Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 153 If You Want My Life, Rosalie, Then Take It
**Madalynn’s POV**
I was so close. My guys almost got her.
They were supposed to bring her to me, and I could almost feel my claws sinking into that stupid b”*h Rosalie. f*uc*king tramp. I had lost everything because of her. I was going to make her pay. I was going to rip her heart out in front of Ethan and devour it like a gourmet meal.
But I came up short and I lost a few of my best b’tches.
I had to retreat to make sure that I didn’t lose my life. F’cking Ethan! He ruined it for me. Again!
I should have known, though. That fool was head over heels for her, even if he had lost his soul and taken on red eyes.
He had befallen the same fate as I had—karma really is a b’*wh. For weeks, we had been watching Rosalie’s forces, and I thought this time we were going to get her. Why did everyone work against me and help that worthless nobody? I just couldn’t f*cking get it.
I gasped in pain as the doctor changed the bandage on my side.
“Watch your freaking hands! Don’t you know how to treat your f*cking patient right?” I snarled.
One of the wolves with Ethan had gotten me good, and even though I took down many of Rosalie’s warriors, I was no match for the power of those with Ethan. Perhaps once I got rid of Rosalie, he would see who the stronger wolf was. Then he would beg me to be his queen. A Rogue King and his Rogue Queen. The idea was one that brought amusement to my eyes, but at the same time, there was no way I would agree after everything he had done to me. I’d rather see him slowly die beneath my claws.
“Madalynn!” a voice called from the front of my tent, bringing me back to realization.
“What?” I snapped as my eyes darted towards the figure of one of my rogues.
He hesitated for a moment as disgust smeared itself across his face. “Someone is here to see you.”
“Tell him I’m busy.” Annoyance filled me, knowing someone would dare to interrupt me after the battle I had just gone through. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone’s bullshit.
Standing to my feet, I made my way from the tent, however I came face to face with one of James’ guys.
“You have a lot of balls coming here,” I smirked. “I should kill you now and send your head back to James on a platter.”
Rolling his eyes, he sighed, “Enough, Madalynn. I have an updated offer to give you.”
He held out a rolled up parchment in his hand, and quickly, I snatched it. A huff of irritation left him at my actions.
I unrolled the parchment and quickly glanced over the words inside. James was more of a pathetic fool than I thought him to be.
“Your king is really desperate, huh?” I sneered at the messenger.
He ignored my comment and exited the room after making sure that I’d gotten the message. “I will be back in two days for your response,” he said. Laughter escaped my lips as I shook my head. Tossing the letter into a small trunk on the table, I grabbed a small green vial and downed the contents. The warming liquid of the herbs rejuvenates me with excessive force, the power of the magical herbs running through my veins like a wildfire. My eyes glanced down at the parchment with curiosity as I twirled it over in my fingers.
“Are you really just going to let him go?” the man next to me snapped. Glancing up at him, a smile crossed my lips as my hand darted out, gripping his throat.
“Are you f*uc*king questioning me, wolf? I would highly suggest you rethink that action.”
His eyes widened at my tone, and quickly, he shook his head. “No, I’m sorry”
Irritated by his weakness, I let go and took the parchment, walking back into my tent.
“Madalynn, the scouting group is ready for your command!” my second called out through the open tent, causing a smile to crest my lips.
“Wonderful. Nightfall is approaching, and we have much work to do”
**Ethan’s POV**
“What is it, Talon?” I asked him as he came inside of the tent.
“Alpha… I want to talk to you about Rosalie.” He stood in front of my desk, his hands folded in front of him.
“She asked to leave again?” I roared.
“No.” Talon shook his head.
“Her people found us?”
“No.”
“Then what the f*ck do you want?”
Talon was taken aback a little, but he was quickly back to his normal self. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Recently, my temper had been short. Talon had been a loyal friend and subordinate. It wasn’t necessary for me to have said what I said. “Sorry, man. Yes, Rosalie, what about her?”
I could tell he was a bit worried about me, but he didn’t comment on that. Instead, he went on with his report. “It has been three days…” he started. I almost burst out roaring at him again for bringing this up, but I managed to control my volume. I reminded him, “We’ve talked about this, Talon. I know that you, Vicky, and Georgia are concerned about me keeping her in the tent, but this is what’s best for her at the moment.”
Rosalie… even the thought of her made my heart heavy. Why wasn’t she feeling the mate bond like I was? Why was she fighting me at every turn? Why wouldn’t she just listen?
“I understand that, sir, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
My eyebrows arched as I studied his face. “What is it then?” I asked him, pressing down my frustration.
He cleared his throat. “Long story short, Rosalie hasn’t been eating. Every meal we take to her, she sends back untouched. It doesn’t matter what it is or who brings it to her. Even when it’s Georgia, and she reminds her that it’s important that she keep her strength, for the baby, Rosalie still won’t eat it. She just sits there, staring at the wall of the tent, like she’s in a trance.”
I could feel my fury building up. How could she be that stubborn and irresponsible?! I restricted her freedom to protect her. Why couldn’t she understand that?
“It’s not healthy, Ethan. And we are worried about her. She won’t be able to keep feeding the baby if she doesn’t start eating, not to mention clearly she’s struggling right now.” With that, he stopped talking, taking a deep breath and letting it out, like he was glad I’d let him say all of that.
I pondered the situation for a minute.
“F*ck,” I muttered, slamming my hands down on the desk I was sitting at. “I’ll go talk to her.”
“Do you think—” Talon stopped as I rose from my chair. I met his eyes and waited. “Nothing.” He shook his head.
“What?” I asked, wondering what he’d been about to say.
“Just… do you think it’s for the best if you’re the one to talk to her, Ethan? I mean… she’s unhappy with you.” He shrugged, and I knew it wasn’t easy for him to say that to me.
Meeting his eyes, I said, “I’m the one who upset her, so I’m the one who needs to speak to her. I’ll talk some sense into her.”
Talon had a skeptical look on his face as I walked past him to the tent door.
Perhaps he was right, and I wasn’t the best person for this job, but obviously, no one else had been able to persuade Rosalie either.
I had avoided going to her tent because I wasn’t sure whether I could resist my desire for my mate. I’d tried my best not to force her, but it had been getting harder.
I couldn’t understand why, after all the difficulties we had gone through together, she just couldn’t accept me into her life? Two guards stood outside of Rosalie’s tent. They both made the sign of respect to me as I approached, and I gave them a wave of my hand to say that wasn’t necessary.
Opening the tent door, I walked in, my eyes falling immediately on Rosalie’s face. Talon was right. She was sitting on the cot, her knees pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them.
She didn’t even look at me when I came in. Her eyes were still locked on the tent wall across from her. I wasn’t even sure if she was blinking.
“Rosalie?” I called her name, but she didn’t turn to look at me. She was wearing the same clothes she’d had on the day before when I’d come in, sweatpants, a large T-shirt, and thick wool socks that went almost to her knees.
She looked sexy in anything, and even with her messy hair piled on top of her head, I wanted to go to her and take her in my arms, but that’s not what she wanted right now.
“Rosalie” I said, closing the distance between us. “I hear you’re not eating. Listen, you’ve got to eat. What about the baby? If you don’t eat, he can’t eat.” She still didn’t look up at me.
Talon was right—she really was in a trance.
Dropping to my knees, I leaned against the cot, hoping she’d acknowledge that I was there, but she didn’t turn her head. “Rosalie?” I said again. This time, I had to work really hard to make myself sound calm.
I took a deep breath and put my hand on her shoulder. “I know that you’re angry at me, but you have to trust me that it’s for the best.” Rubbing her back, I leaned closer to her face, willing her to just turn her head a little. She didn’t.
I lifted my hand to her hair, gently tugging on a loose curl, but she continued to ignore me. Even when I ran my hand across her cheek, she didn’t turn to face me.
Her sweet scent filled my nostril, and I had to fight hard against the desire to claim her and mark her right there. But at the same time, her behavior started to get on my nerves.
I leaned closer to her so that my face was in front of hers. “Rosalie?” I said again. “Can you hear me?”
She blinked then, and her eyes came to focus on mine. At that moment, I felt my heart flutter in my chest just at the eye contact. A small smile pulled at the corners of my mouth.
“There you are,” I said. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise. I love you, Rosalie.”
I leaned forward to kiss her, but a flash of her hand and the feel of cold metal against my chest had me pausing a few inches from her lips. Glancing down, I saw that she’d pulled a blade on me. A silver knife gleamed in the lamplight. She had it pressed against my chest, right above my heart.
Shocked, I met her eyes again. I realized that was the knife I brought in along with her birthday lunch.
She said nonchalantly, “You say you love me, Ethan, but I’m your prisoner here.”
“You’re not my prisoner. If you promise me that you won’t run away, then you will have all the freedom you want. I’m just trying to protect you” Her eyes narrowed.
“If you truly loved me, Ethan, you’d let me leave. You wouldn’t be keeping me here against my will when you know how badly I want to leave!” It would’ve been easy for me to grab her wrist and pull the knife out of her grip. I was much stronger than her, and she was weaker than normal from not eating.
But at that moment, I didn’t care. With Rosalie angry at me, with the state of how everything was at the moment… part of me didn’t even care anymore.
“If you want my life, Rosalie, then take it. You already have my heart. You may as well have all of me.” With that, I leaned forward to press my lips against hers with the knife still pointing against my skin.
As my lips pressed against her warm, still mouth, a sharp pain radiated through my chest, and the scent of blood filled the air, but I didn’t care.
I continued to push myself forward.
Her delicious pink lips were calling for me, and I was so desperate for her that nothing else mattered.