Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 98 : He's in Bad Shape

“If you're here for food, why didn't you ask?" I called down to the sad group.

“You think we're stupid? It's not like you would just give it to us. We know that you're bloodthirsty leeches!" the crying boy's mother shouted

I closed the window and looked at Soren.

"Mila..."

“They're hungry. We have the food."

“You can't go out there."

“Watch me!"

I hurried out of the room and down to the kitchens. It wasn't much, but I grabbed some loaves of bread.

Through the walls, I heard the women shouting at me.

“l knew it! I knew it!

“You selfish, greedy freak!”

“You're hoarding it all to yourself!"

When I opened the front door, they all stopped talking. I went to the kids and tore off chunks of bread, passing them out. They stopped crying immediately when they took bread from me and quickly started chewing on it.

Soon, the air was filled with the sound of munching and crunching from the hard crust of the bread. I made sure each child got some, ignoring the adults

"Take it slow. If you're too hungry, eating fast will make you sick,” I warned

The boy that started all the crying blushed when I patted his head.

All the adults were dead silent, staring at me as I checked on the children. Even if they wanted to hurt me, I was in no danger. They were too shocked and awed to do anything to me.

Soren came out onto the lawn. I was a little surprised he hadn't rushed out right after me.

The women closest to him trembled and cowered away from him.

“My apologies,” he said, nodding his head to the crowd. “Had we known that you'd run out of food, we would have acted sooner. I have my men preparing soup now. Come inside and eat. With everyone here, we can recalculate how much food is left and daily rations to make sure it lasts as long as possible.”

Soren held his arm out toward the pack house door.

Murmurs went through the crowd and I saw the way they looked at each other. They were suspicious, like we were inviting them into a trap of some kind.

None of them said anything. They stared at Soren and they stared at me. I understood their reluctance to accept our help but I hoped they would, for the sake of the kids

The smell of the soup wafted out of the open front door and suddenly, they all perked up. Licking their lips and salivating, they headed inside.

Soren and I followed.

Already, his warriors had the tables set and were dishing up bowls.

Soren sliced up hunks of bread and passed them around with the soup. If they hadn't had anything to eat in days, something light like this was the best option. They needed to take it slow, give their bodies time to digest and absorb the nutrients they were missing.

I sat at one of the tables and the first woman who called me out came down and sat next to me. She plopped her soup down, staring at me like I'd pounce on her and eat her if she took her eyes off me for a moment.

“Hi, my name is Ben, thank you, Miss Mila.” a boy asked, sitting beside the woman

I recognized him. He was the one that first started crying and complaining about being hungry. He sat close to the woman and I was pretty sure she was his mother.

“You can just call me Mila. It is nice to meet you, Ben."

“Can I have some more soup, Mila?" he pushed his empty bowl toward me.

“I'm sorry, Ben, but not right now. You need to let that food settle first. Having too much all at once isn't good for you when you're as hungry as you are.”

Ben sighed and bowed his head.

My heart melted and I reached into my pocket, pulling out a small hard candy. I pressed it into the palm of his hand.

"How about something small and sweet...?"

Ben's eyes lit up and he smiled, lifting the candy to his face. He opened his mouth like he was going to pop it right in but then he stopped. He kept it in the wrapper and put it in his pocket.

“Ben, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, okay."

I glanced at the woman sitting next to him. She was still closed off and watching me carefully. "Why did you all run out of food so quickly? We thought the intruders didn't care about food or steal any.”

Ben looked up at the woman next to him.

She sniffed. “Because those bastards dumped our food.”

By “bastards” I knew she was referring to the looters from the other packs and even some of the Norwind warriors that deserted.

“They didn't take any with them but they destroyed as much as they could... They burned our storehouses, shredded our perishables, and dumped all our produce into the muddy river. They came into our houses and ransacked them for valuables, but whatever they couldn't take with them, they did their best to ruin it."

I creased my brow. “How did the pack house food stores survive?"

Soren came over and sat beside me. From the look on his face, he'd been listening in. He took my hand and held it in his lap.

“Payne had already sent our men here as a temporary headquarters. They secured what was left and kept it safe,” he explained.

The woman next to Ben scoffed. “Brutal barbarians, all of them! Of course, they would bully the weak. They knew we'd be afraid of them and they took advantage of it."

“But why would anyone want to do something so vicious? Was it just to be cruel? It's not like it did them any good, right?" I asked, glancing at Soren.

Soren's eyes flicked to the woman across from me. He sighed.

“They destroyed the food so they could destroy that pack.”

It was a horrible thing to do. It was a slow way to kill another pack.

Why would they go through the trouble of dumping food?

As if Soren was reading my mind, he replied.

“Because they were afraid.”

For a moment, I thought our mindlink was reestablished. When I tried to say something back, it didn't work. Sighing, I squeezed Soren's hand. Ever since he rescued me, the mindlink had been broken.

"You meant the raiders were afraid of the Nowind villagers?”

Soren nodded. “People's potential is unlimited, especially when under a lot of pressure and in threatening circumstances. If the raiders threatened to kill everyone in town, they'd have a battle on their hands. They wouldn't want that.”

“They would be scared of non-warriors?"

"Yes, because the Norwind villagers outnumbered the raiders. If Norwind survivors all banned together, the raiders could have lost or been overpowered. It was too big of a risk for those cowards."

Soren looked at the woman sitting with us, a somber look in his eyes.

“Instead of taking all your hope and risking a big fight, they dumped the food. They didn't have to fight or kill you all in the moment but they left you all in fear and unwilling to fight back, with death looming over your head,” he told her.

The woman nodded stiffly and popped a spoonful of soup into her mouth before gritting through her teeth. “Damned raiders. They'll pay for this. Even if I can't make them, the Moon Goddess will!" “I hope so," Soren agreed.

“Thank you for feeding us. You saved our lives,” she said, her lips twitching. “I'm Angelica. My sister Lilian is there." she motioned to her sister, another one of the women that called me out.

Lilian noticed us looking at her. She turned up her nose and refused to look at us.

Angelica chuckled. “She's still a bit cranky. Sorry about that.”

“I understand," I said.

"Momma!"

Ben slipped out of his seat and Lilian looked up.

So, she was Ben's mother and Angelica was his aunt. That explained why he was so friendly with her. I watched Ben go to his mother. She held her hand out and Ben put the candy I'd given him into her hand.

Lilian's eyes narrowed for a moment but then she smiled. Her face softened and she hugged Ben warmly.

I sighed and rested my head on Soren's shoulder while everyone ate and warmed up.

I didn't expect everyone to like me. Lilian probably never would. And I was okay with that. I felt bad for the Norwind pack members who were left behind. They'd face hard times ahead, even with the rations from the pack house.

But I didn't belong here. Neither did Soren. It was their pack, their fate, and their trial to work through. They'd have to figure it out on their own.

All we could do was not add to their grief. After all, we'd be leaving soon.

"Hey, Ben has candy," one of the other kids said.

"Where'd he get it?"

All the kids were looking at Ben. I saw him point to me.

Suddenly, all the kids turned to me with big, wide, puppy-dog eyes. So innocent, so full of wonder. They were adorable as they silently begged me for sweets.

Again, I absently touched my stomach, thinking tenderly of the life growing inside me.

My heart melted for all of them

"Oh, I can't say no to any of you," I gushed.

“They didn't say anything,” Soren muttered.

“But look at their eyes and their little pouts. You can't say that they aren't the cutest things ever!" Soren chuckled and ran his thumb over my knuckles.

I got up and started passing out candy to all the kids. They smiled so brightly and one of them hugged me. I wasn't prepared for it and I paused.

“Gh... *

Gently, I hugged the little girl back and patted her head.

My heart swelled and for a moment, I hoped I'd have a daughter.

As I hugged her, I looked up and met Soren's eyes. He watched me with a curious expression. My cheeks got hot and I looked away quickly, releasing the little girl.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and someone from Norwind hurried in. His face was flushed, and he was panting and clutching his chest.

“We found Charles,” he blurted out as silence fell in the dining room

There was a long pause and then all the adults sprang to action

“Where is he?"

“He's in bad shape. He needs help.”

They rushed around us, getting some supplies together.

Whoever this “Charles” was, he was an important figure to Norwind.

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