Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 855

Chapter 65 : Hold On For Me * Jared*

I pulled my clothes back on, not even bothering to clean the blood off my body.It wasn't my own.It belonged to the three wolves now scattered in pieces near the center of the camp.I huffed a breath, adrenaline coursing through my body as I looked at the wolves.I'd practically skinned them alive, then sent that shadow after what remained.

Abe was staring at me from across their remains, his eyes darkened as he pulled his knife belt through his belt loops.

"ELIZA!"

I shouted, baring my teeth.Nothing.

Only the wind carried any noise toward us, and it was the sound of the river roaring nearby.

The silver wolf at my feet twitched as it succumbed to a painful death.

Good.

This one I'd taken my particular time with.

It had barreled into our camp reeking of Eliza, of her fear, but not of her blood.

She'd gotten away somehow.

"Gather what you can.

We need to go,"

I barked, glancing at Abe before gathering up my supplies and our bedrolls.

Eliza's boots and socks had been dragged in several different directions.

Her knife belt and vest were still there as well.

She was out there barefoot with no way to protect herself.

"lI have her scent,"

Abe stated, shrugging on his backpack.

"What do you want to do with them?"

He waved his hand over the pile of dead wolves.I shook my head.

"I don't care, leave them.Let them be an example to whoever is dumb enough to try to track us."

The silver wolf was obviously in control of the rogues; that was a bad sign.It meant whoever this wolf had been before I ripped it apart with my bare hands had been a witch of some kind.

Only Dark Witches ran with the rogues.But this witch wasn't Hestia, that was clear enough.

Hestia would have killed Abe and Eliza without so much as looking at them, and she didn't need soulless rogues to do her dirty work.

We left the camp and followed Eliza's scent roughly a mile toward the mountains where her scent abruptly ended, right at the river's edge.

"s**t," I breathed, looking up and down the river bank.

"Can she swim?" Abe said flatly, crossing his hands over his chest.

I was more worried about her freezing to death somewhere downstream.

"Yes, she can swim-"

A blood-curdling scream was carried on the wind, followed by Eliza's voice gasping and crying out for help.I didn't hesitate.I jumped into the river and threw my body into action, letting it carry me to the other side.I heard Abe's splash over the rapid as he followed suit.

All of our supplies would be soaked-all of our food and clothing.I didn't care.Her screams were like a flame to my blood.

"Hold on for me" I thought.

‘I'm coming.I'm coming.Her frantic screams cut through the air as I pulled myself out of the river and broke into a wet sprint in the direction of her voice.She was far, I knew that much.Her cries for help and agonizing screams were being carried on the wind like the air around us was sending us a message.

"I'm going to shift!" I yelled back to Abe, who was panting a few paces behind me.

Again I ripped through my clothes, my body groaning with fatigue as I sprinted forward, my paws thundering across the rocky forest floor.I didn't turn back to see whether or not Abe had stopped to pick up my things.I had to get to her, especially now that the forest went silent, the wind coming to an eerie stop.I found her in a clearing several miles away.

How she'd gotten there on foot in less than an hour, I didn't know.I didn't have a chance to give it much thought.I skidded to a stop, panting and staring wide-eyed at a circle of stones not unlike the one near my village.

The clouds parted, showering the clearing in the center in pale silver light.It smelled overwhelmingly of blood.

The air was thick and metallic.

Eliza was sitting down, her legs crossed and her hands resting palms up on her knees.Her left hand and arm were soaked with blood.

The Cryptex was in her bloodied hand, whirling, small pieces of blood-covered gold popping open and shut.

Her eyes were open, blinking slowly like she was awake.

I howled, alerting Abe of my whereabouts.

Her backpack was laying on the ground a few feet from the circle.

She'd been carrying some of my clothes inside of it, and I grabbed the first thing I found as I shifted back to my usual form, pulling on a soaking wet shirt and pair of pants as I hurried over to her, rocks slicing into my bare feet.

"Eliza!"

I cried hoarsely, the extent of her injuries now clear as day.

Her hand was torn apart, the sharp inner pieces of the Cryptex penetrating her skin.Her mouth was slightly ajar as she stared forward through the circle and into the sparse birch forest.I knelt in front of her, inspecting her hand.

I tried to pry the Cryptex from her hand, but it was fixed in place like it was a part of her.She sucked in her breath, a shuddering moan escaping her lips.

A tear fell down her cheek as I took her face between my hands.

"Eliza," I begged, wiping her tears away from her cheeks with my thumbs.

"I'm right here-" But then I felt it, that...shadow.

And it wasn't my own.

I reared back from her, landing on my ass as I looked down at her blood-covered forearm.

Dainty, roping lines of black ink snaked up her wrist and arm, intertwined with ink the color of raw emeralds.I screamed her name, crawling back over to her and doing everything in my power to tear the Cryptex from her flesh.She didn't flinch.She didn't even move as I yanked on it, cursing Lycaon audibly as I did so.

But then the Cryptex stopped whirling and the inner pieces slid free of her, clicking back into place.

It fell to the ground, dirt now coating its bloodied surface.I ripped apart my shirt, using it to staunch the bleeding.

She was crying, her breath coming in gasps.

"Eliza, look at me," I said sternly, tying the fabric in place over her palm.I shook her by the shoulders and her eyes rolled back in her head.

"What the f**k is happening?"

Abe shouted behind us, skidding to a stop and dropping our supplies.

I gave him a desperate look over my shoulder as I gathered her to my chest.

His eyes went wide as he saw the blood.

"That's too much blood, Jared-"

"I f*****g know, okay? We need a fire, now-"

"Everything is wet!"Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

Abe cried, bending to dig through one of the backpacks.He pulled a leather pouch from his bag and whispered a thankful prayer and he opened it and found the contents still dry-sterile bandages, ointment, needles and thread.

The thought of sewing her hand back together sent a rush of rage through me.How did this happen? Who was responsible?

"DRAVEN!"

I screamed, seeing red.

"You f*****g bastard.Where are you? What did you do to her?"

The air around us whispered in answer, a burst of cold wind sending dry sticks and debris showering over us.

"We need to get out of here, now,"

Abe hissed, kicking my backpack and belt toward me.

"There's a cave system nearby.I saw it when I was trying to find you.We can camp there and figure things out."

I picked Eliza up, cradling her in my arms like an infant.

She was freezing, cold to the touch.

Her lips were tinged blue, and it took everything in my power not to scream and unleash my dark powers out of pure fury.

Abe knelt, wrapping the Cryptex in a wet shirt before he took the lead.

Within minutes were standing before a darkened fissure at the base of the mountains.

Abe heaved a nervous breath, glancing at me with a look that told me he'd rather be home and warm in his bed than finding out whether of not this cave had other unearthly occupants.

I gripped Eliza to my bare chest, praying she could feel the fevered heat coming off my body.

It was all I could do for her at the moment until we got a fire going and one of us could go out to hunt.

Abe entered the cave, and a few moments later he reemerged, beckoning me to follow.

Ileaned against the rock wall of the cave, closing my eyes to the light of the fire as Abe skinned rabbits on the other side of it.

Eliza was asleep against my chest, her breathing rhythmic and slow, her coloring returning back to normal.

We'd cleaned her wounds and stitched them closed, an act that had me biting down on my lip so hard I drew blood.

She couldn't feel it since she was out cold, but hurting her, knowing I was causing her future pain, cut me to my core.

Abe and I said nothing about the tattoos, but the truth of the matter hung wet and heavy in the air as we dressed her wounds in clean bandages.

All of our supplies were laid out to dry.

I wasn't sure how long we'd have to stay here.

"We're turning back, right?"

Abe asked as he laid one of the rabbits on a piece of smooth, flat shale to roast above the embers.

"Yes," I said hoarsely.

I felt like an i***t.

We'd been attacked on our first day on our journey, and Eliza had somehow unlocked the secrets of the Cryptex.

It left its mark on her, tattoos snaking up her arm like they did mine.

"Her tattoos," Abe breathed, catching my gaze.

"Jared, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," I admitted, the words making my mouth go dry.

The thought of her being cursed like I was...

I couldn't even think of it, not now, not while she was wasting away in my arms.

Abe cut up the rest of the rabbits and dumped the pieces in a pot he'd brought with him.

He grabbed a pack of dried vegetables and spices that was laying next to him, breaking it open with his teeth and dumping it into the pot.

We'd boiled water to drink and to cook with.

I took a breath, trying to be thankful for his foresight.

Eliza needed to eat something, even if it was just a thin broth.

"We can go to the witches-"

Abe began, but then Eliza squirmed in my arms, letting out a pitiful whimper of pain.

"Liza, hey-"

I reached down and ran my knuckles over her jaw as her eyelashes fluttered open.She blinked into shadows dancing on the walls above our heads.

"Jared," she breathed, then she choked on a cough, her entire body trembling.

I gave Abe a quick, meaningful look and he rose to his knees, feeling around for anything dry and warm to lay over her shoulders.

"What happened?" I demanded, but my voice was soft.

She closed her eyes again, her face twisted into a look of pain as her injured hand twitched.

"We were always in this together, from the beginning," she whispered, looking up at me through tears.

"I know that now.I need to...to tell you what Isaw."