Breeder To The Brutal Alpha King

Kaden’s POV

​”What do you mean she is gone?!” I roared, the sound tearing from my throat so violently that the head guard practically threw himself to the floor in fear.

​”W-we searched everywhere, Alpha King,” the head maid stammered, her hands shaking as she clutched her apron. ”Her things are still in her quarters, but she is completely missing. No one saw her leave.”

​”The cameras,” I snapped, my green eyes flashing with a lethal light. ”Pull up the CCTV footage of the eastern wing corridors and the back exits immediately!”

​”We tried, Alpha,” the head guard choked out from the floor, his voice trembling. ”The feeds for the entire eastern wing and the medical corridors went completely black twenty minutes ago. The system was bypassed from the inside. The CCTV was turned off.”

​A cold, heavy knot twisted tightly in my gut. How? My palace security was ironclad. To bypass the system from the inside meant there was a traitor walking among us.

​I stormed out of my chambers, my loose sweatpants rustling as I hurried down the stone steps toward the security hub, forcing the terrified staff to sprint just to keep up with my massive strides. My mind was chaotic, full of rage and pure, unfiltered panic.

​I was completely restless and scared.

​Did she run away? Did Rebecca escape because of the brutal deadline I gave her?

​No, my wolf growled inside my head, his voice filled with an anxious, protective fury. She wouldn’t leave her true body behind. She was begging for five days to save herself. She was taken, Kaden! Our breeder was stolen right out of our home!

​The realization hit me like a physical blow. Someone had smuggled themselves into my palace, disabled my security, and dragged her out into the night.

​”Assemble the trackers!” I bellowed as soon as I burst into the main courtyard, my voice booming across the dark grounds. ”Wake up every single scout on the perimeter! I want the entire forest surrounded!”

​Within minutes, dozens of my elite trackers stood before me, their faces serious. I moved like a man possessed, running straight to the Rebecca’s room. I grabbed the spare dress Stephanie had worn earlier from the closet—the one still holding her scent—and rushed back out, throwing the clothing directly at the lead tracker’s chest.

​”Take her scent,” I commanded, my jaw clenched so hard I could hear my teeth grinding. ”Search for any trace of her. If she crossed the border, tear the neighboring territories apart!”

​The trackers shifted immediately, the loud crunch of their bones filling the night air as they turned into massive, powerful wolves. They caught the scent from the cloth, let out low growls, and darted into the dark forest like shadows.

​I stood in the center of the courtyard as my guards rushed over, waiting for my command.

​I growled. If she had run away from me, I would hunt her down and lock her in my room forever. But if someone had dared to touch her—if someone had laid their filthy hands on my breeder, on the woman whose soul I was secretly desperate to keep—I would make sure their death was so slow and painful that the devil himself would weep.

​”Hold on, Rebecca,” I whispered fiercely, my glowing green eyes scanning the tree line as I prepared to jump into the hunt. ”I am coming for you.”

​I shifted into my massive, midnight-black wolf, letting out a loud howl that shook the leaves on the trees, and darted into the dark forest. I followed the trackers, running at a brutal, bone-breaking speed. We tracked every corner of the woods. We checked the deep ravines, the hidden caves, and the thickest bushes.

​But there was absolutely nothing.

​It seemed her scent was completely masked. Whoever took her had sprayed something to cover her tracks, completely wiping away any trace of her from the cold earth.

​I shifted back into my human form naked, my chest heaving as I slammed my fist into a thick oak tree, shattering the bark. I was getting so frustrated, so incredibly scared and worried. The panic in my chest was like a living monster, clawing at my throat. I didn’t want to lose her. If something terrible happened to Stephanie’s body out there, Rebecca’s soul would have nowhere to go. She would never return. Her true body on that medical bed would die, and she would be gone forever.

​I just... I couldn’t lose her.

​I sat down on a fallen log, burying my face in my hands as a strange, overwhelming confusion washed over me. I didn’t even know how to explain what I was feeling right now. It made absolutely no sense. It had only been three weeks since I lost my wife, Helen. Only three weeks since the pack buried their Queen, and only three weeks since I dragged Rebecca into my palace to force her to be my breeder as punishment.

​By all the rules of nature, I was supposed to hate Rebecca with every single breath in my body. She was blamed for Helen’s death. I was supposed to love Helen forever. Yet, in these short three weeks, this stubborn, fiery woman had somehow been able to successfully wipe Helen right out of my head.

​When I closed my eyes, I didn’t see Helen’s face anymore. I saw Rebecca’s sea-blue eyes. I felt her touch. I heard her voice. I was so deeply confused by my own heart. Why was I feeling this insane, protective madness for a woman who was supposed to be my prisoner? Why was my wolf roaring in absolute agony at the thought of her being hurt? It shouldn’t be possible to move on this fast. It shouldn’t be possible to feel this kind of burning, soul-deep obsession for a girl who wasn’t even my fated mate.

​But I didn’t have time to understand my own broken mind. I just knew that if she died tonight, a part of me would die right along with her.

​”Where are you?” I whispered fiercely into the empty dark, my voice cracking with an agony I couldn’t hide. ”Where the fuck are you, Rebecca?”

​Desperate, I tightly closed my eyes, forcing my mind to block out the sound of the wind and the rustling leaves. I reached deep into my soul, begging the universe, begging my wolf, begging anything for a sign.

​Where are you?

​Then, all of a sudden, a sharp, vivid image flashed brightly inside my head.

​It wasn’t a memory. It was a vision. I saw a dark, crumbling concrete ceiling. I heard the loud, terrifying roar of rushing water. And beneath the muddy waves, I saw a pair of terrified brown eyes drowning in total darkness.

​My eyes snapped open, my pupils dilating into slits as a wild gasp left my lips. I knew exactly where she was.