Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 509

Chapter 11 : There's Something Out There

♦Xander*

I found Henry in the warehouse. He'd laid the creature on a tarp and was sitting on an upside down bucket nearby, looking pale.

I walked toward the old man, not bothering to announce my presence. He knew I was there. He knew I'd be coming to him with questions.

"It's a wolf, isn't it?* I said, stopping short of the tarp. I looked down at the body of the wolf, noticing for the first time the lack of blood on the tarp, and on Henry's clothes. I peered at him, narrowing my eyes as he rose from the bucket. "Who is it?"

Henry shook his head, looking exceedingly exhausted. He ran his hand over his face, looking down at the tarp through his fingers.

"Gretta was the only worker unaccounted for in Bethany's count."

I closed my eyes, picturing the soft-spoken young woman with glasses and softly curling blonde hair who I had seen at breakfast the morning before. She hadn't been at the bonfire, of that I was certain.

"What did this to her?" I asked, but Henry shook his head, wiping his hands on his pants as he rose from the bucket.

"I don't know.’

"Lena and I heard something in the woods during the bonfire, something large-"

"It didn't come from the woods, which are inside of the perimeter," Henry breathed, giving me a look of annoyance. "It came from over the wall."

"Has this happened before?" Adrenaline was coursing through me. My fingertips prickled as I knelt down by the tarp, taking a closer look at the remains of Gretta's wolf form. There wasn't much left.

"No one is allowed to shift on the property, especially after dark. Some do... but near the village. Never here."

"You didn't answer my question," I said sharply, watching the old man closely as he stood with his hands tucked in his pockets. "What happened to her blood?"

I'd noticed blood staining the ground where her body had been found, and a splatter of it on the wall, but not nearly enough to have bled her dry like she was now. I reached out to touch the wolf, running my fingers over her fur.

"I don’t know-'

"Then who would know? Have the authorities been alerted?"

"Radcliffe is on his way."

"What authority does he have to investigate this? I'm talking about the police or the warriors belonging to the Alpha!"

"Radcliffe will determine what needs to be done," Henry scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This girl has been murdered, and violently-"

"We don't know that-'

"Are you kidding me?" I rose to my feet, clenching my hands into fists in an attempt to stop myself from reaching out and throttling the man. "She was ripped to pieces not even a quarter mile from where the rest of US were sleeping!"

I glanced back down at the remains of the wolf, shaking my head as I closed my eyes. It was the most awful thing I'd ever seen. Henry was hiding something. His face betrayed his calm, somewhat uninterested tone. He looked just as terrified and uneasy as I was sure I did.

"I'll be alerting Morhan College to what happened, first thing in the morning. Lena and I-"

"What exactly do you mean to do with that girl, anyway?" Henry asked, staring directly into my eyes.

"What the f*ck do you mean by that?"

"Does her father know she's sharing a bed with the likes of you?"

"Lena’s an adult, for one. Two, don’t try to deflect from-'

"You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" I blinked at him, taking a cautious step in his direction.

"Henry!" came a sharp voice from the door to the warehouse.

I turned, straightening my shoulders as Maxwell Radcliffe walked into the warehouse, followed by a tearful Bethany. Her face was reddened and raw from her tears, and I noticed she kept her gaze off the body of what I assumed had been a friend.

"Yes, sir," Henry said, bobbing his head at Maxwell.

Maxwell stopped short of the tarp, not even looking down at it as he began to bark orders at Henry and Bethany. I watched in horror as Maxwell commanded Bethany to physically move the body to the center of the tarp with her bare hands. Bethany's lower lip was trembling, her face contorting as she tried to stifle a sob as she bent down.

I reached out, clutching her shoulder and pulling her away from the tarp.

"I’ll do it," I said loudly, glaring at Maxwell, then Henry. "Why is she even here?"

Fresh tears were streaming down Bethany's face as she waited for Maxwell to speak. She looked terrified, which made me want to scream with frustration at the fact she had been called to assist in this matter.

"Get her out of here, for Goddess's sake. What is the matter with you people?" I hissed.

Maxwell turned to me, looking me up and down before a smirk stretched across his mouth.

"That'll be all, Bethany," he said slowly, dismissing her with his hand. Bethany bobbed her head, once, then walked out of the warehouse. Henry watched her go, his eyes glossed over with concern. "You too, Henry. We will talk in the morning."

Henry didn’t even glance in our direction as he stalked out of the warehouse after Bethany.

I rounded on Maxwell, not bothering to hide my contempt. He seemed unphased by the fact that someone had been murdered on his property.

"What’s going on here?"

"Someone died, obviously,' he said, waving toward the tarp. *No need for alarm. This happens from time to time."

"Time to time? How often has someone been tom to shreds on your property?’

"Oh, nothing quite like this. That's not what I meant. Only that people do go missing here. The wall is more than a boundary, you must understand. Those hills to the west... well, no one exactly knows what's out there. That's why it's a rule that my workers cannot shift on the grounds. If they go into the village, that's one thing, but here?" He tucked his hands behind his back, walking a wide circle around the tarp as he peered down at it. "I can't help those that run into trouble outside of the boundary. Past the wall, they're no longer my responsibility."

"This happened within the walls,' I argued, but he waved his hand in dismissal.

"The Alpha of Crimson Creek has already been notified. If it suits him, he'll send warriors to investigate."