Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 416

Chapter 74: I'll Take That as a Yes.

Alright, Tallis and Theo might be two different people, but they both could be jerks!

Since the conversation with Tallis didn't go anywhere, I decided to call it a night.

But what I didn't expect was a group of thick, muscular thugs that appeared from nowhere, blocking my way back to my parents' house. They snickered and closed in around me.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly.

"They don't want anything. However, we have an unfinished score to settle," Hawke's angry, frustrated voice barked out from behind the thugs.

"I didn't do anything to you," I insisted, crossing my arms and trying to act more like a guy.

"Well, the last time we spoke, I ended up knocked out and face down in the dirt. You're telling me that you had nothing to do with that?" Hawke shouted viciously.

Apparently, he remembered more than I hoped. He wasn't drunk tonight, either.

"Grab this little twit!" Hawke ordered.

His thugs jumped at me. I jumped back, but they'd already closed in around me and one caught me from behind. All four of them grabbed my arms and legs and pinned me down to the ground.

I struggled against them, hissing and trying to bite whatever got close to my mouth. Hawke's thugs were too well trained and they were too strong!

"Hold that little swine down. I'm going to teach him a lesson for messing with me," Hawke chuckled, shoving the toe of his boot into the ground.

Now that I was eye level with his boots, I could see they were steel toed. If he kicked me with those, he'd break every bone in my body. I had to stall him.

"That's funny, seeing as the last time we met, you seemed to be interested in me, regardless of me being a boy," I hissed, still struggling against his cronies holding me down.

One of them nearly let me go as his head whipped around to Hawke.

Hawke sneered and shook his head. "Don't listen to this piece of crap. He's just trying to mess with you. Hold him steady."

Nothing I said now would turn their heads. Whether they were all loyal to Hawke or to Hawke's cunning dad, it wouldn't save me a good beating.

Hawke pulled his foot back, knee bent, ready to deliver a horrible kick to my side. I closed my eyes and held my breath, waiting for the heavy blow.

It never came.

"What the..."

I opened my eyes just as a pack of wild animals burst from the forest and attacked Hawke.

"Get them off, get them off!" Hawke screeched, flapping his partially broken arms around like he was fending off a swarm of bees.

His cronies ran at him, trying to pull the beasts away, but when

they got close, some of the smaller ones, the squirrels and rabbits, jumped on them and bit them. All of them were screaming and floundering around like they were on fire.

I sat up and rubbed my sore arms. Hawke looked so pathetic, trying to fight off a gaggle of wild animals with his near useless arms. His guys hardly seemed to know what to do, either.

The pack of wild animals pushed Hawke and his group further and further away from me.

That kind of organized attack had to have been summoned by someone. I glanced around the forest and saw a glimpse of shadow in the trees.

Sure enough, Tallis was standing in the trees. He could also organize an animal attack like that?

No way! I didn't believe in such a coincidence!

At a minimum, there must be some sort of connection between Theo and Tallis.

Getting to my feet, I ignored Hawke's continued cries for help and I went after Tallis. As soon as I started approaching the woods, he vanished between the trees. This time, I wasn't letting him get away.

Hurrying my pace, I caught up with him. He was acting like he was trying to evade me, which made me think he didn't want me to see him and made it even more suspicious.

"Hey, wait a minute," I called, reaching out to grab his arm before he could slip away.

Tallis growled and pulled away from me.

"What are you doing? Why are you following me? I told you, I' m not who you think I am. How many times do I have to ask you to leave me alone?" he snarled.

I needed to figure out some other way to approach him.

"No, I'm not after you for that. Can you just wait a minute, please?" I asked, my voice a little desperate.

Tallis stopped walking. He didn't turn to face me but at least, he wasn't running away.

I caught my breath and moved closer to him. "It is different this time because I need your help."

Now, he turned to me, one eyebrow arched. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No," I said, holding my hands up to show I wasn't joking. "Hawke has come after me three times now and I don't think he will stop. I've been lucky, but if I stay in the pack, he will just continue."

"So?" Tallis asked sharply.

"You have a place to stay with the traveling carnival. Can I stay with you? I can't go back to the pack right now."

Tallis pressed his lips thin and glared at me. He was so surly and grumpy all the time. I almost thought he was more intolerable than the Dark Prince. Yet, here I was, doing everything I could to get closer to him.