Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 391

Chapter 49 Theo’s Past II

After Zade’s death, Father decided to put me in training. He sent the best mentors to train me. I worked really hard be- cause I wanted to become the strongest warrior; perhaps then my mother would be proud and would want to see me again.

What I didn’t know was that my father expected some- thing different from me. He didn’t need me to become a war- rior. He needed me to be a killer.

When I was ten years old, King Sebastian started a pro- gram where he would allow prisoners a chance to gain their freedom.

These were the worse sort of criminals murderers, rapists, those that had robbed others violently. He made it seem so simple for them.

“Defeat my son, a little boy, and you will walk free.”

Of course, these hardened criminals had jumped at the chance. What would a ten–year–old do to stop them? Those monsters didn’t mind tearing a child apart in exchange for their freedom.

But it never happened that way.

As much as I could use my battle skills to protect myself, I was too young and was no match against full–grown men. As a result, almost always, at the end of each fight, I’d end up draining them of their lives, along with their dreadful emo-

tions before their deaths.

Watching the lifeless bodies collapse in front of my eyes became the worst of my childhood nightmares. I wasn’t able to have a single night of peaceful sleep. Whether I was awake or asleep during the night, I always felt as if numerous eyes were watching me, condemning me for taking their lives.

I was tormented. I hated my power – because of it, not only did I absorb the terror of those who were killed by me, but I also got all of their horrible traits – the parts that made them criminals to begin with. I was no longer capable of smil- ing, of showing kindness. Their emotions became mine, and I couldn’t escape them.

“Father, I can’t do this anymore…” I begged him. “I’ll work hard to be a good warrior and you can put me into any train- ing but this. Please!”

“Nonsense!” he said. Then he softened his expression and encouraged me. “They’re murderers, son,” he told me. “They deserve to die. You’re doing the entire kingdom a service in getting rid of them.”

I’d nod and try to believe that was true so that I could feel just slightly better for what I did. I was desperate, and I went to my mother again, because I didn’t even remember how many trials I’d been through without actually being able to see her.

I wanted to tell her that I was doing the kingdom a ser- vice, and that maybe she shouldn’t be locking me out of her life.

When I told her the situation through her closed door, un- like usual where she was just silent, this time, I heard her say, “Whether they deserve to die or not should not be your deci- sion, Theo.”

Tears had stung my eyes at her words. “Mother!” I shout- ed. “I had no choice! If I didn’t kill them, they would kill me!”

After a long while, I heard her say, “I know.” It seemed that she sighed, but then, her tone was sharp again. “But keep in mind that you have no right to take lives, and neither does anyone else!”

From that point on, I trained hard in battling with a knife. I was unable to shift into my wolf because I was still too young, so I had to rely on being a keen fighter in my human form.

Eventually, I became so skilled in the art of fighting that I started to win battles without having to suck the life out of anyone. In some cases, I was even able to disable them with- out having physical contact, thus sparing their lives.

But my choice of fighting angered my father. He saw my skills as some sort of a parlor trick, something he could show off to his friends and brag about. He shamed me for winning the fights any other way.

One day, when I openly refused to go back to the old way, he threw me in a jail cell.

“Theodore, you must learn to respect your father and your king!” he said. “This is for your own good! You are blessed with the power, and you must respect it, honor it, and make full use of it! Your kingdom needs it, and you shouldn’t be ashamed. Your useless mercy will only make you weak!”

“Father, I’m not weak!” I protested. “None of your warriors are able to take me down easily one on one and-”

“Enough! You’ll listen to me. Look around you. Without your divine power, you’re just as pathetic as any of them!”

I saw a group of twenty or so prisoners, but this time, they were different from the criminals I usually fought. They didn’t look fierce or evil. There were elderly men, women, and… even children.

“Who are they?” I asked my father.

He didn’t answer me. Instead, he asked me, “Do you want to save them?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I nodded.

“Very well. I’ll give you a choice. Use your abilities to kill two of them,” he said cruelly. “Show me that you’re a strong soul, and I’ll consider releasing the rest.”

The cell gate closed behind me. My eyes widened and I couldn’t believe what he’d said.

His voice traveled away with him. “When you’re ready and done, let the guards know. They’ll let you out. Otherwise, you will stay here until you get your mind straightened out.”

The rest of the prisoners looked at me in terror. They were probably right to be terrified by me, a monster. But I’d made up my mind. I didn’t want to kill for no reason anymore, espe- cially not those people in front of me.

“You have no right to take lives, and neither does anyone else!” My mother’s words echoed in my mind.

I warned all of them, “I will kill you. I’m sure all of you have heard the stories about me. They are all true. If you come at me, I will have no choice but to make sure that you die. So… if you leave me alone, I will leave you alone.”

And so I tucked myself in a corner and no one bothered me. For days, I stared outside, doing nothing. I didn’t talk, didn’t eat, and didn’t even drink much. I felt my body getting weaker and weaker, yet for the first time in a long time, I felt peaceful.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad even if I just died like that. At least I wasn’t forced to kill.

My father checked on me a couple of times, and each time, he was furious. He urged me to kill them and tried to get them to attack me. But instead, I just existed there in the cell, not eating or drinking, protesting my father’s actions.

“You can’t force me, father,” I told him.

After a long time–how long, I couldn’t even remember- my small body gave out, and I passed out in the cell. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my bedroom. My father was standing at the foot of my bed, a big smile on his face.

“I knew I could count on you,” he said. “That’s exactly what you needed to do! Killing two of those bastards.”

“Killing them?” I didn’t understand. I hadn’t attacked any- one this time….

“Because you’ve done a great job, as a prize, I’ll let you do whatever you want for the rest of those prisoners. It’s time for them to learn to respect their regal Prince Theo!”

I didn’t know exactly what had happened. I could only as- sume that after I had passed out, in my unconscious state, my body had done what it needed to in order to save me–I might have sucked out their lives without even knowing it!

As my father turned to walk away, a single tear rolled down my cheek.

Like he’d said years ago, I was indeed a monster.

When I recovered, I went to my mother again.

She still refused to open the door. Banging on it with both fists, I asked her, “Mother, what do I do? I did everything I could to stay away from them, but they still died! What else can I do…”

“Theo,” through the door, she told me, “then remember them. Remember that those men died in your place.”

*Ciana*

My head was pounding. I sat up, leaning on an elbow for a second as I tried to remember exactly what had happened. I looked at my hand and saw it was no longer bleeding.

I was lying on the floor in Theo’s room, and Jake and Theo were near me, as they should have been. Across the room, near the doorway that led to my chamber, Brook and Warren lay on their sides, and in my room, Sophia was spread out, her arms and legs split like a star. She looked a little silly, but I wasn’t in a laughing mood.

Sitting up, I rubbed my head. I could remember every- thing that had happened. I wondered how long we had been gone. It must not have been long in this world or else some- one would’ve come looking for us.

The crystal was lying by Theo’s leg. I remembered then that the mission had failed. He wouldn’t be able to use the crystal to replant the dreamberry sooner than the next blood moon. I swore under my breath. Now what would we do?

I heard a deep grunt and looked around, trying to figure out who was waking up. Jake sat up abruptly, looking around the room. “What the hell?” he asked.

“Beta Jake,” I said. “How are you?”

“Not good. What happened?” He pressed on his head for a moment but didn’t deny who he was. At least that was a good sign–we were indeed back to reality.

“I’m not sure,” I told him. “What do you remember?”

He hadn’t been able to recall this world in the other realm, so maybe he wouldn’t remember what had happened in the world the crystal created either.

“I have no idea. I just know we were looking at the crystal.”

“Right.” I nodded. As expected, he didn’t recall. “I’m not sure what happened, but I think that we should move Brook, Prince Warren, and Sophia to their rooms before they wake up. They might panic to find themselves lying on the floor, and they don’t know anything about the crystal.”

Jake still looked a little disoriented, but he nodded. “All right. I’ll see to it. What about Alpha?”

Theo wasn’t moving either. “I’m his personal attendant,” I reminded Jake. “I’ll stay with him.”

“Very well,” he said, accepting my proposal.

He helped me move Theo to his bed, then went to careful- ly pick Brook up, carrying her out of the room. I wondered if anything that had happened in the illusional world would im- pact his feelings toward Brook in real life.

Luckily, Jake was able to get everyone else situated in their rooms before they woke up. He had to take care of a few other urgent matters, so I was left alone with the prince again.

I was surprised that Theo was still out of it. We were the first ones to get pulled into the crystal’s world, so I’d assumed he would return to this reality right after me. I wished we could talk soon because he probably would be the only other one to remember what had happened there.

Hopefully, he remembered the important parts, like the fact that the crystal hadn’t been activated, but had forgotten other parts–like the fact that we had made love.

With a sigh, I laid a blanket over him and scooted a little closer to him, thinking I should give him a little nudge. But be- fore I even touched him, he began to moan, turning back and forth slightly. “Mama!” he muttered. “Please! Come back! Don‘ t you love me?”

“Mama?” I repeated. Was he dreaming? Whatever was go- ing on, he was clearly in distress. I’d never seen him like that before. Prince Theo was always calm and in control.

His brow furrowed, and a painful look appeared on his face.

What was he dreaming about? What would make such a strong, cold and collected prince look so… vulnerable?

“Mama, what do I do?” he shouted.

I couldn’t stand watching him suffer anymore, so I patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Theo,” I whispered. “It’s okay.”

I tried shaking him a little, but that didn’t do anything. He didn’t open his eyes, nor did he settle down.

Unsure what else to do, I acted on instinct. When I was lit- tle and had a bad dream, my mother would sing me a lullaby to comfort me and help me go back to sleep.

With my hand on Theo’s chest, I began to sing, hoping it would help to wake him up, or at the very least, provide him some peace in his sleep.

*Theo