below to hear.

“I'm Mila Hathaway. I heard you call my name, and everything else... I'm here to answer your accusations. Call me all the names you want but it won't change the fact that I'm not the one who caused your pain and suffering. You can't use me as your scapegoat.”

"What is she talking about?"

“She dares blame us?"

"She is responsible for..."

“Lying bitch.”

The murmurs continued but they weren't yelling at me or speaking directly to me now. It was like they were hesitant to shout right back at me now that we were face to face.

“I will defend myself and the group that travels with me. You can shout at us all you want but we have the right to tell you the truth. No, the obligation. And the truth is, we didn't do anything to your people.”

"Lies!"

“That's not true. We saw what they did."

I held a hand up, hoping that would silence them.

“If you want to know the real story, it was your Alpha that kidnapped me. He brought me here against my will. He conspired with a dangerous enemy to resurrect his dead mate. Trust me, I'm not saying this to shift blame..."

"Alpha Chandler wouldn't do that.”

“He cared for us. If he kidnapped you, then you deserved it."

Beside me, Soren tensed and cracked his knuckles. I shook my head slightly.

“Your Alpha made a mistake!" I insisted. “It isn't fair that he left all of you to bear the pain and it isn't fair that what remained of your pack warriors abandoned you. But... it also isn't my doing.”

“Don't think you can stand there and act all innocent while talking s**t about our Alpha!"

“Listen,” I said more firmly. “I know you're all hurting. But harassing us won't help you get what you need. Nor will it make you feel better. If I were you, I would mourn for your lost beloved and move on... or, you could seek revenge on the parties that actually caused your suffering.”

“That's what we're trying to do."

"We're facing off with you, aren't we?"

"Just because we haven't fought back doesn't mean you're right in your accusations,” I pointed out. “Let me ask you this. If we were really the barbarians who had no problem robbing or hurting you, would you still be standing there right now?"

Another round of murmurs went through the crowd. This time, I could barely hear them. That gave me a moment of hope. Were they finally questioning their beliefs?

If I could just get them to back off for a moment and think about it... all the robbers, looters, and warriors that had not been killed had left in a hurry. We weren't like that and if they could see it, maybe they'd let me get some sleep!

"Momma, momma,” a child called, grabbing his mother's arm. He tugged at her sleeve.

"What?" the woman asked harshly.

“Momma, I think she’s right..."

“Shut up! What do you know? You're just a kid!"

The little boy burst into tears. Sobbing, he clung to the woman that yelled at him.

“I just know... all those bad men stole from us and ran away. Our protectors left. But they didn't run off. They might not be bad," the boy wailed, pointing to the pack house.

“That's just stupid,” the boy's mother hissed.

“I don't know, Mama, I'm so hungry. I can't think I'm so hungry!"

The crowd erupted in more wails and sobs as the other kids started crying and clinging to their parents, too.

Seeing these children crying and wailing made my lips tug down. I wasn't an overly sympathetic person, but those kids made my heart ache. They'd lost everything, just like Payne and Ashley had. Just like I had.

I glanced from face to face of the people gathered around us. Most of them looked scared and tired but I could also see how thin they were. Many of them looked like it had been days since they'd eaten.

Kids and adults looked... famished.

I glanced at Soren, eyes wide. He shrugged helplessly, just as shocked as I was.

The mother of the crying boy glared at me. “You sound like you're some innocent angel, passing wisdom onto us. But you're no angel! If you were, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be in our pack house, stealing our food! We lost everything... our children are starving... we're starving...” Another woman broke down, hugging her child tightly.

"What are we going to do!?" she wailed.

The other adults started sniffling and glancing at each other with deep, sad eyes. A dark, gloomy cloud hung over them all.

Soren reached for my hand and squeezed gently.

I swallowed hard.

“This is all about food?" I asked.

He nodded. “That's the real reason they are here... food.”

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