Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 85: Prince Theo’s Match

Not this again.

Was he jealous for no reason whatsoever again? Now was not the time nor the place to address any of

this.

“Can we go? We are on limited time. Luther could come back and see that I’m not there.”

He looked me up and down for a moment. “l would love to, but how are you going to make a run in

those?”

He pointed down to my heels.

He was right. They were beautiful shoes but they were not built for escaping a fortress like this.

I went to kneel so I could unclasp the little hooks but “Tallis” had already dropped down to his knee.

“What are you—”

“Ciana.” He didn’t look up at me.

“Raise your leg,” he ordered.

I-did as I was told and raised my foot in the air without thinking. His hands made quick work of

removing the buckles and freeing my foot without touching my skin.

I was still in a fog, and couldn’t believe what was going on

— the most fearsome warrior in the world, the cruei Dark Prince… he just kneeled down to unbuckle

my shoe?!

I must be dreaming… or losing my mind!

Even without direct contact, I felt the heat rise to my face. Little prickly sparks moved against my skin.

When he was done, “Tallis” stood to his full height and looked down at me. “Make sure you keep up.

We have one shot at this and if we don’t make it in time we will both be dead.”

“O-okay…” I realized that he had replaced my high heels with a pair of comfortable flats. I never knew

he could be so thoughtful.

Less talking and more moving then.”

He turned and started jogging into the forest, I followed closely behind him, picking up my dress so it

didn’ t get caught on anything.

How far away is the tunnel from here?”

He looked over his shoulder at me. “l would say probably a good ten to fifteen minutes. It’s not that far.

But we just need to make sure that we don’t get caught by any of the patrol wolves.’

“You said you had mastered their changeover times.”

“l have. But you can never be too careful. You are impor-

tant to Luther and he will do whatever it takes to keep you in his possession. Not to mention you told

the guy you were falling in love with him.”

I rolled my eyes at his comment. “l didn’t.”

‘I can feel you rolling your eyes behind me.

“You need to let this jealousy thing go. I am not in love with Luther. Trust me, he is the last man I would

fall in love with.”

“And who would be the first then.

I kept my mouth shut, just in time to swallow back a word that almost slipped from my mouth.

I would have said it if I had the confidence. But I didn’t so I chose silence.

He •looked over his shoulder at me. “What? Nothing to say?”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, it wouldn’t be a carny. How much further?”

“We’re here.” We came to a halt to what looked like some kind of cave entrance. There was a small

pedestal off to the side where I presumed the locking system was.

‘Tallis” walked up to the pedestal and placed the fur we had collected in the small hole. He took a step

backward and waited but nothing happened.

He frowned and moved back toward the pedestal. “That should have been enough. Why isn’t it

working?”

I dropped the skirt of my dress and walked toward the pedestal. The full moon hung high above in the

evening sky casting just enough light to read the inscription on the stone.

“Only the true blood can open this pathway to freedom,” I read out loud. “Does this mean anything to

you?”

He nodded. “It means that only the blood of the Alpha or his descendants can open this passageway. ‘

“This can’t be happening. How are we meant to get Luther to drop his blood in there? The fur was hard

enough but blood? We are screwed aren’t we?”

I paced around the small area, my mind whirling with different scenarios playing in my head.

It was only a matter of time before Luther noticed my absence. I had played with his trust and

emotions. Luther did not seem like the forgiving type.

If he didn’t need me alive I was sure he would not hesitate to kill me.

“No. We’ll be fine.”

“Fine?” I looked at him like he was delusional. “We are surrounded by his men. We need Luther’s blood

to unlock this door. There is no one else who possesses the blood of the AIpha apart from him. As far

as I know, he has no other siblings or children, not around here anyway. This feels like we are very

much doomed.”

“What happened to that childlike faith of yours.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Now is not the time to bicker. We are in trouble.”

My irritation grew but I didn’ t voice my frustration. It would do us no good by arguing.

He walked over to the pedestal again and looked at it with inquisitive eyes. There was no way of

bypassing the security measure they had put in place. We needed the blood or we would be stuck

here.

“Maybe I can go back and get his blood somehow.”

Tallis glanced at me with a look that read, “Are you nuts?”

It was the best that I could come up with at this given point in time. “Don’t look at me like that. If you’ re

so great, why don’t you come up with any better ideas?”

He stood still and looked down at his hand for a few seconds.

‘Tallis?” He didn’t move. “What’s going on?”

As I started to worry that he had frozen in place for some reason, he said with a distant look in his

eyes. “I can open it.”

“How?”

He dug into his pocket and produced a pocket knife. He placed the sharp blade against his skin and

pressed down, gliding the metal against his skin.

Blood leaked out of his palm and he squeezed his fist shut, drawing out even more blood. His eyes

were focused on the keyhole, willing the door to the tunnel to open.

He stepped back after he was done and waited.

After a few seconds had passed, I thought that maybe his efforts had been in vain until I heard the

creaking of the stone.

The ground shook slightly as the heavy stone that had blocked the entrance rolled away opening up to

the cave.

“How did you…” my voice trailed off at the realization of what he had done. Of course, he was related

to Luther. Nita was the daughter of the late Alpha of the Ortiz pack, which meant that she carried the

blood of the Alpha. The same way that Theo did.

This only confirmed what I already knew.

“You’re him, aren’t you?” I walked in front of him. “You’re Theo.”

I stared into his eyes, willing him to tell me the truth just this once.

“Let’s go,” he simply said.

I shook my head. “Why do you continuously do this? Why do you deny that you are Theo? I don’t

understand.”

He dropped his gaze, ignoring my question again and only said. “Focus on your steps, Ciana.”

I pressed my hand on his chest and I felt the outline of the lapel pin. This was him but he just

continuously denied it. “What are you afraid of?”

He kept his silence.

Ilifted my gaze to meet his once more. “You can deny it all you like but I know the truth. I know who you

really are. And whether you choose to acknowledge it or not doesn’t change that fact.”

He opened his mouth to say something but then his face

Match hardened and he looked to the left.

‘They’re coming.” He pulled me behind him and angled his body so he was facing in an eastward

direction.

“Who’s coming?”

He lowered himself slightly, “Luther.”

“Correction,” Luther appeared from the shadows dressed in his tux. “l am already here. My, my, looks

like we are having a little party over here.”

My back stiffened at the sight of him. Luther had a confident smile playing on his lips. The same smile

he had when he talked of ending Theo’s life a while back.

His eyes moved from Tallis to me. It was only for a moment but I saw a flash of betrayal go across his

eyes. “I cannot believe it. You played your role well, Ciana. You almost had me believing you there for a

second.”

‘Sorry about that, Luther,” I kept my voice strong and passive. “But be honest with yourself, I was never

anything more than a weapon against Prince Theo, right? The reason you treated me differently was

simply because you needed me to be on your side and somehow you believed that I could hurt the

Dark Prince.”

Luther seemed to be a bit surprised, but then, a grin appeared on his face. “Ciana, you know,

sometimes you’re too smart for your own good.”

“So after everything, what did you really expect? My loyalty will always be to my family and my pack.

You should understand.”

He balled his fists at his side. “Yes, I understand. You only proved to me why women are good for only

one thing in this current time.”

Tallis growled at him on my behalf. “Shut the fuck up.”

“None of your business. I will speak to her however I want to. ”

“The hell you will,” Tallis began to slowly edge us toward the entrance of the tunnel. Once we were

inside the door would shut, giving us a head start on Luther. “She belongs to no one but herself,

Luther.”

“And who are you?” Luther turned his nose to Tallis.

“Move or be killed. The choice is yours.’

‘How about neither?”

Luther smirked. “Arrogant. A stupid trait of weak men of this world.”

“Weak or not, you’ll find out,” Tallis snapped.

Luther scoffed and ignored Tallis’ comment. He then shifted his gaze to me. “You said you were falling

in love, Ciana. I thought we were real.

“You said that?” Tallis’ brow furrowed.

“l said I MIGHT if he treats me better than the Dark Prince,” I explained quickly, “but the prince has

never kidnapped me. From that perspective, Luther would never be Prince Theo’s match!”

“Now that’s a good answer.” Tallis chuckled, and his mood seemed to be lifted immediately. Gosh, how

childish was he?

Looking at Luther now, I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a pang of guilt hit my chest, but I knew I did

it for a just reason.

Tallis pushed me through the entrance of the tunnel and he stood in front of the entrance.

“Get them!” Luther ordered and men appeared from the shadows and charged at us.

The entrance was slowly closing off. With Tallis guarding the gate, no matter how hard Luther’s wolves

tried, they just couldn’t get past Tallis.

The opening of the entrance was getting smaller and smaller, finally, Tallis entered the tunnel and the

door shut just in time, separating Luther and his group from us.

“She will never fall in love with you!” Tallis yelled as loudly as he could. I was pretty sure, even through

the stone gate, Luther could hear it. “Never!”