Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 723

Chapter 68 : Are You Building a Pack?

I shook my head and looked around at the hole. “Helen wouldn't do this..."

“Mila, listen to me,” Soren said. He took my hands and pulled them away from my face.

“This is... all wrong. We weren't supposed to be late,” I muttered. My mind reeled.

This wasn't how I saw this playing out. We'd finally gotten ahead and we were making progress.How had we fallen so far behind suddenly?

“Please, Mila, look at this from the positive side. This might not be as bad as you think," heimplored.

I creased my brow. “What do you mean?"

“Think about it. Whoever took it only has one part of the artifact. It won't be that powerful and theywon't be able to use it anyway," he said.

“The Moonlit Crystal has power on its own. The blade could, too," I said.

“The Moonlit Crystal works for you because of your bloodline. Anyone that takes the blade won't beable to use it because they don't have the blood," he reminded me.

“You think... Maybe Helen told someone?” I asked, biting my lower lip.

Soren sighed. “Perhaps. Although, I hate to say it, but it is more likely that it was tortured out ofher..."

“That doesn't exactly make me feel better," I groaned

“I know, I'm sorry. Either way, it means Helen doesn't have the final piece, so whoever does, can'tuse it," he continued.

“You're right... the power isn't complete and that means the pieces are useless," I concurred.

“It is true that you can't use the artifact but the people that got this piece can't use it either,” hesaid.

“That is a bright side,” I agreed, nodding. I frowned slightly and shrugged.

“You don't sound like you think it is a bright side,” Soren said, arching an eyebrow. “Are you afterthe power of the artifact?

“No... not right now," I said, shaking my head.

“Not right now? Does that mean you have a use for it sometime in the future?" he pressed.

I smiled lightly and shook my head again. “No, I don’t even know what it does..."

“Then we don't have to rush, do we?" Soren asked.

“I guess not..."

“Then it doesn't seem like a good use of our time chasing after the missing piece right now, does it?We can wait and see. An artifact like that won't stay hidden for long, now that it has been dug up,I'm guessing it won't be long before we hear something,” he added.

He held a hand out to me. Slowly, I took it and he started to lead me away from the dug up dirt."Whoever stole it is going to be more anxious than us. They won't know what it does, how to use it,or how to replace the other pieces. They might not even know there are other pieces. We'll let themsweat for now."

Soren smiled and squeezed my fingers.

“Fine, fine," I said with a sigh.

I let Soren lead me away but my mind was still on the missing piece of the artifact. The reason I hadwanted to replace it so badly was because of the warning that Helen had given me.

"When your loved one is in danger, you will need the artifact.”

Wasn't that what she said? Or something like that... Whatever it was, I knew I'd need the artifact tosave the one I loved, to save Soren.

Every few steps, I glanced sideways at him. He was going to be in danger soon and there wasnothing I could do about it. No matter how strong and invincible he seemed, despite the fact thathe always had everything under control, he'd be in danger.

I worried about him because of Helen's warning. Without the third artifact piece, I wouldn't be ableto save him when I needed to. Despite Soren's logic, there was the knowledge I had that he didn't...which was that he was in danger and the only way to save him was the artifact.

There was a rush to get it.

I caught Soren looking back at me and I smiled, looking away quickly.

At least, with the piece missing, we'd be spending more time together. I hadn't wanted our time tocome to an end and now Soren and I would be sticking together until we found the final piece.Groaning inwardly, I looked away from Soren. That was not a thought I needed to focus on rightnow. It was a selfish thought when we had real dangers and real problems closing in around us.Just because I wanted to spend more time with him didn't mean I should delay replaceing the Blade ofSouls. Helen's warning could still be true and if it was... the Blade of Souls was the only thing thatcould save him. I didn't even know what it did but I knew I was the only one that could use it. I wasthe only one that could save him!

Sighing, I bowed my head. I couldn't tell Soren that. He wouldn't like the idea of me wanting toprotect him and I knew he would dismiss my concerns.

"Are you still worried?" Soren asked.

“The Blade of Souls is one of the few things my parents left for me. Who knows when I'll get it backand... I don't feel great about it being unaccounted for," I admitted.

Soren slid his eyes sideways at me and smirked. “Mila, you are in control of this situation, not yourparents and not the people that stole the artifact piece.”

"How am I in control?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"One thing you should learn about greedy people is that they are the easy ones to control becausethey are always wanting more,” Soren explained.

"And you want to give them more?" I asked.

"Or feed them information to make them salivate. Now tell me, when would you like the artifactback?" he said grinning. “When do you think you'll be ready to face your enemies?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms. What was Soren asking? He couldn't be serious about this. He reallythought that we could get the artifact back by feeding information to the greedy people?

"Humor me, Mila. Just give me a timeline," Soren said.

"A month," I answered, nodding.

Ashley, Payne, Soren, and I went back to Marno pack, just a small village on the outside of the bigcity. We didn't want to strain Lethe out even more by asking for resources.

It took a few days for us to load up on supplies for the journey back to the rogue zone.

While restocking, we grabbed some lunch at one of the restaurants.

My ears perked up when I heard some whispering.

... Blade of Souls..."

“Soren,” I whispered. I nodded in the direction I'd heard the murmur.

He put his finger to his lips and nodded subtly. By silent consent, we agreed to listen to theconversation.

"Have you heard, the Blade of Souls has reappeared...”

“What is that?"

“A powerful artifact. The most powerful artifact.”

“It isn't the most powerful, you dunce!”

"Yeah, they just discovered a new artifact. Something that is a universal artifact.”

“Universal?”

“That's right. It can control all other artifacts and doesn't even need an Alpha bloodline to work."

“I heard that too! Both the Blade of Souls and the universal artifact have been found."

“I heard they said both of them would show up in one month..."

I arched an eyebrow at Soren and he nodded, smirking. So, he was the one spreading the rumors.He had orchestrated all of this and that smug look was satisfaction at seeing his plan working.

We left for the rogue zone after our lunch, meeting Ashley and Payne on the edge of the village.Ashley and Payne continued to take point and keep a lookout for any potential threats.

Soren walked beside me and I couldn't shake my worry. After what I heard in the restaurant, Icouldn't help but feel like Soren was attracting more trouble to himself. Trouble that could be thedanger Helen warned me about.

Without the Blade of Souls, it was too big of a risk. No matter how strong and competent Sorenwas. No matter how prepared he thought he was.

“You're worried again?" Soren asked, nudging my arm.

“Soren... this could get dangerous,” I said.

“Don't worry, Mila. Thomas has started training more warriors for me. Most of my men were alreadyexceptional fighters. We're growing our numbers and they will all be exceptional,” Soren told mewith a firm nod.

I licked my lips and nodded. We were getting closer to the desert of the rogue zone and my mouthwas feeling dryer, my lips cracking slightly.

Soren was building his ranks and training more warriors. It sounded a lot like he was putting a packtogether.

“Soren, are you planning to build your own pack?" I asked tentatively.

Soren stopped walking and I turned to look at him. He put his hands on my cheeks and brushed histhumbs over my face.

“Yes, I am,” he said smoothly.

"Why?" I asked, creasing my brow.

Soren shrugged. “Many reasons. One of which I already told you about.”

My breath caught in my throat and I swallowed hard. Was he referring to the time he asked me tostay with him?

“You know that my offer still stands. You're welcome to stay with me in my pack,” he said.

What was I supposed to do? He'd already done so much for me and I hadn't repaid him in theslightest. Would it be repayment to stay with him and his pack?

I didn't know what to do. He hadn't invited me again, not explicitly, but he had made it clear it wasan open invitation.

“But... you're not making a pack just for me?" I asked, giggling nervously.

“No... but it is as good as any reason," Soren purred.

“You know things aren't settled down. Until they are, I can't commit to anything..."

“I know where you stand on the matter,” Soren assured, releasing my face.

“But I'm not saying no or that I won't decide to settle down when this is all over," I clarified.

“I'm aware.”

I looked around at the road we were on and realized suddenly that we weren't on our way back tothe rogue zone.

“Soren... this isn't the way to your base. If you're going to build your own pack, we should get backto your base and prepare for the enemy to close in around us,” I said, pointing in another vaguedirection. I thought that was where the rogue zone was.

“We will get there soon enough,” Soren said. He took my hand and tugged me along the road Ihadn't seen before. “First, I want to take you to an important place.”

"Where?" I asked, smiling and falling into step with Soren.

“Just come with me,” Soren insisted, smirking like he always did.