Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 162 No Goodbyes
**Soren’s POV**
The battle raged around Ethan’s camp. Everywhere we looked, there were snarling, fighting wolves, rushing at one another and tearing each other apart.
Blood, tufts of fur, and shattered bone littered the ground, as well as the broken and mangled bodies of dozens of wolves from each side of the fray. Now was my chance to get into Ethan’s camp and see if Rosalie was there. It would be risky, but the battle seemed to be moving south, away from the camp, and I had to assume that was because Ethan was doing his best to get the enemies away from his woman and child.
As long as he continued to be successful at keeping the rogues and King James’s forces away from the camp, I should be able to carry out my own plan.
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Especially now that I had someone with me who could help….
Joining up with Seraphine had never been part of my strategy, but now that she was with me, I was making the most of it. Seraphine was very good at sneaking around the forest without being detected, which I could testify to myself. Best of all, Rosalie was much more likely to go with Seraphine than she was with me. While we had made amends to some degree before all of this fighting began, it wasn’t as if we were friends again.
But she’d go with Seraphine. She trusted her, as she should.
I just needed to find Rosalie and find a way to get her away from the camp without Ethan or anyone else noticing. “This is where you think she is?” Seraphine whispered, pointed to a tent couple hundred yards away. We were still in our human forms for now because we couldn’t communicate as wolves. We didn’t have mindlinking capabilities with one another.
I nodded. “That’s the one I sent word to you about.”
Since we’d banded together, she’d explained to me how she’d been injured when rogues tried to attack Rosalie and the baby, when his nanny was killed.
I knew that her people were looking for Rosalie but couldn’t find her anywhere, so once I was fairly certain about her location, I’d sent word back to the Winter Forest pack.
However, I didn’t ask for reinforcements. Trying to break through Ethan’s defenses by force would be a waste of time and lives. I only needed someone Rosalie would trust. So I ended up with Seraphine.
Using my recently obtained tricks from my new friends, I was able to hide our scents and got closer to the center of the camp.
I intended to make as good a use as possible of Seraphine’s skills, like her ability to get in and out of places unseen. Meanwhile, my new friends, the most ragtag mob of outcasts anyone had ever seen, were spread out in the woods, ready to help. I didn’t need them to fight anyone, but they could be really helpful if we needed to hide our traces.
Seraphine and I watched from the shadows as a fight waged on between two wolves not far away from the tent I suspected Rosalie was in. Then, another wolf came to help, and the fight dispersed. One male wolf limped off toward Ethan’s line while the other two exited into the woods.
“This is our chance!” Seraphine whispered. “Let’s stay in our human form for communication, just in case.” It was more dangerous, but we could do that.
However, when we got closer, I realized that I underestimated how much detail Ethan placed on Rosalie.
“This would be easier with more warriors,” I mumbled, looking at the half dozen guards around the tent.
My ex-subordinate rolled her eyes and replied, You and I both know it wouldn’t help. It would be better if the pack stayed back where Ethan couldn’t detect them. Fighting him seems like a sure way to die.”
“Come on, I was only venting,” I said. Deep down, we were on the same page.
Seraphine and I couldn’t go against six of Ethan’s best warriors at the same time. We may have a chance to fight them, but we’d definitely draw unnecessary attention to us.
We needed to be patient and wait for our opportunity.
However, as each minute past, the two of us were getting more and more anxious. It things didn’t change, sooner or later, Ethan would return, and who knew when the next opportunity would arise.
As if the Moon Goddess heard our stress, we noticed a group of five other wolves were also approaching the center tent. Seraphine and I exchanged a worried look, because unlike most rogues, those new wolves were well trained and organized. I could only think of one possibility – they were King James’s secret agents!
D*mn it! Rosalie was surrounded by danger! I could only hope that the guards Ethan put around the tent was enough against James’s men. As expected, a battle broke between the two parties. Blood splattered the ground outside of the tent where that last fight had taken place. The guards had left their stations to push the attackers back.
This was just the chance Seraphine and I needed.
“I’ll go first,” I started to say, but by then, Seraphine was already taking off, stopping behind a tree closer to the tent. I cursed under my breath and followed, my eyes darting around everywhere looking for threats.
Luckily, the battle moved a little away from the tent, and Seraphine and I made it into the tent.
We saw her.
Rosalie was standing with her baby on her hip, a knife in the other hand.
I held my hands up. “Ro! It’s me!” I said.
Her eyes widened, but then she realized that it was me, and she relaxed a bit. Then, she saw Seraphine.
“Oh, thank the Moon Goddess!” she exclaimed, moving to hug her friend. “I was so scared that you hadn’t recovered from your wounds.”
“I’m fine,” Seraphine told her, hugging her back. “And so is Jace.”
“That’s so good to hear,” Rosalie said.
“We don’t have time to chat right now,” I told her. “We need to get out of here while Ethan is distracted, assuming you want to go.”
However, she hesitated for a moment. “Soren, how could me and Rowan trust you?”
“Rowan?” I repeated, realizing she must’ve finally picked a name for the baby. I shook my head to clear it. “I understand your concern, Rosalie, but I’m with Seraphine. If she can trust me, surely you can, too. Unless you want to stay. Have you been held against your will?”
She didn’t answer me, but the look on her face told me that Ethan had been keeping here, even though she wanted to leave. Alright, it seemed that I got my answer.
She still didn’t move. I couldn’t blame her for being hesitant to go with me considering our history, but I continued to try to persuade her. “If you want to go, now is the time. We’ve been observing, and the battle is to the south. If we go north, we can get out of here safely.”
“And our pack has people nearby to help escort us back to the palace once we get you safely away from this place,” Seraphine added.
I could see the hesitation in Rosalie’s face as she looked from the tent door to the little home she’d been living in recently. She seemed torn. “Your Majesty! I don’t know what Ethan’s been telling you, but he’s a rogue now. He’s even more dangerous and vicious than before.” Seraphine continued, “Dear, now is not the time to contemplate matters of the heart. You know that it’s safer for the baby to be back in the palace. Let us get him there.”
That was all it took. Rosalie nodded. “You’re right. I was actually planning on leaving while they were gone anyway. It’s just…”
“Just what?” Seraphine asked.
“Nothing. Just a silly promise I made. I’d prefer to leave with a proper farewell.” Rosalie shook her head. “And he made a lot of promises to you that haven’t been kept either, Your Majesty,” Seraphine reminded her. “Please think about the baby first. People say a lot of things when they are under duress. He can’t expect you to mean every single one of them.”
“Wave at him as you run into the woods whether he sees you or not and that will count,” I told her in jest.
Rosalie rolled her eyes, but her expression softened as she was amused. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll go with you now.” She looked around the room and grabbed a bag, quickly stuffing some of the things the baby would need inside and slinging it over her shoulder. She didn’t have a lot to bring with her. I didn’t even see that she had a change of clothes. “Do you have your wolf now?” Seraphine asked her.
She was already twenty-one?!
She nodded. “Yes, I have, but I’ve only shifted once because I haven’t been able to leave the tent. I’m not sure whether I can control it well yet.” Once again, I found myself cursing under my breath.
D*mn it, Ethan, really? Rosalie was supposed to be the woman he loved, yet she wasn’t even given the freedom to let her own wolf out.
I was happy for her that she could shift. I couldn’t wait to meet her wolf – no doubt that she must be a magnificent beauty. However, at the same time, it struck me that she wasn’t my fate mate…
“No problem,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “We’ll just have to hurry.”
Seraphine stuck her head out of the tent first and said, “It’s clear. Let’s go before the battle shifts and comes back this way.” Rosalie followed her, and I brought up the rear, hoping that we were able to get lost in the woods before we were discovered.
“Cut through the trees over there,” I whispered to Seraphine, pointing to the place where we’d entered the camp since it seemed to still be safe. Seraphine didn’t listen to me. Instead, she went another direction, leaving me cursing from the back as I followed along, helpless to control her movements. We stepped into the solace of the trees, and I realized that there were two large wolves visible from here that I hadn’t seen before. They were charging through the area I’d just told Seraphine to go to.
I needed to keep my mouth shut and let her do her thing. She was far better at navigating in the northern tier than I was, at least when it came to avoiding the enemy.
Seraphine continued to cut through the trees, taking a circular route, and I kept my eyes and ears open, hoping we managed to gel Rosalie and the baby out of here before Ethan found out.
I wasn’t ready to face the Rogue King with two women and a child.