Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 80 I Have To Find Her

“Alpha, we received the report from Papeno,” Samuel said as he rushed into the war room.

James had purposely kept Romero away

from today‘s meetings until we received this info. It was only my men and the king in the war room.

“Go ahead,” I said.

“We confirmed that military vessels have been sighted.”

I sneered, “As expected.”

James turned to me. “So you think Romero is allowing them to restock and refuel on his island?”

James and I had suspicions as to Romero‘s strategy. If he had been playing

both sides of the field, most likely, he would have made the same deal with Kal as he did with us.

My gut was telling me he was lending some small islands to Alpha Kal for their military operations.

“Logically, it explains our problems.” | paced back to the map. “There‘s an open ocean

between Kal and us. If they didn‘t have a middle point, they would need more large cargo ships to carry t

he smaller vessels, which we would have been able to locate as soon as they entered our waters.”

Turning back to face James, I continued, “But we didn‘t, because those ships are much smaller. But

that means they need to be restocked and refueled somewhere much closer to us.”

James responded, “Even if that‘s the case, there‘s no value in confronting him. We still need to work with

him.”

“True. Especially since Romero could just say those are his own ships.”

Most importantly, we didn‘t want to alert him to the fact that we were on to him.

“How many vessels are there?” I asked Samuel.

“We saw four, but we estimated two more to be on patrol.”

James and I exchanged a look–

six ships. Someone higher in rank had to be around to oversee their operation.

“Were you able to locate which island their leader might be stationed on?”

“No, Alpha. Papeno is not a single island; it‘s a group of them. While we could see several naval bases, t

hey were guarded by Romero‘s men. Kal‘s commander could be on any of the nearby islands.”

I looked at James, silently asking if that was enough evidence to order a trip to Romero‘s islands.

After a moment, he nodded his head,

I took over the meeting and laid out the operation plan.

“I need a team of thirty, divided into three groups–

twelve, twelve, and six. The goal of this mission is to assassinate the target in charge of the operations ar

ound Papeno. Additionally, we are here to obtain a detailed map of the islands and where their supplies a

re. If needed– if we fail to achieve our primary objective–

then, in the future, we can send men to destroy their supplies.”

James never interfered with my work. Once I got his go–ahead, I was fully in charge of the operation.

“We‘ll blend in as civilians. Group A will get to Avondale on day two and plan the

best route to Papeno. Group B will get to Avondale on day four and locate the target island. Group

C will meet with Group B on day six, approach the target, and execute the assassination.”

“Blend in how?” James interjected. I knew he asked out of curiosity, not out of doubting my competency.

I didn‘t answer him, instead, I turned to Samuel.

“Are there regular merchant ships to Papeno?”

James and the others stopped speaking and looked at me

with furrowed brows, confused by my question.

“Yes Alpha,” Samuel said. “From what the reports show, several ships enter the port daily.”

I nodded.

“We‘ll dress as merchants and board a boat from the East Port

to Avondale. From there, go to Papeno pretending to

be tradesmen in search of work or delivering cargo.”

I looked at James and explained, “That‘s how we blend in.”

I turned to the assembled soldiers and continued assigning tasks. “Samuel, you are

in charge of Group A, and Richard, Group B.”

Everyone was quietly waiting for the assignment for Group C.

“Talon,” I said, looking up at him. My most trusted subordinate nodded his head, accepting the

appointment

“You will stay in the capital and assist the King to oversee the operation on the west coast.” I finished.

I added, “I will be leading Group C.”

James raised his eyebrow. I saw disapproval in his gaze, but he didn‘t say anything.

I nodded to him, and looked around the room. “If there are no questions, you are dismissed.”

Everyone left, except for James.

“Ethan, you are the next in line to the throne. You cannot run off and put yourself in danger.”

“I understand,” I said. “I won‘t.” But I dropped my eyes.

I dipped my fingers into my jacket pocket and ran them over the cool metal of Rosalie‘s necklace.

“I didn‘t see any reason why you have to go in person for this mission,” James

argued, trying to pressure me to rethink my plan.

“This is one of the biggest leads we‘ve gotten so far, and it is crucial for the outcome of the war,” I replied

, keeping my tone professional. I need to get first–hand information to better evaluate our enemy.”

“Just that?”

“…Yes,” I said.

However, I couldn‘t lie to myself.

Every inch of evidence pointed

to the fact she had fallen to her death, but what if there was the slightest chance that she didn‘t?

What if I could find her?

James sighed. “Alright, then. Take whoever you need to accomplish your task. Be safe.”

“I will,” I said, and saw him wave his hand to allow me to leave the room.

When I returned to my suite, Talon was already standing outside, waiting for me.

“Alpha, how am I going to explain your absence to the other alphas?”

“I was planning to go to the frontlines on the West Coast, anyway. Tell them I decided to go a few days e

arly.”

Talon nodded, and then paused.

“Ethan, be honest with me. Why do you want to go in person?”

Talon would never challenge my decision, but that didn‘t mean that he wouldn‘t ask for explanations.

“Because we cannot afford to fail,” I replied coolly.

He ignored my comment, and asked, “Is it because of the necklace?”

I raised an eyebrow, but I didn‘t deny it. Talon knew me too well, there was no point in lying to him.

He sighed, and pulled out a piece of paper with an address on it.

“I knew you wouldn‘t give up on her. We found out that, before the necklace got to

the trade merchant, it was seen in a jewelry shop in Avondale.”

The light piece of paper felt like it weighed tons in my palm.

“I didn‘t want to get your hopes up. Do what you will with this information. Good luck.” Talon turned to lea

ve.

“Talon,” I called, causing him to stop.

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Thank you,” I said.

“You‘re welcome.” He sighed and closed the door.

I looked out the window, my gaze landing on the horizon.

I would have a couple days in Avondale before the mission really began.

Would I find the person I was longing to see?

For a moment, I let myself imagine gazing at her again, seeing her beautiful face illuminated by the tropica

What would leven say to her?

How would she react to seeing me?

I hadn‘t thought that part through yet, and I knew it was futile to let my mind wander that far. I was getting

What was the point in torturing myself with thoughts of how to explain my idiotic plan to Rosalie–

when I didn‘t even know if she was still alive?

For now, I just needed to concentrate on getting to the island and identifying the

enemy. But maybe I could also

pay a trip to the shop where the necklace had been seen, so that I could trick myself into thinking I was on

The piece of paper Talon had just given me

was the first step. Just like a sequence in a military operation, would follow the tasks, one by one, and che

list until I had completed my mission.

That was the best way to go about this.

And in the end… my heart was telling me…

I would have my Rosalie again.

Perhaps it didn‘t make any logical sense, considering I had seen her jump from a cliff. I had a box with he

a necklace in my pocket that could‘ve been washed ashore and found by any other woman

and pawned off.

But every time I closed my eyes and saw her face, I felt certain that she was alive.

Then, there was that strange pull I kept feeling deep

inside of me, that sensation that I was being tugged in a specific direction by an unknown force.

That made me hopeful that she was alive, and so was our child.

If I were to tell King James, Talon, or anyone else the truth, they‘d think I was a stupid, wasting valuable ti

errand.

But they didn‘t understand what I was feeling. They didn‘t know what I knew in my heart.

If Rosalie was out there, I had to find her. Even if it was just for one more second–

one more glimpse of her face, one more glance at her smile.

Even if the only thing I ever got to do was hear her laughter one more time, I needed to know.

I needed to see that she was alive.

Even if she never knew that I had found her.