Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 138: Who Are You?

Warren immediately jumped up and grabbed a water glass from the table next to the bed. He put the

glass to her lips and she drank.

I wanted to sit beside her and hold her hand but I wasn’t sure I should touch her, even with gloves on.

Would she blame me for what happened?

Ciana grunted and turned away from the water. Warren set it aside again.

She blinked several times and then opened her big, beautiful eyes. She sat up and her eyes

immediately landed on me.

Forgetting my worries, I grabbed her in a fierce hug and kissed her passionately on the lips. Seeing her

awake and alive was so overwhelming.

"Wh-" Ciana squirmed away from me and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "What the hell

are you doing!?”

"Ciana!"

"Who are you?" she snarled at me. "Why are you kissing me!?"

"I..."

I glanced at Warren. He was as confused as me.

Was she playing some kind of joke? It was definitely not the right time for that.

When I looked back at Ciana, her eyes were wide with fear and genuine confusion. She clutched the

bedsheets to her chest. She looked at all of us like she'd never seen us before and held one arm out

like she was trying to keep us away.

I noticed how heavily she was breathing and I took a step back, holding my hands up. I didn't want her

to freak out and have a panic attack.

"It’s okay," I stepped back and lowered my voice to say to Brook, who was standing near the far side of

the room. "Brook, maybe you should take this..."

She looked surprised as well.

Brook had helped care for Ciana when she was unconscious and I was really glad she’ d decided to

come back to the palace with Ciana after her short visit home.

Brook nodded and slowly approached the bed with a gentle smile. "Ciana, my name is

Brook. Do you remember me? We are really good friends."

Ciana's eyes followed Brook. She still looked confused but she relaxed when the rest of us backed up

and Brook sat on the edge of her bed.

"Who are all of you?" Ciana asked more calmly. She looked at each of us with wide eyes, lingering on

me the longest with a slight scowl.

"I'm Brook Ellsworth," Brook repeated. "That's Prince Warren and Beta Jake. You know us all very

well."

"I do?" Ciana asked, looking at Brook.

"Yes, very much so," Brook assured gently.

Ciana didn't look entirely convinced, but she relaxed into the pillows. Every now and then, she shot me

a quick, dirty look. That didn't bode well.

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She didn't look at anyone else like that. Probably because I’d kissed her and she... she didn't know who

we were.

And I'd been worried about whether to propose to her when she first woke up...

"Do you know who you are?" Brook asked.

"I'm Ciana Black, daughter of Alpha Soren Black of Pack Alvar," she said firmly. "Why am I here?"

My heart sank suddenly. She remembered who she was, she just didn't remember anything about her

life from the palace. It was like she’d lost a year of memories.

Brook quickly explained to Ciana why she had come to the palace in the first place. She didn't delve

into the details of all of our relationships, just maintained we were good friends.

"I don't... I need to get home," Ciana insisted suddenly. She tried to push the covers away and stand

up.

Gently, Brook took Ciana’s hands and kept her seat on the bed. "Ciana, that isn't a good idea. You're

recovering from a major injury and your parents are still traveling."

"But I...”

"Please, stay here for now. At least, until you are fully recovered," Jake suggested. He moved up

behind Brook and put an affectionate hand on her shoulder. When did he enter the room?

I noticed how Ciana's eyes warmed when she saw the gesture. It was almost a spark of recognition.

"If you leave, your family and pack will be incredibly worried about you. Once you’re fully healed, they

can come to get you here," Warren added.

Ciana looked from Warren to Jake to Brook. Her lips tugged up in an awkward smile, but I noticed how

it faded when she looked at me again.

"I do feel kind of weak. I'll stay until I'm better... just keep the kissing creep away.” She glared at me.

Jake chuckled and Warren cleared his throat.

"Ciana, that 'kissing creep' is Dark Prince Theo... rather, Dark King Theo," Brook said, giggling.

"Wh-what!?" she cried, her face paling. She held the blankets against her again like a suit of armor.

Ciana shook her head and glanced at me, then shook her head again.

"It seems like you've lost only a little of your memory. One thing that happened in that time was Theo

becoming king. You and the king are actually quite close," Brook added.

"Jake, Warren, a word?" I asked, nodding to the door.

"We'll be okay here. I'll fill Ciana in on some things she’s missed," Brook said, smiling at us quickly.

I couldn't say anything but I hoped she wouldn't tell Ciana she was pregnant with my child. Ciana

seemed to have enough issues with me. It would completely freak her out.

I felt I could trust Brook's judgment on what to tell her.

"What's going on?" I asked Jake and Warren when we got outside the room.

"She is suffering from partial memory loss. Fortunately, it only seems like she lost a specific chunk of

time, not random bits and pieces," Warren said.

I wanted to tell him that was unfortunate enough for me! Ciana didn't remember our relationship at all!

What was worse, she remembered me as a bloodthirsty prince and was very mistrustful of me.

"Why is this happening?" I asked sharply. Frustration swelled in my chest.

"Maybe it was when you sucked the life out of her," Jake suggested.

I grunted, glaring at him, even though he was only answering my question.

Warren tried to help my Beta out. "Theo, don't stare at Jake like that. I know it was an accident, but I

agree with Jake, that's the only logical reason."

"You're right," I said with a sigh. "We should get back in there."

We went back in and Brook was telling Ciana a little about their recent trip to see her father.

I could read the look in Ciana's eyes and she did not look like she was ready to believe everything she

was being told.

There was still that look of mistrust in her eyes when she looked at me.

Anger flared in my chest but what could I do about it? Getting in her face and getting upset would only

push her away more. I needed to remind her of our relationship and rebuild it slowly, so that she trusted

me again.

"And you're Prince Warren?" Ciana asked, looking at Warren. "You look... never mind."

Warren nodded and smiled warmly.

I saw the look of recognition in Ciana’s eyes and I remember how she told me when she first met

Warren, she thought he was the boy in the woods she'd encountered. It was like she was reliving that

experience all over again.

I glared at Warren, wishing he would just leave the room so that she wasn't looking at him with googly

eyes.

"Beta Jake... and Brook is your mate?" she asked.

Brook's cheeks turned bright red and she covered her face.

"That's right," Jake said, smiling tenderly and putting his hand on Brook’s shoulder again. “Did you

remember that?"

“No," Ciana laughed, shaking her head. "But I see the way you two look at each other."

"Well, hopefully you do remember soon. Because you've been a good friend to us both during this,"

Jake said, winking at her.

Ciana smiled again and I could see how at ease she was with all of them.

I clenched my fists and stormed out of the room. As much as I didn't want to be mad, I couldn’t help it.

Warren couldn't help what was happening. It was just a replay of what we'd already been through with

Ciana confusing the two of us. I couldn’t just jump in and say "remember that boy you found in the

woods, that was me."

She wouldn't believe it right now, anyway.

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck and headed down the hall.

Behind me, the door opened and closed again. Hurried footsteps caught up to me.

"Alpha, what is wrong? Why did you leave? I thought you would be in there with Ciana, reminding her

of your relationship for the rest of the night," Jake said, keeping pace with me.

I snorted. "I think between you and Warren, she has all the male company she needs."

"Uh... Alpha, Warren and I still have two high priority issues we need to look at. I’ll grab him and leave

you alone with Ciana within 30 seconds."

Sighing, I stopped walking and dragged my hand down my face. "Just stop, please. You're not helping."

"Sorry, Alpha. I know this is hard on you. It isn't like Warren and I are trying to steal her attention. She's

pretty freaked out. I apologize."

"No, it’s not your fault at all. Just that... I want her to remember me! I want her to..." I shrugged and

glanced longingly down the hall at my bedroom.

To love me. Yes, I was selfish, but I couldn't help it.

"It’ll be okay," Jake said comfortingly.

"Right. She'll get her memory back just so I can suck it out of her again," I scoffed at myself

sarcastically.

Jake managed to look positive. "You know, this might not be as bad as you think."

"Jake, please, just give me a minute." I’d never thought Jake was this wordy. All I needed was a little

time so I could walk in there again with a happier face.

"Just hear me out. Maybe this is an opportunity. Like, the Moon Goddess giving the two of you a gift.

Like she's giving you the chance to make the best first impression."

I tossed my head back and pointed out flatly. "I think kissing her when she didn't know who I was blew

the whole 'first impression' thing, don't you think?"

Jake chuckled and shook his head. "Well, it beats the last time she met you for the first time."

"Yeah?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Don’t you remember? You killed seven women right in front of her," Jake said, chuckling.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and nodded. "I remember." Despite myself, the corners of my lips

tugged up in a smile.

"I'm glad you can see the humor in it, now," Jake said. "If she ever gets really annoyed with the kiss,

remind her that it could be worse..."

"Yeah, I might just do that," I chuckled darkly. What else could I do in this situation?

"Well, now that we've gotten past all that, I wanted to let you know that the decryptors have been able

to interpret more on the scroll. I was coming to tell you when Ciana woke up," Jake reported, going

from smiling to serious in an instant.

It successfully distracted my attention from Ciana temporarily.

Jake meant the scroll that Warren took from Sebastian’s vault, the royal pack's sacred artifact. Warren

had returned it once Luther was defeated.

According to my brother, after Luther got the scroll, he figured out ways to open some sort of "portals"

that connected different realms. We didn't know what it meant, but based on the vibe of the darkness in

the sky when Luther was doing it, the world he was leading us to or summoning to us couldn't be

anything good.

I'd immediately sent the scroll to Dottie and the elders to begin decrypting it.

It was slow going. The scroll was written in an ancient language. Not only that, but it was encoded in an

ancient language.

I didn't push them for updates as there were millions of other higher, more urgent priorities that could

immediately improve the overall stability and economy of the country, but now, It was more important

than ever to translate the scroll.

Forget about the freaking portals. I needed to understand my power and I needed to know how to

restore Ciana’s memory.

What have you learned?" I asked.