Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

taken prisoner by f*cking Madalynn? And did it not occur to you that, if that b*tch in the cage had been

Rosalie, you would’ve felt the mate bond to her?”

I wasn’t in the mood to argue. In fact, I was just as upset as myself. Not because I’d chased after the

imposter, but because I had almost put Rosalie in danger.

I didn’t say anything. Just then, one of the healers came over to check me out.

Georgia and I were both silent while the doctor patched up my cuts and gave me some pain medicine

that I didn’t really want. I took it anyway before I returned my attention to my sister. :

“Ethan, please tell me you actually thought it through?” Georgia’s tone calmed down a bit.

I stared at her and slowly shook my head. “I wasn’t going to take the chance, Georgia.”

She waited patiently for me to say the rest. “I’d lost her way too many times in the past, and I couldn’t

afford to lose her ever again. If there was even a one percent chance that Rosalie needed rescuing, I’d

go after her. With my luck, you never know when the mate bond might fail you or other conditions could

overshadow it.”

My sister stared at me. It was actually quite uncomfortable. Finally, she sighed. “Well, you sure are lucky

that she came to rescue your *ss, or Madalynn and Behar probably would’ve killed you!”

I didn’t know what to say.

She shook her head at me. “I’m

dumbfounded,” she said, and I chuckled. Her eyes narrowed even more. “Idiot,” she muttered.

I couldn’t argue with that at the moment.

Georgia glared a bit longer before she was so fed up that she headed out of the tent.

I took a deep breath and considered taking a nap. I was exhausted. The wounds weren’t as bad as they

appeared. I’d bled, but for some reason, I did notice I was healing faster than before, but my insides felt

like a giant jigsaw puzzle someone was straining to put back into the right order, and they weren’t nearly

finished yet.

A moment later, my mate bond kicked in, and I smelled the fragrance that always filled my lungs when

Rosalie was nearby. It brought a smile to my face. It was truly a blessing to just know she was around.

I wondered what she was busy with now.

But when she appeared in the opening of the tent, I felt my heart tighten. Was she here for me?

Then, she saw me. A smile came to her lips. She rushed between the doctors and around the cots.

“There you are,” she said, stopping next to my cot. She was wearing a clean dress, her hair pulled back

away from her elegant neck. She was stunning.

She was like sunshine. As long as she was willing to talk to me, all I could feel was warmth, happiness,

and content.

“Here I am,” I said, lifting both hands to present myself.

“Georgia said your wounds would need my attention right away. Here, drink this.” She handed me a cup

of water as she looked me over. I knew she had mixed her blood in.

After staring at her for a couple seconds, I peeled my gaze away and looked down at the cup in my

hand. It was obvious that Georgia told such a white lie in order to get her stupid brother an opportunity to

be with Rosalie.

However, was I really worth it? I hurt Rosalie deeply before and now, I didn’t even have the strength to

protect her any more.

“I was feeling lightheaded before.” Realizing that I’d been silent for too long, I knew I had to say

something. “But I’m better now, I think.”

“Oh, good,” she said. “I was worried.”

I knew I probably shouldn’t stare at her, however, the concern in her voice made me so hopeful that I

couldn’t help but look at her again.

Rosalie placed a hand over her heart. I saw her beautiful bright eyes, and I saw the sincere care in them.

Sincere care for a friend.

Both of us avoided yesterday’s conversation and my stupid act today. I should feel grateful that we’d

moved past those and could interact like friends again.

However, why couldn’t I be content?

*About me?” I wanted to hear her soft lips say that it was me that she was worried about.

Rosalie’s cheeks turned a soft pink color as she looked down at the floor. “Well, you just never know.”

She cleared her throat and looked back up at me. “Do you mind if I check you over?”

Though the doctor had done a thorough job, who was I to refuse the queen?

“Please, go ahead,” I told her.

She came over to me, slowly, cautiously, and like the way she would do to others that might need her

help. As she leaned over me, checking my cuts and abrasions, I did my best to stay back out of her way,

but whenever her hair brushed against my cheek, 1 couldn’t help but breathe her in.

Thoughts of leaning over and kissing her neck came to mind… I held back.

“I think you’re okay,” she said, looking into my eyes. “You scared me for a minute.”

“Sorry,” I told her. That blush was still about her cheeks. I licked my lips.

She reached down and patted my hand. “I think you’ll recover,” she said with a teasing smile. But then,

her hand froze on top of mine, and her expression changed. Her eyebrows knit together, and her mouth

turned down at the corners.

She dropped her eyes and saw the ring on my hand beneath her own as she pulled it away.

My ring. I had managed to recover it today. It was the same one I’d given to Madalynn-just to shut her up.

But Talon told me there’d been pictures of Madalynn wearing it, and Rosalie must’ve seen them at some

point, because the look on her face told me that the ring brought back bad memories for her.

I wanted to say something to comfort her, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Some hurts are harder to take

away than others, and with all of the lies and deceit from our past circling around in her mind, what could

possibly come out of my mouth to ease her troubles?

“1, uh, need to go check on supplies,” she said, her hands folded in front of her now. “There are other

wounded who need to be taken care of. I heard that we took some prisoners hostage, too. Someone will

need to check on them soon.”

“It sounds like you’re really busy.” I nodded understandably, letting her off the hook. “You should go do

that stuff. Do you need me to do anything?”

“Oh, uh, no,” she started backing toward the door. “I’m good. You rest. Yeah, I’ll just

go check on Rowan. See you-later.”

“See you soon,” I said, wondering if she’d misunderstood me when I provided her with the opportunity to

leave. Did she think I was saying I wanted her to leave?

Because that wasn’t the case at all.

Yet, looking down at the ring on my finger, I knew we couldn’t avoid the unhappy moments from our past

forever. Sooner or later,

we would have to face them.

However, now wasn’t the time.

For now, it was probably best this way.

Until I tried to figure out the right opportunity to tell her that I’d lied to her-again, at the Goddess’s temple.

And this lie just might be the most painful one of all.