Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 65: Nothing At All

*Ciana*

The air was chilly, more so than I had planned for. It was much warmer during the day, so I did not

expect the temperature to drop so dramatically at night.

I had left my room about an hour ago to walk out here. My mind had been on the possibility of whether

or not Theo would be here to meet me, so I hadn't even thought about the chance that it would be cold.

Now, I was sitting on the steps of the pavilion, staring back at the palace, waiting.

I'd been sitting here waiting for a really long time now, and every intelligent part of my brain was telling

me that I needed to get up and leave.

Not only was it cold outside, I was beginning to shiver. My nose was starting to feel a little stuffy, and I

could feel the urge to sneeze.

What in the world was I doing?

I didn't have an answer for that. I knew that this was stupid. If he was going to come, he would've been

here a long time ago.

Yet again, I found myself questioning what in the world I had been thinking. If Prince Theo hadn't made

it clear earlier that he didn't care about me, this should've been a really big clue. But my bottom

continued to stay firmly planted to the step I'd been sitting on for more than three hours because I was

a fool.

A familiar sound caught my attention, and I couldn't help the smile that came to my face even though it

was followed by a sneeze. The slithering got closer, and when Perceval wrapped himself around my

shoulders, I felt a bit warmer.

Petting his head, I said, "Hello there, friend." His forked tongue darted out of his mouth, and he licked

me. "It's nice to see you again."

He coiled himself around my arm and rested his head on my shoulder. It didn't make me too much

warmer since he was a reptile, but it was nice of him to try.

"Well, at least I can count on you, my little friend." I rested my head gently on top of his.

Perceval was just further proof to me that animals were often better than people.

"It's not like I would've known what to say to him anyway," I said to the snake. "I mean, what was I

going to do? Beg him to let me stay? He'd made himself pretty clear earlier when he told me to go. And

even if he does, I wouldn't stay anyway. I need to go home..."

Of course, the snake said nothing in response. It was probably just as well. What could he possibly

say?

I didn't even know what I wanted from all this, other than... seeing him one more time, and to talk to

him.

If what Sophia told me was true, why did he act so strangely? Why did everything have to be so

complicated? Why wouldn't he just be honest with me?

Now that I thought about it, I figured that I really just wanted to have a real conversation with him one

more time.

Whether he was doing okay? Had he reconciled with his mother? Was everything with the berry

working?

How did he feel about me? Would he treat me like a friend?

Would he miss me while I was gone...

Another chill went down my spine as a cold breeze blew past me. I sneezed again and my eyes

focused on the palace in the distance.

As the night deepened, I was losing hope by the minute. It was pretty stupid of me to sit out here in the

cold pining over someone who might not want to have anything to do with me, wasn't it?

Perceval slithered down from my shoulder and wrapped himself around my legs. I wasn't sure if he was

trying to guide me to get up or if he was saying I shouldn't go just yet.

Just then, I felt a warm fabric slip over my shoulders.

Startled, I looked up into a pair of familiar dark eyes.

"Warren?"

He smiled and sat down next to me on the step. "I thought I might find you here."

He had placed his suit jacket over my shoulders, which I appreciated. I was much warmer now, but I

was still confused.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him.

"What are YOU doing out here?" he asked me back.

I didn't answer. What could I say? He had seen how Theo treated me while we were in the garden. He

probably would be amazed by my silliness.

Getting no response from me, he explained how he got here. "I had gone to your room to look for you

but you weren't there. I tried to figure out where you might've gone, and Brook said that you might be

outside. I guessed if that was the case, then you had to have gone out to the zoo to say goodbye to all

of your furry friends."

I couldn't help but smile at him. He knew me so well. Though I hadn't gone over there to say goodbye

to the other animals, I had thought about doing so and intended to do that before I left.

But I had come here instead, like a fool.

"Then how did you end up here?" I asked him.

"You weren't in the zoo either, and I noticed that there was one animal missing." He shrugged, and a

small smile pulled up the corners of his mouth. "The python normally guards this pavilion, and I thought

you might have come here to bid him a farewell. And here you are." He seemed proud of himself for

figuring out the mystery, and I thought he was pretty clever, too.

But that wasn't really why I was here, and I didn't want to lie to the wonderful man in front of me. I

thought about everything Sophia had said earlier, about how Warren was so kind and

thoughtful. He wasn't cold and dismissive of others the way that... some other people were.

Sighing, I looked down at the ground. Should I just tell Warren the truth? But, eventually I decided to

keep that to myself.

"It's good to see you here..." I whispered.

"It's getting late, let's go back."

I shook my head. I didn't even understand why.

Warren waited for a moment and cleared his throat. "I don't think he's coming, Ciana."

My eyes widened, and I felt my cheeks heat up, despite the fact that we were sitting outside in the cold.

"Wh-what?" I asked, trying to seem as innocent as possible.

"I mean, I assume that you are waiting for Theo or else you wouldn't be sitting here in the cold,

sneezing. You'd probably say goodbye to Perceval quickly and rush back inside to your warm bed."

I didn't know what to say. Clearly, he understood that I wasn't just here just to pet the snake.

"So... you know I am here to see him, then?"

Warren nodded, that crooked grin still on his face. "Yes, but when I walked past his bedroom on the

way out here, his lights were out. So I figured he was either out here with you or fast asleep, and since

I don't see him anywhere, I'm guessing he went to bed."

I swallowed hard, the bitterness inside of me overwhelming. I didn't know if I should laugh at myself or

cry aloud. That was how much he cared about me, then? He couldn't even bring himself to walk out

here just to see what I had to say to him?

So much for Sophia's theory that Theo actually liked me.

But then, that really shouldn't have been a surprise at all because it was quite clear to me at the

moment that Prince

Theo didn't actually care about anyone other than himself.

Despite how he must feel at knowing that I had been waiting for his brother, Warren didn't shout at me

for choosing his brother instead of him. Instead, he simply put his arm around me and pulled me to his

shoulder.

Sighing, I dropped my head against his shoulder, needing his support as a friend.

He held me there in the comfort of his arms for a long moment before he said, "I'm sorry, Ciana. I wish

that I could explain my brother to you, but I can't. I know he's hurt your feelings, and I' m very sorry

about that."

"No, it's not your fault. Not at all," I assured him, looking up at him. "And I'm sorry for anything I may

have done to hurt you."

He scoffed, but I could hear the pain in his voice. "I think... maybe you were right earlier, when you said

you were going to leave. Maybe you need a break from all of this."

I was surprised to hear him say that because I thought he'd try to convince me to stay there and be the

woman he tried to have an heir with. But perhaps he didn't want to play second fiddle to anyone, even

his brother.

He respected my choise. Warmtn flowed through my heart.

How lucky I was to have met such a gentle and kind soul?

"I think that's probably for the best," I replied. The urge to cry bubbled up inside of me, but I swallowed

it down.

"Why don't you let me walk you back to the palace?" he suggested. "You've had a long day."

I silently nodded. He stood and pulled me to my feet, and I kept his jacket wrapped around me as I

started back toward the lights of the palace in the distance. Perceval slithered along in front of us,

leading the way.

My heart was heavy in my chest, and as every step took me further away from the place where Theo

had first kissed me, where I'd done everything I could to save his life, I felt the tears pool behind my

eyes.

I couldn't help but turn around and look back over my shoulder at the pavilion. It looked so beautiful

with the moonlight streaming down on it. The moonbeams caught the glass in the greenhouse and

made the top of the building twinkle.

Just then, I caught a strange form in the shadows of the forest on the other side of the pavilion.

'I stopped in my tracks, turning fully around and staring into the blackness.

"What is it?" Warren asked me, his voice laced with alarm.

Whatever I'd seen, it must've disappeared because I didn't see anything now.

Perhaps my eyes were tricking me.

"Nothing. I didn't see anything at all."