Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 374

Chapter 32: That’s My Face

“All right, baby,” Hawke said as he lowered himself down on the ground on top of me, his pants hanging open. “It’s time for you to experience what it’s like to be with a real man.

“No!” I whimpered, unable to say much more with the pain in my head keeping me dizzy and my arms and legs pinned down.

My shirt was halfway torn open, revealing my bra, and I was desperate. Help! Where was Theo? Why wasn’t he back?

Susan… maybe she could think of a way to get me out of this. I tried using the mind-link to call to her, but she didn’t answer either. And I didn’t know what else to do other than pray.

Someone… anyone, help, please!

Hawke chuckled and reached for my skirt, getting ready to pull it up.

Before he could get my skirt out of the way, he was

suddenly lifted off of me. I watched through blurry vision as he went flying across the room, crashing into the bookcase where I’d plucked the vase from earlier.

“What the fuck?” one of his men shouted. He was next. But instead of being tossed away, he got a thick black boot to his skull. Blood squirted out of his nose and mouth as his head crashed into the wall and his eyes rolled back in his head.

“How dare you touch her!” A thunderous and furious roar shook the entire mansion, and I had never been so thankful for Theo’s presence.

The other four men all got up to try and defend themselves, but they were no match for the Dark Prince. Even when two of them attacked him at once, he punched and kicked his way out of the situation, sending them flying against one another, into the walls and furniture, and tumbling onto the floor.

From across the room, Hawke shouted, “I’m gonna tell my dad!”

Pulling myself up to sitting, I tried to get my head on right as Theo went over to Hawke and kicked him in the gut, hard. Hawke began to cry like a little baby.

“The mind–link,” I whispered, using the wall to push myself up to standing. The room was still blurry, but my vision was beginning to clear. All around me, I saw bodies. I didn’t think any of them were dead, but they were in bad shape.

Theo came back to me, and I could tell that he was still outraged.

“We need to get out of here,” I said to him. “Hawke must have mind–linked others. Raymond will be on his way, and I don’t want to blow your cover.”

He ignored my worry and threw his jacket on me. His gaze was dangerous and concerned at the same time. “You’re hurt. Hawke hit you?”

“Yes,” I said. “But I’ll be okay. Let’s go.”

But he didn’t move. A chill went down my spine and saw his face darken.

I’d never seen him this way before, not even when he was attacked in his office the first day we met. His demeanor was terrifyingly cold… and even without the mind–link, I could clearly acknowledge his urge to kill.

He gently laid me down on the coach and stood up to walk toward Hawke.

“Don’t…. Don’t you come any closer!” Hawke cowered as Theo approached him.

Before he could do anything else, the door opened again, and Raymond hurriedly stepped inside. He had several people with him, including one of the pack healers. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Daddy!” Hawke moaned. “Help! She hurt me for no reason!”

I opened my mouth to protest, but then I closed it. Who was Raymond to believe me anyway?

The pack healer kneeled down next to Hawke to examine him. His father stalked over as well, bending down to look at his wounds. A moment later, he stood and said, “How dare you! Both of you. I will ensure that you pay for this! You’re already in more trouble than you will ever be able to get out of, with everything you have done since you arrived here, girl!”

“Everything I have done?” I retorted, no longer caring about our original plan of laying low. If we needed to take care of Raymond right now, we would.

“Silence!” Raymond barked.

I looked back at the group he’d assembled. They were mostly pack elders, people who had prestige amongst the pack members. All of them were people who had been known to be friendly with Raymond, but I had never thought there was reason to believe they weren’t loyal to my parents.

“Do not say another word, girl!” Raymond was walking back toward the center of the room. “You have a lot to explain! You will be held accountable for every crime you’ve committed!”

I sneered, “Beta Raymond, between you and me, if anyone has committed a crime-” I didn’t get the whole question out before he snapped his fingers and yet more people came into the room.

They were carrying a sheet with something heavy in it. I had no idea what it was until they dumped it on the rug in the middle of the parlor. Then, the sheet came open and the contents spilled onto the floor.

It was a body!

I gasped as I stared at the form of a woman, her dress bloodied and torn. Even with her hair covering her face, I knew who it was.

When Raymond leaned down and pulled her head back so that her dead eyes were staring into my face, I took a step back, running into Theo, who had returned to my side the moment Raymond entered the house. He was like a brick wall, unyielding, and even though he didn’t touch me, it was such a comfort knowing I wasn’t alone at this moment.

“You recognize Susan, I presume?” Raymond asked me, releasing her head so that it snapped back to the ground. “The two of you were good friends at one point, I believe. She was a mentor to you. A governess, yes? She greeted you upon your arrival here.”

I couldn’t speak. Everything he said about Susan was true. We were friends. She was a mentor to me. I had been happy to see her smiling face when I had arrived back here.

“But then… something happened,” he continued, an `accusatory look on his face as he stepped over Susan and came closer to me. “Susan must’ve noticed you were acting a little strange, girl. She must’ve been suspicious.”

“What are you… talking about?” I croacked as tears streamed down my cheeks. Shock and pain consumed me. Susan… she was dead… why?

“Oh, that’s rich.” He shook his head, his hands on his hips. “You are still trying to play pretend with us, even though it’s obvious we are all on to you now, little girl.”

“On to me?” For the first time ever since I’d been back, I started to panic. I had underestimated Raymond, and I had no idea what other strings he could pull.

I looked at Theo for help, but he didn’t make eye contact with me. His head was pointed straight ahead at Raymond as he listened to the story that was being woven about us. But just having him next to me seemed to give me strength and courage. I took a deep breath and did my best to switch my focus from Susan’s body to Raymond.

“That’s right.” He folded his arms and glowered at me. “You killed her! And you did so because she figured out your secret!”

“What? No! I would never-” I began.

“Silence!” he shouted as all of the people gathered in the doorway began to murmur about what the secret might be. Though not everyone in the pack had come, there were still at least fifty people out there.

“You will pay for your crimes–murder, beating my son, and… pretending to be the Alpha’s daughter!”

“Pretending?” I said, standing up, raising my voice. “You’re lying! I didn’t kill Susan. Your son was hurt because he was trying to force himself upon me, and… I am Ciana Black, the Alpha’s daughter!”

“No, you’re not!” Pointing a finger at me, his arm extended to its full length, he proclaimed, “You are an imposter!” Raymond turned his attention to the door. “Let her in!”

My head swiveled around to look at the entryway as the people assembled there stepped aside and a woman

walked through them. She had her face tilted to the floor, but when she lifted her head so I could see her, I gasped in shock.

The woman who had just walked into the room looked exactly like me! We could’ve been identical twins! It was like I was looking in a mirror. She had the same fair skin, blonde hair, sapphire eyes, and the same petite build. She was wearing different clothes, and her countenance was much meeker than mine, but other than that, we were the same.

How could this be?

I turned to Theo, expecting him to be just as shocked as I was, but he looked more bored than anything else.

As she turned her eyes to look at me, I remembered what Luther had said. He’d warned me of this. He’d spoken of an imposter….

“This is the real Alpha’s daughter,” Raymond explained to the crowd. “Ciana, tell us what happened.”

“Yes, Mister Raymond.”

The girl cleared her throat and spoke in a voice that sounded similar to mine but much quieter.

“I was on my way back from the castle after Prince Theo chose someone else over me. At any rate, I was making my way home by train when suddenly this hideously ugly woman came at me. She assaulted me, and using witchcraft, she made it so that her face looked exactly like mine. Then, she locked me up and came here to fool all of you.”

By the time she finished, she was weeping softly, wiping at the tears that flowed down her face.

Inside, I was seething, infuriated that she was standing here, pretending to be me, and accusing me of doing such heinous things.

But I didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“That’s right!” Raymond barked. “This woman,” he said, pointing at me, “is a fake! She hurt our dear Ciana and killed Susan! Now, she must pay, and I believe the only just

punishment for these horrible crimes is for this woman to be put to death!”

With his words, the crowd worked themselves into a tizzy. They were turning toward one another, murmuring under their breath, all of them aghast at what Raymond was telling them.

I heard many of them agreeing with him, saying that the imposter, which was me, apparently, needed to be put to death for my crimes.

“Wait!” I shouted, trying to get them to hear me above their conversations. “You can’t seriously believe him. I’m Ciana, and I can prove it! I know much more about this pack and all of you than this woman, the true imposter, could possibly know!”

“If she knows anything, it’s all due to her witchcraft!” Raymond shouted.

“That’s preposterous!” I shouted back at him. “No, Raymond! Stop this nonsense right now!‘

“You are an evil, vicious woman, and you must die for all that you have done!”

Raymond continued to yell, the crowd began to talk even more loudly, and the girl who wore my face began to cry even louder.

My head was already swimming, a dull ache in the back of my skull from where I’d hit it on the wall. I couldn’t believe any of this was happening.

How was I going to get out of this situation?

I was just beginning to think that I was going to collapse on the floor, curl in on myself, and give up on ever being able to convince them that I was who I said I was and that this other woman was a liar when I heard an authoritative voice demand, “That’s enough!”

Immediately, the entire room went dead quiet as every eye turned and focused on the speaker, who had commanded our attention and obedience just by opening his mouth.

My eyes were locked on his handsome face. I waited with bated breath to hear what Theo would say next.