Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 87 : I Love You

I kept my men at the back of the group. I knew they were anxious to get into this but we still didn't know what we were up against.

Chandler had told us that we were welcome at the temple but I didn't believe it. Chandler would have set traps for us. Better to let the others feel those out. I wasn't willing to risk my men until I had a better understanding of what Norwind was up to.

It seemed unlikely that they were going to let a large force sweep through their territory.

“Hey! You're trespassing," a Norwind warrior said, stepping out of the trees.

Behind him, several more warriors stood menacingly, the humans had their arms crossed, the wolves had their teeth bared, snarling.

“We're here to rescue Mila Hathaway and we know you have her prisoner. We're not leaving without her!" the Saboreef Alpha demanded.

“Alpha Chandler has a lot to answer for!"

“Alpha Chandler wants you all to leave our territory," the Norwind warrior growled.

“Take them!" Eros ordered.

The makeshift army of packs swarmed into the trees.

My men stepped forward and I stopped them, holding out an arm.

“Not unless we are needed. This isn't the real fight, it is just a diversion."

“Fine," Payne muttered.

He was antsy and chomping at the bit. We all were a little.

Eros and the packs quickly took out the small Norwind fleet. The wolves whimpered and ran off into the woods.

When they gathered together again they were high-fiving and cheering for each other.

I shook my head and sighed.

The group continued up the hill making so much noise as they continued to congratulate each other. It was absolutely ridiculous. I started to wonder how many of them had ever been in a serious conflict. Packs fought all the time but this… they should have known better.

Not too much farther up the hill there was a barrier. The packs slowed down, grumbling in annoyance.

“This is nothing, we'll get it down," Eros said.

“Mila is waiting for us!"

As a group, they started tearing down the barrier. Again, I kept my group back. I didn't want them to waste their energy on these small traps and tricks.

The trees rang out with howls and another group of Norwind warriors moved in. The packs immediately turned around and defended themselves.

“Get out of our land!" the leader shouted.

“Not without Miss Mila," Eros demanded.

Another skirmish broke out. Once again, the Norwind wolves turned tail and ran.

The packs praised each other and finished taking down the barrier. They broke a crevice open and flooded through the opening.

“Something isn't right here," I whispered.

“What do you mean?" Payne asked.

“Is this Norwind's best defense, or are they just playing with us?"

“Does it matter?"

“No, I guess not."

I sighed and squeezed through the barriers after the others, Payne, Thomas, and my men following close behind. We were getting closer to the temple and the top of the hill.

On the other side of the barrier, I could see the temple just over the next peak. We were getting close and I had a feeling in my stomach that there was something worse coming.

As the other packs sped up, I slowed down a little. This felt too much like a game of cat and mouse. But were we the mice?

“There's the temple!" Eros shouted.

The others cheered.

“Split up and secure the area," he ordered.

The other packs obeyed without hesitation. I watched as they broke into smaller groups and headed into the nearby woods looking for any Norwind stragglers.

Again, I shook my head. No wonder Eros had never gained any traction for himself as a leader. He didn't know how to be smart. Instead of keeping a singular, strong force, he was dividing his strength.

I stopped dead, another awful thought occurring to me… what if Eros was doing that to help Chandler? For all I knew, his claims of not supporting Chandler were more lies.

Thomas scoffed and came up beside me.

“Bastards, they're making it too easy," he grumbled.

“That's not our concern," I said, shaking my head.

“Apparently, they can work together when they don't know Norwind's strength. Now that they don't think Norwind is a threat, they are weakening themselves," Thomas added.

“A few small victories doesn't mean that they have the upper hand," Payne agreed.

“This isn't about securing the perimeter or rescuing Mila. They're competing against each other to prove who is stronger and better. Whoever gets Mila or the artifact first, wins," Thomas growled.

“We're not letting them get to her first!" Payne snarled.

“No, we aren't, but we're going to play this smart," I agreed, nodding.

“Soren…" Payne argued.

I held a hand up. “Wait. Chandler and Dylan aren't stupid. They drew us here with an invitation, now you can't tell me you believe it was genuine."

“They had to know all the packs would show up in this place because of the invitation they extended. They wouldn't do that if they weren't prepared," I pointed out.

“They set traps and had attack parties… but you think that was all for show, don't you?" Payne asked.

“It was to test our strength while also getting the other packs to drop their guard. Look at them all. They are puffed up, thinking they're tough and stronger than Norwind. They're even confident enough that they've let their guard down. I'm willing to bet that was Norwind's plan," I said.

“And you're not about to follow along with them." Thomas grinned.

“No."

“What are you planning?"

“I'm going to try and contact Mila again. I should be a lot closer to her now."

Payne and Thomas stepped back to give me some space. Thomas had our men set up a perimeter for safety so I could concentrate without worrying about another attack from Norwind's forces.

With all the shifters tramping through the woods, there was no way I'd be able to pick up her scent. But if we were close enough, I should be able to reach out with the mind link and find her. Even if she didn't respond, if I could just sense her…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Reaching out with the mindlink, I focused on Mila.

“Mila, where are you? Tell me where you are."

I focused and focused and then…

“Soren…"

It was such a faint whisper I almost didn't think I heard her.

“Soren is that you… are you close by?"

I opened my eyes and looked around. There was wind rustling the leaves and murmurs from the other shifters nearby. Any of those could have been my mind playing tricks on me and thinking that I was hearing Mila's voice.

“Is it really you, Mila?" I asked through the mindlink again.

“Yes, it's me! Soren, you're really here. You're in Norwind territory?"

Her voice was louder and clearer now. It was almost like she'd been whispering before, afraid someone would overhear. I knew that was impossible but she might not. She had no experience with packs or the mindlink.

A flood of emotions ran through me and I pressed my hand to my chest. Mila was alive and nearby. Relief swept through me, along with fear and concern. If she was here then Chandler really did have her!

“Are you okay? Where are you?"

“I'm… fine. I'm okay…" she replied.

That wasn't very convincing and concern overtook my relief quickly, my heart pounding in my chest.