Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 388

Chapter 46 The Truth About Our Childhood

*Theo*

“The bracelet? The one that you were very upset about?” I was shocked, seeking confirmation from the beauty standing in front of me. I couldn’t help but wonder, was it possible that Ciana was… her?

Watching Ciana prepare for her wedding to Warren was frustrating in more ways than I could list. She seemed so happy about the entire situation. Her face was beaming, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

It was almost as if she’d forgotten that none of this was real, that we were only playing our roles, and that she wouldn’t really be marrying Warren.

‘I couldn’t think of anything nice to say about seeing her in any of the wedding gowns, but the words I used to describe the gowns didn’t really reflect my opinion about her.

”

In fact, she looked beautiful in anything that she wore.

So if my stupid brother didn’t notice that in this realm or in reality, then there was truly something wrong with him.

Now, with her still wearing the dress that complimented her breasts so nicely, she had begun to tell me something that might just change everything forever.

“Well, I have a secret….” she confessed.

I tried to hide my curiosity behind my scowl. It was easy-scowling was pretty typical for me.

“Well, you see, a long time ago,” she began, sinking down to sit on the edge of the little stage in front of the mirrors, “I was chasing a beautiful white pony through the woods when I found an injured young man.”

A chill went up my spine, but I was able to hide it from her. I knew this story-very well. “And?” I asked.

She looked up at me, and I saw that my sharpness had wounded her. Not for the first time. “I will spare you all of the details, but we spent some time in the woods together. 1 helped nurse him back to health, and he got a very special flower for me, one I couldn’t access by myself. It was nice. I felt like I had a connection to him.”

“What was his name?” I blurted out, wondering if she even knew what he was called.

She shook her head. “He didn’t tell me, so I also decided not to tell him. But it was still one of the best memories in my life. It was just about… being there together. Helping one another. Before he left, I left him a special bracelet…”

I took a deep breath, held it for a second, and then let it out. “As a gift.” That was a statement, because I also knew the story.

She nodded. “Yeah. I thought maybe it would be useful to him, but if I’m honest, I also hoped it might help me find him again one day. He had on a mask the whole time, so I could see his eyes, but I never saw his face. I didn’t know if he’d recognize me in the future though. He’d been ill, injured, so maybe he hadn’t been paying attention.”

Or maybe he could barely see, and even when he got better, he had double vision the entire time because of the extent of his injuries…. I didn’t say that aloud. She didn’t need to know.

“So… the bracelet Warren is wearing, it’s like the one that your father made for you?” I clarified.

“It isn’t like it. It IS it.” Ciana sounded quite sure of herself. “I’ m positive. I would know that bracelet anywhere. I didn’t take it off for many, many years.”

Being indifferent was difficult, but I pushed through. “So… you think Warren is this injured young man you found in the woods, and that’s what makes you love him now?”

She scoffed at me, twisting her arms around and shrugging. “I don’t believe I ever said that I love him.” She blushed a little. The temptation to argue with her, to tell her that she didn’t have to say it, almost got the best of me, but I bit it back. “He is the boy, though.”

“How can you be certain?” I challenged her. “Maybe it’s just a similar bracelet. Maybe he found it. Maybe the young man that you gave it to tossed it in the trash, and Warren found it there.”

Then her gaze narrowed, and I could see I’d angered her. “He wouldn’t throw it away!” she said. “I guess it’s possible, but he has the same eyes.”

Ciana groaned and ran both hands through her hair, pulling some of it loose from where it had been tied in the back of her head. Those loose ringlets framed her face, making her look even more beautiful than before.

“Your Highness,” she said, and when she addressed me like that, it usually meant she was upset. “I’m not stupid, and I’m not infatuated with your brother. I understand that what transpired between us all of those years ago happened when we were young. We didn’t know one another well, and we were relying on one another to get through a tough situation.”

I listened, but I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.

She continued, “Over time, memories fade and are replaced with approximations of what truly transpired. I don’t know if the images I have in my mind of the young man are real or not, but I do know that it was an important memory in my life.”

My mouth dropped open for a second, but then I snapped it closed. It wasn’t like me to get emotional about something like that, her connection to the injured young man. I refused to comment at all because I figured anything I said would come out wrong. So I just continued to listen.

Ciana’s eyes focused on something in the distance, like she was actually looking back in time. “I have some fond childhood memories of Warren in the woods, and I will always appreciate his kindness in getting that flower for me, but thinking that I was in love with him, well, that’s just silly. Now that I look back, I was too young to know what love was.”

A question formed on my lips before I could stop it. “And now?”

She turned to look at me, and for a moment our eyes met. I saw a flicker of emotion I hadn’t ever seen in anyone’s gaze before.

For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw in her eyes that she was genuinely considering whether she was in love at that very minute. Not with Warren, though….

Then, it faded, and she said, “And now? I think that Warren is a wonderful person. He’s kind, considerate, and caring. He’s gone out of his way to help me in ways that no one else ever has.” Her words were complimentary of my brother, but they also implied that I was the opposite.

She was right, of course. It seemed that every time my brother had come to her rescue, it had been because of something I had done to injure her or cause her despair.

Warren was most certainly the good brother.

“Keep trying on your dresses,” I said as Brook came back over to where Ciana was now pulling herself up off of the stage. “I’m going to go get some fresh air.”

She didn’t say anything more to me, and while I knew it had to have been difficult for her to open up and share such an intimate secret with me, I had to keep acting like it wasn’t a big deal.

Once I was outside, I took a few deep breaths and looked up at the sky, piecing together all of the information she had disclosed to me and what I knew about the situation in my mind.

The bracelet. I knew it well. A while back, I was injured and hid in the Moon Goddess temple to recover, and I lost it. I went back many times to look for it but to no avail. It wasn’t until a few days ago that I realized that it had somehow ended up with Warren.

I’d wanted it back….

The memories of what happened in the woods were vague to me. I’d been injured so badly, I thought I might die. When the girl came across me, I almost attacked her. Like a wild animal, an injured one, I’d lashed out at her.

But she was persistent, and she wouldn’t give up, no matter how much I’d pushed her away. For days, she’d mended me, helped heal my wounds. She’d brought me food and water. And in repayment, I’d almost hurt myself again getting that flower for her.

I’d never done anything like that for anyone before. Something about this girl had made her so very special to me. I couldn’t imagine shrugging off her story when she’d said she wanted that flower.

When I’d left, I’d done so in the middle of the night, realizing that I couldn’t let the relationship continue to develop. Already, I had put her in danger. Already, I had created a situation where she could be hurt or killed.

At the time, there weren’t many people I would’ve cared about when it came to having blood on my hands. But she was one of them. I wouldn’t be responsible for causing her pain.

The image of the girl’s face in my mind was blurry, but when I stopped to think about it, I could see characteristics of her that lined up with Ciana.

Her hair, her petite figure, though she was taller and curvier now, her long, slender fingers.

Then there was her voice, her laugh, the way she cared about other people.

Yes, it seemed clear to me now. I didn’t understand how I hadn’t seen it before. But now… I knew.

Coincidences did not exist; therefore, for some reason, this girl who had saved my life all of those years ago had been dropped right back into it when I needed her most.

It was a lot for me to take in, but at the same time, I had to think it through. I couldn’t do anything rash or based on emotion.

And perhaps most importantly, I had to figure out whether or not to tell her the truth.

The injured young man in the woods that she’d thought she loved wasn’t my brother Warren at all.

It was me.