Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 263

Chapter 43: Captain vs Captain

Keaton

Robbie hoisted me up onto the Persephone, and my eyes immediately scanned the damage on thedeck.

“Pick,” I said shortly, looking at the masts that had been snapped, the shredded sails, and the pilesof debris covered in seaweed.

I looked back over the railing at the sandbar where the Persephone had run aground, and then tothe beach where two of the four skiffs had made it to shore.

“We didn't take on much water, only in the engine room,” Robbie said, shaking his head, “Her hull isintact. We're not sinking.”

"Good. That's good,” I said through gritted teeth, “Drop the anchor. We'll see how she floats at hightide.”

Robbie nodded and called out the command to the few crewmen who had followed us to the shipalong the sandbar. They were all busy cleaning up the mess the storm had made.

We should be dead. All of us. The Persephone should have been laying on her side beneath severalfathoms of water. We had gotten the younger crewmen and the women off the boat just in time.But not Maeve.

I saw Troy standing near the railing, looking out over the water. What could I possibly say to himright now?

"You should go back to shore,” I said as I stepped towards him, “She might have made it to theisland. We were in the shallows when—"

He looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes telling me everything I needed to know. Absoluteheartbreak, utter dread. He was covered in bruises and scratches. Deep cuts ran along his chest. Hehad a black eye and a deep purple bruise along his jaw. A bloodied nose.

He looked as though he had been through a meat grinder. Even his arm, the break in it which hadonly just begun to heal, was hanging limp at his side, bruises covering it from shoulder to wrist.“Troy, I'm sorry.”

“Don't be,” he breathed, looking back over the water, “This is what you wanted, wasn't it?”

“Don’t you dare blame this on me. I lost three crewmen,”

“I lost Maeve."

The words were biting, meant to be harsh. I swallowed, shaking my head as I turned away from himand walked along the deck, kicking at long pieces of rubbery seaweed as I went along.

Troy stood in the same spot for an hour before turning around and walking to the other side of theship, disappearing over the railing and down a rope ladder we had unfurled.

“The boys are draining the water from the engine room and gathering whatever can be salvaged ofthe masts. The extra sails are water logged but are in perfect shape. She's going to be seaworthysoon. Very soon.” Robbie came up beside me, pointing to the various men as they went about theirtasks.

“You got this?" I asked, tilting my head towards Troy, who was walking along the sandbar towardsthe camp.

Aye, I do,” Robbie assured me regarding the ship.

“I need to make sure he doesn't go into the jungle and kill himself,” I said shortly, snorting withmirth

I climbed down the rope ladder, jumping down the last few feet and landing in the wet sand. Athigh tide, this whole area would be under water, but right now you could see the expansive reef andcolorful fish that swam about, their scales reflecting off the sun.

However long we'd be here, we'd be able to eat at least, I thought, watching a very large crab scurryacross the sand and disappear back into the water.

"Hey!" I called out to Troy, breaking into a jog to catch up to him. Troy quickened his pace, turningsharply away from camp as he continued along the sandbar. “I command you to stop!” I saidsharply, breaking into a run.

But as I caught up to him, he turned around, his fists clenched into fists, “Go away, Keaton!”

I stopped short of him, panting, my hands resting on my knees as I caught my breath. “I don't trustyou right now, Troy. I know you're upset

but"

nnnn

16:32

Chapter 43: Captain vs Captain

"Don't even try to make sense of how I'm feeling,” he spat, fury flaming behind his eyes, “Go back toMyla. Go back to the ship, or the crew. Leave me alone, Keaton.”

"And what will you do? Hmm? Drown yourself? Over her? There's plenty of women—"

My words were cut short by a cracking blow to my lower jaw, the impact knocking me backwardinto the sand. I spit blood from my mouth, squinting up at Troy as he towered over me, his jawclenched and shoulders tight with furious tension.

*I deserved that I said, spitting more blood into the sand.

"Do you have anything else you want to say?” he growled.

"Only that you're a stupid motherfu-"

He grabbed my leg. swinging me like a rag doll and slamming me into the sand. I took a second torecover from the blow, then stood, rushing him and driving my elbow into his chest.

It went on like this for a few minutes, the two of us beating the living hell out of each other for noreason other than we were alive and that we could. I had egged him on for a reason, knowing hewas more dangerous to himself than to me, or anyone else

Take it out on me, I thought, just as he wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me backward intothe sand.

"What the hell is the matter with you guys?” Myla. I strained my neck to the side and saw herapproach, a long piece of driftwood in her hands, wielding it like a sword. Troy loosened his grip asher voice rang out over the sandbar, just enough for me to tuck my chin to my chest and slam myhead back into his nose.

*Ah! You piece of—* He let me go, bringing his hands to his nose. I stood and began taking off myclothes, tossing my shirt down on the sandbar.

"Come on, Troy, shift. Let's finish this!”

"Don’t you dare shift!” Myla screeched, her voice harsh with a motherly edge to it. I looked at herhoping, like a lovesick pup, that she had seen me headbutt Troy and was impressed by it.

“If you two idiots are done,” she exclaimed, sticking her stick in the sand, “I'm going to go look forMaeve."

Troy sat up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Do you think—"

“I've known her long enough to know she wouldn't go down without a fight, so yes, I really believeshe’s alive. And she’s gotta be around here, somewhere. Do either of you know where we are?”

I shrugged, but Troy nodded, rising to his feet.

“We were blown off course. We're southeast of where we need to be. This is the coast of thesouthern continent, the Forgotten Jungle.”

“Forgotten Jungle?” Myla said, looking from Troy to me.

“Uninhabited lands,” I said quickly, glaring over at Troy. “Which means, if we need parts for the shipwe're screwed.”

A strange sound came from the beach and the three of us turned toward it, watching as the peoplemaking camp on the shore swiveled their heads to the thick trees.

It came again, three or four yelps in rapid succession. The hair on my arms rose, my skin pricklingwith adrenaline.

“Was that,”

“Barking.” Troy said as he took a step towards the beach, his eyes narrowed as he scanned oursurroundings.

“Wolves?” Myla pulled her stick from the sand, gripping it tightly lest she needed to defend herself.Troy shook his head, his brow knitted as he concentrated on the sound, “It sounds like

a dog?"

"A dog?” Myla laughed, then quieted, her face flashing with confusion. “A dog? From where? Ithought you said this land is uninhabited—"

Troy was sprinting across the sandbar towards the shore.

A figure had emerged, her pinkish blonde hair shining in the sun.

"Oh, Goddess. It's Maeve. MAEVE!" Myla cried, tossing her stick to the side as she ran after Troy. Ilooked over my shoulder at the Persephone, where men were crowded along the railing to watchwhat was happening.

Maeve

I felt my heart leap into my chest, a sob escaping my throat as I ran to him, throwing my armsaround his neck. He sank to his knees, his face buried against my neck as he held me to him. I kissedhis forehead, then his cheeks, and then fully on the mouth, tears streaming from my eyes.

He rested his head on my shoulder for a moment, a choked laugh escaping his mouth. “I thought I'dlost you.”

“I thought you died!” I exclaimed, squeezing him. “Did you just — lick my cheek?”

“What?”

Suddenly he threw me in the stand and stood, his teeth pulled back in grimace as he looked downat the dog, who was sitting back on his haunches, his wet tongue lolling out of one side of hismouth.

"What the hell is that thing?” Keaton said with a laugh, holding a bloody rag to his lip as heapproached. Myla squealed with delight, falling to her knees in front of the dog and scratching himbehind the ears with vigor.

“It's a dog,” I said, matter-of-factly.

“Are you sure?” Troy crouched down, peering at the dog with marked suspicion.

“That has to be the ugliest creature I've ever seen. Besides you, Troy, of course,” Keaton quipped, astrange, knowing smile on his face. Troy glared at him.

I looked from Keaton and then back to Troy, the excitement of our reunification fading away as Inoticed the fresh bruises and bloody noses. “Is that all from the storm?”

“No. These two were trying to beat each other to death right before you showed up,” Myla said,rising to her feet. The dog circled around her, then leaned against her leg, whimpering for more ofher attention.

"Why?" I asked.

“Is that thing a shifter?” Troy interrupted. Keaton let out his breath, thankful for the subject to bechanged.

“No, he’s not. He's just a dog,” I answered.

“How do you know?" Troy shuffled his feet, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down atthe dog.

“I asked him, and he said he wasn't.”

“You what?” Keaton said, shocked.

"... I asked him,"

"You can talk to him?” Myla was intrigued, and slightly jealous, I assumed, as she looked down at thedog, patting his head lovingly. Myla had always wanted a dog, but Cleo had straight up refused."Yes can't you?” Everyone looked at me, then broke into peels of laughter. “What's so funny?”

“I think you might've hit your head during the storm-" Keaton began, but I interrupted him.

“No, he really can talk to me. I think I washed ashore on the opposite side of the island sometimeyesterday morning. I wandered around for an entire day looking for water. He found me last night.He asked me if I was a friend through the mind-link-"

“We're not on an island, princess,” Keaton said, turning away from me to talk to Myla.

"What," I began.

Troy pulled me to the side, out of earshot from Keaton and Myla. “Did you just say this thingcommunicated with you over mind-link?”

“Is that weird?" I asked, looking over at the dog, who was glued to Myla’s leg.

“Uh, yeah. That's super weird. He's not a shifter, you're sure?”

“I'm sure. His communication is infantile. Like I'm talking to a toddler. One-word sentences.”

Troy ran his fingers through his hair, giving me a curious look. He looked like hell. “Someone ismissing him, Maeve. This means there's people around. Did you ask him about that?”

I shook my head, “No, I didn’t. We walked through the night, and I didn't see or hear any otherpeople, anywhere. Not until I saw the skiffs on the beach, and he was the one who alerted me toyour presence.”

“Can you talk to all animals, or just this one?”

“I don't think I can. Nothing has ever. I've only ever been able to mind-link with my parents, andRowan. No one else has ever come through.”

He nodded, trying to understand

“Can we keep him?” I asked.

"Absolutely not!”

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