Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 5: Do You Want to Die?

I was in that dream again.

Grass wet with dew brushed against my bare legs as I glided quickly through the meadow, barely

feeling the ground beneath my feet. My eyes were scanning for another glimpse of the majestic

creature I’d just gained sight of a moment ago before it bound between two large pine trees.

I knew if I followed the gorgeous white pony further into the woods, I would run into him again.

“Don’t touch me!” He raised his voice, but he didn’t sit up, and his arms lay limp at his side. He wore a

mask over his face. Only his onyx black eyes were visible to me.

“Do you want to die?” I retorted as I inspected his body for wounds.

“…I don’t care,” he replied quietly.

My hands paused. For some reason, his words broke my heart a little, even though he’d almost killed

me just now.

I lifted my gaze to meet his. His eyes were so deep, so dark, like infinite wells, and I feared that if I

spent too much time looking into them, I might not be able to extricate myself from their depths.

“Well, I do, okay?” I said. “My father would yell at me if he finds out I left someone bleeding to death in

the wild! Relax. l’

m just going to bandage up these wounds.”

He grunted a bit when I lifted him off of the ground, but he didn’t fight back anymore.

Silence filled the air, and I felt I had to say something, so I started with the basic question. “What’s your

name?”

He looked at me with those dark eyes and answered, “I don’t have one.”

“Really? That’s strange, because I don’t have one either.”

He cocked his head to the side and gave me a look that was a cross between confused and annoyed.

“It’s true. People just call me girl.”

“Girl?” he repeated.

“That’s right. Girl,” I gave him a big smile. My father had told me that smiles were one of the most

effective ways to make friends.

But instead of returning a smile back to me, he almost seemed a bit uncomfortable and moved his gaze

away from mine. “And what are you doing out here in the woods all alone?” he asked.

“Um…“ | tapped on my chin. “Have you heard of the Sun Blossom flower?”

His eyes widened slightly, and I could see that he had heard of it.

I continued, “You know, the flower that grows on the side of the mountains. I’ve heard they’re beautiful,

and smell wonderful. That’s why I came. My friend was leading me there…”

“Your friend?” he glanced around immediately, his tone wary.

“Yes, my new friend. A little white pony…”

He let out a breath of relief, and then said matter-of-fact ly. “Those flowers, they’re not easy to get.”

“My mother also said it was a fool’s errand.” | rested my hands in my lap. “But I love flowers. Don’t

you?”

He shrugged and looked down at the ground.

But then, the fire was suddenly extinguished. His whole body was taken by the blackness.

It turned unnervingly silent, and I started to get scared.

“Are… are you still here?” | couldn’t stop the trembling in my voice.

“Is something the matter?”

The sound of his voice startled me. I looked up in shock, my mouth agape as he stood in front of me

again.

“Wh-what just happened?” I asked him.

He thrust his hand at me. In it was a beautiful Sun Blos som flower in full bloom, its delicate purple

petals speckled with gold flakes that sparkled in the sun.

“You said you wanted one,” he said, handing the flower to me. “So I got one for you.”

Speechless, I stared at the flower. “How did you-?”

He didn’t answer me, and the darkness seemed to seep in all around me again until it was nearly pitch

black. I could barely see him.

“Hey!” I shouted, wishing I knew his name.

I tried to reach out to grab him, and that was when I no ticed the blood.

It was everywhere, dripping from my hand, sinking into the fabric of my pants, and the smell of it, rusty

with alu minum, filled my lungs.

The blood was coming from him!

“Boy?” I shouted. “Are you all right? Boy?”

He looked at me. I could see the whites of the eyes behind his mask, but in that stare, I saw no traces

of life.

His breathing had stopped, but the blood continued to pour from him.

A shrill scream escaped from me-I realized he was dead and that the darkness was about to consume

me.

My lungs were heaving and my heart was pounding out of my chest as my eyes flew open and the

blackness faded away.

It took me a moment to remember where I was. Brushing my hand over my face, I sat up in bed and

looked at the fig ures of the other girls sleeping in twin beds across the room.

Right. The palace.

My mind went to what had happened yesterday in the prince’s office. It was no wonder i’d had such a

bloody version of my recurring dream after that.

The first rays of dawn filtered in beneath the curtains, and a glance at the clock told me that it was still

quite early. It was unlikely that anyone else would be up, except for the servants.

But I couldn’t go back to sleep. Not after that.

Quietly, I got out of bed and decided to head to the gar den for a bit of fresh air. Being outside always

lifted my spir its.

The morning air was crisp so I inhaled deeply, feeling more optimistic and peaceful with every breath.

Nothing about being here would be easy. I wished that my father were here so he could give me advice

about how to proceed. Luckily, his lessons had been engraved in my heart. I would find a way to make

it through this trial to get back to my home.

Beside me was a particularly beautiful rosebush. The blooms were a soft pink with traces of white, and

they smelled divine. I paused to breathe them in, looking at the glorious pink and gold sunrise in the

distance.

Everything was going to be all right. I just knew it. Peace fulness settled around me, and I found a

measure of content ment in the solace of the morning.

And then… noises caught my attention and they quickly ushered my resolve away.

The sound of something crashing hard to the pavement echoed through the rose bushes, and then I

heard what I thought were growls, followed by muttered curse words and grunts of pain.

Looking around, I saw the shapes of two people fighting one another, and I immediately recognized

one of them. He was the last person I wanted to see right now.

Prince Theo. He was being attacked… again. Really, how hated was he that this kept happening?

Seeing that the Prince was clearly gaining an upper hand, I decided it would be best to get back inside.

But as I began to move, I stepped on some dry leaves that rustled noisily.

Shoot!

Dropping to my knees behind the bushes, I tried to hide myself, praying neither of them noticed me, but

it was too late.

The combat seemed to be interrupted by me and ended shortly. Just then, I heard a familiar voice

order, “Come out now, or I’ll kill you!”

I had no choice but to show myself. But as one last at tempt at self-preservation, I grabbed some dirt

and smeared it on my face, messing up my hair and putting leaves and sticks in it before I stood and

walked to the opening, where he was already standing.

I prayed that I was messy enough that he wouldn’t want to look at me. That way, he wouldn’t recognize

me as the sole survivor of the bloody event in his office yesterday.

Prince Theo’s expression was hard. His dark eyes narrowed, and his white shirt was open about

halfway. My eyes immediately went to his chest, but then I dropped my head so that I wasn’t staring at

places that I shouldn’t.

The sound of approaching footsteps on the path behind him gave me a bit of hope that maybe

someone would come along and spare me from certain death.

“Alpha, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it on time. Are you okay?” The footsteps finished in quick succession

as Jake, the Beta, stopped next to the prince, but Prince Theo raised a hand to stop him.

“What are you doing here?” Instead of replying to his Be ta, Theo questioned me.

“I was only passing by, Your Highness,” I said in a quiet voice.

“Oh, really?” Obviously, he didn’t buy it. “You may look a mess, but I remember you.”

Swallowing hard, I tried to come up with an excuse he might like for being outside. “Yes, that’s true. I

was… on my way to the kitchen… to learn how to cook for you… but I got lost…….” I lifted my eyes

only slightly to try to read his face.

“Enough,” he interrupted me. “You’re the eighth woman who has tried to approach me since last night.”

His voice was a low rumble, and with every syllable, a new tremor of fear passed over me. “Let me

make this clear. Leave me alone un less you want to die.”

“Alpha,” Jake tried to remind him, “But the king’s order says-”

“Do you realize that she caused him to get away?” | as sumed he was referring to the attacker just now.

“Yes, Alpha.” Beta Jake glanced at me and dared not to say more.

Prince Theo’s eyes locked on me again. I felt fear coursing through my body. He took a step closer to

me, and I cowered, but my feet remained planted for worry of what would hap pen if I backed away.

“The next time you interrupt me, I will end you. Do you hear me?” His words were as cold as ice and

chilled me to the bone.

“Y-yes, Your Highness,” I managed to get out, and finally he lifted his gaze off me, and walked away

with his Beta.

Once I saw him turn the corner out of my sight, I muttered under my breath, “Do you really think

everyone wants to mar ry you?! So arrogant! If it wasn’t for my pack, I’d never set foot in the royal

palace….”

It was just a whisper, merely more than a thought, but my eyes widened as I saw Prince Theo had

reappeared from the corner, staring at me.

Every hair of my body stood up, and my instinct told me ! was in grave danger as the prince paced

back toward me. His face was still cold as ice, but I could sense a hint of anger from it.

Oh. My. Heavens. He’d heard me.

I forgot he was one of the most prestigious Alphas in the world and was blessed with extraordinary

sight and hearing.

He flew back at me, getting right in my face.

“Say that again?” he said through gritted teeth.

I was already dead. I might as well be honest. So I shouted out loud, “Do you really think everyone

wants to marry you?! So arrogant! If it wasn’t for my pack, I’d never set foot in the royal palace!”

It was the truth.

He took a step back. He stared at me and seemed to be at a loss for words. His chest moved slightly

faster than usual, as if he was trying to keep pace with his breath. “You….”

“You’re the one who asked me to say it again!” I blurted out. Whatever! I was doomed anyway. What

could be worse? I’ d had enough of this damn place!

Theo said nothing more, but I could see him clenching his jaw. I knew my time was up.

Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks, but I held them back. I thought of my family, my mother, my

father. They would miss me.

“Take her to my backyard, Jake,” he ordered coldly.

My eyebrows furrowed as I considered what that meant. I knew he wasn’t asking his Beta to take me

on a friendly out ing.

“Alpha?” Jake asked. “Are you sure? You know”

“Take her!”

The temperature around us seemed to have dropped dra

matically, and I couldn’t control the chill that kept climbing up my spine. What was he going to do to

me?

“Yes, Alpha,” Beta Jake replied, and then he gestured for me to come with him, that look of sympathy

even more evident on his face now.

Jake led me through the gardens and I obediently walked near him, but I could hear the footfalls of the

prince behind us.

It didn’t take long for us to come to a large gated area. My instincts told me there was great danger on

the other side of the walls.

Beta Jake sighed and opened the gate. I didn’t need any one to shove me inside. I’d been ordered to

enter, so I did.

“They haven’t been fed breakfast yet.” Prince Theo came up behind us. “But that’s about to change.”

One corner of his mouth pulled back in a snarl. It was the most evil smile I’d ever seen. “They’re all

about to have… breakfast.”

I turned around and looked at the inhabitants of the courtyard.

Lion.Tiger.

All fierce predators.

I didn’t need an explanation.

Breakfast was me.

“It’ll open when they’re done eating.”

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Then, Prince Theo locked the gate himself, leaving me facing the animals.

And they were all waiting for me… waiting for their break fast.