Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 56 : The Moonlit Crystal

*Mila*

Soren's words rang in my head. I just stared at him, too stunned to speak or move. He still held my arms.

*Mila*

Soren's words rang in my head. I just stared at him, too stunned to speak or move. He still held my arms.

Every time I confronted Soren about helping me, he was always reluctant, even distant. I always saw him as this

cold, cautious, loner that didn't want to get involved in anything, least of all my trouble.

He tried everything he could to stay out of pack affairs and be left alone.

Right from the start, he'd told me he didn't want his own pack. Soren might have said differently recently, but

asking if I was ready to settle down in a pack with him was much different than actually saying he wanted a pack!

Soren wasn't like anyone I'd met before. It was like he didn't want to be part of the world. He just wanted to watch

and observe, but not get involved.

He'd been helping me, but it wasn't because he wanted to. It was like he happened to see a child fall on the ground

and went over to help them up. I was just a wounded child to him and he was picking me up off the ground.

When he encountered me, he just happened to be in the right mood and what he'd done for me already was barely

an effort for him.

But now… spreading rumors of a “universal" artifact that put him right in the middle of everything… That was

completely different. He wasn't sitting on the sidelines anymore, he was putting himself right in the line of fire, in

the center of the chaos.

I knew that every pack, Alpha, and bounty hunter would be after him now. He would be a magnet for trouble and

danger.

I couldn't believe he'd chosen to do that! Sure, it helped give us time to find the artifact, but putting himself in

danger… especially after what Helen said to me!

The ends didn't justify the means in this case.

I glared at him and pulled away. There was no rational argument he could make that would make me agree with his

decision.

Shaking my head, I turned away from him, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

It wasn't my place to get mad at Soren. If he wanted to put himself in danger, who was I to argue?

Wasn't I just another woman to him? I was less than that, a f**k buddy…

Just because he acted polite to me didn't mean I meant anything to him at all. We weren't in a relationship, just a

business arrangement. He'd made that clear. I had no right to interfere with his plans.

He could put himself in whatever trouble he wanted.

The warning Helen had given me was about my mate, wasn't it? And Soren wasn't my mate…

I kept my back to Soren. Even if I wasn't going to interfere with his plan, I could still let him know that I wasn't

pleased with what he'd done.

When the moon rose, Soren put his hand on my shoulder.

I glared at him.

“Are you ready? The map says that moonlight will guide us to the artifact piece," Soren asked.

I just nodded sharply and headed out of the cave.

“Following the moonlight" was very vague. Soren was looking to me for direction.

I studied the forest around us and saw moonlight beaming down through the trees. There was a clear pathway

through the forest marked by the moonlight. When I saw it, I headed in that direction.

Soren followed me without a word. He didn't seem to be upset about the fact that I wasn't talking to him.

I knew Payne and Ashley were there too. Payne had attacked me when I was in wolf form, but I didn't see them until

we got to the end of the path.

It made sense that Payne was there. He was Soren's right hand man.

When we got to the end of the path, Ashley and Payne came out of the shadows. Payne's eyes followed me

strangely.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to focus on where to go now that the moonlight path was

gone.

Payne's intense eyes stayed on me, making it hard to focus. It was strange. He'd never looked at me like that

before but I got the sense that he was excited or expecting something from me.

My cheeks warmed and I kept scanning the area for anything that would tell us where to go next.

“Over there." Soren motioned.

A moonbeam struck the entrance of a cave at the center of Mount Lournet. The cave was hidden behind leaves

and I wouldn't have seen it without the moon light.

We got closer to the cave entrance and Soren picked up a rock. He tossed it into the cave. It rattled around inside

but there was no other response. There was no evidence of traps or anything, either.

“It seems safe. I doubt it is a complicated cave system," Soren murmured. “Wait outside." He motioned to Payne

and Ashley.

They nodded and took up defensive positions.

“If we're not out in half an hour, come in and find us," Soren ordered.

I went ahead of Soren to the cave entrance. It wasn't very big. I had to crouch down to look inside. The ceiling was

low and I knew it would be hard to walk in.

We headed inside and very quickly, the ceiling lowered and the walls narrowed. I had to crouch down even more.

“Mila," Soren purred my name.

I glanced over my shoulder at him.

Soren stared at me, smirking. He pulled his shirt off.

My cheeks warmed and I looked around, realizing just how alone we were. What did he think was going to happen?

“What are you doing?" I asked, startled.

Soren continued to smirk and he walked closer to me. I couldn't back away into the narrowness of the cave. He

reached for my shirt and popped open the top button. Quickly, he kissed my lips.

I stood there, stunned, my skin hot and tight.

“What do you think I'm doing?" he asked, grinning mischievously.

“You… you… stop it!" I gasped, pulling away as much as I could. My cheeks were so hot.

Soren chuckled close to my ear. “Why? I'm just thinking we should shift. It would be easier than crawling on our

hands and knees. But we should also save our clothes."

I groaned and dropped my head into my hand. He was teasing me, and doing a damn good job at it! My cheeks

were beet red.

“You… you… you're such a jerk! You can't do that!" I snapped, pushing at him. I was more embarrassed about the

fact that my mind immediately went to a dirty place.

Laughing, Soren started to unbutton his pants. “Do what? Finally get you to talk to me?"

I turned away from him and started to undress. I could hear Soren undressing behind me.

Quickly, I shifted and waited to hear him shift before I turned around and faced him. He picked up our clothes

gently in his wolf mouth.

He paused and looked at me, his wolf's deep eyes scanning me appreciatively. I could tell that he liked the way I

looked in wolf form.

I felt naked suddenly, bare and exposed before it. It wasn't anything he hadn't seen before…

My heart skipped a beat and I panted slightly before brushing past him and going deeper into the cave.

My nose perked up and I smelled something delicious, mouthwatering. I opened my mouth and my tongue hung out

to the side as I kept smelling that sweet, unique scent. It was familiar… Soren's scent.

Somehow, in wolf form, it was so much more powerful than what I normally smelled. At first, I thought it was a

nearby plant or flower, but it was him…

Did he always smell that good?

The cave opened up into a clearing surrounded by rocks and mountain peaks. I stopped dead when I realized the

floor was covered in poisonous nettle plants with needles.

There was one small corner that was cleared of plants and a very, very narrow pathway leading to it.

Behind me, I heard Soren shift back. I waited to hear the sound of his pants zipper before looking at him.

“Do you think that's it?" he asked, pointing to the corner not covered in poisonous plants.

I nodded.

Soren leaned against the wall and made his way through the narrow path. I shifted back and put my clothes on

quickly.

Suddenly, Soren stopped and held his hand up.

“It's like there is an invisible barrier here," he said.

“Just push through it, you're strong," I told him.

He scoffed but he leaned into the barrier.

Click!

Something quick and silvery flashed from the opposite wall.

“Soren watch out!" I cried.

Growling, Soren jumped out of the way. He grunted and I saw blood spatter from his arm. He clutched his arm and

shook the pain off.

“What was that?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the wall behind him.

I could see what was stuck into the rock now. Small, sharp blades, like large needles. They were imbedded in the

rock like bullets.

From their position, if Soren hadn't reacted, he would have been struck through the heart and the throat.

“Are you okay?" I asked.

Soren nodded, removing his hand from the cut. “Just a scratch," he said.

“Your leg," I said, pointing to his pants where a dark, bloody stain pooled.

Soren frowned and looked down. “It must be from the nettles…"

I hurried over to him and grabbed his arm as he wavered slightly.

“You've been poisoned. We need to go back," I said.

“I'll be fine, Mila. Get what we came here for," he urged.

Sighing, I stepped around him and made it to the cleared corner. There were no other traps or barriers. I dropped

to my knees and dug through the dirt.

In seconds, I found a beautiful, crescent-shaped gemstone that resembled the moon.

“A Moonstone?" Soren asked with a scoff.

I shrugged. “The Moonlit Crystal?"

“Maybe…"

Soren's voice sounded weak.

“We should get out of here," I said.

We shifted back. Soren carried our clothes in his mouth and I carried the stone. Before exiting the cave, we shifted

again and put our clothes back on.

Payne and Ashley were waiting for us in the woods. They looked anxious. Had we really been gone that long?

“Did you get it?" Payne asked.

“We did," Soren nodded. He sighed and stumbled forward.

Payne jumped at Soren and caught him, supporting his weight over his shoulders so he didn't fall on the ground.

“He was stung by some nettles," I said.

“He'll be fine," Payne assured, looking at me. His eyes fell on the stone in my hands and he froze, blinking and

staring.

I noticed his eyes glistening, like he was going to cry.

What was with him?