Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 347

Chapter 6: My Prince Charming

*Theo*

My eyes were focused on the files in front of me, but my thoughts were elsewhere. The scent of blood lingered in my office even after the cleaners had spent hours scrubbing my office upside down, and after all the furniture was replaced.

There was a knock on the door and I looked up to see Jake standing there. I was expecting him. “Any luck tracking down the assassins?” | started with my question.

He shook his head as he crossed the room to stand in front of my desk. “Nothing yet. I’ve got a team working on it.”

I nodded. I had figured as much. “Their entrance and exit was quick… too quick.”

“I agree. I believe they knew the palace quite well. We haven’t found a single trace of them anywhere. This was defi nitely a professional job,” my Beta said.

I considered his words and found them to be in line with what I had experienced. This was a crafty enemy. Not just anyone could’ve pulled it off. “What did Father have to say about the whole thing?”

“I haven’t spoken to him about it yet. I doubt he knows.”

“Very well. Leave it to me.”

“Alpha, you want to-”

“Father doesn’t trust anyone,” I reminded him. “Even me.”

“Of course, Alpha.” He paused and then asked, “So… why did you spare the girl?”

The girl.

A streak of anger flared up inside of me thinking about her. How dare she speak to me like that?

After taking a deep breath, I replied, “If she’s smart, she won’t say a word to anyone, especially not now.” She was in the zoo, after all, and that should teach her a lesson.

“Uhm, about that.”

“Yes?” My eyes went back to Jake’s face, wondering what he wanted to say about her.

He inhaled deeply, held it for a second, and then in a timid voice not matching his girth, he replied, “I think you may have underestimated this girl.”

| raised a brow and studied him for a moment before seeking clarification. “Underestimated her how? Are you say ing she’s one of them?” That wasn’t possible, a tiny thing like her, covered in dirt….

“No, no. I’ve done a thorough background check on her. She’s definitely not one of them. That’s not what I meant, Al pha.”

“Well, then what is it, Jake?” | asked, growing more irritat ed by the second. “Unless…” | paused for a second, and frowned, “they have disobeyed my orders and actually harmed her?”

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“They” meaning my animals. But how could that be possi ble? They had never done anything against my orders.

Then again, that girl just seemed to be a magnet for trou ble. What if they really…

“No, not that either.”

I let out a breath that I’d just realized I’d been holding a bit longer than I should have.

“I let her out,” Jake said. He leaned back away and looked at me a bit surprised. “Alpha, are you okay? You seemed wor ried.”

“I’m fine.” I relaxed my body. “You let her out already? She fainted that quickly?” | smirked. “Good! She needs to learn. When you see her again, tell her that next time she won’t be so lucky, and that my animals would be happy to break her brittle bones,”

“Alpha,” Jake cleared his throat, not meeting my gaze, “she didn’t faint. You said that once the animals were all fed, she could be released. So,”

I was surprised. “So… she figured out that I meant to have her literally feed the animals?”

She was smarter than I’d thought then.

“Yes, she did, very quickly. She fed them. Every single one of them, and when I went to check on her, she was… she was petting Linus’s head.”

“What?” My eyes widened in shock. Linus was my lion.

1978. 1978. I knew my displeasure was clearly written on my face, so

Jake quickly concluded, “That’s right. She got along with all of the animals quite well. Since she completed the task you as signed her, I let her out.”

Instead of being scared to death by my friends, she’d had a grand time playing with them?!

“Alpha…?”

It took me a few seconds to digest this news. Eventually, I narrowed my eyes and scoffed, “Did she really think she could get out of this so easily? You said she likes animals? Good, she can take care of them from now on!”

“But, Alpha, you do remember that she’s here to be part of your father’s attempt at finding you a wife, right? I worry that if the king finds out that you treat her like a servant…”

“You heard what I said.”

Jake lowered his head. “Yes, Alpha. I will make it happen.”

***

* Ciana*

Yellow scales shimmered in the sun as I gave Prince Theo’ s pet python the last of his treats. We were warming up to one another, and I thought the last few days I’d spent bringing him his tasty meals might be enough for him to finally con cede that he liked me, but he was still keeping his distance.

I had no doubt I’d win him over, though. The other ani mals and I were already good friends. I’d grown up acclimat ing myself to wild beasts, so this menagerie was perfect for me. Even the lions and tigers enjoyed a good belly rub every

day after they’d had their slabs of meat.

To anyone else, this new assignment might be terrifying. They probably would’ve assumed that the uncaged animals would eat them alive, but it was a dream job for me.

If I was going to live in the palace for the next three years, I’d much rather spend my time with these wild creatures than the one that occupied the wing where I’d witnessed a slaugh ter just a few days ago.

The animals’ food was kept in a shed on the other end of the palace, and every day, I had to make multiple trips hauling it out to the courtyard where the animals lived. That was the only complaint I had about this task-the buckets were heavy, the smell of flesh always made my stomach turn, and there was also the waste involved.

But even if it wasn’t the most glamorous job I’d ever done, I was still much happier here than I’d been with the group of complacent girls, listening to their ambitions of how to be come a queen someday.

I heard voices nearby as I was dragging a large pile of meat on the way back to the zoo. My stomach turned even more at the sight of Sophia and some of her friends standing

at the other end of the pathway, staring down at me.

I rolled my eyes at those girls, who were from smaller packs, flocking around Sophia like she was already the queen and they wanted to ensure her favor. They might as well have bent down and kissed her feet.

I had to move the bucket past where they were standing, so I heard their nasty comments as I came by.

“It’s sad really, in a pathetic way,” Sophia was saying in her snooty voice. “She tried to seduce the prince, sneak into his room early in the morning and have her way with him, and now she’s here, picking up lion shit.” All of the girls laughed, but Sophia’s high-pitched giggle was the most grating to my ears

I didn’t even bother to look over at her. She wasn’t worth my time. Instead, I continued to move my bucket of food to ward my work zone.

“Really,” Sophia continued, “someone so desperate de serves to be eaten by the wild beasts… not that they’d find much meat on her scrawny bones!”

Again, they were all laughing. I stood up straight and turned to face her. While I didn’t want to cause trouble, I also wasn’t going to just take the verbal beating without doing anything about it. But before I was able to say anything, a cor dial voice rang out behind us.

“Pardon me?”

I looked toward the speaker and caught my breath. The morning sun radiated off of his dark hair. His dark eyes deep with concern stared down at Sophia, and I couldn’t move. All could do was stand there and gaze at him in silence.

“Prince Warren?” Sophia said, and all of the girls quickly curtsied to the prince.

He didn’t acknowledge that effort. “Listen, I don’t know why you think it’s becoming of a young lady of your standing to waste her time name calling out and poking fun at another young lady, but I do think it’s quite disappointing to see Al phas’ daughters acting in such an ugly fashion.”

“Your Highness…” Sophia and the other girls mumbled.

“Now, go on about your business before I find some chores for you to do.” He gestured for them to leave the area, and all of the girls gathered up their long skirts and hastened away.

| continued to stare at him for a moment, wanting to thank him but unable to find my voice. He moved closer and stopped right in front of me, his smile kind and inviting.

Was he really who I had been looking for? One way or an other, I had to verify this.

“I’m very sorry for the trouble,” he said in an apologetic tone, even though there was nothing he should have been apologizing for.

I shook my head, and when I finally forced a response out, it was a bit hoarse. “N-no, thank you kindly, Your Highness.”

His smile softened even more. “Ah, it’s you again. Tell me, how did you get to be in such a situation, taking care of my brother’s pets?”

Tlaughed at his use of the word “pets” as they would seem like anything but to most people.

I didn’t want to repeat the whole story, so I told him the same thing I had told Brook. “I couldn’t sleep the other night. I’ d left my room without permission, which is against the rules, and this is the result.”

A chuckle escaped his perfect lips. “Well, I suppose you have committed a crime and must serve your time.”

He was teasing me. I could tell. “I don’t mind,” I said, speaking from my heart. “I enjoy the animals. In my experi ence, they’re better behaved than some of the girls I’m meant to spend my days with.”

“Yes, indeed,” Warren agreed, looking back over his shoul der in the direction in which the other girls had left. “And you’ re very brave,” he praised.

I felt my face start to heat up.

“Hold on just a moment, won’t you?” he asked.

I nodded, not sure why he had asked, and he jogged over to the far side of the pathway toward a tree with beautiful pink blossoms on it.

I watched him reach up to pick a flower, and when he did so, his shirt sleeve moved back just a bit.

A gleam of sunlight caught an object there on his arm, and my breath caught in my throat.

Was it possible? Could it really be…?

I was still in shock when he returned to me. “Give me your hand.” He placed it on my open palm. When our fingertips touched, I felt a slight tingle. “This flower will help.”

Flower… he was picking a flower for me again! Did he re member that he had picked one for a girl in the woods years ago?

“What is it?” | asked him, pulling my hand away and trying to hide my reaction by sniffing the flower. It smelled lovely, and I felt myself relaxing and just inhaling the floral bouquet.

“It’s lavendlilly.” His white teeth were dazzling in the sun’s rays as he smiled down at me. “It has calming properties that will help you to sleep well, dream deeply, and awaken well rested. You said you couldn’t sleep? So put it on your pillow at night, and I promise you’ll have sweet dreams.”

“Thank you…”

“I must be off. It was nice speaking to you. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Ciana.”

“Ciana Black…” he said, “Beautiful name!”

“How do you know my last name?”

“Because… I have a good memory!” He winked at me, and then I remembered that Beta Xavier called out my last name when I tripped and fell on Prince Warren the first time we met.

I blushed, and he let out a hearty laugh. Then he waved at me. “See you around, Ciana!”

I lifted my hand, but I was so entranced that I couldn’t speak because all I could think about was what I’d seen on the arm of Prince Warren.

It was… my bracelet.

So he must truly be the same man I’d met in the woods all of those years ago… but it was too good to be true that I would have had such a memorable encounter with a prince?

“Ciana!” Brook’s voice carried over the bridge, snapping me out of my trance. “There you are. Hurry! We’re being sum moned by the king!”