Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 344

Chapter 3 Unwanted Attention

Chapter 3: Unwanted Attention

Regardless of how shocked I was, I realized that I needed to say something, or do something beforeI was severely pun ished for falling into the prince.

Based on the royals’ reputation, it probably didn't matter that it was Sophia's fault. I'd messed up,and that was it.

“Miss Black, I had thought that you were better than that. Now, as punishment for your unrulybehavior..." As expected, it certainly didn't matter to the unforgiving Beta.

I could sense danger in Xavier's tone, but it was even more frightening that he actually knew who Iwas.

I'd assumed that Xavier, being the Beta of the Alpha King, wasn't someone who could easily befooled. But I hadn't ex pected him to have already learned everything about us.

I heard Sophia's voice as she snickered behind me. “Serves her right.”

My heart sank even more. For the first time in a long time, I started to panic. All I could do was praythat I hadn't brought disaster to my pack.

But before my sentence was announced, I heard a calm yet authoritative voice say, “All is well. Noneed to overreact, Beta Xavier.”

“Thank goodness you're unharmed, Prince Warren!”

“Prince... Warren?” I shouldn't have spoken aloud when I

was still standing right next to him, but he acknowledged my

question with a slight nod.

"I believe the ground is a bit uneven here.” He looked at me. “Are you all right?”

I finally got the chance to fully appreciate how handsome he was, and my heart stopped beating forjust a moment.

My voice was trapped somewhere in the back of my throat, but I managed to nod and then forcedmyself to say, “Yes, Your Highness. Thank you, and I apologize.”

“No need.” The prince had a faint smile on his face. Then he turned to Beta Xavier. “Carry on.”

Beta Xavier bowed deeply. “Yes, Your Highness.”

The crowd of girls continued along the path, and I was swept up in it. I reminded myself to paybetter attention and turned to face the front, while I was still pondering the entire incident.

Prince Warren! Thank the Goddess he wasn't the cruel Prince Theo! I almost felt happy tears beganto form in the corners of my eyes.

But then, how could the enchanting young man I'd met long ago be a prince? It was in a forest sofar away from the capital... I couldn't have possibly encountered a royal there, could 1?

However... what if there was the slightest chance that it really was him? Then what should I do?Should I approach him and replace a chance to explain myself, or should I just pretend that nothinghad ever happened between us?

“Prince Warren is such an incredibly handsome man. And he seems to be very kind!" Brookwhispered. “You're lucky. Imagine if that had been Prince Theo you'd bumped into!”

“I can't,” I admitted. Yes, I was lucky this time. But if I made another mistake, it could be the end ofmy journey in the most permanent way possible.

I cast a glance toward Sophia and saw her give me a scornful sneer. “Just wait. Your luck will runout,” she uttered under her breath.

I clenched my fists, but I knew I couldn't afford to take any action at that moment.

We headed through another door into a separate wing of the palace, and I pushed all of my angertoward Sophia and my unanswered questions about Prince Warren to the back of my mind, so Icould concentrate on what I needed to do.

The announcement had said that we'd be there for three years, collect our riches, and then return toour families... but had a feeling the real situation would be much more danger ous.

This part of the palace was just as luxurious as the rest, with priceless artwork in gold frames liningthe walls above the black marble floors. Despite its beauty, I managed to keep my eyes straightahead so I wouldn't be distracted again.

We came to a stop in front of a group of rooms with thick mahogany doors. A man dressed in auniform similar to Xavier's was waiting for us.

He looked much younger, with broader shoulders and a mop of curly black hair atop his head. Hewas handsome in an

unassuming sort of way, and his eyes were scrutinizing but not unkind.

“Ladies, you have arrived!” Xavier said with a flourish of his arm. A shout arose from the crowd asgiggles and clap ping filled my ears. I forced a smile onto my lips so I wouldn't stand out in thecrowd.

This was where Prince Theo lived? It felt different from the rest of the palace. I couldn't quite put myfinger on the reason why.

We waited for the door to be opened, but the other man stopped us. “Actually, Prince Theo isn'tavailable.”

Beta Xavier's smile faded. “What's this now, Beta Jake? II was told-"

“You heard me, sir. I've been asked to look after the young ladies until the prince is ready. Hewanted me to tell you he'd get back to the king with his thoughts later.”

"But-" Xavier began.

Beta Jake cut him off with a harsh whisper. “You wouldn't want to disobey His Highness’ order,would you, sir?”

Although reluctant, Xavier cleared his throat. “Very well,” he said, “I shall report to the king that it isall in your hands now... Beta.” He said the last word like it was a curse. Then, he cut between us,heading back down the hall the way we'd come.

Interesting.

Beta Xavier served the king, and that should've made him

the most powerful Beta in the entire country... but it seemed that Beta Jake had easily defied him.The rumor must be true. Prince Theo was favored by the king, and that was why his Beta was able tooverrule someone of higher rank.

“Hello, ladies,” Beta Jake said. His tone was much less for mal, almost as if he wasn't trying to foolus. “It's a pleasure to see all of you. Prince Theo is quite busy with other tasks at the moment, but Iassure you that you will be meeting him short ly.”

The deeper into the prince's quarters we went, the stranger I felt. Finally, I figured out the reason.People.

Or, to be more precise, a lack of people.

It was eerily quiet in this wing of the palace, because oth er than Jake, I didn't see anyone else.Unlike the rest of the palace, where guards and servants were available every few steps, there wasn'tanyone else here.

Everything here just seemed so... lifeless.

Eventually, Beta Jake led us outside into an open area fac ing a large door that seemed to lead to anoffice. Then he di vided us into groups of eight, and we waited.

As time went by, the gentle morning sun started to burn even brighter, beating down on us as westood in line. After a while, the back of my dress was soaking wet. Other girls were in no bettershape than me, yet oddly, no one complained, not

even Sophia.

Perhaps everyone was trying their best to make a good first impression on the man they werecompeting over.

How long had it been? Two hours, or maybe three?

I couldn't believe this was how Prince Theo treated his prospective Luna on the very first day.

Not that I would ever want to be selected by him, I just couldn't understand why this was necessary.Why did he have to be mean to a group of girls for no reason whatsoever?

To my surprise, Beta Jake stood in the hot sun with us, and there was not a hint of resentment on hisface.

During this time, my mind went back to Prince Warren a few times, and I had to work hard to pressdown the upcurl of my lips. That helped a lot as we waited.

Finally, after what seemed like centuries, Jake's expres sion changed slightly. I figured he wascommunicating with someone using the mind-link.

“Thank you for your patience,” he said simply. “Now, group one, please follow me.”

Thank the Goddess we were finally moving this along!

Eight nervous ladies followed the Beta through the door, and in less than two minutes, they wereback out and dis missed.

The same thing happened with the second group.

That was way faster than I'd thought, but it made me even

WwW

oor het

more confused. What exactly did Prince Theo want from us then?

"Group five, please follow me.” Jake instructed flatly. That was my group.

I took a deep breath, focused on my steps, and heard the door click closed behind us.

There he was.

Prince Theo was sitting behind a large desk with his head dipped down, a pen in one hand, andsome files in another. He went about his work, not paying the eight of us any atten tion.

His hair was a bit darker than his brother's. I couldn't see his entire face, and his thick eyelashesblocked most of his eyes. It was difficult to tell at this angle, but it seemed that he was as good-looking as Prince Warren.

Beta Jake started introducing us one by one to the prince, and I watched in shock as he continuedto write, not even sparing us a single glance

Halfway through, his Beta paused and said helplessly, “Al pha... don’t you think you might at leasttake a look at them?”

“No need to.”

Those were the first words I'd heard from Prince Theo, and they sounded cold and distant. It didn'tmatter that his voice was actually deep and soothing; his tone had made it very clear that he had nointerest in interacting with any of us.

“You continue,” he said, giving his command to his Beta.

Jake sighed. “All right.” Then, as his Alpha instructed him, he continued to announce our names.“This is Miss Dyan Emstream from Zabra pack.” He point ed to the girl next to me, and then to me.“Lastly, this is Miss Ciana Black of Alvar pack.”

As I let out a breath, thinking that it was finally over, the prince raised his head and looked in mydirection.