Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 358 - 17: The One She Cares for the Most

I let out a low whistle, and the next moment, a lion came flying through the doorway, aiming right for my assailant, who had to let go of me.

Perceval slithered in, tripping Luther up, and the Samson the tiger came charging in with a roar and forced the man to back further away. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

I rushed to Brook and wrapped my arms around her. “We need to get out of here,” I whispered to her. “Are you well enough to stand?”

She had a confused look on her face as her eyes shifted back and forth, but she quickly collected her senses and gave me a firm nod.

As we moved toward the door, I caught a glimpse of Luther. He pulled a long blade from somewhere I hadn’t seen and swiped at Linus, cutting the lion in the leg, then he turned to the tiger and did the same.

“No!” I cried. The last thing I wanted was for my friends to get hurt.

He kicked Perceval aside and quickly closed the gap between us. I realized that the animals were outmatched by him since he had weapons, and that Brook and I would be as well. I could only pray that with the animals running through the palace to get here, it had caused enough commotion to draw the attention of the guards.

“Brook, keep running and get help!” I was about to stop and go back to deal with the attacker when I heard a piercing howl. We turned around and saw a large wolf. It was beautiful–its fur was a deep onyx black that shimmered in the light, with glimmering gold stripes on both sides of its back.

That had to be Prince Theo.

He took one look at the bleeding animals and went after Luther, who still hadn’t shifted.

Luther swiped at the upper shoulder of the wolf. Theo lunged at him anyway, pushing the attacker backward, causing Luther to almost collide with us. Immediately, the tables had turned on this battle.

I let out a breath of relief. The most powerful warrior of the country had arrived, I knew we were safe. But then Luther let out a chuckle and whispered in a voice that only I was close enough to hear, “Naughty girl....”

Before he stood to go after the prince again, he shoved something in my hand. “You may think you know everything, Ciana, but you don’t. Use that when you want to see me again—if you’re still alive then.”

Everything happened so fast, and before I knew it, Theo went after Luther again. The kidnapper was back up, swinging the blade toward the prince’s wolf.

I didn’t have time to stand around and see who won the fight because Brook still looked quite concerned. “It’s all right,” I told her. “The prince will protect us.” I believed those words, and as he went at the man again, I saw his teeth chomp down on the hand holding the blade. The kidnapper roared, let the blade go, and tossed himself into the woods.

Night had completely engulfed the forest. Knowing that we were safe now, Brook and I dropped on the ground to catch our breaths, then I heard a familiar voice behind us.

“What did you think you were doing, leaving the castle like that?!” he asked, storming up behind us and dropping a shirt over his head. The fact that his clothing wasn’t shredded made me think he must’ve undressed before he shifted, rather than just bursting into his wolf to run into the house to save us.

Priorities....

“I had to get to Brook,” I explained.

A dull pain began to form in my head, and I thought it might be a stress headache from too much excitement all in one day. I loosened my grip slightly on my friend, which was her cue to break away from me. She took my hand instead, fully capable now of walking on her own.

“Not your job,” the prince said, coming up on my other side. “This is what we have guards for.”

“Well, if the guards were so good, Brook would’ve never been kidnapped by Luther to begin with,” I said, tilting my head up to stare down my nose at him the best I could, considering he was a full six or seven inches taller than me. “I am sorry about your animals, though.” That was true. I hoped they’d all be all right.

“Luther?” he asked. He had a bit of blood on his neck, chest, and shoulder—based on how he moved right now, I assumed the blood was from our enemy.

My head began to hurt even more, and I didn’t answer. I had to turn my attention back to the walkway so I didn’t lose my footing as he continued to berate me. “Whoever that was... your job is to be with me at all times, remember?” he said. “From now on, you don’t leave my sight.”

I whipped my head around so fast, stars formed in my field of vision. How badly did I want to tell him where he could shove that directive, but before my mouth opened, Brook was squeezing my hand.

She leaned in close to my ear and whispered. “Oh, how romantic! He loves you so much, he can’t stand the idea of the two of you ever being apart!”

I turned to face her, wanting to tell her that wasn’t it at all, but then I remembered I was supposed to be pretending that Theo and I were in love—to everyone. So I kept my comments to myself.

Besides, the pain in my head was beginning to splinter now. Every ounce of light was like an icicle being rammed into my eyes, and I felt the world beginning to slip away.

“Do not run away from me again, Ciana,” Theo was telling me in a voice that seemed quite a bit more calm than the tone he’d been using previously.

“I wasn’t way... running from prince... you....” My words were becoming jumbled, and I suddenly had to stop walking.

Brook was swaying back and forth when I looked at her, and I thought she was going to tumble over again, but as the ground reached up for me, I realized it wasn’t her that was having the problem staying on both feet.

It was me.

“Ciana!” Prince Theo shouted as strong arms surrounded me. I heard Brook scream, and then, both of them faded away and all I could think about was how unbelievably badly my head hurt.

***

*Theo*

“Ciana!” I shouted her name as I scooped her up into my arms. She didn’t answer though, and as her friend began to scream, all I could do was rush her back to the castle as quickly as possible, swearing under my breath.

Foolish woman! How did she let this happen?

Using the mind-link, I called ahead for the healers to be ready in my room. Her blubbering friend trailed along behind us, crying and calling out her friend’s name.

As soon as I reached the castle, the guards threw the doors open for me. They waited for her friend to catch up, but I sprinted down the hallway and shoved my bedroom door open with my foot as I backed into the room, spinning her around and laying her on the bed.

The royal healer Dottie, a larger woman who was old enough to be my mother, went about checking her–listening to her heart, checking her pulse, all of the things one usually did when someone was involved in some sort of an accident or an attack.

“This isn’t an ordinary injury.” She turned to face me. “I’m afraid the girl has had a curse cast on her.”

My heart plummeted at the words. It was exactly as I had suspected.

Next to me, Ciana’s little friend began to cry again. Jake handed her a tissue and comforted her.

I had more important things to think about than the fact that the redhead was crying once more. This was a serious problem. Ciana couldn’t die.

I needed her blood at the next Blood Moon, after all.

“What can be done?” I asked the healer. Not only had Dottie studied medicine, she’d also done quite a bit to learn about different magic and potions since she was in the service of my father. In a place like this, one needed to know about all kinds of magic—particularly the dark kind.

And curses certainly fell into the realm of dark magic.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Dottie replied, walking over to Ciana’s side. She arranged her hair so that it was lying neatly around her face, framing it.

Whenever Ciana was awake, it was hard to not pay attention to her eyes—she was kind, witty, and brave, and her eyes reflected those qualities, which shone even brighter than her stunning natural beauty.

Right now, her eyes were closed, and I couldn’t deny her pretty facial features.

However, I shouldn’t let myself think about how beautiful she looked or how delicate she seemed when she was so still, like she was sleeping. No, at a time like this, I couldn’t let such thoughts invade my mind.

“Do you have any ideas?” I asked Dottie, wondering if I should head to the library and begin looking at books about curses.

“Well, I do have one,” she said. “Sometimes, when a curse affects the mind like this one obviously is, it’s best if one can jar a person from their agitated state of mind with a delicate touch to the forehead.”

I was puzzled over her words. “That seems simple enough.”

“Yes, but it can’t be just anyone to do it, or else it won’t work,” Dottie continued, settling her hands on her ample hips. “It can only be the person that the one in the coma cares for the most. If it’s anyone else, not only will it not break the curse, but there’s a possibility it could force the affliction deeper into the mind, and it could make it even more difficult for the person to snap out of their sleep-like state.”

I listened to her, scratching my chin in contemplation. “Are there any other risks?” I asked her.

“Well, whomever takes on the task most certainly must care about her as well. They could potentially end up shouldering part of the burden. They will bear the emotions of the curse as well. It’s not a task to take on lightly.”

It all became clear to me, then. Luther had assumed that Ciana and I were in love because he’d heard the rumors about her and I having a child. He naturally had assumed Ciana would care for me most of all, and I’d be the one who would have to break the spell by touching her.

But then, Luther obviously knew about my power....

He probably hoped that I would be the one to try to break Ciana from the sleeping spell, and when I did, I would kill her, which meant she’d never be able to have an heir to the throne for my father.

“Your Highness,” Dottie began, her voice a quiet whisper, “we all heard about you and Miss Black... would you like to help her, since obviously you are the one she loves and I assume she cares about most?”

I shook my head.

Dottie took on a disappointed look. In her view right now, I must be such a selfish jerk.

The fact was, put aside the potential harm my power could cause her, most importantly, I was most definitely not the one who could lift the curse.

I thought back over all of the conversations I’d had with Ciana. While we’d had a few amicable conversations, for the most part, it seemed quite clear to me that Ciana couldn’t stand me in the least.

Dottie sighed, “Well, perhaps there’s someone else nearby that she cares about.” She turned her attention to Brook.

The girl was no longer crying, but her eyes were almost as red as her hair, and her cheeks were puffy.

Jake asked Brook, “Miss Ellsworth, you’re friends with Miss Black. Who do you think she may care about...” Jake thought of something, and added, “...ahem, um, besides Prince Theo?”

The girl named Brook shook her head, as if she was worried that she might get into trouble if she told the truth.

Jake analyzed the situation for her. “There’s nothing you need to worry about,” he assured her, “Your friend is dying and we’re trying to help her. So... is there anyone you can think of?”

She weighed her options for a moment and eventually, she took a few deep breaths and said, “I think I know someone that she cares for very much... here in the castle.”

Dottie sighed with relief as I braced myself. “And who might that be?”

With another deep breath, the girl said the one name I most definitely did not want to hear.

“Prince Warren.”

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