Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 42 : Are You Trying to Kill Me?

“HEY!" Jared's voice boomed through the area, ricocheting off the nearby buildings as I brought Carmen to her knees. She looked up at me, her eyes glowing with the first hints of transformation.

Jared yanked me backward by the collar of my shirt, dragging us apart while Brandt took Carmen roughly by the arm and led her in the opposite direction. She was screaming profanities that would have made even the most hardened pirate blush. I would have been impressed if I hadn't been absolutely burning with rage.

“What the f**k is going on?" Jared snarled, turning me to face him.

I fought out of his grip, pushing him away. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I was panting, totally unable to control my breath. I swatted him away again as he reached out to me, but he didn't flinch. He took my face in his hands, turning me from side to side as he inspected the damage I couldn't yet feel.

“She called Scarlett a used-up breeder," I said as I fought for air. “I didn't like that."

“I could tell," he said in a low whisper, running his thumb over the bridge of my nose.

I hissed in a breath, meeting his eyes. “That hurts–"

“It's not broken," he said, a wry smile touching his lips. “You might have broken hers, though."

I peer over his shoulder at the group of men lingering behind him, all of whom were chuckling and talking in low voices about what had just happened.

“I didn't know you could fight like that," Jared said, dropping his hands.

“I've never punched anyone before," I admitted, flexing my hands. The knuckles on my right hand were raw, likely split open from the impact with her jaw. I was starting to feel it now, every bruise and scrape. I'd feel it for days.

The pain ignited some deep within, a buried fury that I'd been trying to stifle since the day we left Suncrest. I stepped away from him, glaring as I slowly turned to Scarlett, who was hovering nearby, hugging herself.

“Are you alright?" I asked.

She only nodded, looking more pale than usual.

I turned back to Jared, letting every raw, unfiltered emotion show on my face. “I'm going inside," I said, and walked away before he could protest.

I put my arm around Scarlett's shoulder as the group of men parted to let us pass.

“Thank you," Scarlett whispered, her voice quivering.

“No one gets to talk to us like that, okay?" I replied, meeting her eyes.

She nodded, giving me a soft smile as we neared the house. Miriam appeared on the front porch, her face washed with frustration as she tied her robe around her middle.

“Oh, for the love of Lycaon, what happened now?"

***

I could hear Miriam ripping into Jared from behind the bathroom door. I sank lower into the bathtub, drowning out the sound of their lifted voices as the water swirled around me. Everything hurt. I was going to feel like hell tomorrow.

I felt like hell now, and knowing I was about to get an earful from Jared only made it worse.

He opened the bathroom door, staring down at me as he lingered in the doorway. I slumped into the water until I was consumed by it completely and held myself there for several seconds, opening my eyes beneath the surface and watching as his distorted figure moved across the room to lean on the vanity, his arms crossed over his chest.

“You're absolutely feral, you know that?" he said as I dramatically broke the surface, smoothing my hair away from my face. “She could have killed you."

“If she's so dangerous," I said tersely, grabbing a bar of soap off the side of the tub, “then why is she allowed to roam freely around the village?"

Jared flexed his jaw, tapping his fingers on his arm as he looked me over. I hadn't bothered to look in the mirror. I could only imagine what I looked like right now. I could feel my heartbeat in my nose, for Goddess's sake.

“I think she was planted by Aeris, a spy. That's part of her skillset and–"

“Well, obviously," I snapped, roughly soaping up a rag. “Are you just figuring that out?"

“Eliza–"

“I'm not even going to repeat the things she said to me," I cut in, struggling to swallow past the painful lump in my throat. I'd only half convinced myself that I'd gone berserk on Carmen because she was incredibly mean to Scarlett, not because I was jealous of her past relationship with Jared.

She'd picked up on that, though. She knew exactly what to say to make me angry.

“If I had known you were going into the village–"

“You would have told me I couldn't go, right? Because you don't trust me–"

“This has nothing to do with trust!"

“Then what the f**k is going on, Jared?"

We stared at each other for a moment, a blanket of tension settling over the room. He bit down on the inside of his cheek, his eyes narrowing before he finally surrendered and kicked off the vanity, pulling a stool next to the tub.

“Carmen was here when I first arrived in this village, looking for work." he sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. “She was the daughter of an Alpha but ended up working here, in the house, for Miriam." He dipped his fingers in the water, swirling the bubbled surface. “I was fifteen when I came here. I had nowhere else to go, no way to take care of myself. I was hungry, tired. I proved myself in the ring and joined the crew."

“What does this have to do with Carmen?"

“I'm getting there," he said, flicking me with water. “Carmen was a kitchen maid and notorious with the younger men who lived in the village, the ultimate prize. She's a couple years older than me. I didn't give in for a while, but like I said… I was young, stupid, starving for attention and glory. She… used me in a lot of different ways, took advantage of me when I started climbing the ranks and eventually took over the pack and the village. I started to use her skillset, taking her on bounty hunts. She is responsible for securing half my collection of artifacts."

I rested my chin on my knees.

“I took her to Suncrest shortly after I turned twenty-one and had a few months under my belt when it came to running the village. I knew Aeris from my childhood and thought we could form a professional alliance. He was more interested in using me to overthrow my brother. I refused, of course, but when Carmen found out who I really was she just… couldn't let it go. That whole trip she was begging me, going as far as to try to manipulate me into accepting Aeris's offer to help put me on the throne. I came home and she broke into my study one night. I caught her doing it. I forced her out of the village the next day and haven't seen her since."

He looked down at me, a brief smile touching his lips.

“As the daughter of an Alpha, even a late one… she had a chip on her shoulder. She used that to for own gain to access the courts of nearby territories. She's been married twice, from what I've heard. She's secured herself quite a fortune. How she ended up a prisoner of Aeris… I need to find that out, which is why I gave her freedom to roam around today. I had people watching her, of course. I needed to find out what she was up to, what she was planning."

“And now?"

“Now… she's being kept in one of the cottages, locked in and guarded. She won't be able to get out until I'm ready to talk to her. My guess is she's working for Aeris in some capacity."

“She's not going to talk," I said firmly. I'd seen the look in her eyes before I swung on her. She was solid, unbreakable. Maybe in a way, I was the most jealous of that.

“She will," he said with conviction, giving me a careful look before taking the soapy rag from my hands. “I'm not the same man I was three years ago. She hasn't seen the full extent of my dark powers, not since I've been losing my wolf for a few years now." He ran the rag over my arm, then down my back. I softened against his touch, closing my eyes for a moment.

“No one gets to touch you like that," he said, his voice edged with silent, stifled fury.

“I think I handled it okay," I replied, giving him a weak smile.

“I think you should go to the sparring ring tomorrow," he said, dipping the rag back in the water. “You're tough. You took a fist to the nose and got right back up."

I tilted my head to allow him access to my neck. The water was perfect, and smelled richly of pine and sandalwood soap. Miriam had dumped a bag of what looked like salt into the bath, which stung my split knuckles a bit.