Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 124: The Scouting Party

With each passing day, more refugees arrived.

Every morning, I went to the kitchens in the pack house and had them cook up as much food as they could. I got

some volunteers together and we'd all bring the food out to the refugee camp.

The shelters were up and they housed a lot of them.

For some of the refugees who had been there longest, we'd managed to find housing within the village, and pack

house. But we were completely packed to the seams and about ready to burst.

Scarlett and Giselle helped me hand out new clothes and supplies.

We even had a bathing station set up for them. It wasn't the most glamorous setup and there was usually a long

line at the bathing station, but no one complained.

I expected them to start complaining and getting antsy after a few days.

Apparently, the alternative of returning to the capital was a lot worse.

From the moment I woke up to the time I lay down at night, I was on my feet helping the refugees.

The ones who had been around for a while knew the drill.

But with more arriving every day, I had to get them checked in. It was important to keep a constant list of who was

coming in so we could track them down as needed.

The infirmary was constantly packed with kids who were getting into scuffles and scraping their knees.

Fortunately, no one was fighting or bickering over supplies. They seemed to understand that we were doing our

best.

It didn't matter. Every day, our resources were getting stretched thinner and thinner.

I had sent word to our allies for help and supplies, but no one had come yet.

“I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up," Miriam said, stirring a giant pot of chili on the stove.

I sat in the kitchen, rubbing my feet and eating a snack.

It wasn't fair to ask the village members to cut back on their food and supplies to help the refugees, but most of

them had been happy to give up some of what they were used to in order to spread the wealth.

“Our allies should be here soon," I muttered.

“Well, hopefully, they will bring enough to restock us as well. Soon, we will need the same aid as our refugees." She

sniffed and got back to work.

I shook my head, but it wasn't like she was wrong. We couldn't keep it up forever.

“Do you need anything else from me?" I asked, standing up.

“No. I'll let you know when the chili is ready." Miriam waved her spoon at me.

I found Giselle and Scarlett in the refugee camp. They were helping pass out the most recent supplies we'd

managed to scrounge up.

“How many refugees have come in today?" I asked.

“Eliza, we've been going at this for weeks," Giselle said. “We can't keep going like this."

“I know. I promise we'll get relief soon. Can you please tell me how many refugees came in today?"

Giselle sighed and pulled out the clipboard. “We had ten more come in today."

“That's more than yesterday!" I cried.

Giselle nodded somberly. “It seems like more and more are coming every day."

“I'll go over our supplies and reorganize rations for the larger groups coming in." I handed the clipboard back.

I knew that even if I reorganized the rations, it still wouldn't make up for the larger numbers of refugees coming in.

Sighing, I headed back to the mansion.

“Luna Eliza! Luna!"

I turned around as a pack member ran toward me.

“What is it?"

“A big group of people is coming." She pointed past the refugee camp.

With each passing day, more refugees arrived.

Every morning, I went to the kitchens in the pack house and had them cook up as much food as they could. I got

some volunteers together and we'd all bring the food out to the refugee camp.

My heart sank.

More refugees? We could barely support the ones that we had....

I followed her out to the road and saw a group of shifters coming toward us. They were all carrying large packs and

there were carts covered in crates.

I smiled, and all the weight lifted from my shoulders and chest. “Those aren't refugees!"

I ran down the road to greet our allies. They had crates and crates of supplies.

“Luna Eliza?" the woman at the head of the group asked.

“Yes."

“I'm Alexa, an envoy from Pomeni pack."

“And I'm Gerard from Saboreef."

“Welcome, welcome, both of you." I shook their hands and motioned toward the refugee camp.

“It looks like you've got a good camp set up," Alexa said.

“It is passable, but we are running low on supplies. My volunteers are waiting to help you distribute it."

They went on ahead with several Pomeni and Saboreef members bringing in more crates of supplies behind them.

Another pack envoy brought up the rear with her own supply caravan.

“I'm Jennifer of Alvar pack. My Alpha and Luna send their greetings."

“Thank you for coming. We have many shifters here who need aid."

“And we are here to help."

She joined the others, and supplies started getting passed out.

I got back to the camp and sat down, watching as the mood in the refugee camp blossomed again. My volunteers

all sighed and looked so relaxed and relieved.

Our ally packs had brought more than enough supplies to get us through months with refugees, even if twenty

came every day.

Relief coursed through me.

“Gerard, I was hoping to get some more shelters erected. The ones we have are getting a little packed. Is that

something you can organize?" I asked him.

“Certainly, Luna."

“I'd like another bathing station to be set up. The lines at the one we have are getting really long," I said to Alexa.

“I'm on it."

Soon, the refugee camp was bustling with busy volunteers again. They brought fresh clothes, more food and drinks,

shelters, blankets, cots and bedrolls, shampoos, toothbrushes and toothpaste, other toiletries, and even propane

stoves for cooking.

That meant the refugees could start fending for themselves with food, and Miriam and the cooks wouldn't be so

taxed with all the cooking.

Despite the extra help, we had a long way to go before the refugees would be settled. They couldn't all stay in the

village.

After distributing most of the supplies, Alexa, Gerard, and Jennifer met with me and Miriam in the pack house. We'd

found rooms for them in the pack house, a thanks for their assistance.

“Eliza, you've done an amazing job here, but you know that the refugees can't stay," Alexa said.

“I do. Midnight Sun is too small to accommodate them all."

“We need to think about relocating many of them. It will take the strain off of you and it will prevent us from

needing to bring more aid. It was a long journey. We thought we might get here too late," Gerard said.

I nodded. “What do you want to do? Some of them can stay here but… are any of your packs willing to take on

some refugees?"

Jennifer smiled. “That's one of the reasons we are here. Tomorrow, I will go around and take a poll to see which

refugees want to go to which packs. Families will want to stay together, I'm sure."

“That's a good idea. We can assess who wants to go where and then determine if those packs can accept the

refugees that want to go." Gerard nodded.

It was a plan.

Jennifer made good on her word. It didn't take long for her to come up with lists of refugees that wanted to go to

each of the other packs.

Only a handful chose to stay in Midnight Sun. For that, I was grateful. It would take us months to recover after the

deficit from the refugees.

It took a few days for the envoys to organize the refugees going with them but one by one, they left again with

many of the refugees in tow.

The camp was almost empty by the time they left, and I immediately sent out crews to start cleaning it up.

Giselle and Scarlett went with me to address the refugees who had chosen to stay with us. I had them gather in the

gardens behind the pack house.

“Welcome to Midnight Sun. We are happy to accept you as members of our pack."

“Thank you, Luna Eliza," they chorused.

I nodded and motioned to Giselle. “Giselle has come up with permanent housing for you. Please see her to get your

assigned dwellings. Scarlett is working to get jobs for you so that you can officially become part of our community."

They bowed their heads to me again. I left Giselle and Scarlett with the newest pack members to get them settled

and I went to my room for a nap.

I'd been running myself ragged for weeks. The moment I lay down on the bed, my stomach and heart twinged.

I immediately thought of Jared and looped my arms around myself.

He hadn't sent word at all about his scouting party or their progress. When he left, he told me he'd only be gone for

a few days. It had been weeks....

Things were starting to calm down now that the refugee camp was gone. One of the jobs I'd had Scarlett give our

new pack members was to draw up a plan for the new elementary school.

Now that renovations were back on track, I wanted to make sure that the entire village was updated when Jared

returned, including the school he'd envisioned.

“This is a great floor plan. Are you sure you weren't an architect before?" I asked, reviewing the blueprints.

“I've always been creative, but I've never designed a whole school," she said.

I grinned. “Well, it came out great. I'll get going to schedule builders."

“I really can't wait to see my own plan once it is built."

“Jared will be really pleased to see this, too. It has been his dream to have an elementary school for the kids of

Midnight Sun. I'm sure he'll love this."

“Thank you. I'd really like to impress my new Alpha. I want to show him that I belong here."

“You won't need to impress him too much. He'll just be happy that the school is ready."

“Eliza, the scouting party is back." Miriam popped her head into the study.

“Oh!" I dropped the plans on the desk and ran outside.

They hadn't sent a messenger ahead or any word that they were coming back. That was unusual. It didn't matter. I

couldn't wait to see Jared and hear about the capital.

The scouting party was in the front of the pack house. They looked tired and hungry, overworked.

There were only a handful of them with a few refugees. I walked through them, making eye contact with each one.

There was something somber and dark in their eyes.