Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 35: The Moonlit Crystal

I woke up the next morning, finally feeling alive again. A good night’s sleep could do wonders.

Theo had already left the room and I was by myself. I took a deep breath and let the late morning

sunshine beam in on me. Being consumed by sadness and depression wouldn’t do anyone any good,

and if Raymond thought he could do whatever he wanted to our pack, then he was wrong!

Sooner or later, I would head back to my pack lands to get vengeance for Susan’s death and put that

stupid Raymond in his place. I also wanted to find out more about that woman who was walking around

wearing my face.

But before that, I had an obligation to fulfill. I needed to help Theo get his berry back first. That was what

I owed him. Regardless of his reason for chasing me down and going to my pack with me, it was a fact

that he had stood up for me and saved me. That alone, under normal circumstances, would make him

my friend.

Now, I didn’t know how much a proud prince wanted to befriend a commoner like me, I just thought that

the least | could do was donate my blood so he could get his berry back as a small token of thanks.

Going back to my pack would be dangerous, and if I didn’t make it… I’d die feeling guilty that I had not

replaced the precious fruit I’d taken from Theo.

After that, I would speak to him and ask for permission to go home as soon as I could. It seemed to me

that when he was willing to listen, he could be reasonable. He knew what was going on in my pack, and

it was also important for him to ensure my pack was in good hands.

If I was willing to stay and do whatever he needed me to do in order to make sure he got the berry to

work, and I’d pledge my allegiance to him, then hopefully, he’d be willing to work with me and let me go

home right after that.

Theo had mentioned doing something on the Full Moon, which was tomorrow night, but he didn’t give

me any more details. Luckily, it was only a day away, and I could wait.

***

The sun was beginning to go down when I finally heard Prince Theo’s voice in his adjoining room. I’d

thought l heard someone else speaking to him, so I crept over to the door to listen and recognized Jake’s

voice.

I hadn’t seen either Theo or Jake since two days ago when we’d returned to the palace, and I’d been

waiting in my room for their instructions, but neither of them told me anything but asking me to get some

more rest.

But tonight was the Full Moon. There must be something I needed to do, right?

“No… works… crystal… how…”

Crystal? Huh? I thought this was all about some sort of berry? What were they talking about?

I stood next to the door, wondering if now would be a good time for me to knock and bring up the berry

situation or if I should wait.

I raised my hand to knock on the door, but before my hand could even come down, Theo said, “Ciana,

you don’t need to eavesdrop. Just come in. This concerns you, too.”

My cheeks flushed as I realized he thought I was being sneaky when I really just hadn’t had a chance to

decide if now was a good time. I decided not to try and explain and just went in.

Jake was standing there in the middle of the room, next to the prince, and when the Beta looked at me,

he had a bit of an amused expression on his face, but Theo gave him a stern look.

In his hands, the prince held a piece of black fabric. It looked like velvet, soft and thick. In the center of it

was a large crystal, probably three inches long and an inch around. The light above our heads

illuminated it slightly, making it appear to be a pinkish white color. It was lovely, but I had no idea what it

was for.

“This is the Moonlit Crystal,” Jake explained to me. “It has magical powers that might be able to help us

with our problem, but we’re not exactly sure how to use it, although we do know that the best time to use

it is under the full moon.”

Looking from Jake to Prince Theo, I asked, “Problem? What problem?”

“Well, about the blood moon.”

“The blood moon was a few months away, I remembered you said? And it was one of the prerequisites to

replace the berry?” I asked Jake.

“Exactly,” Jake smiled encouragingly. “The berry must be planted under the light of the blood moon, and

the blood of whomever ate the last one must be mixed in the soil,” Jake explained to me.

“How romantic. And sanitary,” I remarked, making the Beta chuckle.

The Alpha did not think it was funny. He cleared his throat.

“This is serious.”

“Sorry, Alpha,” Jake said. I straightened up as well.

“So… you said we don’t need to wait until the blood moon because of this crystal?” I asked, looking

closely at the crystal, but Theo tugged it away from me, like he thought I might touch it.

“Bingo again!”

“So how does this thing work?” I asked.

“According to the witch I got it from,” Jake began, “it can

somehow create an illusion of the blood moon that tricks

the berry into reacting the same way that it would if there was a blood moon.”

“That seems simple enough,” I said. “Do you just put it outside under a regular moon or something?”

“We don’t know,” Prince Theo said, curtly.

“The witch said it has to be cleansed, re–energized… or recharged first, something like that,” Jake

explained. “She said that right now it wouldn’t do anything at all, and we’d just be wasting our efforts.”

Jake and I then launched into a discussion of the possibilities of how the crystal might work, and we

explored the ideas of soaking it in water, heating it up, putting it in the freezer–but when it came to my

idea of running high voltage electricity through it, it was turned down really quickly by Theo.

Finally, I exclaimed, “I give up! Maybe it was easier to just wait until the next blood moon.” Although, if

that was the case, I’d need to replan my trip back home…

“No, unfortunately, we can’t wait,” Jake sighed, and immediately, Theo gave him a pointed look.

“Why?”

Theo interjected, “You don’t need to know.”

“Alpha,” the Beta argued. “Miss Black is part of this now. She needs to know what’s going on.”

I didn’t want to be kept in the dark. “Please, I would love to help!” I said sincerely.

Jake encouraged, “She may think of something we haven’t.. Alpha, I trust Miss Black.”

Theo looked at both of us and finally gave in. “Fine, just the bare minimum of what she needs to know.”

“In that case, Alpha, perhaps you tell her then?” Jake reasoned. “Since I may say too much.”

For some reason, I had the feeling that Beta Jake wasn’t quite that enthusiastic about solving the crystal

problem. It was more like he was trying to make me and his Alpha to become friends…

That discovery stunned me, but I found that I wasn’t completely against the idea. So I pulled up a bright

smile… hopefully, that would encourage him to open up a little.

Grumbling, the prince turned to look at me and stared at my smiling face for a couple seconds. But then

he looked away and avoided my eye contact.

Did I do anything wrong?

“The berry is a special type of fruit that I need to consume frequently–for personal reasons. If I don’t, it

could be very

bad.”

“For you?” I asked, confused.

He shook his head. “No. For everyone else.”

I looked at Jake, and he nodded. I had heard plenty of rumors about the Dark Prince over the years, how

he killed people indiscriminately, how he hated everyone, including his own family members, how he

never smiled and wanted to be left alone. So I had an idea of what he might be saying.

Was it possible that the berry was used to prevent him from doing harm to others?

Now I feel really bad about eating it. If I’d had any idea it was a special fruit, I never would’ve touched it,

despite how appetizing it looked and how hungry I was.

“Normally, I’d be okay even without it for a little while. However, recently things changed and it became

more important that I get the replenishment on time. That’s why we have to get the crystal working.”

Then he pressed his. lips tight, and I knew that was all he was willing to share.

I wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact, I was actually quite grateful that he trusted me enough to even tell me

that much.

Then my gaze was attracted to the crystal. “Look, it is so beautiful!” I muttered as a ray of moon light

beamed on it. A soft glow enveloped the crystal, as if it was lit by the moonlight, and it started to float in

the air.

Before I realized what I was doing, I’d reached out and poked it.

“Don’t touch!” Theo shouted at me, but even as he was speaking, something in the room shifted.

The crystal began to glow! At first, it was a soft white, barely noticeable, but within seconds, it grew

brighter and brighter still until I had to look away. Prince Theo still held it in his hand, but he used his

other arm to shield his eyes.

“I guess we figured it out,” I heard Jake mutter.

Turning my head to keep from losing my ability to see, I was facing the door between our adjoining

rooms when I realized that Brook and Warren had wandered into my chambers.

“Ciana?” she called. “Are you feeling better? We thought maybe-” She cut off when she saw the bright

light. “What’s going on here?” Brook asked as she came through the door, her mouth agape in

amazement.

“What is that?” Warren was asking.

Then, I saw someone else chasing behind him. It was hard to see over Warren’s broad shoulders, but

when she began to scream, I knew for sure it had to be Sophia.

The next thing I knew, the entire room was spinning around us. I felt like I was floating in the air as we

went around in circles and the light got so bright, I lost track of where everyone else was.

It felt as if I’d landed with a thud on a soft surface.

I had a splitting headache, but I couldn’t remember anything else.

Who was I?

Opening my eyes, I adjusted to the dim light in the room.

But nothing else was normal.

I was in a bed, naked, in a room I’d never seen before in my life.

On top of me, also naked, was a man with an amorous look on his face that told me exactly what he had

on his mind.

I was shocked, but strangely, not afraid.

I tried to recollect my memories but to no avail.

Who was I?

Where was this place?

And most importantly, who was this naked man?!