Share

Head in a Bag

last update Last Updated: 2024-05-09 03:03:46

Ella

They follow me like baby ducks.

I’ve counted thirty-eight of them so far, though several of the witches are barely able to walk on their own. Everytime I speak, thirty-eight sets of eyes light on mine, unblinking. If I stop walking abruptly, the dozen or so strongest unsheath blades and bows and arrows we stole from the dead warriors we left in the caves.

The caves… well, the witches and I didn’t leave right away. Those strong enough to fight killed the rest of the warriors while the others went to free their sisters from the networks of cells hidden along darkened corridors. All of the strange pyres were staunched, and the walls….

I glance around at the witches setting up camp along the base of a cliff. Most of them are splattered with blood, and their hands are covered in it. They painted the walls of those caves red.

I exhale deeply and continue poking the fire in front of me. Rain rips through the camp in sheets that pass as quickly as they come. A huge storm just tore th
Locked Chapter
Continue Reading on GoodNovel
Scan code to download App

Related chapters

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Calming the Storm

    EllaI’m not sure what time it is. Ryatt picked me up and carried me out of the tub hours ago, laying me in bed with so much tenderness it nearly broke my heart.We’ve been lying here ever since. My cheek rests against his arm while his other one cradles me, his hand tucked under my breast.He’s asleep. His rhythmic breathing is the only sound in the room other than the rain softly padding against the foggy windows. The fire burned out long ago, and the room is cast in silver gray light as the sun finally begins to rise.I want to stay here forever–in this room, with my mate’s warmth penetrating my skin. Outside the door leading back into the main rooms of the inn, our reality awaits. War, unrest, death and despair. I killed Petra, sure, but I know we have more trials to face. More enemies to conquer.Ryatt stirs as that silvery, stormy morning light starts to creep up the bed. His legs are tangled in the sheets, and the soft lighting makes his scars and roping, intricate tattoos all

    Last Updated : 2024-05-10
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Moonstones and Water

    IsaacI gently lift Sydney out of Maddy’s arms. He blinks, then a fleeting smile stretches over his face before he falls back asleep with milk dribbling down his cheek. Ryan is already sleeping in the double-wide crib tucked beneath the window in our bedroom, his chubby arms and legs splayed out like a starfish. Sydney likes to be swaddled but I’m terrible at it. I mumble curses under my breath as I try to adjust his swaddle and gently lay him down beside his brother, who is in nothing but a diaper, which is just the way Ryan likes it. Thank the Goddess it’s a sweltering summer night. I edge away from the crib with my hands out in surrender, grimacing as my foot catches that damned squeaky floorboard I keep forgetting to tell someone to fix, but the twins remain asleep. So does my wife. Maddy’s wine-red hair falls over her shoulder and back as she rolls over on her side and curls into the blankets. She whispers something to herself in her sleep, but it’s lost on me. I’m too focus

    Last Updated : 2024-05-11
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Tendrils of Black

    EllaAll is well. Nothing is amiss. Our daughter is growing as she should be. Here’s a list of herbs. The alchemist in the market can make you a bundle for teas and spicing your food. You should be eating this as often as you can. It’ll help with the aches and fatigue. The midwife’s words echo in my mind.All is well. No signs of distress. No inklings that a curse is eating me alive. I watch the village of Hannis from my window at the inn as I cradle the swell of my stomach. No one suspects a thing is wrong with me. Maybe Petra was wrong. Maybe she lied and was only trying to scare me, but the memories of Kane’s blade slicing my skin ebb through my mind and leave scars in their wake. I need to know for sure if I’m cursed and what it means. And, more importantly, how to break it. The midwife comes and goes with a smile on her pleasant face, but I haven’t left the room. I’ve barely touched the cold breakfast foods laid out on a small table near the window. The tea has grown cold.

    Last Updated : 2024-05-12
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   The Truth Comes Out

    Ryatt“She’s oddly quiet,” Granger says as we step out of the pack house in a village called Reighnier, where the pack Silent Crest resides. I glance at my mate who is walking back to the two-story stone cottage we’ve been given to sleep in for the night. Her long dark hair is neatly braided down her back, and her brown cloak is spotless as she pulls open the door and slips inside. I exhale, my stomach tightening as I fumble with the leather armguards around my wrists. “She’s tired. I spoke to her this morning. We’re going to see another healer once we reach Twin Rivers.”Or what’s left of Twin Rivers. The once prosperous city on the banks of the river that separates the Roguelands from Rifthold is barely more than a village of tents and refugees now. It was flattened during the war, just like Rifthold. Once we cross the river, it could be weeks until we find someone to help Ella with the pregnancy symptoms that plague her day in and day out. “Is this wise, Ryatt?” Granger asks in

    Last Updated : 2024-05-14
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Leap of Faith

    RyattI slide my sword back into its scabbard down my spine and look around the crystalline main wing of the archives in Veiled Valley. My body thrums from the enormous use of power it took to get here. Getting back to Ella is going to be painful, for sure, but if I’m right in my assumptions, Arthur is going to know how to help us. The little man in question blinks up at me from behind cracked, circular spectacles that are so thick they make his beady eyes look like tea saucers. “Good evening,” I breathe, and it’s an effort. My vision goes slightly fuzzy as I brace myself on the doorframe to the crystal atrium, the lights of Veiled Valley glimmering in the distance. “It’s three in the morning.”“Not where I just came from,” I say. “Do you have whiskey by chance?”But footsteps nearby catch my attention, and within a second, I’m face to face with Westfall. Great. “What are you doing here, Commander?”Westfall looks me up and down, his dark brows arched. Arthur, Veiled Valley’s ti

    Last Updated : 2024-05-14
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Vision of Love

    EllaI wake to bright sunshine streaming through the window next to our bed in the cottage. I squeeze my eyes shut against the onslaught of light and reach over the sun-warmed sheets for Ryatt, but the other side of the bed is still as empty as it was when I fell asleep. For the first time in weeks, I don’t feel like death this morning. Maybe it’s the way the warm sun plays over my skin and the chipper birdsong outside, but I feel… happy. Lively. I feel like getting up and stretching my body instead of burying myself in bed again. I can sense a shift in the air as I dress in a clean outfit of cream colored cotton and try to pull on my boots. Tying the laces is becoming a struggle because of my belly, which is now in the way. I didn’t show for the longest time, and maybe I should have enjoyed that phase of this pregnancy a little longer. Now, it’s over. I grunt with effort as I try to bend down over the hard swell of my stomach. I even sit down and try to pull my leg higher. Finally

    Last Updated : 2024-05-16
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   The Queen of Eastonia

    *Ella*The twisting sensation in my stomach is at a peak as my boots crunch over glass, then something… crackly in a thick, nauseating way that leaves me totally unsettled. I pull my foot back and look down then let out a sigh of relief. Not a bone. Not someone’s mangled arm. Just someone's old cloak, I think. I look over my shoulder at the fog rising from the river that separates Rifthold from the Roguelands. We crossed the river this morning by boat, and it had been a perilous, rocky ride, to say the least. The way my legs tremble as I carefully pick my way through scattered debris has nothing to do with the treacherous journey across the river, however. Ryatt is standing a few paces in front of me talking to Westfall in low tones, Granger at their side. The early morning fog is beginning to lift, showing the devastation of the once great, but evil, lair of Kane and his forces. I truly destroyed everything. I really did. Rifthold is nothing but toppled buildings coated in ash, a

    Last Updated : 2024-05-17
  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Challenge Accepted

    RyattI’m not surprised by the warm welcome we receive. I’m also not surprised by the lush apartment Ella, Granger, and I are led into after a long walk in the unfiltered, sand-filled heat. The luxury of this place–Oasia–doesn’t shock me, nor Granger. No, we don’t expect anything less from Jaxon. He’s always liked the finer things, and finally, after groveling in the trenches his entire life, he has the means to make his wildest dreams come true. The village of Oasia is a sprawling network of white stone that spreads out for over a mile, all of the buildings interconnected by tunnels built beneath the sand. At its center sits an oasis, hence the name, the only true source of water for miles. This spring is where he gets his power. He controls the water in Tarsian, so he is king. This is an empire I’m almost envious of. The sheer wealth of this territory–the mines, the gems, the stones–would be enough to completely rebuild the Roguelands and allow my people to live in opulence. Bu

    Last Updated : 2024-05-18

Latest chapter

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Stepping Aside

    RyanThree Days LaterTarsian is gone. That’s the only way to describe it. The cities, the packs… it’s nothing but endless, blood-stained desert now. Even the sea lapping against the shores of Serpentia is stained a dark red, but I watch it fade as I stand on what’s left of a deck overlooking the ocean. Behind me, the incessant chatter of the injured and healing overwhelm the sound of the waves. A few people walk along the sand–warriors of different ranks and alliances. A young man in tattered Arcane Umbra armor talks to a group of men in armor from the Roguelands, reunited with old friends. The curse is gone. The soldiers the Umbra Mortis turned into his puppets, his monsters, well… so far, they have no memory of the war, which is a blessing. The rest of us remember, though. How could we ever forget what happened here? How are we possibly going to move on? “Ryan?”I turn toward Kenna’s voice as she steps toward me, edging around a group of nurses from Moonrise here to help treat

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Not Quite Enough

    ColeI choke myself awake. Smoke fills my lungs, smothering my senses for precious seconds I quickly realize I don’t have. Muffled voices fill my ears–a few shouts of pain, of surprise. People are calling out for friends and comrades.I’m not in the afterlife. I know that immediately. Pain echoes through my body like waves, driven by the tide of my heartbeat as my body claws back to life, my chest wounds knitting together in real time. But my hand is freezing. I squeeze the fingers tangled in mine and jolt back to reality, rolling with effort to curl my body around Misty. “No,” I breathe into her hair. “Come–Come back.” I can’t feel her anymore. My hand slides up to her neck, my fingers trembling as I feel for her pulse. It’s there, but barely. A weak thump that pauses for several heartbreaking seconds. “H-Help!” I try to shout the word into existence, but my voice cracks painfully, turning into a scream. “HELP!”Figures rush toward us in a blur. The battlefield erupts into view, sh

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   The Ultimte Sacrifice

    MistyI land on my feet in a sea of mist. Silver fog snakes around my ankles, around my glimmering armour made of pure light. For a moment, I think I’m… lost within the aether–in the misty, shadowed undercurrent that separates our realm from the Goddess’s kingdom. But wet grass squishes beneath my boots as I stumble forward, breathless, damn near in pieces. Rain pelts the top of my head as I grope for anything to grab onto before I careen toward the ground. I yelp as my body lands with a thud. Thunder booms, followed by its rolling echo as it bounces toward me. The rain fizzles to a gentle whisper as the mist begins to part. A great stone wall comes into view, and then two voices carry toward me, lifted in alarm. I sit up with great effort, kneeling as I gasp for breath that won’t fill my lungs. I slowly lift my head and see two women–one young and… stunning, with long, blonde hair and ocean blue eyes that seem to glow as she holds my gaze, her lips parted in surprise. The seco

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   The Gate of the Gods

    Cole“Undo it,” I tell him. “Take the curse back and reinstate order.”He purses his lips to a thin line, confused. “But, Cole, I can’t. It’s not something you can just… stop. Think about it. Use that big brain of yours. Do you see this place? Tarsian is so much bigger than the rest of Eastonia. Riches beyond belief lay below the sand. There used to be mines and forges here, mines that pulled silver and moonstone from the ground and forges that turned that into magic. Yet, in our time, the magic is hoarded by the royals–the Allied Kings.” He sweeps his hand toward the battle. “But not anymore. Once I open the gate, it’s over. This world will be no more. You can come with me, Cole. Be a god instead of a king.”“You can’t, Richard. You failed. Misty is safe, with her family. You needed her to do this.”He smiles a bit sadly, but his eyes flare with mischief. “Yes, she is. Such a shame, really. It would have been easier to do it with her help. Quicker, less leg work for me.” He opens the

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Coated in Armor

    Misty“Forgive me, please,” I say to Mom as we walk side by side to the war room, which is really just a massive training area at the very base of the castle. “I know I just got back…hours ago….”“Bring them back for me,” she replies sadly, her hand ghosting down my back. She stops at the staircase leading to the furthest depths of the castle. I turn to face her, and she tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I’m okay here. I’ll keep the kids happy and comfortable.”That’s my mom’s power. Being the leader of this family. She has a knack for bringing everyone together, keeping everyone loved and… whole. I pull her into a hug and squeeze. “I’ll come home again, I promise. I’ll be bringing my mate home with me in time for Solstice, I promise.”Her tears fall into my hair. I reluctantly let her go and turn for the stairs, refusing to look back. I have to look forward–only forward–if I’m going to get through this. Ella’s already in the armory, sorting weapons, her eyes locked on her tas

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   I Choose You

    MistyEverything else is a blur. Aviva’s screamed words. Ella’s rushed explanations. Grandma taking me by the shoulders and leading me away, tucking me in a sitting room somewhere in the depths of the castle. I barely feel her arm on my shoulder. I barely register sitting down in a chair, holding the bloody pages in my lap and watching the firelight dance over the untidy scrawl I know so well. I sit there for what could be hours. Eventually, I’m joined by Sarah and Kenna… and then Aviva. Still, I haven’t read the letter. I’ve read my name, addressed at the top of the first page, over and over again. This is his final goodbye, and I’m not ready to accept that. “What are we supposed to do?” Kenna grinds out. “The reports coming out of Tarsian are–”“I don’t fucking care what they are!” Sarah’s voice pitches with fury. “The father of my sons is fighting for his fucking life right now, Kenna.”“My mate, too!” Kenna shouts. “But we’ve been told to stay, to be prepared to defend Moonrise

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Over Our Heads

    MistyI wait in the hallway for Luke, not believing he’s actually here, in Moonrise, in the same place I currently am. Eventually, he’s escorted around a corner by two of Ella’s royal guards. His eyes go wide when he sees me, his cheeks flushing. “Misty–”“Luke,” I whisper, trying to smile at him, but my heart is skittering out of my chest. He glances at the guards before taking several swift steps ahead of them to reach my side. I pull him across the hallway to a set of windows and benches overlooking the city of Moonrise, now bathed in afternoon light. “You got out,” he says in disbelief. “I heard that you had, but I didn’t believe it–”“Is Georgia safe?” “Yes, she’s with her family. Her father’s fighting, but she and her mother went to Crescent Falls–”“What did Cole have you working on in the castle?” I rush out. “I was supposed to help you with it but never got the chance.”He pulls a small, oval object out of his jacket pocket and hands it to me. “It’s a cryptex. He said it wa

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   Convincing the Queen

    MistyBefore my body even catches up to itself, Mom has her arms around me, pulling me into the tightest hug possible as Sarah’s powers shudder away, falling like ash that covers the ornate red carpet in one of the upper wings of Aunt Ella’s palace in Moonrise. Golden finishes blur my vision. My senses go haywire for a fraction of a second before familiar scents and voices bring me back to reality. I slowly fold my arms around Mom’s back and squeeze. Neither of us says anything for a long, long time. I stand on my tiptoes and rest my chin on her shoulder, closing my eyes and breathing in her sweet, floral scent. She’s been wearing the same perfume for decades. She always smells the same–the smell of my childhood. “Mama,” I whisper into her strawberry scented hair. She trembles with silent sobs, cupping the back of my head as she pulls away. Her big, dark blue eyes–eyes she shares with Sydney and Ryan–sweep over my face, over the new lines of exhaustion and heartbreak. I feel a p

  • The Alpha King's Breeder   No Girls Allowed

    MistyIt’s morning. Early morning–still too early for the sun to breach the mountains and send light spilling over the village of Silverhide. I roll over on the couch, wrapped in a thick blanket, and stare at the dying embers in the stone fireplace across the room. I haven’t slept. Pain echoes through my body, settling deep in my bones. It’s not a sharp, bright pain. It’s the kind that aches and throbs–a dull thrum of noise that makes it impossible to focus, let alone close my eyes and rest. I feel empty. Empty, and alone. ‘Why did you do this to me?’ I ask through the sliver of bond I still share with Cole… I hope. I hung on so tight when he rejected me, refusing to let him do it. But his voice is no longer in my head. My eyes are dry and rimmed red as I watch the embers flicker like stars against a sea of darkness. I have no tears left to cry. I used them up. They’re gone. Ryan and Aviva’s bedroom door opens nearby, a shadowed figure ducking as Ryan steps out of his room and

Scan code to read on App
DMCA.com Protection Status