Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 368

Chapter 26 Do Not Test Me Again

“My... room?” I was immediately wary.

“Pack up, and we need to get going.”

I let out a breath of relief....

What was I worried about? Theo had no interest in me as a woman. He only wanted my blood.However, his words still made my heart catch in my throat. By going, he meant back to the palace,of course. He was taking me back. Despite the fact that I didn't want to marry him, and he mostcertainly didn't want to marry me, he was going to drag me back to the castle-when I was trying toget back to my pack lands where I could check on my people.

“Lead the way, Ciana.” He gestured toward the stairs.

I said nothing, only climbed the stairs as quickly as I could.

The room I'd shared with Warren was unlocked. The moment I walked in, I missed him already. I'dhad such a heart-felt discussion with him not long ago, and I'd anticipated a nice journey with him,where we could get to know one another even better.

Now, all of that was ruined, thanks to Prince Theo.

But there was one thing I was right about. Theo wouldn't harm me. It had been proven again andagain. As long as he hadn't gotten his dreamberry, he would have to keep me intact.

With that, I felt a little more secure about my own life and was willing to push the boundaries if I feltthe need to.

Sulking, I went over to the dresser and began shoving items into my bag, trying not to mutter undermy breath. The window was open, and a breeze wafted in, making the hair on my arms stand onend. I needed to get my emotions under control.

Raising my eyes, I looked at Theo, who was standing behind me, an irritated look on his face as heglared at the bed.

"Did that mattress do something to offend you, Your Highness? Or is that scowl just a permanentfixture on your face?” I had to let my negative emotions out somehow, right?

He lifted his eyes and met my gaze in the mirror, a frown on his face.

I couldn't help but smirk as I turned around, my bag packed. “What? You don't like it when peopleare honest with you, do you? You want everyone to walk around telling you how lovely it is for youto treat them so terribly?”

The urge to continue speaking was overridden by his dangerous demeanor.

“I was just thinking about how brazen you and my brother are, sharing a bed when you were mypersonal attendant and meant to be part of my court.” He folded his arms and looked down at me,judging me, as if he were the most virtuous person in the world. “I know you prefer his company tomine, but I had no idea it had gotten this... heated.”

What was he talking about? Fury ran through me. “Why don't you just go ahead and accuse me ofbeing a whore, Your Highness? Is that word too simplistic for you?"

He only stared at me. His lips pressed tightly together.

“If you must know,” I began, placing my hands on my hips, “I was quite ill by the time we arrivedhere, no thanks to you and the lovely accommodations of your dungeon. You might want to get anexterminator in there, by the way. At any rate, your brother was kind enough to nurse me back tohealth.”

"Sick?" He repeated the word in such a way that I couldn't tell if he didn’t believe it had happenedor if he was actually slightly concerned.

I might've found the latter endearing if I wasn't fully aware that there was only one thing the princewanted with me.

“That's right,” I told him. “No food or water for days, a long walk over rough terrain, and a rainstorm.Turns out, I'm human after all.” I cocked my head to the side and made a face at him, and I thoughtI saw a flicker of guilt cross his face as he dropped his eyes slightly.

But then they were right back even with mine. “Sorry if I didn't have a whole lot of empathy for thewoman who tried to stab me in my own garden and ran away with my brother.”

"Oh? Is that what you think happened? Seriously?” All I could do was shake my head at him. “It'sone thing for you to continue to accuse me of trying to kill you, but you know, it's just plain wrongfor you to think that your brother would sabotage your efforts in replaceing a wife!”

“Is it? Are we talking about the same man who snuck down into my dungeon and released aprisoner of mine? Yes, he seems quite loyal.” He took a step closer to me so that only about threefeet were between us now.

It made my heart flutter in my chest, partially because I was growing more and more scared of himby the moment, but I also felt a tingling sensation deep in my gut, one I seemed to only feel whenPrince Theo was around.

“Prince Warren was trying to help me because he is a kind man. You could learn a thing or two fromhim!” I lifted my hand and pointed at him, but when his eyes focused on my finger, I immediatelydropped it.

“One thing you should know.” He studied my face like he couldn't figure out how I'd managed tolive this long without pissing off the wrong person. “No one talks to me the way that you do, Ciana-no one."

“Well,” I said, folding my arms and looking down at the faded blue carpet between my feet.“Maybe... other people should.” Since I felt like my life wouldn't be taken from me at that moment,it made me say things I would ordinarily keep to myself.

He stepped forward, his gloved hand taking hold of my chin and forcing me to look him in the eyes.He didn't have to use much pressure to get me to comply, and when I looked into his eyes, Ithought I saw something shimmering behind his irises.

“You're very lucky that you ate the dreamberry.” His voice was even and still, but it left me quivering.“If you hadn't, I would've killed you after the first time your smart mouth betrayed you.”

Realization sank in as I continued to stare at him. A loud guffaw escaped my lips as I pushed his armaway. He let go; otherwise, I wouldn't have been strong enough to free myself. “That's right!” I said.“You can't kill me. You need me! My precious blood is so important to you! I bet when you go tobed at night you think about that kiss we shared

“I do not!” he bellowed, his face turning a little red.

"Oh, I bet you do! I bet you think about how you kissed me- and how disgusting it was! How it's theworst thing you ever had to do because someone ate your treasured berry!”

He took a few deep breaths and stepped away. “I have no interest in arguing with an insanewoman.”

“Insane? Maybe I am! But I'm an insane woman that you can't touch because I have useful blood-orsomething like that.” He turned his back to me, which inspired me to continue to mouth off. “So... ifyou can't kill me, what are you going to do?”

He spun around and glared at me. His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched.

Then, before I knew it, I was pressed against the wall by him. His face was right next to mine and hishot breath blew on my face. There was no way for me to get away now.

The worst thing was, his powerful and slender fingers were circling around my neck-they didn'ttouch my skin, but I knew that if he squeezed, I'd be dead.

My heart was pounding. Did I overestimate how much he needed that berry? I didn't want to dieyet!

“You... you can't kill me.” I reminded him. “Not until after you use my blood. Otherwise, all of thislovely, crimson juice will go to waste!”

“I might not be able to kill you, but...” He leaned even closer, and our lips were almost touching. “Donot test me again.

You don't want to know what I would do.”

With that, he backed away, and I sucked in the air greedily. Not that he choked me or anything-itwas just that I was so nervous that I held my breath on my own.

Neither of us spoke anymore. I took a few moments to calm my racing heart when I heard aslithering sound. Then, I saw a familiar form peeking through the open window.

“Perceval!” I exclaimed, and the snake took my greeting as an invitation and slithered his way intothe room, making his way to me as quickly as he could.

“Really? You came all this way... for me?” I stroked the snake on the head. He gave me a gentlenudge to confirm my guess.

“Percy, come!” the prince ordered. The python turned his attention to his owner, and then looked atme, seemingly having a difficult time choosing a side

Seeing that Perceval didn’t immediately follow his order, Theo's expression grew even darker.Eventually, after a short hesitation, Peceval moved to Theo, nudged him gently, and licked his handusing its fork tongue, like a kid who had made a mistake and was begging for forgiveness from hisparent.

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose, and then he walked over and sat down on the bed, turning tostare at the wall. I

realized then that all of the anger had gone out of him. It was the most defeated I'd seen him.

By then, the tense atmosphere in the room had changed thanks to Perceval. Maybe the previousquarrel had also helped to let out some of my build-up resentment. I was in a better mood now.The snake returned to me and danced around me. I continued to pet him, so glad to see him again.I might not have had a lovely time while I was at the castle, but at least I'd made some animalfriends.

After a few minutes, I went around to the other side of the bed and sat down so that my back waseven with his. If I leaned back, I could see his face, but I didn't want to, not to tell him what I neededto say.

Perceval continued to wind around me as I spoke. “Luther told me that my pack was in danger,” I explained to him. “My parents aren'tthere, and I am worried that some sort of upheaval is going on. That's why I attacked you in the garden-I thought it was Luther who cameback and didn't expect it was you. And... that's why I needed to leave.”

Theo was quiet for a long moment. He probably wouldn't believe so just based on my words. To my surprise, he didn’ t make any nastycomments. He only asked, “Do you know what Luther is planning? Has he told you anything... about me?”

I shook my head. Feeling his eyes on the side of my face, I knew he could see me. “No,” finally said. “We aren't friends or co-conspirators. I have no idea what the situation is between the two of you. I simply need to get back to my pack to see what the problemis

He pursed his lips together, a look I'd come to recognize as the prince in deep thought.

I had to press my luck. “I know I'm important to you- because of my blood. I get that. But... if you'l just let me go back to my pack andcheck on the situation, I promise you that I will return to you by the time you need my blood. I give you my word."

"You want me to let you go off to your pack. on your own, without knowing if anything you've told me is true?”

“I know it's a ot to ask." I had to try, interlacing my fingers in my lap. “But please... just let me go.’

"No," he said, and I couldn't hold back the sigh of distress that shot out of me.

“Unless someone goes with you.”

“Really?” My eyes widened as I looked into his. “Who?”

I prayed he'd say Warren. But I wasn't that lucky.

“Me.”