Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 721

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 721

Chapter 66 : The Harvest Festival

It wasn't hard to replace the festival. Before we even got into the main city, I could hear the sounds ofmusic and happy chatter.

"Come on, come on. We need to hurry,” Ashley said, hurrying forward. “We're going to miss all thegood stuff.”

We rounded the corner to the main street and I stopped, my jaw dropping open.

The street was filled with vendors selling snacks and all kinds of things from exotic clothes topottery and ceramics, and jewelry.

There were people playing music in the streets and dancing. String lights with paper lanterns onthem were hung across the streets.

It was so vibrant, colorful, and full of life. I looked this way and that. Everywhere I looked, I saw moreshiny, colorful things that caught my eye.

Ashley was already trying on a fancy scarf from one of the vendors.

This was a harvest festival? I thought there would be more associations with harvests but everyonejust seemed to be celebrating and having a good time.

"What do you think of this scarf?” Ashley asked me, striking a dramatic pose.

I giggled and Ashley immediately paid the vendor and kept the scarf for herself. She went on to thenext vendor, looking at jewelry.

“Payne, can you carry this for me?” Ashley asked, tossing Payne her new scarf while she held anecklace up to her neck and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Payne sighed and took the necklace that Ashley handed him. He rolled his eyes but I could tell thatdespite his frustrated look, he was happy to be helping his sister.

Soren seemed off in his own world. He was looking around but he didn't seem all that interested inshopping. I think he was watching some of the street performers but it was hard to tell.

I stayed close to Ashley and when she was done looking at jewelry, she looped her arm throughmine and dragged me to the next vendor.

"Awe, look how adorable this ceramic wolf is,” Ashley said, holding up the small figurine.

“It is really cute but do you need it?" I asked, smiling nervously. I ran my finger along the edge of anice ceramic pot.

Part of me wanted to replace a present for Soren but I didn't know what to get for him in a place likethis. I didn’t have the money to spend on a lot of nice things and I figured anything Soren wouldlike would be too expensive.

“Okay, I don't need the dog. Come here, check out these pieces,” she said, dragging me to the nextjewelry vendor.

I picked up a few pendants and rings, looking them over. Then I caught a price tag and immediatelyput it down. Yeah, those were definitely outside my budget!

Still, I had fun looking at all the unique vendors. Ashley's enthusiasm was contagious. She wanted tolook at everything and touch everything. She even grabbed several snacks and let me try them.

All the festival food was delicious!

"Hey! Hey!” someone shouted in the street up ahead.

The crowd closed in around the raised voices. I tried to look ahead to see what caused thatcommotion.

Clatter!

It sounded like something heavy fell in the streets but I couldn't see what it was. Ashley grabbed myarm and tried to pull me back.

"What's going on over there?” I asked.

Soren and Payne came over to us.

“We should get out of here,” Soren said firmly.

“Shouldn't we see...”

Suddenly, security guards ran through the crowd, pushing people aside as they moved into the areawhere the commotion had occurred

“Has anything like this happened before?” someone in the crowd asked.

“Never. He pushed his master... he dared!”

“That slave is dead for sure...”

“The whole batch of slaves will be punished... I bet...”

"Yeah, along with that foul creature.”

I looked at Soren, gasping. Slaves?

Ashley frowned and looked at us. “How is slave trading still legal in a city like this?"

“Marno pack makes an exception during the Harvest Festival,” Payne explained. “There are strictrestrictions.”

“Restrictions on slave trading?” I asked, shaking my head.

"Yes. Only criminals and rogues can be traded as slaves. As a result, their masters aren't that nice tothem and don't treat them well,” he continued.

“I didn't think slavery was legal anywhere,” Ashley muttered.

Sighing, I bowed my head. If only Ashley knew...

“It's a complicated matter. If these rogues and criminals dare to raise a hand to their slave master,they can be sentenced to death or whatever punishment their master decides. Seeing as they arecriminals, no one cares,” Payne told us somberly.

“Well, if they are criminals, I suppose that makes me feel a little better,” Ashley said, shrugging.

I grimaced and looped an arm around myself. Criminals or not, I didn't like anyone being treatedlike slaves.

“Let us go!” A deep, male baritone bellowed through the crowd. “You bastards! How many times dowe have to say it? We're not slaves!”

“Yeah, yeah. That's what all slaves say, didn't you know that?” one of the security guards asked.Another man yellowed through the crowd. “Let me go! You have no right to me! I'm not a criminal, arogue, or a slave! I don't belong to anyone!”

I bit my lower lip and looked at Soren. He'd been watching me, clearly picking up on my mood.These men were being treated wrong, slaves, criminals, or whoever they were.

Not that long ago, I was being sold to Norwind. It wasn't my choice and I couldn't stop it. My wholelife, I'd been nothing but a slave to my foster mother. She'd used me to kill witches and all I was toher was another payday.

But she never treated me with love or respect. She barely fed me or clothed me. If I ever raised myvoice, I'd get beaten. And I was warned that if I disobeyed Norwind once I was there, they'd kill me.That was why I fought for my life.

“No,” I whispered.

I broke away from Soren and the others and slipped through the crowd.

“Mila!” Soren called after me.

I ignored him and pushed through the onlookers. There were three men in the center of a circle ofguards. They slowly circled around the men like they were vultures. Two of the men were pinneddown by guards, the third was sitting on the ground.

All three of them were bleeding.

“frxixxg assholes,” the sitting man cursed. He spit out blood and glared at the security guards.Growling, he stood up and pointed at the two subdued men. “Get rid of them.”

He must have been the slave trader who the slaves had struck. They'd hit him pretty hard to knockhim down like that.

The slave trader was absolutely furious. He was huffing and puffing, spitting and cursing. He ranover to the two subdued shifters and kicked them each hard in the stomach.

I cringed as the men groaned and shuddered. The slave trader kept kicking and hitting them.

“You son of a b***h! You dare to hit me! I'm your f*****g master, your god! You can't raise a fist tome, bastard. f*****g criminal. You're nothing but a horrid, rotten douche and you deserve to die andget eaten by maggots!”

The slave trader kept cursing and striking them.

“I AM NOT A SLAVE!" one of the men cried. He struggled against the security guard that held him.The guard slammed him into the street and he groaned again, a cut forming on his chin. The slavetrader kicked him right in the stomach again.

My fists clenched at my sides. I couldn't take this, just sitting here while those slaves were beatenand brutalized. There was no reason for such violence or public humiliation. I had been treatedsimilarly in Saboreef and I'd seen horrible treatment of criminals and slaves in other packs, too.Whatever it was, I couldn't handle this.

A heavy hand came down on my back and I whipped around. Soren stood behind me with a somberface. He rubbed my back lightly.

“You want to help them?” he asked with knowing eyes.

It was too obvious to him that this upset me. I couldn't lie and I couldn't just stand by and donothing.

I nodded. “Can you help them?”

Soren arched an eyebrow at me. I couldn't tell if he was going to help or not.

“Please?” I added.

Soren smirked and nodded. He walked through the rest of the crowd and grabbed the slave trader'sarm. He spun around and glared at the person who dared interfere with his beating. Soren justleaned in and whispered something in the man's ear.

The slave trader's eyes lit up. He sneered at the two slaves, even though one was now unconscious,the other seriously injured. He spit on the unconscious one.

“You two should thank the Goddess for being merciful to you today, thank her that someone iswilling to pay for your asses... otherwise, you'd be beaten to death by my boot,” he said, pointing tohis bloody boot.

With a huff, the slave trader left.

Payne dismissed the security and started pushing the crowd away. They murmured some indisappointment but slowly, they dispersed.

"Here, let me help,” I said. I leaned down to help the conscious man up.

He sneered and pulled away from me, going to check on his friend.

“Leave us alone! We're not slaves! You can't buy us!” he snarled.

Soren came over and stood next to me. The man and his recently revived friend looked nervously atSoren as he crossed his arms.

"Of course, you aren't. We understand that. Don't worry, you're free to go now,” he said.

He looked at us suspiciously, forgetting to check on his groggy friend. “...Thank you... but, who areyou?”

“It doesn’t matter who we are,” I said quickly. “You kept saying that you're not slaves. So, who areyou?”

He bent down and helped his friend up. The groggy one groaned and shook his head like he wastrying to snap out of a daze.

“I'm Frederic. The groggy one is Murray,” the man we'd been talking to said. “We are from a smallpack called Lethe.”

“Lethe?” I asked, perking up. I knew the name. It was where the third artifact piece was being kept."Unfortunately, our pack land was attacked recently. Most of the pack members were... killed... therest enslaved,” Frederic explained.

I gasped and covered my mouth. How would we get the rest of the Blade of Souls?