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.

“I 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.

warriors had the tables set

soup. If they hadn't had anything to eat in days, something light like this was the best option. They needed

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

is Ben, thank you, Miss Mila."

and complaining about being hungry. He sat

call me Mila. It is

soup, Mila?" he pushed his empty bowl toward

sorry, Ben, but not right now. You need to let that food settle first. Having too much all at once

and bowed

reached into my pocket, pulling out a

something small

up and he smiled, lifting the candy to his face. He opened his mouth like he was going

ask

“Yeah, okay."

to him. She was

so quickly? We thought the intruders didn't care

up at the woman

“Because those bastards

I knew she was referring to the looters from the

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

“How did the

beside me. From the look on his face, he'd been listening in. He

our men here as a temporary headquarters. They secured what was left and kept it safe,"

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

just to be cruel? It's

to the woman

the food so they could

a horrible thing to do. It was a slow way

through the trouble of dumping

if Soren was reading

“Because they were afraid."

something back, it didn't work. Sighing, I squeezed Soren's hand. Ever since he

raiders were afraid of the

pressure and in threatening circumstances. If the raiders threatened to kill everyone in town, they'd have a battle on their

would be

survivors all banned together, the raiders could have lost or been overpowered. It was

sitting with us, a somber look in his

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

woman nodded stiffly and popped a spoonful of soup into her mouth before gritting through her teeth. “Damned raiders. They'll pay for

so," Soren

Angelica. My sister Lilian is there." she motioned to her sister, another one of the

looking at her. She turned up her nose and

a bit cranky. Sorry about

“I understand," I said.

“Momma!"

slipped out of his seat and Lilian