Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 12: A Trip to the Village

♦Lena*

It'd been three days since the attack, or murder, whatever it was being called. The Alpha of Crimson Creek had sent warriors to investigate. They'd taken away the body, swept the perimeter of the Radcliffe Estate... but that was it. No one said much about it, in fact, after a full day had passed. The only person who had given US any useful information had been Henry.

But Henry was a man of few words, and he didn't speculate. He'd told me what I already knew from Abigail-that Carly Maddox had been a Morhan student whose field study was situated in the village of Crimson Creek. According to a single witness, she had just walked out one day, leaving the shabby townhouse she shared with four other students and walked into the night, never to be seen again.

But the fact that she was, in fact, never seen again, was what was most interesting about what Henry had to say. He told Xander and me that several young women had been killed over the past five years, but they had always been found not far from where the attack happened.

"So we're dealing with a serial killer," I said, pacing in front of the makeshift lab Xander had erected in the warehouse. He was bent at the waist, peering into a microscope as he examined a slide with the sample of blackened, rotted valerian root I had harvested earlier in the morning.

"We’re not dealing with anything, Lena,' he protested gruffly, furrowing his brow in my direction as he straightened to his full height. "We're here for school. That’s it-"

"But don't you want to know, Xander? Something weird is happening here!"

"It's none of our business-"

"One of the workers was attacked and killed!"

"Lena," he breathed, taking his gloves off and tossing them in a wastebasket. "Leave it alone."

I rolled my eyes and stalked away from him, glancing over my shoulder before I left the warehouse. He was writing on a clipboard, totally uninteresting in discussing what I believed to be a huge deal.

But I knew it was bothering him. I'd gotten my original wish. We were no longer sharing a bed because he'd taken to sitting in the armchair, facing the door, with an iron skillet in his lap every night in the event he needed to protect US from whatever was lurking outside.

We hadn't said a word about what had happened between US, either, for which I was grateful.

I'd been overwhelmed and blinded by a heavy haze of lust, ready to lose my virginity to a man I neither knew well nor liked very much, only to be snapped back to reality by someone getting torn to shreds not even a mile from our cottage.

I felt awful about it. But also completely unsatisfied.

I swallowed against the lump in my throat as I walked to the bunkhouse. It was nearing lunch, and Bethany had asked me to sit with her and eat something before we went back out to tend the lower gardens. I was thankful for a respite from my conflicting feelings as I stepped through the door and removed my boots.

But I wasn't getting away from it that easily, I quickly realized. Elaine and Bethany were sitting at the dining room table when I arrived and had a plate laid out for me-and questions.

"How long have you known him?" Elaine asked as I bit into an apple.

I shrugged, chewing slowly in hopes the conversation would move past the subject of Xander. He was the only thing anyone wanted to talk about after what had happened.

"Like, a week, honestly," I said cooly, sipping my glass of root beer. Elaine rolled her eyes at Bethany, who fixed me with a knowing stare.

"Jen is in love with him," Elaine said, leaning back in her chair. 'She wants nothing more than to jump his bones after watching him take command of the, uhm, situation the other night."

until we hear something concrete from the Alpha, after his investigation. Radcliffe's orders." Bethany looked

know," Elaine replied, waving her hand in dismissal. "Anyway, Jen is really hoping he's coming to the party tonight, at the pub. I told her not to get her hopes

incredibly territorial over Xander, even though I had no reason to feel that way. What had happened between US hadn't been more than a

the workers are going to the village tonight to drink at the pub. It's not really a party," Bethany shrugged, shaking her head, “unless

nudging

inside I

Xander and ask him to go with her. I found it unlikely he' d accept, but there was still a chance I'd be wrong. And

reason to dislike her, though. She hadn't done anything to me. She'd

a run-down car later that evening, its mint-colored paint covered in large splotches of rust, I decided it was time to confide in

don't open!" she hollered as I walked up.

laughed, yanking open the back

grunted with effort, nearly upside down as I tried to get my legs out from under me. I wiped my brow and adjusted my weight in my seat, reaching back for the seatbelt,

crash. Don't worry. At least not today. It's not

laughed, slightly panicked as the car lurched forward several times before the clutch gave way, and she was able to put it in gear. "Where's

I wasn't going so they couldn't

of the car and we

mumbled, wrenching open the back door and sliding inside. Elaine and I looked at each

fumbling with the clutch once more. "I thought I'd just ran

me," he huffed, stretching his arms out over the back of the seat.

hands on the steering wheel as we bounced over the uneven dirt road toward the forest.

you hand me my purse?" I asked,

was honestly the first time we'd made true eye contact since the night of the murder. He handed me my purse without breaking his gaze, which was slightly unnerving, but I stifled the ripple of heat his

no mirror on the vizor. You'll have to wing it," Elaine laughed as we

the distance against a vivid sunset. I quickly put on the lipstick, which was a warm peach color, and put it back in my bag. I could feel Xander's eyes on the back of my neck and was a little irritated he had interrupted the one opportunity rd had with Elaine,

hadn't said anything in response to Elaine's comment about Jen,

and soon we were pulling to a stop

and I could see the farm truck parked outside the hotel's entrance. "Bethany got US a few

I said, then we both

as he looked at

don't open. We have to climb out," Elaine said, motioning

he asked, looking

and he nodded, giving US both a dubious look as he slid out of his seat. Elaine went first, climbing over the center console in a practiced fashion. I, on the other hand, struggled significantly and to the point that

shade of

said breathlessly, swatting him with my

he asked, reaching down to push a lock of

tickled. I'm-I'm ticklish," I

noticed the hint of a smile touching the corner of