Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 198: False Accusations
**Rosalie’s POV**
“Do you know where your brother has gone off to?” I found Georgia and tried to keep my tone casual as I asked her.
Things were very busy at our camp as I did my best to heal all of the wounded and also prepare for the war as we move south. Though our enemies had been quiet for a day or two, there was no doubt in my mind that they would be back soon enough.
I slept very little, and I was exhausted. There was always someone in need of my assistance. Whether it was status updates from the frontline or questions about
strategy that needed to be considered and discussed with the other leaders, it seemed everyone wanted a piece of my time.
I rarely had any time to talk to Ethan, though I did try to include him as much as possible with the strategy discussions because he had a wealth of experience and knowledge to help us be successful.
Soren showed up in most of those discussions as well, but he usually had his own schedule. Whenever I asked about his whereabouts, everyone always shrugged and said they weren’t sure.
A couple of days went by before I began to realize that I literally hadn’t laid eyes on him for a while.
That didn’t seem right to me.
Had he gone off to do something without telling me? Or was there something more serious at play here?
“Which one? The bat-sh*t crazy one? Or the other bat-sh*t crazy one?” Georgia asked me back with a laugh.
I let a chuckle slip from between my lips in an effort to be polite, but I didn’t think either of them were crazy. Not anymore, anyway. “Soren,” I told her. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Oh, that one,” she said with a nod. “You know, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him for a while either. What’s up?”
“I asked him to send a message to Damian a while back, and he said he would take care of it. I wanted to know if he had heard anything,” I told her. Georgia’s admission had my brow knitted. “Do you remember when you saw him last?”
“Uh, yeah. It was kind of weird, actually,” Georgia said, leaning back against a tree trunk as she tapped her chin with her finger. “Couple days ago, I was coming out of the woods when I saw the two of them talking for a few moments, and Soren left, going off into the woods. I think that’s the last time I saw him.”
I thought about the discussion she was referring to. I had caught a glimpse of that myself, but I hadn’t paid much attention.
I vaguely remembered Ethan lost his balance-he had been pushing himself too hard, but that was a topic for another day-then Soren caught him and kept him from falling over, but the two kept their distance afterward.
“So the last time you saw Soren, he was with Ethan?” I asked, trying to make sure I had that much right.
“Yeah, that’s right,” she said. “And that was a couple of days ago.” I wondered whether the brothers had worked through their issues.
My mind went back to that fight I’d seen on the island… after so many things had occurred, they must have figured their problems out, right?
“Rosalie? Are you all right?” Georgia asked me. “You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I told her, forcing a smile. I might have overused my blood lately. Sometimes I felt my head was in a fog and couldn’t think straight. “Um, I’m sure he’s around here somewhere. I’ll go look.”
“Or ask Ethan. And there he is!” she waved to someone behind me and whispered, “Please spend some time with him. You have no idea how hard that b*stard makes us work when you’re not around! Pretty please, keep him away from us for a few minutes so we can take a breather!”
“Georgia, if you have the time to chat here, you have the time to train.” Ethan’s voice echoed behind me.
Georgia gave me a smile “see, I told you look…” as she greeted the approaching Ethan. “Oh, hi brother. Rosalie has something to ask you!” Then she winked at me. “Take as much time as you need, please!”
“Georgia,” I wasn’t sure what to say to Ethan yet, but she had already bid me goodbye and slunk off as fast as she could. By the time I caught up with the situation, Ethan was already standing in front of me.
“Hey,” Ethan said, greeting me with a bright smile. We hadn’t talked much in the last few days.
“Hey.” I said, Seeing his smile made me relaxed a bit. I felt I’d seen Ethan’s smile a lot more often lately, but then, I figured anyone who had gone through death probably would see life in a different light. “Um, how have you felt these past couple of days?”
“Getting there.” His answer was short as usual.
We both paused for a moment. Ever since he woke up, although we saw each other often, most of the time we were with others, talking about work. I was actually appreciative about that because I still hadn’t figured out how to interact with him alone.
Right now, we were allies, friends, and Rowan’s parents, and that might be more than enough for him.
Or even for me..
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” I said, but then I felt it wasn’t appropriate for me to say so. He was an adult, and he knew what was best for himself. I really didn’t have a say on what he should or should not do. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to tell you what to do.”
“You’re fine.” He seemed to be in a good mood. “Georgia said you have something to ask me?”
I had almost forgotten that I was looking for Soren. “Ah, yes. Do you happen to know where your brother is?”
I watched Ethan’s face fall a little and his bright smile faded slightly, but he quickly adjusted himself, and made it seem not a big deal. “Uh-no. Why do you ask?”
Maybe they hadn’t worked out their problems yet; otherwise, why would Ethan be upset when I mentioned Soren? I thought that I’d better avoid the topic. After all, good moods were essential for recovery, and I could look for Soren myself.
I shook my head. “Nothing —just wondering. It’s okay, I’ll just go find him.”
“Rosalie!” Ethan grabbed my wrist, and he asked, “Do you not trust me?”
I was taken aback a little and looked up at him. Ethan seemed upset and he said, “If you do, why didn’t you tell me that you had asked Soren to reach out to Damian?”
“You knew?”
He nodded. “Soren told me about it.”
I sighed, “I just didn’t want to burden you.”
“It’s not a burden, Rosalie. I can help too.”
“So where is he then?”
“Listen, Rosalie,” he started, but I had a feeling that I wouldn’t like the news. “Soren had left to go to the islands to see what could be done about Damian. He’ll make sure that Damian won’t help our enemies…”
“What did you say?!” My eyes widened. “Do you guys not know how dangerous it would be?!”
“Yes. I talked him through it couple of days ago.” Folding my arms beneath my chest, I narrowed my eyes.
“Rosalie?” he asked, his tone concerned.
The Ethan I knew was reckless, bold, and cruel when it came to battles and wars, not only to his enemies, but also to himself. He’d designed a trap to lure Soren in, he had sneaked in to assassinate King Kai, and he had turned himself in as bait to trick Behar… there was nothing too crazy for him.
With exhaustion from the past few days and the fear and anger coursing through my body, I could no longer control my emotions. I desperately needed an outlet to pour out my rush of rage.
“Ethan, you knew how dangerous it was! Why did you send him? I know you guys don’t get along that well, but how could you allow your own brother to take such a risk?!”
Ethan was stunned and he murmured, “I didn’t…”
Then he smiled bitterly, shook his head and stopped defending himself. All he said was, “I’m sorry.”
His change of attitude struck me, and I realized that I might have jumped to the conclusion too fast. As if someone dumped cold water on me, my head cooled down immediately. I swallowed hard and my heart sank. What had I said? What had I done?
“Ethan tell me, was this your idea?”
He chuckled bitterly, and looked away. I could sense his pain as I heard him say, “It doesn’t matter. You’re right. I didn’t stop him; it’s my fault.”
I couldn’t think anymore. Not at the moment, not with Ethan looking the way that he was. He didn’t need to say it, but I already knew that Soren probably came up with the idea on his own and left voluntarily to execute his own plan. I had accused Ethan for something he didn’t do…
My pulse was racing, and I was panicked. Would he be so upset that he would just leave me? I looked at him, and I wanted to apologize as fast as I could.
“Ethan, … I shouldn’t have accused you. I’m sorr-” I didn’t even get the entire apology out of my mouth before he started waving his hands in front of me.
“It’s okay,” he said, but I could still see how my words had hurt him deeply. “I can’t blame you for thinking that way. If anyone is to blame… I’d blame myself for doing things that lead you to the conclusion. No problem, Rosalie.”
He gave me a small smile, but his forced smile was like a knife, stabbing me in my heart. I couldn’t believe what I had done!
How stupid I was! How could I ever think he was just a selfish monster after everything he’d done?!
My heart was pounding faster and faster, and I was afraid that he would turn around and walk away and disappear.
“It’s no big deal,” Ethan said, but I knew I had hurt him. I’d rather have him sound upset and confront me, but he didn’t.
“Excuse me,” he said, and those were the last words I wanted to hear at the moment, but I knew I had no right to ask him to stay after what I had done just then.
He turned around to walk back over to where his true friends, Talon, Paul, and a few of the others, were congregated.
I took a deep breath and watched him go and I was getting colder and colder. I wanted to say more-a lot more-but I didn’t know how to start.
“Rosalie.” I looked over and saw that Georgia had returned.
She tapped me on my shoulder. “You look even more pale now. You okay? Does Ethan know where Soren is?”
I didn’t have the energy to explain to her, so I simply answered, “Yes, I know where Soren is. Georgia, I’m a bit dizzy and will have to lay down for a little bit.” She leaned over and gave me her arm to hold onto. “I’ll walk you to your tent. Oh, I wanted to let you know that Commander Landon and General Vandough said we can take off tomorrow. We’re ready.”
“Okay..” I told her, but my eyes were still on Ethan, who was off in the distance.
I realized that for a long time, I had accused him of treating me wrong; however, at the same time, what I had done to him may be even more hurtful.
I only wished that he would be able to find a way to forgive me, and maybe… allow me to make it up to him in the future.