Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 393

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 heradventures.

“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 hadanother question for her.

“And what are you doing out here in the woods all alone?” I asked her, imagining she'd been outhunting 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 andsmell 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 ofthe 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 togo 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 itback to her.

It had taken a toll on me. I'd re-injured myself quite a bit going through all of that trouble, butwhen 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 thatkindness.

The look on her face when she turned around and saw me standing there with the flower in myhand 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 herarm. “Here. This will help you. And if you don't want people to be your friends, at least you can haveanimals 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 calmso they trust the wear- er. I don't really need it anymore since the animals and I are friends, but itmay help you.”

At that moment, a snake slithered over out of the forest, as if she had called it. The green reptilewrapped itself around her leg, and she bent down to pat its head, laughing. I wanted to take a stepback, 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, Ireally 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 andstanding up a bit, as if to say that he wanted me to pet him, and before I knew it, it was alreadyrubbing 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 wayaround my leg.

"He likes you!” the girl said. “Now, you have two friends. Whether you like it or not.” She winked atme, 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'swrong?” 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 Ihad 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 tookthat 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 totwirl through time and space again. Then, the young girl's voice melded with an- other voice, amore 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 thegirl. The bracelet had already taught me that. But seeing her now, after such a dream, brought somuch 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 shecould 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 throughmy body. I almost forgot to squirm away from him. His lips were quivering and cold, but his breathwas gentle. It was so different from the other kisses we shared before...

What was I even thinking of comparing our past kisses?! I didn't even think I should count them asreal kisses!

I tried to squirm away from him, although honestly... not because what he was doing to me didn’tfeel good.

However, something was wrong. I mean, he wouldn't kiss me just because he wanted to, would he? Ineeded to get free so that I could replace out what was going on.

“Your Highness... Prince Theo?" I asked, once my mouth was no longer pressed against his. “What'shappening? Are you okay?" I probably should have shouted at him for taking liberties with me onceagain, 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. Ionly 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 Iwrapped my arms around him to steady him.

“Luther... Ortiz pack. Their sacred artifact from the Moon Goddess..." I wasn't sure what he wastalking 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'llfigure 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 hesay 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 hewas 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 wereenemies. If the crystal belonged to the Ortiz pack, maybe Luther had manipulated it somehow, andnow 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 onsomeone from that pack to help us break whatever spell has been cast on the prince?” I had afeeling there wasn’t much I could do to get Luther to help us with this. “Then is there anyone elsefrom 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 situationcorrectly, 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 thisnow, 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 ofthe 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.”