Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 177 I Can’t Leave Without Ethan
Cerina and Seraphine gasped, so did I, but I forced myself to calm down
“Seraphine, please get everyone gathered at the altar,” I instructed Seraphine and then turned to Soren. “Soren, I need to understand the situation more. Follow me. When did you get here?”
“I came with Seraphine and Cerina,” he explained as we all returned to the altar. “But I didn’t want to bother anyone, so I stayed in the woods nearby.” His eyes went to Ethan, and I could tell that he’d kept his distance because of Ethan. He probably didn’t want to give his brother any more reasons to be angry. But Ethan was still in so much discomfort that he didn’t even look up at the sound of Soren’s voice. The group soon gathered together, and Soren reiterated that with the approaching enemy, we needed to go back to the palace as soon as possible. I looked at Ethan and checked the time. He still had three hours left before we could leave the altar. “Soren, how far are they?”
“Thomas spotted them and mindlinked me. I estimate about three to four hours away.”
Time was tight, but we had enough time to finish up and leave before Madalynn and Behar arrived. “We can’t leave now. You know why we are here. We need three more hours for the ritual to complete. Otherwise, all of our efforts will be wasted.”
“What do you mean, you can’t leave? Are you nuts?! There are thousands of wolves coming and we’ve only got about fifty of us here total! If we die here, it doesn’t matter if Ethan is back to himself or not!”
I explained, “If we lose Ethan, the Winter Forest pack won’t be able to withstand the combined forces of Madalynn, Kai, and James. We would be doomed anyway. Also, Ethan only needs three more hours, and as soon as he’s up, we’ll go.”
Commander Landon was the first to disagree. “Your Majesty, that’s too risky!”
“Your Majesty, Soren and Landon are right. We cannot afford to put you in danger Also, like you said, Alpha Ethan probably would be able to fully recover and retreat before the enemy arrives anyway.” Cerina backed them up. “As soon as Alpha Ethan has recovered, he can lead his force out, I’m sure So please leave with His Highness at once!” This time, even Talon, Vicky, and Georgia agreed with her.
I looked around and took a moment to reassess the situation. Their advice seemed to make sense, but I found myself shaking my head. “I can’t do that.”
Soren raised his voice “Rosalie, as a queen, you’re not being responsible for your people!”
Georgia, Talon, and Vicky patted my shoulder.” Rosalie, I know you don’t want to leave us here, but we’d be fine…”
I lifted my gaze and glanced around, waiting for everyone to quiet down. Then I stated, “Please listen to me. I made this decision not only because of Alpha Ethan, but because of the citizens outside I also have a feeling that the situation is more complicated than we thought.”
They all looked at me now. I started my analysis once I knew I grabbed their attention. “Soren, you said Thomas spotted Madalynn and Behar coming this way?”
“Yes.”
“That means the people outside could all be harmed or k*lled if we don’t think of something We know Madalynn’s rogues are menacing and we’ve seen what they have done. Those people outside are from nearby villages, but they cannot go back as their homes are no longer safe once Madalynn’s rogues get here’
Cerina immediately said, ‘Well lead them to the palace right now- along with Your Majesty and Your Highness!’
“I thought about that too,” I nodded. “But I think it’s too late for us to do so now.”
“I don’t understand. Rosalie, you are scaring me…” Vicky murmured.
“If I am not mistaken, Madalynn probably knew Ethan didn’t leave with a large group. If that’s the case, Madalynn and Behar would have probably split up into two forces. One coming to get us, and the other-” Soren caught up with my logic and completed for me, “-will try to block us from getting reinforcement from the palace!”
They gasped and Cerina frowned. “Your Majesty, this is your guess though. We don’t know that for sure.”
I looked her in the eyes “You are right It’s just my guess. However,” I asked, “what if I am right? If I leave with Rowan and the group of citizens and run into them, what could happen?” No one could answer.
“That’s why I can’t leave right now,” I declared. “Most people out there were families with children. I can’t let anything happen to any of them!”
We had to protect them! I knew that my mother would want me to do so, and I felt it in my heart that it was my duty to keep the people safe, just as my mother had done.
“But how?” someone asked. It was so quiet in the temple that I could hear a pin drop, so when I spoke again, I had everyone’s full attention.
“I need everyone to listen to me and help.” This time, there was no disagreement or objection. “First, we need to send a message back to the palace to get help. While we wait here for Ethan, we will need to do something to delay the enemies as much as possible. We also need to get the civilians to cooperate and get ready to flee with us.”
I took a pause and continued, “If we are lucky, we can still leave before the enemy gets here. Even if they catch up, with our disguises, we may be able to intimidate them enough to avoid fighting until our reinforcements arrive.”
The hall was dead silent again. Finally, Soren sighed, “Rosalie, I don’t know about this… but I support you.”
“Just tell us what to do, Your Majesty.” Seraphine followed. The rest of the group all looked at me and nodded their heads.
I took a deep breath and laid out my plan. “First, Soren, I’ll task you to run back to the palace and get help.”
His eyes widened. “Me? Why me?”
“Because you’re the fastest,” I told him. “And the strongest amongst us.”
“But that’s why I should be here,” he argued.
“Soren, whether we can live through this or not may be dependent on you. It may also be very dangerous out there. I can’t think of anyone better than you to be the messenger! Please?”
I could see by the look in his eyes that he wanted to protest again, but he nodded and then took off without saying anything else.
I turned to Talon and Paul. “Second, the two of you take your best warriors out and see if you can set a trap or some sort of a detour that their forces will have to take.”
“We could put up some sort of a road block,” Talon suggested “We could put some fallen trees and other debris in the road so that they’ll have to go through the woods. That will slow them down. And if we hurry, we might be able to even set up some traps.”
“I like that idea,” I told him with a sharp nod. “Do that.”
The two of them headed out to get started, and Vicky followed them. “I’ll help too!”
“Third,” I returned my attention to Seraphine and Cerina, “send word out to the nearby villages. Get everyone evacuated.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
I nodded and gave the last task to Commander Landon. “Lastly, we need to prepare the people to make them appear like military troops. We can keep anyone too young to shift in the center. It’ll be dark by the time the enemy arrives, so maybe they won’t see.”
“They’re wolves,” Commander Landon reminded me. “They have excellent eyesight.”
“We’ll hide them behind the wolves,” I reiterated.” Please let the citizens know the plan. Teach them some basics to keep the formation as much as possible.”
The three pack leaders took the rest of the guards away with them. Only Georgia, Rowan, Ethan, and myself were left in the temple. Ethan was still unconscious and Georgia was obviously nervous.
“What can I do?” she asked. “Get Rowan and Ethan ready as much as you can. The moment the time is up, we’ll run!” I said firmly.
“Rosalie…” Georgia was hesitant, “are you …not afraid? You’re so different now.”
I chuckled bitterly. “Georgia, believe it or not, this is the scariest day of my life!” So many people’s lives were on my shoulders. I couldn’t imagine if I was wrong…
The commotion outside the temple again drew my attention. “Georgia, you stay with Ethan. I need to check what’s going on.”
She nodded her head, and I walked out of the temple again. I saw Commander Landon telling the people the news. On everyone’s faces, I saw fear and trepidation.
That wouldn’t do us any good. I needed to do something.
“Citizens, do not be afraid!” I called to them. “We are here to keep you safe!” Even though I was just as frightened as they were, I knew my words would help to make them feel more secure. “Just listen to Commander Landon, do as he says, and trust that the Moon Goddess will be with us!”
With that, the people began to cheer, but we immediately quieted them down. I didn’t know exactly how far away the enemy was, but it seemed like they should have been about two hours away then, based on what Soren had initially told us.
I hoped he would get to the palace safely. Everyone I cared about was in danger. We spent the rest of our remaining time getting the citizens in as good a shape to move like military forces as possible. Talon sent word that the roadblock was coming along, and hopefully that would delay the enemies for one more hour.
Cerina and Seraphine returned with more citizens and Commander Landon worked to get them into formation.
I looked at the clock in the temple. Fifteen minutes more… we were almost there. Eventually, we began to hear howls and growls in the distance.
With my eyes fixed on the horizon, I said to Cerina, “Our time is just about up.”
My eyes fixated on the point in the distance where the largest amount of noise was coming from. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid or nervous.
“Your Majesty, we are as ready as we can be,” Commander Landon reported to me.
I looked out and saw about fifteen hundred citizens divided into three groups smartly. Each group had about fifteen warriors leading the citizens, with grown-up male wolves at the outer layer, and female wolves and young ones in the center.
They stood there quietly and from a distance, their formation made them look like military forces. “Well done, Commander!” I praised him. He gave me a big grin.
Talon, Paul, and Vicky had also returned from their tasks. The howls were getting louder. Three minutes, two minutes, one minute… I heard footsteps approaching me. “Sorry for the wait.”
Ethan’s deep voice came from behind. It was the best music I’d ever heard.