Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 20: Whose Side Are You on Anyway?

Theo hadn’t even looked up or shown any interest until Warren and I had begun speaking to one

another. Then, he had just scowled at me. Why?

Oh, right. He didn’t like me talking to Prince Warren. He’d told me that before.

With Theo staring at me, the two of us didn’t seem to have much else to say. To avoid the awkwardness,

I cleared my throat. “Um… do you mind if I go back to my room and try to get some more sleep?”

Theo gave me a nod as he got up and walked away. “Go ahead. If you need me, I’ll be in my office.”

One of the maids had brought in a tray of food, and I’d nibbled at it for a few minutes, but I really wasn’t

hungry. I had so much on my mind.

My thoughts went back to what Luther had said to me the night before. He’d mentioned that there were

rebels in my own pack and insinuated that my father, our pack Alpha, was in trouble.

My parents were not home at the moment. This time of year, they normally would leave our pack lands

for a couple of months. His Beta would still be there, as would some of the other pack leaders, so they

should be able to manage.

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Although generally speaking, for the last couple of years, I

had been the one to manage the leadership and monetary af- fairs of the pack. So… if the situation was

going poorly, why hadn’t anyone in the pack reached out to me?

It didn’t make any sense.

I had sent inquiries to all of the important people. I was eager to make sure that all was well back home.

My parents would be surprised to return and find me absent, after all.

But it had been two weeks, and no one had responded. It was strange. I’d written to my governess, my

best friend, the Beta and his wife…. Not a single letter in response.

Could it be that they weren’t getting the letters? Or maybe they were getting them, but everything was in

such shambles that they didn’t have time to write back. Maybe ev- erything was just fine, and they saw

no reason to reach out to

me….

All of the possibilities continued to turn around and around in my head until I decided I needed some

answers. I couldn’t just sit there and wonder what was wrong with my people when there was a

possibility that Luther could tell me

more.

I wasn’t an idiot, though. I knew better than to go out there and face him without proper preparation.

It took me a great deal of time to make up my mind that this was what I needed to do. After going over

the pros and cons of contacting the hidden enemy, I finally convinced my- self that I needed to know

what was happening in my pack.

Readying a plethora of weapons, I prepared for my meet- ing with him. I had knives, throwing stars,

swords, and many

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other types of sharp weapons hidden all over my body, as well as strapped to my back and legs. I didn’t

want to take the chance of letting him hurt me again.

However, I had thought through the situation again. If he had really wanted to cause me harm, he

would’ve done it then – wouldn’t he have? So was there something about me that prevented him from

hurting me before?

A nervous ball of tension formed in my stomach, and I knew it wouldn’t go away easily.

I had no way of knowing, but as I thought about the situa- tion, I grew even more nervous. As a result,

not only was I cov- ered when it came to all of the weapons I knew how to use, but I also made sure that

my friends were prepared this time.

The last time I had faced off against him, I’d called on the animals to come to my rescue, but they hadn’t

known what they were getting into. This time, when I left to walk into the woods to locate the house, I

brought them along with me and we formed a battle plan as a group.

Two bears, a tiger, a lion, a giant python, three badgers, a boa constrictor, a pair of jaguars who always

stayed right next to one another, and a cheetah.

I thought I had the numbers on my side when it came to being able to fight against one he-wolf, but then,

Luther seemed to be a skilled warrior, and I figured his wolf was not someone to be trifled with.

It started to get dark. With the dilapidated house in the distance, I stood outside in a clearing in the

woods, with my animal friends around me, praying to the Moon Goddess that

wasn’t doing something entirely idiotic.

My lips quivered just slightly as I lifted the whistle that Luther gave me and gave it a sharp blow.

It only took a moment before I heard some noises from the forest, and Luther stepped out.

He didn’t look nearly as intimidating now, dressed in gray slacks and a blue shirt. Not being clad in all

black gave him a bit more of a human appearance. Still, my nerves continued to get the better of me. I

held one of my knives in my hand, twisting the blade back and forth as he approached, trying to calm

myself.

A smirk formed across his face as he took a few hasty steps toward me. A growl emanated from each of

the mam- mals’ mouths, and the snakes slithered impatiently.

“You should probably stay back.” It wasn’t a warning. It was a fact. I might be intimidated, but my friends

were not.

His smile widened. “I knew you’d call for me. Sooner or lat-

er.”

“I want to know what you meant when you were speaking about my pack,” I told him. “You said that there

were rebels back there as well. But no one has contacted me to let me know what the situation is. Why is

that?”

“Easy. They never received your mail,” he said with a sim- ple shrug.

My eyebrows knit together. That made no sense to me. I continued to shift the knife in my hands as I

spoke. “Of course, they have,” I said. “I’ve written to them. They know-”

“If someone didn’t want your letters to get to your pack,

they’d surely figure out a way,” he replied, interrupting me.

Shaking my head, I tried to figure out what he meant. My stomach was beginning to ache from the knots

twisted there. “You! You stole my mail?!”

“No! Believe it or not, it wasn’ t me.” His smile grew crooked as only one-half of his mouth pulled up

higher, like he was attempting to fight his amusement and only half-win- ning. “Not only did I not intercept

any of your messages, be- cause I’m a nice guy, but I’ll also give you some news. There is an imposter in

your pack.”

His grin was beginning to annoy me, but even more both- ersome were his words. “An imposter?” I

repeated, biting down on my bottom lip for a moment. “Are you saying that there’s someone in my pack

pretending to be me?”

One simple, sharp nod was all that I got in response to my inquiry.

“No!” I said. “They would understand that it’s not me. I’ve lived there my whole life. Those people know

me. Not to men- tion, the Beta was there when I got on the train to come here.”

He shook his head the entire time that I spoke. “Would they? Listen, Ciana,” he said, folding his arms

across his mus- cular chest. “You’re caught up in all of this. You seem like a reasonably nice girl. But the

bottom line is, your entire pack is under the impression that you brought shame upon them by failing

almost immediately here at the palace, and with your doppelganger in place, no one is the wiser.”

There were a million questions running through my head, but all I knew was that I needed to get back to

my pack. I needed to check out exactly what was going on, and get

things sorted before Mom and Dad came back.

But I had another question for him. “Why did you tell me all of this?” I asked him. “Why not just keep all of

this informa- tion to yourself? After all, if what you’re saying is true, and the rebellion you are a part of is

behind this activity in my pack, aren’t you hurting your own cause by telling me?”

“Am I?” His smirk was gone now as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and shrugged. “I think

you already know the answer to that question, Ciana. You’re a bright girl. You know what the most

important thing is to me.”

I thought about the words he’d said to me the other night. He didn’t want Sebastian and Theo to have the

heir the king wanted.

“You want to get me away from Prince Theo,” I whispered.

“Bingo!” the kidnapper said. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to. This rebellion isn’t

just going to win itself.” He winked at me, and then he turned around and disappeared into the woods.

I was still staring after him when I thought I heard a rustling in the trees behind me.

Quickly, I turned around, my knife at the ready, but I didn’ t see anything. My forehead wrinkled as I

continued to stare between the tree trunks looking for any clue that someone had been listening.

I didn’t see anyone….

Shaking my head, I turned back around, and taking into the knowledge that Luther had just disclosed to

me, I gath-

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ered my menagerie around me and prepared to head back to the palace.

But then I did catch the scent of some unusual flowers.

Gardenia.

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