Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 43: Captain vs Captain 

Keaton

Robbie hoisted me up onto the Persephone, and my eyes immediately scanned the damage on the deck.

“Pick,” I said shortly, looking at the masts that had been snapped, the shredded sails, and the piles of debris covered in seaweed.

I looked back over the railing at the sandbar where the Persephone had run aground, and then to the beach where two of the four skiffs had made it to shore.

“We didn’t take on much water, only in the engine room,” Robbie said, shaking his head, “Her hull is intact. We’re not sinking.”

“Good. That’s good,” I said through gritted teeth, “Drop the anchor. We’ll see how she floats at high tide.”

Robbie nodded and called out the command to the few crewmen who had followed us to the ship along the sandbar. They were all busy cleaning up the mess the storm had made.

We should be dead. All of us. The Persephone should have been laying on her side beneath several fathoms of water. We had gotten the younger crewmen and the women off the boat just in time. But not Maeve.

I saw Troy standing near the railing, looking out over the water. What could I possibly say to him right now?

“You should go back to shore,” I said as I stepped towards him, “She might have made it to the island. We were in the shallows when—”:

He looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes telling me everything I needed to know. Absolute heartbreak, utter dread. He was covered in bruises and scratches. Deep cuts ran along his chest. He had a black eye and a deep purple bruise along his jaw. A bloodied nose.

He looked as though he had been through a meat grinder. Even his arm, the break in it which had only just begun to heal, was hanging limp at his side, bruises covering it from shoulder to wrist.

“Troy, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he breathed, looking back over the water, “This is what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t you dare blame this on me. I lost three crewmen,”

“I lost Maeve.”

The words were biting, meant to be harsh. I swallowed, shaking my head as I turned away from him and walked along the deck, kicking at long pieces of rubbery seaweed as I went along.

Troy stood in the same spot for an hour before turning around and walking to the other side of the ship, disappearing over the railing and down a rope ladder we had unfurled.

“The boys are draining the water from the engine room and gathering whatever can be salvaged of the masts. The extra sails are water logged but are in perfect shape. She’s going to be seaworthy soon. Very soon.” Robbie came up beside me, pointing to the various men as they went about their tasks.

“You got this?” I asked, tilting my head towards Troy, who was walking along the sandbar towards the camp.

Aye, I do,” Robbie assured me regarding the ship.

“I need to make sure he doesn’t go into the jungle and kill himself,” I said shortly, snorting with mirth.

I climbed down the rope ladder, jumping down the last few feet and landing in the wet sand. At high tide, this whole area would be under water, but right now you could see the expansive reef and colorful fish that swam about, their scales reflecting off the sun.

However long we’d be here, we’d be able to eat at least, I thought, watching a very large crab scurry across the sand and disappear back into the water.

breaking into a jog to catch up to him. Troy quickened his pace, turning sharply away from camp as he continued along the

him, he turned around, his fists

as I caught my breath. “I don’t trust you

but–”

nnnn

16:32

Captain

flaming behind his eyes, “Go back to Myla. Go back to the ship, or the

you do? Hmm? Drown yourself?

by a cracking blow to my lower jaw, the impact knocking me backward into the sand. I spit blood from my mouth, squinting up at Troy as he

that I said, spitting more

else you want

that you’re

slamming me into the sand. I took a second to recover from the blow, then stood, rushing him and driving my elbow into his

each other for no reason other than we were alive and that we could. I had

just as he wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me backward

strained my neck to the side and saw her approach, a long piece of driftwood in her hands, wielding it like a sword. Troy loosened his grip as her voice rang out over the sandbar, just enough for me

He let me go, bringing his hands to his nose. I stood and began taking off my clothes, tossing my shirt down on

Troy, shift.

with a motherly edge to it. I looked at her hoping, like a lovesick pup, that she had seen me headbutt Troy and

exclaimed, sticking her stick in the sand, “I’m going to

hope in his

wouldn’t go down without a fight, so yes, I really believe she’s alive. And she’s

Troy nodded,

southeast of where we need to be. This is the coast of the southern continent, the Forgotten

looking from Troy

Troy. “Which means, if we need parts for

three of us turned toward it, watching as the people making camp on the shore swiveled their

came again, three or four yelps in rapid succession. The hair on my arms rose, my skin prickling

“Was that,”

as he took a step towards the beach, his eyes narrowed as he scanned our

her stick from the sand, gripping it tightly lest she

head, his brow knitted as he concentrated on the

a dog?”

face flashing with confusion. “A dog? From where? I

sprinting across the sandbar towards the

had emerged, her pinkish blonde

as she ran after Troy. I looked over my

Maeve

He sank to his knees, his face buried against my neck as he held me to him. I kissed his forehead, then his

a choked laugh escaping his mouth. “I

you died!” I exclaimed, squeezing him. “Did you just – lick my

“What?”

threw me in the stand and stood, his teeth pulled back in grimace as he looked down at the dog, who was sitting back on his haunches, his wet tongue lolling out of one side of his

to his lip as he approached. Myla squealed with delight, falling to her knees in front of the dog and