Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 146 The Baby Was In Danger!
**Rosalie’s POV**
“Commander Landon, how is it?” I stood up from my chair as soon as he walked in. The rest of the leaders also stopped talking, and everyone was looking at him.
The look on his face told me everything. The usual stoic commander had tears glistening in his downcast eyes as he slowly shook his head. His jaw was set in anger as he began to answer my question.
“The losses have been astronomical, Your Majesty,” he began, his tone laced with despair. “Five of our villages were attacked, every man, woman, and child slaughtered. Not a soul left alive in any of them.”
I stood there, staring at him for a long moment, trying to comprehend what he was saying. “How is this possible?” I muttered. He shook his head. “We cleared out the rogues in those areas recently, and everything seemed to be back in place. We a*s*sumed that those territories were safe and we only sent patrols to check in periodically. But this particular pack of rogues is ruthless like none we’ve ever seen before. We had no way of knowing what had happened with no survivors. It wasn’t until our patrols went back in that they discovered the devastating aftermath.”
Visions of what that must’ve looked like came to mind, but I had to push them away so as not to become physically ill.
I sank back down to my chair, and tried to digest the horrible news. Five villages, not a single survivor.
“We need to take them out! The sooner, the better!”
I couldn’t express my sadness and rage at the moment.
Those villages had just been rebuilt a month ago… I remembered going there with patrols and receiving flowers and freshly made baked goods from the kids.
Now, all of them, all of them… were gone. What kind of heartless monsters could do that? Everyone in the room was as heartbroken as me.
“They were spotted thirty miles south of here.” Commander Landon was pointing at a valley on the map. “Your Majesty, there are two small towns not too far away from there, and we need to stop them.”
I nodded without hesitation. “Send eighty percent of the force out there.”
Everyone gasped. General Vandough disagreed. “Your Majesty, it would be too much! That means we will either have to pull from the force that is keeping an eye on the Rogue King or from our capital city.”
“Then pull the force from the Rogue King side. So far, he hasn’t posed an immediate threat to us. However, those savages’ heinous crimes are not tolerable, and I want us to end them right now. Once and for all, every single one of them!”
The leaders looked at each other. I waited for them to say something.
I heard a whistle from the corner of the tent. “I’m with you, Rosalie!” Georgia was the first to say she was on my side. I smiled at her to show my appreciation for her support.
Then Commander Landon voiced his opinion. “I agree with the queen too. Let’s take care of one problem at a time.”
Murmuring in the room went on for a little while, and finally, General Vandough was also convinced. “Okay, as you wish, Your Majesty!”
I looked around the room. “Thank you, everyone. Let’s all get ready.”
“Your Majesty, all get ready? You…?
“I am going with you.”
“Your Majesty! You haven’t even gotten your wolf yet!” someone shouted out.
This time, even Georgia gave me a disapproving look.
I shook my head, and my decision was already made. “Please listen to me,” I reasoned with them. “I won’t be fighting on the frontline, but I need to be there for moral support and to help out in the hospital if needed.”
I glanced around the room and announced, “I’m your queen, and I need to be there for my people!”
Riding along in an all-terrain vehicle, I sat next to Jace. Everyone else could run quickly across the land to get where they needed to be, but it was faster for me to go this way than to slow someone down by riding on their back.
He was taking me to an observation area back from the lines. We had a lookout in a tall tree that had been constructed to help keep an eye on the movement of the rogues. It was still behind our lines, so it would be safe.
However, if the battle broke out, I’d be evacuated further back to the town hospital to help with the wounded.
It was difficult to climb up to the lookout station, but my training had helped me to get into better shape, and I managed. From up there, we could see for miles around.
The battle hadn’t started yet, but I was able to see both sides. In the distance, the rogue forces come together. My own warriors were also getting into formation. We were outnumbered. That was clear from even a glance. And from the looks of things, these weren’t your typical rogue forces.
Even from a great distance, I could tell there was something off about them. They seemed…wild. Bloodthirsty. Maybe even a little… deranged. As I watched, I saw a person in the center of their line.
A she-wolf, and she looked familiar.
I stared for a few seconds, a chill running down my spine.
“Do you have any binoculars?” I asked him. Our wolf eyes were sharp, but I needed to see more clearly since I hadn’t shifted yet. I needed to see for sure.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pair of binoculars and handed them to me.
“How is it possible…” I muttered. The hairs on my arms stood on end as I looked at her familiar face. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “What is it?” Jace asked.
“That woman… the rogue leader. I know her,” I told him. I stared through the lenses at that face.
Once beautiful, she now looked like a heinous monster. She’d gone from always having perfect makeup and just the right outfit, being adorned in jewels, and sleeping in the king’s castle—to this.
Now, her long hair was cut short. Her skin was dark and caked in dirt. Her clothing was rags. And… her eyes were red.
Madalynn!
“Who is she?”
I could barely get the words out of my mouth. “She’s Alpha Romero’s daughter.” He gasped. “The banished one?”
“I have no idea” I admitted to him. I realized that I might have intentionally ignored any news about Ethan and Madalynn. “But that’s her.” As we spoke, the battle broke out.
I put down the binoculars. “All right. I’m going to go check on the status of the hospital.” If anyone becomes critically wounded, I will be able to help, so I need to be prepared for that.”
Quickly, he ushered me to the hospital. This time, it was faster for me to ride on his back. Walking inside, I saw Seraphine already setting up and jumped in to help her and the other women get everything ready.
The sun started to set, and I knew the battle would continue into the night.
“Seraphine, is the baby okay?”
“Yes, he is doing well, but he definitely is missing you!” She smiled. As soon as her words ended, Anna, the new nanny, brought my boy in and bowed to me, “Your Majesty, His Highness is awake and asking for you “
I took them to a private room reserved for me next to the main hall. Then, lifting my angel out of Anna’s arms, I kissed his chubby cheek. “Be a sweet boy for Mama, okay?” I told him.
He cooed and tugged at my hair.
I kissed him again. “I love you so much “
Turning to Anna, I handed him over and said, “You’re sure you have everything you need?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said, setting him on her hip. “And we’re not far away from you “
“All right. Just… be careful.” I had a bad feeling, but I thought it was probably just my nerves. I wasn’t used to being this close to the front in a rogue war.
I returned to the main hall and started getting messages from the front from dispatchers.
“We’re holding our line for now,” one of the messengers said. “But they are attacking relentlessly.”
Although I wanted to go and fight myself, I couldn’t do that without a wolf. Besides, the wounded began to pour in quickly, and I had to make myself busy helping them.
Many of them were in their wolf forms when they were brought in. We tended to their wounds, sewing them up and giving them pain medication. The humans were easier to bandage than the wolves, so we had them shift if they were strong enough to do so. A few people were critically wounded, and I gave them some of my blood to help them. I had to be careful not to make myself dizzy or lightheaded. I needed to keep my faculties about me.
The sounds of howling and growls were getting closer. Seraphine went to stick her head out of the door.
She looked wary when she returned. Jace followed her in.
“What happened?” I was concerned.
“We checked in with Landon again, and he said that the rogues were pushing our force back,” Seraphine said. “However, he said we should be able to hold the line, though.”
I nodded. If my commanders were confident, then I’d have faith in their words.
More and more wounded came in, and their injuries were vicious. It was clear this pack of rogues was fighting dirty.
I was bandaging up a warrior when all of a sudden, I heard loud noises from next door. My heart started thumping. My baby!
“Your Majesty!” Jace burst to the hall, and his voice was filled with panic.
“What happened?!”
“His Highness… and Anna, I can’t find them anywhere!”
The bandages and cleaning supplies fell from my hand, and I ran to the private room desperately. I felt my world was falling apart.
The window was broken from outside and the room was terrifyingly empty. Without thinking, I grabbed a nearby scalpel, and climbed out of the window, and Jace shifted immediately, following me out to the back yard.
“Can you smell them, Jace?” My voice was trembling.
He couldn’t answer, but he sniffed and nodded his head. I said nothing more, and jumped on his back.
We started running toward one direction and my whole being was trembling in fear. Please, Moon Goddess, please do not let anything happen to him! Seraphine had also caught up to us. After running for five minutes, we realized that we’d left the town center.
A clear baby boy cry pierced through the night. I flew off Jace’s back and saw two figures lying on the ground in the dark.
My baby-he was next to Anna’s lifeless body. The young nanny’s arms were still wrapped around him. She was protecting him until the last second of her life.
I picked my son up with quivering hands, and could no longer hold back my tears. “Anna—!”
“Oohooo!” Howls echoed through the woods. Wolves—they were surrounding us.
And they weren’t ours.
In the darkness, I spotted red orbs.
Rogues. They’d been waiting for me.
I realized that this was a trap, and they had lured me out.
She lured me out.
Madalynn!