Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 855

Chapter 65 : Hold On For Me * Jared*

I pulled my clothes back on, not even bothering to clean the blood off my body.It wasn't my own.It belonged to the three wolves now scattered in pieces near the center of the camp.I huffed a breath, adrenaline coursing through my body as I looked at the wolves.I'd practically skinned them alive, then sent that shadow after what remained.

Abe was staring at me from across their remains, his eyes darkened as he pulled his knife belt through his belt loops.

"ELIZA!"

I shouted, baring my teeth.Nothing.

Only the wind carried any noise toward us, and it was the sound of the river roaring nearby.

The silver wolf at my feet twitched as it succumbed to a painful death.

Good.

This one I'd taken my particular time with.

It had barreled into our camp reeking of Eliza, of her fear, but not of her blood.

She'd gotten away somehow.

"Gather what you can.

We need to go,"

I barked, glancing at Abe before gathering up my supplies and our bedrolls.

Eliza's boots and socks had been dragged in several different directions.

Her knife belt and vest were still there as well.

She was out there barefoot with no way to protect herself.

"lI have her scent,"

Abe stated, shrugging on his backpack.

"What do you want to do with them?"

He waved his hand over the pile of dead wolves.I shook my head.

"I don't care, leave them.Let them be an example to whoever is dumb enough to try to track us."

The silver wolf was obviously in control of the rogues; that was a bad sign.It meant whoever this wolf had been before I ripped it apart with my bare hands had been a witch of some kind.

Only Dark Witches ran with the rogues.But this witch wasn't Hestia, that was clear enough.

Hestia would have killed Abe and Eliza without so much as looking at them, and she didn't need soulless rogues to do her dirty work.

We left the camp and followed Eliza's scent roughly a mile toward the mountains where her scent abruptly ended, right at the river's edge.

"s**t," I breathed, looking up and down the river bank.

"Can she swim?" Abe said flatly, crossing his hands over his chest.

I was more worried about her freezing to death somewhere downstream.

"Yes, she can swim-"

A blood-curdling scream was carried on the wind, followed by Eliza's voice gasping and crying out for help.I didn't hesitate.I jumped into the river and threw my body into action, letting it carry me to the other side.I heard Abe's splash over the rapid as he followed suit.

All of our supplies would be soaked-all of our food and clothing.I didn't care.Her screams were like a flame to my blood.

"Hold on for me" I thought.

‘I'm coming.I'm coming.Her frantic screams cut through the air as I pulled myself out of the river and broke into a wet sprint in the direction of her voice.She was far, I knew that much.Her cries for help and agonizing screams were being carried on the wind like the air around us was sending us a message.

"I'm going to shift!" I yelled back to Abe, who was panting a few paces behind me.

Again I ripped through my clothes, my body groaning with fatigue as I sprinted forward, my paws thundering across the rocky forest floor.I didn't turn back to see whether or not Abe had stopped to pick up my things.I had to get to her, especially now that the forest went silent, the wind coming to an eerie stop.I found her in a clearing several miles away.

How she'd gotten there on foot in less than an hour, I didn't know.I didn't have a chance to give it much thought.I skidded to a stop, panting and staring wide-eyed at a circle of stones not unlike the one near my village.

The clouds parted, showering the clearing in the center in pale silver light.It smelled overwhelmingly of blood.

The air was thick and metallic.

Eliza was sitting down, her legs crossed and her hands resting palms up on her knees.Her left hand and arm were soaked with blood.

The Cryptex was in her bloodied hand, whirling, small pieces of blood-covered gold popping open and shut.

Her eyes were open, blinking slowly like she was awake.

I howled, alerting Abe of my whereabouts.

Her backpack was laying on the ground a few feet from the circle.

She'd been carrying some of my clothes inside of it, and I grabbed the first thing I found as I shifted back to my usual form, pulling on a soaking wet shirt and pair of pants as I hurried over to her, rocks slicing into my bare feet.

"Eliza!"

I cried hoarsely, the extent of her injuries now clear as day.

Her hand was torn apart, the sharp inner pieces of the Cryptex penetrating her skin.Her mouth was slightly ajar as she stared forward through the circle and into the sparse birch forest.I knelt in front of her, inspecting her hand.

I tried to pry the Cryptex from her hand, but it was fixed in place like it was a part of her.She sucked in her breath, a shuddering moan escaping her lips.

A tear fell down her cheek as I took her face between my hands.

"Eliza," I begged, wiping her tears away from her cheeks with my thumbs.

"I'm right here-" But then I felt it, that...shadow.

And it wasn't my own.

I reared back from her, landing on my ass as I looked down at her blood-covered forearm.

Dainty, roping lines of black ink snaked up her wrist and arm, intertwined with ink the color of raw emeralds.I screamed her name, crawling back over to her and doing everything in my power to tear the Cryptex from her flesh.She didn't flinch.She didn't even move as I yanked on it, cursing Lycaon audibly as I did so.

But then the Cryptex stopped whirling and the inner pieces slid free of her, clicking back into place.

It fell to the ground, dirt now coating its bloodied surface.I ripped apart my shirt, using it to staunch the bleeding.

She was crying, her breath coming in gasps.