Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 753

Chapter 98 : He’s in Bad Shape

“If you're here for food, why didn't you ask?" I called down to the sad group.

“You think we're stupid? It's not like you would just give it to us. We know that you're bloodthirsty leeches!" the crying boy's mother shouted.

I closed the window and looked at Soren.

“Mila…"

“They're hungry. We have the food."

“You can't go out there."

“Watch me!"

I hurried out of the room and down to the kitchens. It wasn't much, but I grabbed some loaves of bread.

Through the walls, I heard the women shouting at me.

“I knew it! I knew it!

“You selfish, greedy freak!"

“You're hoarding it all to yourself!"

When I opened the front door, they all stopped talking. I went to the kids and tore off chunks of bread, passing them out. They stopped crying immediately when they took bread from me and quickly started chewing on it.

Soon, the air was filled with the sound of munching and crunching from the hard crust of the bread.

I made sure each child got some, ignoring the adults.

“Take it slow. If you're too hungry, eating fast will make you sick," I warned.

The boy that started all the crying blushed when I patted his head.

All the adults were dead silent, staring at me as I checked on the children. Even if they wanted to hurt me, I was in no danger. They were too shocked and awed to do anything to me.

Soren came out onto the lawn. I was a little surprised he hadn't rushed out right after me.

The women closest to him trembled and cowered away from him.

“My apologies," he said, nodding his head to the crowd. “Had we known that you'd run out of food, we would have acted sooner. I have my men preparing soup now. Come inside and eat. With everyone here, we can recalculate how much food is left and daily rations to make sure it lasts as long as possible."

Soren held his arm out toward the pack house door.

Murmurs went through the crowd and I saw the way they looked at each other. They were suspicious, like we were inviting them into a trap of some kind.

None of them said anything. They stared at Soren and they stared at me. I understood their reluctance to accept our help but I hoped they would, for the sake of the kids.

The smell of the soup wafted out of the open front door and suddenly, they all perked up. Licking their lips and salivating, they headed inside.

Soren and I followed.

Already, his warriors had the tables set and were dishing up bowls.

Soren sliced up hunks of bread and passed them around with the soup. If they hadn't had anything to eat in days, something light like this was the best option. They needed to take it slow, give their bodies time to digest and absorb the nutrients they were missing.

I sat at one of the tables and the first woman who called me out came down and sat next to me. She plopped her soup down, staring at me like I'd pounce on her and eat her if she took her eyes off me for a moment.

“Hi, my name is Ben, thank you, Miss Mila." a boy asked, sitting beside the woman.

I recognized him. He was the one that first started crying and complaining about being hungry. He sat close to the woman and I was pretty sure she was his mother.

“You can just call me Mila. It is nice to meet you, Ben."

“Can I have some more soup, Mila?" he pushed his empty bowl toward me.

“I'm sorry, Ben, but not right now. You need to let that food settle first. Having too much all at once isn't good for you when you're as hungry as you are."

Ben sighed and bowed his head.

My heart melted and I reached into my pocket, pulling out a small hard candy. I pressed it into the palm of his hand.

“How about something small and sweet…?"

Ben's eyes lit up and he smiled, lifting the candy to his face. He opened his mouth like he was going to pop it right in but then he stopped. He kept it in the wrapper and put it in his pocket.

“Ben, may I ask you a question?"

“Yeah, okay."

I glanced at the woman sitting next to him. She was still closed off and watching me carefully.

“Why did you all run out of food so quickly? We thought the intruders didn't care about food or steal any."

Ben looked up at the woman next to him.

She sniffed. “Because those bastards dumped our food."

By “bastards" I knew she was referring to the looters from the other packs and even some of the Norwind warriors that deserted.

“They didn't take any with them but they destroyed as much as they could… They burned our storehouses, shredded our perishables, and dumped all our produce into the muddy river. They came into our houses and ransacked them for valuables, but whatever they couldn't take with them, they did their best to ruin it."

I creased my brow. “How did the pack house food stores survive?"

Soren came over and sat beside me. From the look on his face, he'd been listening in. He took my hand and held it in his lap.

“Payne had already sent our men here as a temporary headquarters. They secured what was left and kept it safe," he explained.

The woman next to Ben scoffed. “Brutal barbarians, all of them! Of course, they would bully the weak. They knew we'd be afraid of them and they took advantage of it."

“But why would anyone want to do something so vicious? Was it just to be cruel? It's not like it did them any good, right?" I asked, glancing at Soren.