Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 11 : There's Something Out There

♦Xander*

I found Henry in the warehouse. He'd laid the creature on a tarp and was sitting on an upside down bucket nearby, looking pale.

I walked toward the old man, not bothering to announce my presence. He knew I was there. He knew I'd be coming to him with questions.

"It's a wolf, isn't it?* I said, stopping short of the tarp. I looked down at the body of the wolf, noticing for the first time the lack of blood on the tarp, and on Henry's clothes. I peered at him, narrowing my eyes as he rose from the bucket. "Who is it?"

Henry shook his head, looking exceedingly exhausted. He ran his hand over his face, looking down at the tarp through his fingers.

"Gretta was the only worker unaccounted for in Bethany's count."

I closed my eyes, picturing the soft-spoken young woman with glasses and softly curling blonde hair who I had seen at breakfast the morning before. She hadn't been at the bonfire, of that I was certain.

"What did this to her?" I asked, but Henry shook his head, wiping his hands on his pants as he rose from the bucket.

"I don't know.’

"Lena and I heard something in the woods during the bonfire, something large-"

"It didn't come from the woods, which are inside of the perimeter," Henry breathed, giving me a look of annoyance. "It came from over the wall."

"Has this happened before?" Adrenaline was coursing through me. My fingertips prickled as I knelt down by the tarp, taking a closer look at the remains of Gretta's wolf form. There wasn't much left.

"No one is allowed to shift on the property, especially after dark. Some do... but near the village. Never here."

"You didn't answer my question," I said sharply, watching the old man closely as he stood with his hands tucked in his pockets. "What happened to her blood?"

I'd noticed blood staining the ground where her body had been found, and a splatter of it on the wall, but not nearly enough to have bled her dry like she was now. I reached out to touch the wolf, running my fingers over her fur.

"I don’t know-'

"Then who would know? Have the authorities been alerted?"

"Radcliffe is on his way."

"What authority does he have to investigate this? I'm talking about the police or the warriors belonging to the Alpha!"

"Radcliffe will determine what needs to be done," Henry scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This girl has been murdered, and violently-"

"We don't know that-'

"Are you kidding me?" I rose to my feet, clenching my hands into fists in an attempt to stop myself from reaching out and throttling the man. "She was ripped to pieces not even a quarter mile from where the rest of US were sleeping!"

I glanced back down at the remains of the wolf, shaking my head as I closed my eyes. It was the most awful thing I'd ever seen. Henry was hiding something. His face betrayed his calm, somewhat uninterested tone. He looked just as terrified and uneasy as I was sure I did.

"I'll be alerting Morhan College to what happened, first thing in the morning. Lena and I-"

with that girl, anyway?" Henry asked,

the f*ck do

her father know she's sharing a bed with the likes

adult, for one. Two, don’t try

know, do

taking a

a sharp voice from

was reddened and raw from her tears, and I noticed she kept her gaze off the body

said, bobbing his

Maxwell commanded Bethany to physically move the body to the center

out, clutching her shoulder and pulling her

I said loudly, glaring at

streaming down Bethany's face as she waited for Maxwell to speak. She looked terrified, which made me want to scream with frustration at the fact she had been

out of here, for Goddess's sake. What is the matter with

me up and down before a smirk stretched

slowly, dismissing her with his hand. Bethany bobbed her head, once, then walked out of the warehouse. Henry watched

in our direction as he stalked

seemed unphased by the fact that

"What’s going on here?"

the tarp. *No need for

to time? How often has someone been tom to

there. That's why it's a rule that my workers cannot shift on the grounds. If they go into the village, that's one thing, but here?" He tucked his hands behind his back, walking a wide circle around the tarp as he peered down at it. "I can't help

argued,

been notified. If it

suits him?" I

of young women if they're entertaining him in bed, but even that is short-lived. He has a short fuse, and an even shorter attention span. I keep him off the property for the sake of our

said, not

all he likely cared

be useless in this situation. I’ll have you cover the body. Keep everyone out

asked in a low,

known him since my childhood. He’s reclusive now, but he didn't used to be, no. Lost his mate when he was my age,

this, watching Maxwell closely as he continued to look

asked, hoping I didn't already know

reason why I implement the rule of not shifting on the property. The hills... they call to you in your wolf form. No one comes back

him as he walked away. He disappeared through

***

all directions of the messy bun she had

stepped inside the cottage as she held the door open for me. She wordlessly grabbed the kettle off of the woodstove and poured US both mugs of strong, black tea. I watched her as she stirred sugar into the mugs, her gray eyes lined with fatigue. In the soft morning

down the most beautiful woman rd ever seen in my life. I wondered, as I accepted the mug of tea from her, what would've happened between us

her hadn't quelled the searing desire I felt toward her. I

by the door, gripping her tea between her hands as she looked

much as I thought was useful, not wanting to scare

had been a shifter who worked at the

possible. We were just-just at the

cut in, sitting down on Lena's trunk, which we found wouldn't fit anywhere else in the cottage. I didn't mention that the fur had been still warm when I touched the wolf in the warehouse, the thought of it