Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 51 Could Not Get Enough of Her

“Oh, oh, and that wildebeest, his horns were the coolest….” she went on, telling me another of her

adventures.

“You’re not afraid of animals at all?”

“No, not really. Animals aren’t like people. They can in- stinctively tell who is good and who is not. As

long as they know we are good, they will be good to us.”

I thought it was an interesting take, but I didn’t say any- thing more about it at the moment. I had another

question for her.

“And what are you doing out here in the woods all alone?” I asked her, imagining she’d been out hunting

some majestic animal.

Tapping her chin, she said, “Um, have you heard of the Sun Blossom flower?”

I felt my eyes widening, but I said nothing, so she contin- ued.

“You know, the flower that grows on the side of the mountains. I’ve heard they’re beautiful and smell

wonderful. That’s why I came. My friend was leading me there….”

“Your friend?” Now, I was confused and glanced around. Had I missed someone? A threat?

She giggled and said, “Yes, my new friend. A little white pony.”

I gasped in relief and held back a laugh. Of course, she’d been chasing an animal. “Those flowers,

they’re not easy to get,” I said to her.

The girl nodded. “My mother also said it was a fool’s er- rand, but I love flowers. Don’t you?”

I shrugged and dropped my eyes. I didn’t really care that much for flowers, personally.

But clearly, they meant a lot to her.

The next day, while she was out in the woods doing some- thing, I found a way to get myself out of the

makeshift bed and headed back to the place where I’d fallen down the side of the cliff.

I knew I had seen some of the flowers she wanted as I’d been tumbling, and while I was nervous to go

back there in case my father’s troops were looking for me, I needed to get her a flower.

It took me a while to climb back up the way I’d come, but eventually, I found one and brought it back to

her.

It had taken a toll on me. I’d re–injured myself quite a bit going through all of that trouble, but when I

heard her gasp- ing with delight, I knew it had been worth it.

This girl was special. She was the only one that had been kind to me, and I wanted to repay that

kindness.

The look on her face when she turned around and saw me standing there with the flower in my hand was

priceless. I would never forget it.

“You’re a true friend,” she said, sniffing the flower.

I felt myself recoil and instantly said, “I’m not your friend. I don’t need friends.”

I saw the pain in her eyes, but she didn’t argue with me. Instead, she took the bracelet off of her arm.

“Here. This will help you. And if you don’t want people to be your friends, at least you can have animals

to be your friends.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“My father made this for me when I was a little girl. It has a special scent to make the animals calm so

they trust the wear- er. I don’t really need it anymore since the animals and I are friends, but it may help

you.”

At that moment, a snake slithered over out of the forest, as if she had called it. The green reptile

wrapped itself around her leg, and she bent down to pat its head, laughing. I wanted to take a step back,

not because I was afraid of the snake but because I was afraid I might hurt it.

“You can pet him,” she said. “He won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I’d already had enough of how people felt before they died, I really didn’t

need to pile on animals‘ feelings.

She giggled again, and the snake left her and came over to me, brushing against my boot and standing

up a bit, as if to say that he wanted me to pet him, and before I knew it, it was already rubbing its head

against my palm.

My breath caught in my throat.

Slowly, I bent down and stroked his head with my hand. He hissed in delight and wound his way around

my leg.

“He likes you!” the girl said. “Now, you have two friends. Whether you like it or not.” She winked at me,

and the snake continued to beg me to pet it, which I did.

Later that night, back in the cave, I could tell her mood was down a little from before. “What’s wrong?” I

asked her, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice as I asked.

“Oh, uh… I guess it’s just that I miss my mom,” she told me.

I nodded. I understood what that was like, although it was a feeling from long ago.

“Are you close to your mom?” she asked me.

“No.” That was all she needed to know.

“That’s too bad. I love my mom so much. When I was younger, she used to sing me a song when I had

bad dreams. Would you like to hear it?”

I didn’t answer her, only looked down at the bracelet she had given me. With no response, she took that

as a yes, and she began to sing.

The bracelet….

9

I’d lost it. Would the girl be mad if she found out?

My head began to grow fuzzy again, but the sound of the girl singing stayed with me as I began to twirl

through time and space again. Then, the young girl’s voice melded with an- other voice, a more familiar

one.

I was back in my room, lying on my bed. The Moonlit Crystal was next to me, but I wasn’t alone.

Ciana was there, sitting next to me, singing that same song from the cave. Of course, she was the girl.

The bracelet had already taught me that. But seeing her now, after such a dream, brought so much

emotion flooding through me.

She had been kind to me when no one else was. She hadn’

t feared me. She’d called me her friend.

My beautiful, intelligent, funny and kind… Ciana.

I sat up abruptly, and her eyes widened. Her lips parted to say something to me, but before she could

speak, I pressed my lips to hers, my hand tangling in her hair as I devoured her mouth.

All of those emotions came bubbling through, and I sim- ply could not get enough of her.

*Ciana*

Theo was kissing me again!

The moment his lips touched mine, I felt a wave of elec- tricity float over my skin and then through my

body. I almost forgot to squirm away from him. His lips were quivering and cold, but his breath was

gentle. It was so different from the other kisses we shared before…

What was I even thinking of comparing our past kisses?! | didn’t even think I should count them as real

kisses!

I tried to squirm away from him, although honestly… not because what he was doing to me didn’t feel

good.

However, something was wrong. I mean, he wouldn’t kiss me just because he wanted to, would he? I

needed to get free so that I could find out what was going on.

“Your Highness… Prince Theo?” I asked, once my mouth was no longer pressed against his. “What’s

happening? Are you okay?” I probably should have shouted at him for taking liberties with me once

again, but I didn’t, especially when I saw his eyes were only half–open, I wondered if this had hap- pened

in his sleep.

In response to my questions, he spewed out a string of in- formation that I did not understand. I only

caught a few words. “Luther… Moonlit Crystal backfired.”

“What?” I was confused. I tried to keep him upright. He was starting to fall back onto the bed, so I

wrapped my arms around him to steady him.

“Luther… Ortiz pack. Their sacred artifact from the Moon Goddess….” I wasn’t sure what he was talking

about, but his hand came up to grip my collar tightly as he tried to explain it to me.

“All right, all right,” I said, cradling him as his eyes rolled back into his head. “I’ll get Jake, and we’ll figure

it out.”

“Alpha?” Jake’s voice behind me startled me slightly.

“Beta Jake, you’re back!”

“How’s Alpha doing?”

“I think he’s out again.” I shook my head. “Do you think there’s something going on with him?”

Jake’s brow was furrowed. “I don’t know, but it seems like he’s getting weaker and weaker. Did he say

anything?”

“Yes. He said… Luther, Moon Goddess artifact and Moonlit Crystal backfire. He also mentioned… Ortiz

pack.” What if the crystal had had a different effect on him than it had on the rest of us, and he was going

to continue to suffer the ramifi- cations of using it?

“Shit!” Jake cursed under his breath.

I took a moment to digest the situation. It was clear to me that Luther didn’t like Theo. They were

enemies. If the crystal belonged to the Ortiz pack, maybe Luther had manipulated it somehow, and now

Prince Theo would suffer the conse- quences of it.

“If the Moonlit Crystal is the artifact of the Ortiz pack, does that mean that we will have to rely on

someone from that pack to help us break whatever spell has been cast on the prince?” I had a feeling

there wasn’t much I could do to get Luther to help us with this. “Then is there anyone else from that pack

we can reach out to?”

Jake shook his head slowly, “The Ortiz pack was wiped out by King Sebastian many years ago…”

My eyes widened. No wonder Luther hated the royal court so much.

“So, there is no one else who knows the crystal? There is no other way other than begging Luther?”

The reality was, even if we did, I doubted Luther would do us a favor. If I understood the situation

correctly, this was ex- actly what he wanted to happen anyway.

Jake sighed, but it was as if he wanted to say something and swallowed it down.

“You thought of something? What is it?” I urged him. I could hear the anxiousness in my own voice.

He lifted his gaze to look at me, but he hesitated.

I pressed my lips tight. Wasn’t Jake the one who said I could be trusted? Why was he acting like this

now, holding back crucial information from me while all I wanted to do was help Theo?

“Beta Jake, I really meant no harm, I just want to help…”

“No, not that!” he quickly explained, as if he was worried that I misunderstood his intentions. “Ciana, I

trust you. It’s just that… whatever, even if Alpha doesn’t like it, I think it’s fine.”

He took in a breath and let it out. After a long pause, he slowly said. “There is one other survivor of the

Ortiz pack, right here in the castle-”

My eyes widened and I interrupted him. “Then what are we waiting for?”

“Because I’m not sure she’ll be any more willing to help Al- pha than Luther.”