Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 662

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 662

Chapter 9 : Free At Last

My heart sank as I passed the office. Soren had seemed like a nice guy. I let myself believe that he was different and that he was good and decent.

But he wasn’t. I had been very, very wrong. He was like everyone else I encountered.

Groaning under my breath, I headed down the stairs, taking one at a time to make sure nothing would creak.

As soon as I hit the bottom of the stairs, I heard muffled laughter and saw lights flooding most of the first floor of the inn.

“Crap,” I whispered.

It was late and I assumed everyone would have retired. Especially with Soren’s clandestine meeting by candlelight in his office.

The main floor of the inn, where there was a bar and food, was busy as ever. Well, that would make slipping out quietly and unnoticed more complicated.

I walked into the main lobby and everyone got quiet, staring at me. I glanced toward the front door as they watched me. It wasn’t the right time to try and make a run for it. I already knew I wouldn’t get far.

Instead of going to the door, I smiled awkwardly and turned toward the bar. The shifters in the lobby followed me with their eyes. It was unnerving how they never looked away from me.

As I passed by, I nodded to them.

“Good evening. I was just feeling thirsty and thought I’d grab a drink,” I said cheerily. I smiled brightly.

One of the shifters grunted and they went back to talking quietly to each other.

“The bar is open all night,” another said, smiling back and nodding toward the bar entrance.

Sighing in relief, I headed on my way. At least, they didn’t try to stop me.

Walking through the inn, I noticed something I hadn’t noticed before. The shifters in the lobby seemed more like guards on duty. There were shifters in the bar, too, that looked like they were there to guard rather than drink and have a good time.

This wasn’t just some random inn I’d stumbled into. They were organized and this seemed more like a base than a place to socialize. I saw a lot of the same faces in the bar as I’d seen the last time I was there.

That seemed strange.

At most inns, people came and went. But these guys seemed like they lived here.

Why would they live in an inn and why would they need to guard it?

That didn’t make sense for a simple inn, and I had been in plenty of those.

Thinking back, Soren having an office and everything also seemed out of place. I hadn’t thought about it while I was eavesdropping, but what inn converted a room into an office for one guy? Did he own the inn?

Even if he did, there should have been a manager’s office on the first floor. Why would he need to convert a bedroom?

If anything, this inn was more like a pack house.

But that made even less sense! I knew that I was for sure, without a doubt in a rogue zone. There weren’t any packs or alphas here. These shifters were not a pack, either.

And yet… I’d seen the way they were with Soren. They never called him Alpha but they showed him a lot of respect and obviously revered him. He was their leader in some capacity.

I headed to the bar and ordered myself a drink. Everyone was pleasant enough, smiling at me and offering quick greetings. The news of my presence had spread to all of them, which wouldn’t have happened if this was a regular inn.

There was definitely more going on here.

I took my drink to a table in the corner and sat down with my back to the wall. I could see the entire room from there while also remaining out of the way and unnoticed.

There were guards by the bar entrance, guards in the lobby, and more guards by a hallway to the left.

With all these guards, would I really be allowed to walk out the front door? Soren had been investigating me. It seemed more likely that he wanted to keep me around and get some answers, especially with all these guards hanging around.

Slowly, I turned my glass in my hands. I hadn’t taken a sip yet, still pondering the best escape.

One thing I knew about guards was that they worked in shifts.

I took a gulp of my beer to make it look like I was just there to have a good time. I didn’t need to draw any more attention to myself.

As time went on, people stopped glancing at me curiously. I had become a fixture on the wall, nothing special or out of place.

Suddenly, the guards at the hallway entrance straightened up and started walking off.

I glanced at everyone else in the bar. Some of them were passed out on tables, the rest were pretty bubbly and drunk.

The guards were changing shifts. Now was my chance!

I grabbed my backpack and slipped down the hallway. No one was watching me and the new shift hadn’t arrived yet.

The hallway was dimly lit and I blended into the shadows. It would be much easier to stay hidden when the new guards arrived, and for that, I was grateful. I couldn’t hear any voices down the hallway, either.

There had to be a side door on the inn, otherwise, why would the guards be protecting the hallway? There wasn’t anything down this way but a big empty even room and a room with card tables.

Both were dark and empty and didn’t look like they’d been used in a long time.

There wouldn’t be a reason to guard it if there wasn’t a way outside. At least, that was my thinking.