Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 102: Boyfriend

*Ciana*

I couldn't believe I dozed off!

Theo said they would be leaving in two hours-were they already gone?

I ran to check on Warren. He wasn't in his room. For a mo- ment, my heart sank to the bottom and I

thought they chose to leave without me.

Thank Goddess, when I got to the foyer, Jake and a cou- ple of guys were getting Warren loaded into a

van. He was strapped on a gurney, still unconscious.

Aurora was there, saying goodbye to Warren. Her eyes were glassy with tears.

I walked over and was about to ask Aurora whether she would like to come with us to the palace, when

I realized that Theo actually hadn't extended the invitation for me to go with him.

I watched Theo and Jake getting prepared to set off, and couldn't help but decide to find out what was

their plan.

"Do you have a plan on what to do now?" I asked, walking up beside Theo.

His face was drawn and distant again. The past 12 hours seemed extremely long, and he'd been so

obviously upset and emotional at what happened to Warren and what he was ca-

pable of.

ty.

For a few moments, he'd even let me see that vulnerabili-

Now, he was the same old aloof Theo again.

"Yes, to a degree. We've made some arrangements in the palace," Theo said.

"Okay," I said softly, looking at the ground.

Theo's 'we' only included himself and Jake, obviously. It didn't sound like I was being included to return

to the palace.

I couldn't assume that I'd be welcome to accompany them without an invitation, as the royal palace

wasn't my backyard. Now that I'd technically "dropped out" of the running for Theo's potential bride,

there was no reason someone like me would have to go to the castle.

The palace wasn't exactly open for anyone to come and go as they please.

But I wanted to. My heart ached with the desire to stay with Theo and to see Warren recover.

Theo wasn't inviting me, so I wasn't sure if he'd be recep- tive to me asking to tag along, because I

might end up being more of a burden to him. He had a lot going on in his head with what he'd been

through recently.

Then there was the promise I'd made to Lady Nita. I'd told her I would stay away from Theo and the

palace if she helped him. She'd kept up her end of the deal. I couldn't go back on mine.

Besides, and most importantly, I'd kissed Theo last night and he'd... he hadn't mentioned anything

about it.

At this point, I could no longer lie to myself.

Yes, I fell for the Dark Prince.

I wanted to be with him and be there for him. I wanted him to know that he wasn't alone.

But what did he think about me?

Yes, he was protective of me, I knew that, just like he cared about Maggie, Warren, and even Jake. But

was there anything more than that?

"Ciana, you in there?" Jake asked, waving his fingers in front of my face.

"Y-yes, what?" I asked, snapping out of my trance.

"I've been calling you. You must have been thinking pretty deeply."

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"Oh, yeah... I just hope Warren gets the help he needs," I forced a smile on my face and played it off

like it wasn't a big deal that they were leaving without me.

But it was.

"Well, we're headed back to the palace."

I was extremely disappointed that Theo didn't want me to go with them. I could feel my face fall and I

couldn't maintain that earlier smile.

Oh well, I'd better bid them goodbye so that they could leave and get Warren the help he needed. As

for myself, I was seriously considering tailing them secretly...

"You know, Brook is still there. She misses you a lot," Jake added.

"I miss her too," I admitted, sighing heavily. It felt like I hadn't seen her for years.

"She's been... well, she hasn't been feeling all that well lately," Jake said. He blushed suddenly, like he

wasn't sup- posed to know about Brook's personal life.

I blinked a couple of times and nudged his shoulder. "It is okay to care about her and worry about her."

"I know. I just think she'd feel better getting a visit from you," he added.

"I'd love to see her. I'm just "

"Besides, we might need help with Prince Warren. He'll need a lot of care, and who knows what the

king will decide," Jake cut me off.

"I'll go!" There was the invitation I was hoping for, and there was no way I'd let the opportunity pass.

"Great!" Jake lowered his voice as if he was worried that his Alpha would hear him. I glanced at Theo,

who wasn't pay- ing attention, apparently.

The purpose of my trip was to see Brook and to help with Warren. As long as I wasn't going back for

Theo, Lady Nita couldn't say I broke my promise, right?

I was a bit nervous when we got into the van. What would Moucher:

Theo say? What if he scolded me and asked me to stay be- hind? I would tell him that my friends

needed me, and it was none of his business.

With that in mind, I was ready to face his challenge.

However, other than freezing at the car door for a couple of seconds, he didn't say anything or do

anything else before sitting down next to me. My eyes didn't leave his face the en- tire time, and I could

have sworn I saw a hint of relief in his composed dark eyes.

So, he was okay with me tagging along after all?

All of a sudden, I felt energetic and in a much lighter mood.

When the car started moving, I was sure that he wouldn't be able to get rid of me at this point, so I

turned my attention to Warren.

He hadn't changed at all since the night before. Still pale and unconscious. Periodically, I checked his

pulse. Some- times, he was so still that I was afraid he wasn't breathing any- more.

Theo hadn't said anything to me at all. He looked at War- ren sometimes and then looked out the

window.

At first, I was simply happy to be with him, but after more than an hour, it was still dead quiet in the car.

I felt the need to break the awkward silence.

"Do you think Warren will be alright?" I asked, even though in this case, we both had exactly the same

amount of information, and his answer wouldn't be wiser than what I'd already know.

"Yes."

"I hope so too."

"Do you think King Sebastian will help?"

"No, but we'll figure out a way to make him do it."

"How?"

"Don't know yet."

Alright, I gotta say, conversation wasn't Prince Theo's forte.

"I haven't seen Brook in so long," I changed the topic ca- sually.

Theo grunted in response.

"Jake said she's been feeling a bit under the weather. He thinks seeing me will help cheer her up. I'd

like to be there for her," I added.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that," Theo said absently.

"And you know, I can help with Warren, too. It won't be easy looking after him while you figure out what

to do."

Theo just nodded.

"So, you know, don't send me away. I'm going back to the palace to help two friends," I reiterated.

Theo raised an eyebrow at me but he didn't say anything.

All right, I admitted it, sitting in awkward silence was probably way easier than trying to chat the crown

prince up.

I was hoping to get a sense of what he was feeling about me, but at this rate, I was simply happy that

he didn't outright reject me.

When the car pulled through the majestic front gates, I felt it had been ages since I last set foot in the

royal palace.

With Jake's super efficiency, Warren was fully settled down in his room within twenty minutes, including

proper se- curity and medical support.

"Theo," I noticed that he stood up and was walking toward the door. "Where are you going?"

He looked me in the eye, "I'm going to see the king. I have my men here, they'll only listen to you, so

most people in the palace shouldn't bother you. Take care of yourself and War- ren."

"Of course!" I nodded, "That's the least I could do. Good luck!"

Jake smiled and followed Theo, "We need it! By the way, Brook should be here soon."

I watched them walk away as I said a prayer to the Moon Goddess.

Sure enough, not long after that, Brook showed up.

"Oh, I've missed you so much!" she said happily.

"I missed you too," I smiled, then immediately noticed someone else was also here.

Brook whispered, "She insisted on coming. When she heard Prince Warren was ill, she lost it!"

As soon as Sophia saw Warren's form laying in the bed, she bounced on the balls of her feet and let

out a high- pitched cry, "Your Highness! Oh no, Prince Warren!"

"Miss, you're not allowed in here!" One of Theo's men said, blocking her at the door.

"I'm not allowed, and those unruly women are?" She point- ed at us. "Let me in!"

"Miss Ciana has special authorization from Prince Theo. If you continue this behavior, I'll have to

remove you from here by force."

"Ciana!" Sophia shouted my name, and the guard grabbed her arm.

What did she want?

Brook tugged my sleeve, seemingly worried that I might get into an argument with Sophia. "Ciana, just

ignore her."

I thought Sophia would flip out and start cursing, but she didn't.

"Ciana, Let me in... please."

Brook and I exchanged a look, and we saw surprise on each other's faces. Was this really Sophia?

I let out a heavy sigh and told the guard. "Hold on for a moment please."

He followed my instructions immediately and loosened his grip. She flung her arm free.

"Sophia, I can let you in, but I have a condition."

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"Humph!" She clenched her fists and was back to her proud and bratty self. "What do you want?

Money, power, or resources? Ciana, really, how poor and pathetic your pack is that you need to take

every possible opportunity to get a little benefit?"

I rolled my eyes. "My condition is-lower your voice!" Then I said to the guard, "Please let her in."

"But Miss Ciana-"

I smiled at the guard assuredly. "Don't worry, she is going to be fine."

It appeared that Sophia was dumbfounded that I let her in that easily. She smattered, "That...that's it?"

"Or do you prefer me asking you to cut me a large check? Look, I did this only because you're really

worried about War- ren. The more people here to take care of him, the better. And, you're welcome."

Sophia stared at me for a moment. Then, without another word, she went to Warren's side and took his

hand.

Brook whispered, "You're sure this is okay?"

I nodded. Sophia was simple to read. Whatever she liked or hated, she would tell you and show you.

She was in love With Warren. I could tell that the worry and concern in her eyes were genuine.

If the king didn't care about his children, he would at least care about the powerhouses backing them.

Warren getting acquainted with the Alpha's daughter of the Pomeni pack would only help him in the

future.

We shifted our gazes from Warren and Brook pulled me to the living room of Warren's suite.

"Jake told me about Prince Warren. Are you holding up okay?" she asked.

"I'm as good as can be. At this point, there is not much we can do."

Brook nodded in understanding. "Other than Prince War- ren, how has life been, you know, away from

the palace?"

I had been expecting her to be a little less energetic, based on what Jake said about her feeling unwell.

Maybe see- ing me was enough to make her feel a bit better.

"A lot has happened. I thought I'd just return to my pack and life would go back to normal but..."

I had no idea where to start with answering her question about my life. Too much had happened for me

to squeeze it all into one conversation.

"Tell me, what's been going on? I feel like I am sheltered here from all the good things. The palace is so

quiet and bor- ing sometimes." Brook rested her head on my shoulder.

"It was just chaotic. My parents were gone for a while and that caused some problems. Thank the

Goddess Warren and

Theo were there to help smooth things over. It was nice to go home, even if it was just for a little while. I

wish I could have stayed longer."

"Why didn't you?" Brook asked, her eyes big and curious.

"Um, because I was traveling with Warren." I chose to keep things simple.

"So... you were traveling with Prince Warren. Did you ever confess to him?" she prodded, nudging me

with her elbow and winking at me.

"Confess?" I asked, creasing my brow.

"You know, about your past with him. Did you confirm that he's your secret boyfriend?" she asked,

giggling still. him."

Sighing, I shook my head and looked at my lap. "It wasn't

"Oh," Brook said, her joy fading slightly. "Sorry about that."

"No, don't be!" I didn't want Brook to think I was upset about it. "Honestly, I was somewhat happy it

wasn't him."

"Why?"

Why? I found myself not able to answer immediately. I fell silent as Theo's face popped into my mind

when I thought of my past.

And when my stomach squirmed at the word "boyfriend".