Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 1098 - 9 : A Wild Rogue

Chapter 1098: Chapter 9 : A Wild Rogue

Daphne

My breath came out in ragged pants as I willed my legs to move faster and faster. My pulse roared in my ears as I tried to listen to the sounds of forest animals.

I had no idea where I was going, but I knew I wasn’t returning to him or his gang. I tripped on a root but used my second foot to anchor myself and not fall before I took off running again.

Once again, I adjusted and forced myself to run faster.

I ran between two trees and got caught in a bramble bush.

“Ow,” I cried as thorns stuck onto my cargo jeans. The spines and needles sticking out of the plants drove into my jeans and pierced my legs as I struggled through the brush.

“Goddess... mother help me....” I cried.

The brush made a racket of snapping branches and rustling leaves as I fought my way out of the thick bush, knowing the scrapes were tearing and probably bleeding.

I glanced behind me to see if anyone was coming my way, but to my misfortune, it was too dark to make out any shapes other than the vague forms of trees. I couldn’t see anything moving or hear anything approaching, though, and that gave me some relief. But I still had to hurry. I tore myself through to the other side.

I glanced around, looking for a trail or even a break in the trees, but there was nothing to give me any indication of which way to go next.

I realized I had to keep moving, that I did not have time. I broke into a run, weaving between the trees, unsure of where I was running to. All I knew was that I needed to find a street. If I saw lights or heard traffic, any signs of civilization, I could make it back to the palace from there.

For what seemed like hours, I bobbed and maneuvered around the trees, glancing around for lights, and keeping my ears open for any kind of sound. I knew that Rion could wake up soon if he hadn’t already, and if I didn’t clear enough space between us, he would catch up to me and capture me again.

Perhaps he would do worse things to me than pressing me up against a wall and twisting my arm. I didn’t want to think of anything worse he could do to me.

That second thought was more than enough motivation for me to quicken my pace. Within a few minutes, or what seemed like it, my ability to weave through the trees increased and my agility heightened as I dodged low-hanging branches.

My eyes adjusted to the dark, allowing me to see the edges of the trunks better and to avoid them. My feet, however, did not fare as well. Often, they stepped on rocks or slipped up on stray branches. I had to slow down a little just to make sure I didn’t slip again.

As I ran, I saw no lights and heard no cars. I tried not to slow down too much, but I realized that with how long we had been walking, there was no way I could cover the ground that we had covered earlier that night.

My thighs burned and tightened as hard as rocks, but I didn’t want to stop. I dared a look behind me and listened outside of the sound of my frantic footfalls for Rion’s voice or any footsteps other than my own.

The forest remained eerily silent. Not even the sound of other animals or the rustling of the breeze through the trees reached my ears. I could only hear the sound of my breathing and the soft thumping of my feet on the ground. I wheezed, and my dry throat forced me to cough and gag.

The burn in my legs burst into a full-on fire, forcing me to stop.

Despite my best intentions, I plopped onto a fallen log, panting, leaning forward to massage my tightened thighs.

“Just five minutes,” I whispered to myself, out of breath. “Then I’ll start again.”

As I stopped to catch my breath, I glanced around. The forest was dark, but I could see the vague rectangles of the tree trunks and the mist swirling around the ground. It was too quiet. There should have at least been noises from other animals, but I assumed my running had caused them to become quiet.

A sudden form in the distance took shape. I could hardly believe what I was seeing, half bathed in the tree-filtered moonlight.

“A house,” I murmured.

Relief hit me and a smile spread across my face. Rising to my feet, I took a step toward the house, half expecting it to be a mirage. My foot snapped a twig, the sound so small yet it still seemed to shout against the surrounding silence.

Then, I heard a low growl and jumped. No doubt Rion had caught up to me. I was doomed. I slowly moved away from the log, looking for the source of the noise, and then saw a large figure in the distance.

I squinted, trying to discern the vague shape. It was a large wolf. A flicker of two red orbs in the darkness made my heart stop. It was a wild rogue.

There was no hope I could outrun him, but still, I tried.

I darted away from the log through the forest again. Instead of running where I thought home was, I ran in the opposite direction of the rogue. I knew I was as good as dead if I couldn’t find some kind of weapon to hit him with or at least some shelter to hide in. His footsteps behind me growing louder forced a burst of panic from me and I picked up speed. My thighs hated me and unleashed a new wave of pain and tightened up.

As I ran, I glanced around me for something, anything, to protect myself. I wished I hadn’t dropped that brick back at the temple. It would have been very useful. The footsteps of the rogue thumping on the ground behind me drew closer and closer.

I heard his breath pulse in and out of his mouth, he sounded like a giant beast hunting its next victim. My legs were getting tired from running at full speed from this rogue, but I didn’t want to stop. Him capturing me would be worse than if Rion did.

He got close enough to swipe at me and I thought it was over, but a glint on the ground caught my attention. I dared to stop and pick it up, not caring what it was, and found a metal pipe in my hands.

I had just enough time to turn around to see the rogue loom close and recoil for a lunge. That recoil gave me one extra precious second to swing at him as he lunged for me. The pipe struck his forehead and sung in reverberation as it contacted his skin.

The rogue flung back. Some blood sprayed as he fell to the ground and landed with a thud. I didn’t waste a second and took my chance to run.

As I took off running again, my legs were less forgiving than the previous sprint. Within what felt like a few minutes, they clenched up and burned.

“Come on,” I grit my teeth and continued in spite of the pain, but it grew more difficult to ignore as the minutes dragged on.

I look ahead, only keeping my focus on the goal and not the discomfort, although the latter demanded more of my attention as time wore on. My thighs roared with a new flame and pulsed to the beat of my heart.

My ankles began to feel worn and ready to slip at a moment’s notice if I stepped on a twig the wrong way. I kept going, huffing.

I glanced around again, hopeful for a chance to maybe see some lights or hear some cars, but there was nothing but darkness, blurry trees, and the sound of my exhausted breath and footsteps. The landscape around me changed very little over the course of what felt like hours, but it was probably just minutes.

My vision lacked focus as another wave of exhaustion settled in. I shook my head and forced myself to check my surroundings once again. Ahead, I saw a break in the trees and realized there might be another clearing. I slowed my steps, hoping I had not just gone in a circle and come back to Rion’s pitstop.

As I drew closer to the ring of trees, I found the light of the moon from the bare patch fell on a shack in the center of it. I slowed to a walk and crept into the break of the trees. The moonlight was so bright compared to the darkness of the forest I had just run through. I walked closer and found that the house was rundown. The front door hung off its hinges. It looked abandoned, a good sign to me, and I ran for it.

I darted across the remaining part of the clearing and onto the veranda. The wooden boards creaked beneath my feet as I skirted across and grabbed the door. I darted into the pitch darkness of the house and slammed the door shut, but it took all my strength to get it into the door paneling and shut it.

I leaned against the door, grasping for breath, thankful that I had at least found a place to hide from Rion if he ever got that far to come out looking for me. My heavy breathing filled my ears but I paused when I heard another sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.

From behind me, I heard footsteps much larger than my own plod on the creaking wood. The boards squeaked, sounding like they sagged from the weight of whatever stepped toward me.

“What have we here?” a gnarled voice asked in the dark.

I said nothing. My back was against the door and I considered ripping it open and fleeing, but my tired muscles and terrorized mind kept me locked in place. Clothing and fabric ruffled, then the sound of springs uncoiling twanged.

A bright light blinded me and I shielded my eyes for a moment, then peaked over to find a lantern lit across what looked like a bedroom. The amber light fell on several beds situated side by side against the walls with ruffians in them.

glance told me I was clearly outnumbered. There were at least three, and that didn’t include any that could have been in another room or even outside.

They all glared at me with bleary eyes. My gaze turned to find one already standing, his hair brushing the ceiling.

My stomach flip-flopped as I was certain that between Rion, the rogue, and these ruffians, I really was destined to die tonight.

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