Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 144 : The Promises We Made

*Jared*

I opened my palm and looked at the moonstone ring in my hand. She’d thrown it at me, but I hadn’t gotten a good

look at it.

The ring was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

I frowned and creased my brow. The ring sparked a strange memory. I saw the gardens back at my village and a

flash of Eliza walking toward me in a wedding dress. Was it true? Did we get married? Did I really love her?

I scoffed and shook my head.

“The choice is yours. But either way, it will come to pass.” I put the ring in my pocket with my mother’s necklace

and left Eliza’s house.

I wasn’t sure why I held onto the ring but I couldn’t help it. Something about it made it impossible for me to let it go.

I headed back to the hotel to meet up with Xander and Theo. They were still working on a plan to get Hestia in the

Southern Jungle.

While I walked back to the hotel, I thought about the strange flash and the feelings that came with it. My wolf was

restless and agitated. I wasn’t sure if that was because he was upset by the memory or upset that it had gone away

so quickly.

Whatever I’d seen, it didn’t change how I felt about her.

Theo and Xander were waiting for me in the penthouse. When I arrived, they both stopped talking quickly and I

knew that they’d been talking about me.

“What’s going on?” I closed the door gently and locked it, knowing we couldn’t be disturbed while coming up with a

plan.

“Scarlett called Archer and he called me,” Xander said, “about your little visit with Eliza.”

I scoffed. “What about it? I thought we were here to talk about Hestia.”

“We’ll get to that,” Theo said, a deep rumble in his voice that told me I should listen.

Theo nodded to a nearby chair and I took a seat. This was such a waste of time. I knew they were just going to talk

at me about Eliza and try to convince me that my memories and feelings weren’t real.

Even with that little memory flash, I couldn’t fathom ever loving her.

“Jared, we’ve worked hard to restore our family’s image and honor. The way you’ve been treating Eliza, it is

reminiscent of the days of Sebastian, and it doesn’t sit well with any of us,” Theo said.

“I’m NOT Sebastian!” I glared at my brother and uncle.

What was this, some kind of intervention?

“We know that,” Xander jumped in. “The point Theo is trying to make is that even if you can’t remember loving

Eliza, there’s no reason for you to treat her like a breeder slave.”

“I did buy her as one.”

Xander sighed and shook his head. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean you have to treat her that way. It is a really

shitty way to treat anyone, especially someone that you loved and that cares a lot about you and is carrying your

child.”

“Look, I’m not an i***t. I find it very strange that everyone else remembers this past where I’m in love with Eliza

when I don’t remember it. Obviously, something is going on here that is… unusual.”

“I’m glad you can see that much,” Theo grumbled.

I shot him a look. “I might even be willing to entertain the notion that I was in love with her and that is somewhere

buried in my memories. But the truth is, I don’t love her now and I might never love her again. So, can we move

on?”

It wasn’t like they didn’t have a good reason to be concerned. I didn’t like the way I was treating Eliza. I never

treated anyone like that.

For some reason, whenever I thought of her, the anger, resentment, and frustration just boiled over. It was unlike

anything I’d ever experienced with anyone else in my life.

When I thought really hard about it, I didn’t even know where that frustration came from, or the desire to treat her

like crap.

No one in my village would ever describe me as rude, mean, cruel, or vicious. So, why was I acting that way with

her?

“We’ll make sure that you get your real memories and feelings back,” Xander said, nodding.

“Until then, I suppose I can look at making arrangements with Eliza after the child is born. Will that put your minds

at ease for now?”

Theo sighed and shook his head, disappointment evident in his eyes. The way he looked at me, I felt like my own

father, who I never met, was showing just how disappointed he was in my character.

Xander wore a similar look, his lips pulled down in a frown.

I shrugged. It was the best I could offer at this point, and they were either going to have to be okay with it or not.

“Good, that’s settled. So, Hestia is in the Southern Jungle. How are we going to defeat her?” I steered the

conversation back to where I wanted it to be.

“From what I’ve learned, there is a temple in the Southern Jungle where we can get some intel on Hestia, her

powers, and her goals. The archeologists just unearthed it and are still digging through the artifacts.” Xander

pointed to the spot on the map where the temple was located.

“Archeologists,” I grumbled.

Why did everything in this place have to remind me of Eliza?

“Eliza’s brother, George, is heading the excavation team. He’s agreed to meet with us at the temple site and show

us everything relevant.”

“Great….” I sighed heavily.

Going after Hestia was supposed to be a distraction from everything going on with Eliza. It wasn’t having the

desired result.

Theo stayed behind and promised to be in touch with any more information. Xander and I took a boat with his

soldiers and my men to the Southern Jungle. We didn’t talk much. I had nothing left to say on the matter and it

seemed that Xander could sense I wasn’t going to be in a talking mood.

George met us at the entrance to the dig site. He gave me a look, like I was a bug that needed to be squashed.

“This temple is very old and a lot of the artifacts are delicate. You two need to be careful.” When he spoke his

warning, he looked directly at me.

“We understand the importance of this find and will treat it respectfully.” Xander agreed, nodding.

“What is the importance of this temple, again?” I asked as George led us into the dig site.

The temple had been buried for centuries, and large chunks of it still were. From what I could tell, the archeologists

had only managed to unearth certain parts of the temple.

Several hallways were filled in with dirt and were inaccessible.

Large, stone pillars rose up throughout the site; many were broken off at the top. Even the broken ones were so

tall, I had to crane my neck back to see the top of them.

When this temple was standing, it had to have been massive.

“There are some murals up ahead that have the information you’re looking for,” George explained. “Our restorers

are working to repaint the graphics in the same style as they were originally done. We’ve even found some old

texts that have a lot of interesting history and lore.”

“I’d like to look at the texts,” I said.

George glanced over his shoulder at me and narrowed his eyes.

“They aren’t ready to be handled. I have expert recreators working to translate them and reprint them on more

durable material.”

I wasn’t surprised that George had a problem with me. He was Eliza’s brother.

“We’ll start with the murals. I’ve heard that pictograms and hieroglyphics can tell just as elaborate stories as old

texts.” Xander stepped in again. I knew he was trying to keep the mood civil.

“It’s true,” said George. “We’ve learned more about our history from wall paintings than old writings.”

George led us through a narrow, dark hallway. The walls crumbled a little and I got the sense there was a massive

amount of dirt piled on top of this hallway, threatening to break through the ceiling at any moment.

On the other side, the hallway opened into a large chamber that was almost perfectly intact. There was a tile floor

with some cracks in it and marble walls. The large pillars rose to a ceiling that had crumbled away and light shone

in, sun rays illuminating the intricate murals etched onto the walls.

“This entire section is about King Lycaon and what he was doing when he was in the Light Realm.” George waved

his arm over a particular section.

I went up to the wall and started studying the images. Hestia was so intent on destroying the Light Realm to

preserve King Lycaon’s legacy, but according to the wall, Lycaon spent a lot of time in the Light Realm before the

Dark Realm existed.

I ran my hand along the pictures, studying the story of the twins and their power. It was clear to me that the light

and dark powers were strongly interconnected, and it was impossible for the dark to thrive without the light.

“This is incredible,” I murmured.

“Hestia thinks that destroying the Light Realm is what Lycaon wanted, but according to this, he didn’t hate the Light

Realm, resent it, or think that it was damaging to the Dark Realm,” Xander murmured.

“Then what is Hestia really up to? Has she misinterpreted what Lycaon stood for?” I questioned.

“You know, you might want to worry a little less about what Hestia is thinking and a little more about how you’re

going to fix things with Eliza.” George’s voice cut into my thoughts.

I glared over my shoulder at him.

“I’m here to prevent a threat to both realms, not talk about relationship drama.”

George sniffed. “Seriously? Do you even remember why you want to stop Hestia?”

I frowned. “Because she’s caused a lot of problems.”

“Right… she’s caused nothing but problems for the entire Light and Dark Realms, and you somehow took that

personally because you are just so committed to both of them?”

I creased my brow and looked at Xander. He ducked his head and I could have sworn I saw him hiding a smile.

“Okay, then, enlighten me. Why do I want to stop Hestia?”

“Hestia threatened Eliza and your unborn child. You knew that Eliza would never feel safe enough to be your wife

and remain with you in the Dark Realm until Hestia was destroyed. Does that sound like someone who doesn’t love

her?”

I glared at George. Why did he have to get into my business?

“Now, if you want to stop throwing a tantrum like some angry teenager, come with me. Otherwise, if you insist on

treating my sister like garbage, you can stay here and we’ll handle Hestia.”

George waved us along.

Xander didn’t say anything in my defense, and I had no good argument to shoot back.

I followed George and Xander. It wasn’t great, but if I wanted to face Hestia and get rid of her once and for all, I’d

have to keep my head down and go through the motions.

George brought us to a camp just outside the archeological dig where several Dark Realm witches had gathered.

We were deep in the jungle, and only someone who knew where we were would find us here.

Xander and George spoke to the witches and had a good time. I felt like such an outsider. No one seemed to pay

me any mind, so I headed to bed.

Lying on my bedroll, I pulled my mother’s necklace out and the locket popped open. Its familiar song filled the air.

My eyelids grew heavy and I slipped into a dream. Eliza was waiting for me on the other side. Somehow, I knew this

wasn’t just a dream.

It was a memory.

We held each other close, hunkered down in a small shack while a massive sea storm raged outside. Despite the

darkness all around us, I was filled with nothing but love, devotion, and appreciation for her.

Memories of the time we spent in the boarded-up shack with nothing but a fire for warmth and light swelled in my

chest as I remembered all the promises we’d made to each other then.