Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 348

Chapter 7: Prince Theo’s Challenge

“The king?” I repeated.

“Yes, the king! C’mon, let’s hurry.”

| stashed the flower Prince Warren had given me in a pocket in my dress and thought about what Brook was telling me.

The king was summoning all of the girls, and we were meant to make an appearance, and a good impression on him.

However, I was in no position to do that in my current state-not that it really mattered to me. If I had my way, I wouldn’t be interacting with any of them at all, except for maybe Prince Warren. I’d rather they didn’t notice I was there. Or not there, as the case may be.

“I don’t know whether I should go…” I murmured.

“You don’t know?” Brook repeated. “Ciana! It’s the king!”

I thought up some excuses. “But… I have to feed the ani mals. You see, I still needed to feed the tiger, and there were other chores that needed to be done for the animals. If I were to leave now, my work wouldn’t be completed, and this was a task the prince had assigned to me….”

“You do know that it’s important to make a good impres sion on the king whether or not you win Prince Theo’s hand, don’t you? I mean… he’s the king! He can just as easily decide the fate of our packs as the prince.”

“I know, I know. You go ahead,” | told her. “I’ll see what || can do.”

“But Ciana,” she pleaded.

“Brook, you shouldn’t be late on my account. Go! Take care of yourself and your pack, and make sure the king sees how wonderful you are. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She hesitated, but her eyes flashed between me and the palace, and I understood that she was struggling with the burden of trying to be a good friend while not disobeying the king and missing her opportunity. “Please hurry,” she urged me.

I gave her an encouraging smile. “Of course. Now, go! Don’t be late!”

“All right,” Brook said, and with a sigh, she turned and ran back toward the castle doors.

I couldn’t help but smile after her. She was such a kind hearted person to even come out here to tell me, and I felt very lucky to call her my friend.

But I didn’t intend to go. Knowing Brook, she should be able to navigate the scenario on her own.

Enough girls would doll themselves up and do their best to look beautiful and elegant in front of the king. I had inten tionally put myself in a position where anyone who looked at me would think I was a mess. It was the best way to stay out of the royals’ way and survive these three years so I could go home.

I’d never been one for entertaining dignitaries anyway. Let

the other girls bat their eyelashes, show off their gowns, and fluff their curls at His Majesty. I would be out here with those | trusted most-the animals.

If anyone asked, I’d simply tell them the prince had given me an order, and as his servant, I was fulfilling my duties.

With my mind made up, I picked up the handle of the bucket holding the tiger’s food and headed back to the “zoo,” certain he’d be starving by now. I would need to give him ex tra belly rubs to make up for my tardiness.

“Here you go, Samson!” I called the tiger, tossing the meat to him. He was keeping his distance today, possibly because he was irritated that I was late. Once he’d nibbled on a few morsels of raw meat, he was up for some petting, and I spent some extra time with him to make up for being late.

Then, I had headed to a shed to return the bucket i’d been carrying and see what else needed to be done when I heard a familiar slithering sound.

“Well, if it isn’t my dear friend the python!” I said as he grew closer to me. “Now, what are you up to today?”

He made a circle around me on the ground, and I thought | saw a gleam in his eyes as if he really wished he could tell me something.

| sat down on the grass, and soon enough, he was slither ing across my lap, letting me run my hand along his bright yellow scales.

“You are such a handsome fellow,” I told him. “I know an other handsome fellow.” I felt a blush creep into my cheeks just thinking about Prince Warren. “To think, here I am sharing my happy news with a snake. Well, of all of the snakes in the castle, you’re the one I trust the most.”

He seemed to appreciate that as his long, forked tongue darted from his lips and kissed the skin of my hand. I contin ued to pet him, giggling at his antics as he wound his way around my arm but never squeezed.

My mind continued to wander back to Prince Warren and that bracelet, which I had only caught a glimpse of. He seemed to have changed a bit since I’d given it to him. I re called a withdrawn, melancholy boy, but now, he was outgo ing and friendly.

“I’ll have to confirm that it’s him, you know?” | asked the python. He looked at me with an expression of understanding in his eyes.

“Time changes everyone, that’s for certain. Besides that, l’ ve dreamt of my mystery boy for so many years. It’s possible my dreams and my memories have become intertwined and reality is now framed through a different lens, isn’t it? Could it be him? Even though he’s not so shy now?”

The snake hissed an agreement that made me smile. Then, he gave me a little nudge, and I got the impression he wanted to show me something.

Getting up off of the grass, smoothed my skirt. “What is it?” | asked him. He glided over the ground but didn’t go far before he turned to look at me. “Do you want me to follow you?”

His head rocked up and down just a bit, so I took that as a yes. And then, I was off with the python taking this opportuni ty to do a bit of exploring in the rest of the courtyard while

the others were with the king.

*Theo”

A sigh leaked from my lips as I watched the remaining women line up before my father. I’d done my best to keep it at bay, but it couldn’t be helped.

My father walked slowly in front of them, staring through the crowd to catch a glimpse of each of them. He took his time, as if he were admiring a work of art, and then, when he’d gotten a solid enough first impression, he retreated to where I was standing quite a distance from them-but not far enough.

“Well, my son,” he said in that deep voice of his. “What do you think of the young ladies?”

I managed to sound believable when I said, “They’re just fine, Father.”

“Fine?” he repeated, and I realized immediately I’d offend ed him. “Only fine?”

I didn’t want to lie to him. If I gave him the impression / was overjoyed with this venture, who knew what he might pull next? “That’s correct, Sire,” I said with a bow of my head.

My father scoffed at me. “These are the most beautiful, elegant, well-bred ladies in all of the kingdom, Theodore! But to you, they’re only ‘fine’?”

The last thing I wanted to do was argue with him in public, but frustration was beginning to well up inside of me at his in trusion; the very fact that he’d decided to do this was irritat

ing beyond belief. Keeping my voice low, I repeated to him the same warning I had made when he’d first told me of the idea only a week ago. “You cannot force me.”

“I cannot force you?” He had a gleam in his eye that told me he disagreed with my assessment. “Theo, I am ordering you to find a mate. There are eighty of them. At least one has to be to your liking!”

“Seventy-three.” I corrected him.

My father’s eyes snapped back to my face. “What’s that now? Seventy-three?” He looked around the room, taking a moment to understand my meaning. Turning back to me with an air of disbelief, he said, “Are you telling me seven of them are dead already? It hasn’t even been a week!”

All I could do was shake my head. “You shouldn’t be sur prised, Father. After all, I am related to you. Your blood runs through my veins.”

He didn’t find my comment amusing at all, and fury ignit ed within him. “I don’t care if it’s eighty, seventy-three, or a hundred and sixty! If these girls don’t work, I will find more! You will choose one, Theo!”

His voice carried to the women, and I heard several shocked gasps. I really didn’t want to have this conversation here, but since he was pressing the issue, I needed to be firm. “I do not want a child.”

“You may not want a child, but I need you to have one. And I will not continue to waste time because you feel unin spired to find the right woman. If you still need some persua sion,” he paused and warned me, “think about your mother.”

I shook my head slowly as I thought about the audacity he was displaying. He was really going to try to play on what little sympathy I had by bringing Mother into this? “That sounds like a threat, Father.

My father sighed and placed both of his hands on my shoulders, and for a moment, he looked like a father, not the king, but my actual dad. But he and I both knew that I was nothing more than a pawn to him.

“Listen, I’m doing what’s best for you. You are my son. This needs to be taken care of. So… if you don’t want to deal with all eighty of them, select a few. Make them your personal attendants. Perhaps one or two will stand out to you then, when they’re close to you.”

I didn’t want anyone close to me. Ever. But he wasn’t go ing to let up.

“Fine.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Which ones would you like?” He turned and looked over his shoulder. “There are some beau ties over there.”

My eyes raked over them as well. I’d seen them all before, and I wasn’t impressed. Most of them were far too weak in ev ery way to be a match for me. “I do not want a timid mouse,” | told my father. “She will never last.”

“Some of them look fairly strong,” he replied. “Like they’ve gone through warrior training.”

That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but as he spoke, an idea came to me.

“They can prove their toughness to me by paying a visit to my pavilion.”

My father’s eyes were back on me-wide with displeasure once more. “Your pavilion? You want to ask these girls to tra verse your dangerous zoo to reach the center pavilion? Your animals will tear them apart.”

A chuckle departed my lips as I reminded him, “If they can’ toutlast my pets, they will never make it more than a day with me, Father. You know that. I will not accept a weakling as my wife. They will have to prove themselves strong in every way.”

The king lifted a finger to his chin as he considered my words, and then, much to my surprise, he nodded. “Very well, then. We shall give it a try.”

He signaled to his Beta, who had been standing close enough to overhear our entire conversation.

Xavier stepped up in front of the women with my father and I looking on. “Ladies, I have some wonderful news! The prince has decided to take a few of you as his personal atten dants!”

The women’s faces lit up, and murmurs of excitement rip pled through the crowd.

“In order to qualify for this extremely privileged task, all you will need to do is make your way to the pavilion within his private zoo. The ladies who arrive first will be assigned to take care of Prince Theo.”

I watched as the girls’ faces fell. Some of them were wide eyed with shock. I was sure that in the past few days, they’d learned enough about me to know about my animal pals.

W 228 Vouchere I turned around and smirked. This was exactly what I ex pected. They would never last in my courtyard. In fact, I doubted many of them would even think of trying.

And anyone who did… well, Perceval would take care of them. He wouldn’t let anyone enter the pavilion without my approval.

I doubted any of these women had a desire to be swal lowed whole by a python….