Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 185 Soren’s Sacrifice
For the next two days, Madalynn and Behar pulled Ethan out several times, every few hours, beat, whipped, or otherwise tortured him, and then put him back in the cage and went off to have their fun.
In that time, Ethan didn’t get a single bite to eat or a drop of water to drink, though his flesh was burned time and time again with the boiling water, and he was doused with freezing water as well, but never allowed to drink it.
By the end of the second night, most of Behar and Madalynn’s wolves were practically passed out with happiness-and maybe some liquor I had snuck in.
Once I felt the coast was clear, I went over to the cage with a small cup of water. “Hey, here,” I said “Drink this.”
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I managed to pour a few drops of water into his mouth before he gestured for me to go away.
“Jack*ss, you’re going to die,” I whispered through my gritted teeth. I was somewhat angry at him.
If he wanted to do something for Rosalie, he should stay by her bed in case she woke up. At least that way he could spend some time with her knowing how much he weighed in her heart’
Instead, he was here.
No one asked him to do all of this! He came up with this insane plan and made it seem that he was doing some huge sacrifice for everyone.
But who the heck really needed him as a sacrifice?
Was he really that arrogant to think he was the only one capable of winning the war? Or did he have to act like a hero so that everyone could admire him?
I just didn’t get it.
Nodding his head slightly and smearing a streak of blood across the bottom of the cage, he said, “No, I’m not going to die. I’ve got more important things to do than dying “
“Listen, I can get you out of here right now …” However, even I knew that wouldn’t be a good idea.
“No… just… get them to attack as soon as possible, okay?” Ethan asked me.
I nodded. It was time. By now, Talon could’ve built a trench the size of the ocean …
I realized, though, in order to get Behar to attack the next day, I needed to make him think it was his idea.
***
Early the next morning, Behar and Madalynn came out of their tent, still k*issing and groping one another. Now was the time to make my move. “Behar,” I said, “do what you want, but I just wanted to let you know that Ethan won’t last long.”
He scowled at me. “Go away, little b*tch.”
“All right.” I shrugged and walked away.
A moment later, Behar’s voice rang behind me. “Get back here! Where are you going?”
I grunted “I was just about to tell King Kai what’s going on. No offense, you have fun playing with Ethan’s dead body all you want now, but I’ll need to figure something else out that could actually help win the war.”
His mate growled at me, but I ignored her. Behar was staring at me, either contemplating my words or completely ignoring me.
So… I tried some reverse psychology on him. “Also, if your troops aren’t ready to face the Winter Forest pack and need some more time, maybe you should rest up and try it sometime later.”
“Tomorrow?” Behar burst out laughing, “That’s why you are a little b*tch! My warriors will be ready in just under an hour and we can get this all over with!”
“Really?” I subtly challenged him.
“Little b*tch, you just watch!” I almost rolled my eyes.
Behar now finally remembered that he needed to attack before word got to Kai He knew if he really k*lled Ethan like this, Kai would not be pleased with him wasting such a good pawn.
Timing was working well for us, so I didn’t argue.
“Get ready! We will attack in an hour!” Behar sent an order to his men and glared al me. “Are you planning on moving in with us?”
“Hey, I brought you this prize! I’m going to stay with him to see the results of my hard work!”
He and his mate both shook their heads at me but gave a signal for the guards to move the cage out of the camp Within an hour, Behar’s troops were gathered, and Madalynn and Behar had shifted into their wolf forms. They put Ethan’s cage at the front of the line.
As their forces moved out, I stayed in my human form, as did Thomas, so that we could better manage the situation with Ethan.
Wolves do not have thumbs, after all. With Ethan captured, Behar and Madalynn rushed all of their troops in with boosted confidence.
Howls, growls, grunts, and barks erupted all around as thousands and thousands of wolves, from rogues to professional soldiers, took off running at full speed towards the palace.
On the other side, however, Winter Forest pack’s wolves were standing there, motionless, their eyes wide. Ethan’s cage was pushed ahead of the running wolves, and I did my best to keep up in my human form. When the cage reached the top of the ridge, I yelled to Behar’s men, “Leave him there, on the high ground, for all to see!”
They exchanged glances but did as I suggested, keeping the cage poised on the top of the ridge just on the outside of the forest.
Thank the Moon Goddess they didn’t keep pushing the cage or else, Ethan might’ve fallen into his own trap.
I braced myself, waiting, watching.
Behar’s vanguard moved around the left of Commander Landon’s line, skirting over the trap we had set as they poured in from the east. Landon’s wolves ran out to meet them, none of them hesitating to follow the orders given by their leader.
The clash was loud as growls and howls met in an explosion of fury. Fur flew, blood spurted, and howls turned to yelps as the two sides tangled, the line swaying one way and then the other.
No one seemed to be getting the upper hand, and Behar had not sent the rest of his troops in yet. Many of them were still running over the ground behind me because they had always hesitated to get too close to the palace.
Behar gave a howl, gaining the attention of all of his wolves. The howl was so loud, so angry, even most of Rosalie’s troops turned to look.
“Ethan Gray is here! There’s no way for you to win!” Behar roared in his human form.
When they saw Ethan in the cage, the morale shifted, and within seconds, Behar’s warriors were surging ahead while ours stood there, shocked in disbelief.
Landon and Vandough’s wolves finally snapped out of their shock at the capture of Ethan and started to fight again, but this time, they were no longer an equal match to Behar’s.
“Tell your queen, if she wants Ethan back, ask her to come out to kneel and beg my mate!”
With Ethan taken hostage, Rosalie’s troops were visibly demoralized. From where I was standing, it was easy to see and hear the reaction from Madalynn and Behar as they howled and cackled with delight as their warriors claimed the upper hand.
As Winter Forest pack obviously started to lose their ground, another howl from Behar’s side went up and the wolves that had yet to crest the hill came flying over the ridge where I was standing next to Ethan in the cage.
If that many wolves were to come into contact with our meager forces in front of the palace, we would be destroyed in a matter of seconds.
And then, I saw the signal given by Talon and Commander Landon on the other side of the line, a sign that would let our men on either side of the trench know it was time to move the weights holding the tarp in place that covered the trap.
The first half of the attacking wolves stepped on top of the fabric covering the gaping hole in the land and immediately disappeared out of my line of sight. I ran to the edge of the ridge to watch.
Below me, I saw thousands of wolves buried up to their necks in black goo. Their eyes were wide with panic as they fought to get out of the trap, but there was no way that they could. Even those who could manage to shift into their human forms couldn’t reach the sides to pull their ways out. Howls turned to screams as the warriors began to sink below the surface.
The second half of the wave suffered the same fate. The wolves running downhill were going so fast, they had no way of pulling up, even when they saw what lay ahead of them They fell in on top of their comrades, pushing them further into the oily mess.
I couldn’t help but smile, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it.
My job wasn’t over yet
Quickly, I ran over to the cage where Ethan was now standing, holding onto the bars He was still a mess, but at least his shifter genes had allowed him to pull himself up off of the ground.
Two of the wolves were still there, guarding the cage.
I pulled a knife from my waistband.
One of the wolves came at me. I swung my knife at him, slicing into his neck, but his front claws caught me, tearing the flesh of my shoulder. I yelled in agony, but adrenaline kept me going, and I managed to stab the wolf in the neck.
Behind me, I heard Behar’s shriek of outrage as he realized what we had done. “Ethan Gray!” he shouted. “I will k*ll you!”
I needed to hurry.
Behar was headed our direction in his n*ake*d human form, but he would shift momentarily, no doubt, and rip Ethan and me both to shreds.
Thomas shifted and took down the wolf that he was fighting. Once he was available to help, he took on the wolf I was fighting while I unlocked the cage to let Ethan out.
Ethan scrambled out in his human form just as Thomas took down the second wolf.
“Come on, Soren!” Ethan shouted as I put him on Thomas’ back. I shifted to my wolf, and we started running back towards the palace.
We had hid a narrow footpath in the center of the giant trench so we could get back to our side.
Behar’s forces wouldn’t be able to use it effectively as our warriors were waiting on the other side Crossing one al a time would be no different from committing suicide for them.
We would be able to get through, but not our enemy.
Behar had caught up with us. Thomas couldn’t run as fast as Behar with Ethan on his back.
‘Go! Take Ethan back!’ I yelled at Thomas while stopping and turning around to face Behar.
“Soren, get back here!” Ethan’s tone was rushed.
‘Boss-’
‘Just f*cking go already!’ I interrupted him in mindlink, ‘I’ll be fine. Have some faith, okay?’
As quickly as I could, I threw myself at Behar who was closing in on Thomas, knocking his back legs out from under him. Meanwhile, a large wave of heat crashed over me-Talon had lit the fire!
From the pit, I heard screams of agony as the oil that the wolves were trapped in went up in flames so large, they practically licked the sky. The scent of burning flesh and fur filled my lungs as the shrieks and pleas for help filled the air.
They didn’t last long, though. The hotter the fire burned, the less screaming remained.
Our prisoners were all dead in a matter of moments.
I heard a howl in the distance as Madalynn watched the scene from hell. Oh well, it seemed that we had really made someone angry.
The absolutely horrifying scene shook everyone. Most of the wolves were running for their lives, except my cousin and Madalynn.
They were running for me. I was the only one of our forces on this side now. I was an easy target. I was confident in my fighting skills, and I could take down both of them… if I wasn’t bleeding profusely.
But if I was going down, so was Behar.
Before he could get up, I ripped into his shoulder, biting down hard and pulling My mouth filled with blood, but he brought his front paws around and caught me in the head, knocking me sideways as his claws tore away my fur. I went flying through the air, as Behar collapsed onto the ground He didn’t move.
My head slammed into a rock on the ground, a sharp pain spidering throughout my skull, and everything went blurry. Looking up, I saw Behar’s wolves running at me, hatred in their dark eyes.
I was going to die.
This time, Ethan really, really owed me big.
Oh, well. Hopefully, I’d die for a worthy cause and the Moon Goddess would take me under her wing, and maybe… I hoped not, but I’d see Rosalie there soon.
Despite the agonizing pain radiating through my body, a bitter smile came to my wolf lips.
My eyelids fluttered a few times and then… everything went black.