Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 742

Chapter 87 : I Love You

I kept my men at the back of the group. I knew they were anxious to get into this but we still didn'tknow what we were up against.

Chandler had told us that we were welcome at the temple but I didn't believe it. Chandler wouldhave set traps for us. Better to let the others feel those out. I wasn't willing to risk my men until Ihad a better understanding of what Norwind was up to.

It seemed unlikely that they were going to let a large force sweep through their territory.

“Hey! You're trespassing,” a Norwind warrior said, stepping out of the trees.

Behind him, several more warriors stood menacingly, the humans had their arms crossed, thewolves had their teeth bared, snarling.

"We're here to rescue Mila Hathaway and we know you have her prisoner. We're not leaving withouther!" the Saboreef Alpha demanded.

“Alpha Chandler has a lot to answer for!"

“Alpha Chandler wants you all to leave our territory,” the Norwind warrior growled.

“Take them!" Eros ordered.

The makeshift army of packs swarmed into the trees.

My men stepped forward and I stopped them, holding out an arm.

“Not unless we are needed. This isn't the real fight, it is just a diversion.”

“Fine,” Payne muttered.

He was antsy and chomping at the bit. We all were a little.

Eros and the packs quickly took out the small Norwind fleet. The wolves whimpered and ran off intothe woods.

When they gathered together again they were high-fiving and cheering for each other.

I shook my head and sighed.

The group continued up the hill making so much noise as they continued to congratulate eachother. It was absolutely ridiculous. I started to wonder how many of them had ever been in a seriousconflict. Packs fought all the time but this... they should have known better.

Not too much farther up the hill there was a barrier. The packs slowed down, grumbling inannoyance.

“This is nothing, we'll get it down," Eros said.

“Mila is waiting for us!"

As a group, they started tearing down the barrier. Again, I kept my group back. I didn't want themto waste their energy on these small traps and tricks.

The trees rang out with howls and another group of Norwind warriors moved in. The packsimmediately turned around and defended themselves.

“Get out of our land!" the leader shouted.

“Not without Miss Mila," Eros demanded.

Another skirmish broke out. Once again, the Norwind wolves turned tail and ran.

The packs praised each other and finished taking down the barrier. They broke a crevice open andflooded through the opening.

"Something isn't right here,” I whispered.

"What do you mean?” Payne asked.

“Is this Norwind's best defense, or are they just playing with us?"

“Does it matter?”

“No, I guess not."

I sighed and squeezed through the barriers after the others, Payne, Thomas, and my men followingclose behind. We were getting closer to the temple and the top of the hill.

On the other side of the barrier, I could see the temple just over the next peak. We were gettingclose and I had a feeling in my stomach that there was something worse coming.

As the other packs sped up, I slowed down a little. This felt too much like a game of cat and mouse.But were we the mice?

“There's the temple!" Eros shouted.

The others cheered.

“Split up and secure the area,” he ordered.

The other packs obeyed without hesitation. I watched as they broke into smaller groups and headedinto the nearby woods looking for any Norwind stragglers.

Again, I shook my head. No wonder Eros had never gained any traction for himself as a leader. Hedidn't know how to be smart. Instead of keeping a singular, strong force, he was dividing hisstrength.

I stopped dead, another awful thought occurring to me... what if Eros was doing that to helpChandler? For all I knew, his claims of not supporting Chandler were more lies.

Thomas scoffed and came up beside me.

"Bastards, they're making it too easy," he grumbled.

“That's not our concern,” I said, shaking my head.

"Apparently, they can work together when they don't know Norwind's strength. Now that they don'tthink Norwind is a threat, they are weakening themselves,” Thomas added.

"A few small victories doesn't mean that they have the upper hand,” Payne agreed.

“This isn't about securing the perimeter or rescuing Mila. They're competing against each other toprove who is stronger and better. Whoever gets Mila or the artifact first, wins,” Thomas growled.“We're not letting them get to her first!" Payne snarled.

“No, we aren't, but we're going to play this smart,” I agreed, nodding.

"Soren..." Payne argued.

I held a hand up. “Wait. Chandler and Dylan aren't stupid. They drew us here with an invitation, nowyou can't tell me you believe it was genuine.”

“They had to know all the packs would show up in this place because of the invitation theyextended. They wouldn't do that if they weren't prepared,” I pointed out.

“They set traps and had attack parties... but you think that was all for show, don't you?" Payneasked.

“It was to test our strength while also getting the other packs to drop their guard. Look at them all.They are puffed up, thinking they're tough and stronger than Norwind. They're even confidentenough that they've let their guard down. I'm willing to bet that was Norwind's plan,” I said.

"And you're not about to follow along with them.” Thomas grinned.

"No."

"What are you planning?"

“I'm going to try and contact Mila again. I should be a lot closer to her now."

Payne and Thomas stepped back to give me some space. Thomas had our men set up a perimeterfor safety so I could concentrate without worrying about another attack from Norwind's forces.With all the shifters tramping through the woods, there was no way I'd be able to pick up her scent.But if we were close enough, I should be able to reach out with the mind link and replace her. Even ifshe didn't respond, if I could just sense her...

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Reaching out with the mindlink, I focused on Mila.

“Mila, where are you? Tell me where you are.”

I focused and focused and then...

"Soren..."

It was such a faint whisper I almost didn't think I heard her.

“Soren is that you... are you close by?"

I opened my eyes and looked around. There was wind rustling the leaves and murmurs from theother shifters nearby. Any of those could have been my mind playing tricks on me and thinking thatI was hearing Mila's voice.

“Is it really you, Mila?" I asked through the mindlink again.

"Yes, it's me! Soren, you're really here. You're in Norwind territory?"

Her voice was louder and clearer now. It was almost like she'd been whispering before, afraidsomeone would overhear. I knew that was impossible but she might not. She had no experiencewith packs or the mindlink.

A flood of emotions ran through me and I pressed my hand to my chest. Mila was alive and nearby.Relief swept through me, along with fear and concern. If she was here then Chandler really did haveher!

“Are you okay? Where are you?"

“I'm... fine. I'm okay..." she replied.

That wasn't very convincing and concern overtook my relief quickly, my heart pounding in my chest.“You don't sound sure.”

“I'm fine. But I'm not sure where I am..."

“Can you replace out?"

The mindlink went silent for a moment.

It bothered me that I couldn't talk to her after just replaceing out she was okay and that she really washere. If she didn't know where she was, that could mean a whole bunch of things, like she wasblindfolded, drugged, or somewhere dark.

This was all my fault. Whatever she was going through... I'd pushed it on her because I hadn't beenhonest with her.

She could talk to me and sense me which was a huge relief... but this was far from over and she wasdefinitely not safe!

My blood boiled. I would kill Chandler and Dylan if they touched her. I didn't care if Dylan wasroyalty. Mila meant too much to me and I wasn't going to let them get away with hurting her.

I took a deep, steadying breath, relaxing my fists. For Payne and for Thomas, I had to stay calm andclear-headed. They would follow me as long as I did.

“Soren, are you still there?”

Her voice through the mindlink was like the voice of an angel. My heart warmed.

“I'm here Mila. Where are you?"

“I'm in a tomb, probably underground. There are no windows and the lighting is strange.”

“That's a start. Anything else you can tell me about this place?”

She was very calm and collected now. I was surprised by that, seeing as she'd been kidnapped againand I knew she was mad at me. Once I got her to safety, I'd let her be as mad as she wanted andthen I would tell her the truth of it all and promise her that it was only her I wanted.

Until then, as long as she was willing to work with me, we'd be able to pull this off.

“I don't know much about my surroundings. But Soren... I'm in Chandler's Luna's tomb."

“Alright.”

It was hard to control my anger and frustration. Chandler had taken her there to try and bring hisLuna back to life. He was ready to force Mila to work for him but she didn't even have the artifact!He was not going to be happy about that.

“Is Chandler there with you?" I asked.

“There's another guy here too... I don't know him but he seems... off. Chandler left a few minutesago. He told me he had to deal with some pests.” she explained.

"You're alone with him!?" I asked harshly.

Mila was alone with Dylan. That was not a good thing. Dylan was completely insane and he was toostrong. Mila was in serious danger with him.

“Is that bad?" she asked.

“Be very, very careful with him. Do not provoke him or cross him, he's dangerous,” I insisted.

“I sort of picked up on that... Who is he?"

“I believe he is Dylan. He's a cousin to the Alpha King and used to be his Beta many years ago. You'llbe careful, won't you?"

“I heard your warning the first time. I'm being careful.”

“That's my good girl. We're coming to rescue you. Stay put until we get there.”

"Okay..."

“I love you, Mila."