Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 201

Chapter 201 King Kal Retreated
I left the hospital tent quickly, trying to keep the heat out of my face. Ethan had been so quick to dismiss me, telling me to just go do what I needed to do, and I felt embarrassed for even being so concerned about him to begin with.
Especially when he was wearing the ring that he had given to Madalynn.
I knew he didn’t ever have feelings for her, but it was still hard to swallow that he once planned to marry her. It wasn’t fair, I got it, but my emotion didn’t always agree with my logic.
I sighed and headed around the camp, doing the chores that I’d listed off to him, but also doing other ones as well.
My goal was to try to forget about Ethan for the time being and concentrate on other urgent things.
Now, I knew how he had felt when I used to dismiss him and ignore him when he was the Rogue King, and I was his prisoner. Granted, the situation was different then, but still… being rejected hurt.
“Are you all right, my Queen?” one of the citizens who was helping in the supply closet asked me as we stacked supplies next to one another.
“I’m fine,” I reassured him, but it wasn’t true. My mind couldn’t stay off of Ethan. I just kept thinking about everything that had happened.
He took the risk to go after Madalynn because he thought I was in danger. I knew Ethan cared about me. He’d done a lot to help me and support me; he had even given his life for me. But I still wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about me.
Was it guilt? Was it because of Rowan? Or was it because of… maybe he did have feelings for me?
But then… if that was the case, why had he been keeping his distance? I felt he interacted with me just like he interacted with other people. When I was just in there with him, why did he dismiss me so quickly?
It was confusing, and it left me bewildered as I finished up in the supply tent and went back to the other medical tent to check on patients there.
As I walked over, I thought about the other dream I’d had, the one in the Moon Goddess’s temple.
“Have you ever loved me?”
His answer was, no, never.
Was it real?
If it was, should I continue to pursue him like a foolish girl?
If it was, I needed to stop that. I needed to stop embarrassing myself.
However, it was just so hard to stay away from him. Whenever we were together, he caused my heart to flutter like a schoolgirl in love.
But I wasn’t a schoolgirl; I was a queen. And I couldn’t afford to act foolishly. It could affect my people.
I was almost to the medical tent when a messenger caught up to me. He came rushing over, waving a paper in his hand. “My Queen!” he shouted, and I paused mid stride to turn to face him.
“What is it?” I asked him.
He was out of breath from running, so he simply handed me the piece of paper.
“Your Majesty
For some reason, Kal’s troops started moving away from us. More to confirm, but wanted to give you a heads-up.
Sincerely, Vandough.”
I read over the letter twice before I told the messenger, “Thank you. Please let General Vandough know that it would be best for him to send scouts out to tail the main force of King Kal’s army so that we don’t lose track of them.” I wanted to make sure and determine whether this was simply a repositioning or a feint that we needed to be prepared for.
“What was that?” Georgia asked, coming up behind me..
“A message from General Vandough that King Kal seems to be retreating,” I told her.
Georgia’s face broke into a wide grin. “That’s awesome!” she said. “I knew we’d get them on the run eventually. They’ve lost so many of his warriors in the past few weeks, he’s probably almost out of people to fight.”
“I don’t feel that Kal is a man to give up easily,” I said.
Was it possible that Soren’s part of the plan was finally working? Could it be that Damian had finally attacked and had drawn King Kal’s attention away from us?
I had no way of knowing at the moment. All i knew was that King Kal seemed to be departing, which meant I could breathe a little easier-for the moment.
“Do you need help with anything? Georgia asked me.
“Oh, I was just going into the medical tent to check on the patients,” I told her.
With a nod, she said, “I’ll come with you,” and the two of us walked inside.
The moment the sick and injured saw me, their faces brightened, and some of them began to cheer. I felt a rush of heat on my face.
I was still not used to so many people being so thrilled to see me, but it also made me proud of what I had accomplished and proud of my role.
As I went around to each of the injured soldiers and those who had gotten ill from the close quarters of camp life, I did my best to listen to them and attend to their needs. But my mind was elsewhere.
Not only did I continue to think about the situation with Ethan, but I was also curious about precisely why King Kal left.
If Damian was attacking, where was Soren? Was he safe? I had sent scouts to track him down as soon as I knew he was gone, and I was awaiting their reports.
I prayed to the Moon Goddess that all was well and that Soren would be back to us soon.
Over the next couple of days, many of our injured warriors recovered from their wounds. Ethan was one of them. He never stayed in bed long
I smiled at him when I saw him, but I kept my distance. I reminded myself I didn’t need to look foolish if I could avoid it, and Ethan had a way of making me seem like a silly girl.
Another two days went by, I received the confirmation that King Kal had indeed retreated. Meanwhile, I saw a familiar face appear in the woods near camp.
It was one of my scouts, returning with word about Soren. “Did you catch up with him?” I asked, my breath catching in my throat.
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “We did catch up with him, not long after we left. After that, Damian attacked King Kal’s forces in the back of his lines, causing chaos all through King Kal’s camp. They continue to battle back and forth, but it’s clear that Damian is
sneaky and can show up, attack, and disappear quickly-like a ghost.”
I nodded, glad that Damian had come up with an effective strategy. “And what about Soren?” I asked him, wishing he would have led with an update about my friend. While I was glad to hear the news about King Kal, I was more eager to know how Soren was.
The scout swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down a moment before he slowly shook his head.
I felt all of the blood run out of my face. It didn’t seem like good news, and I was terrified that he was about to tell me that the worst had happened to Soren.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice breaking with the question.
“Soren
went missing after that,” he said. “We’ve looked everywhere for him, trying to make contact with him again. But we
sorry, Your Majesty. We’re
haven’t been able to. I came back to report it while the other scout stayed behind, still searching. I’m not sure what happened.”
I took a few deep breaths, reminding myself that Soren had disappeared a time or two before and had always reemerged. I had to believe he was out there somewhere, that he was okay. “Keep looking for him,” I told the scout.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said. He bowed and disappeared back into the woods, and I took a few deep breaths.