Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 135: Sacrifice

My mind raced with the impossible decision I faced. Luther had put me between a rock and a hard

place. Alexander was there as a distraction but how long would it last?

'Theo?

I blinked, my eyes snapping to Warren. He was connecting with me through the mindlink.

Theo, you focus on Luther. I'll get Maggie,' he said.

'Y-you kept the mindlink... why?' I was too startled to say anything more intelligent to solve the crisis

ahead of us than to ask the low priority question.

If Warren kept the mindlink, that meant he still saw me as the Alpha of the royal pack and the Alpha

King. I thought he had betrayed us and turned his back against me for all time. Why had he remained

in the royal pack? Didn't both he and his sister hate me?

Warren’s mental voice took on a dry, humorless note. "I'm not a prince. My entire life has been a big

joke. However, after everything, good or bad, you are the only one who has never lied to me. Anyway,

we can talk about that later... right now, you need to kill Luther."

With a roar, Warren broke free from his guards. He jumped at the ones holding Maggie. However, the

guards reacted quickly, and Warren missed his best chance to rescue Maggie.

Demarco blinked himself out of his shock and addressed his pack. “To the king! Fight for Warren and

Maggie!"

His army shouted and snarled and readied for battle.

I respected that. Regardless of what Maggie did, Demarco still chose to save his mate.

Luther, on the other hand, was still staring at Alexander. Finally, when Demarco's army joined mine, he

snapped out of his daze.

"You're not... you're not Anna! You're nothing but an imposter!" he shouted. "You little fiend! How dare

you try and distract me?!"

"Give it up, Luther. We have a stronger force now. Your own allies are turning against you and we have

greater numbers now," I shouted, motioning to the massive army that had assembled behind me.

“Never! Your father forced me to kill Anna, my eight-year-old sister. He forced me to kill her with my

own hands, did you even know that? She was only eight, so small and innocent. She trusted me and

I..."

"That was my father, not me," I reminded him. "Luther, it's all in the past now. Let's move forward."

"It doesn't matter! His tainted blood still runs in your veins! She didn't even know what was going to

happen to her... I would have died instead of her, but Sebastian wouldn't let me. He promised my pack

would be safe if I did that one thing..." Luther's eyes were wild with anger and hatred.

His voice carried over everyone gathered in the valley. I knew some might feel sorry for him but I also

knew it would reveal his true motives for revenge, not peace. I let him tell the sad story because no one

would ever believe his desire for peace now.

When Ciana proposed the plan, she kept it very simple and factual. I figured she didn't want me to feel

too bad about my father's horrendous crime. Although, I knew what my father had made Luther do,

hearing the truth from the very person himself made the truth a hundred times more horrendous and

disturbing.

Luther's words settled uncomfortably in my stomach. These were some cruelties that even Sebastian

hadn't wanted me to know about.

“I did what I had to in order to save my whole family. My plan was to leave the pack and live in exile for

what I did... but in the end it didn't matter. Sebastian was a liar!' Luther shrieked, pointing at me like I

was my father.

I'd always thought my father’s interest in turning me into a killer was because of my power. It turned

out, he was just a fucking savage and wicked psycho, who got joy watching children suffer from pain...

"I killed Anna for the greater good and you know what Sebastian did? He went back on his word and

killed my entire pack! My entire family was gone! I wanted him to kill me too, but he just laughed and

walked away. That day, I vowed I would destroy his entire legacy like he did my family!" Luther shouted.

"Luther, Sebastian didn't kill your entire family," Ciana's voice called out. She stood behind Alexander,

placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You think this little imposter can fool me? Anna is dead!" Luther snapped, glaring at Ciana.

I readied to pounce if he even took one step closer to them.

"Not Anna. Your aunt Nita. Sebastian spared her and brought her to the palace.

Through her, you still have family. And Theo... he's your cousin. If you kill Theo, then you would really

destroy the rest of your family! Is that what you really want?" she asked.

Cousin?

Ciana took me by surprise. This was the first time I'd heard it. However, for whatever reason she chose

not to tell me earlier, I trusted her.

I'd never put the pieces together. My mother had been from Ortiz Pack, and I hadn't ever looked

beyond that. She was the Ortiz pack Alpha's daughter, I just didn't expect that she had a nephew

because she'd never mentioned anything about her side of the family.

"Luther, we can sort this out. You can have part of your family back if you just stop this attack," Ciana

pleaded.

Luther glanced at me and I nodded.

Yes, I was shocked, but it didn't matter. I found out that my closest siblings, Maggie and Warren weren't

blood related to me just a few months ago, and now I discovered that Luther, my greatest enemy, was

blood related to me?

"That's impossible," Luther muttered, but his anger had died down considerably.

Suddenly, Luther laughed so hard that tears streaked down his cheeks. He doubled over and clutched

his stomach, his face turning red.

"She's a traitor! What did she do... sell herself out for status and luxury? She's no better than

Sebastian. Nita should've died 25 years ago! Instead, she stayed married to that hideous monster,

betraying her pack, and birthing his grotesque bloodline!" Luther snarled, his eyes bloodshot and crazy.

"You have no idea what she went through!" Ciana argued.

"She deserves to die!' Luther snapped.

I saw the shock and fear in the eyes of everyone close to Luther. All his allies were starting to realize

just how crazy he was and they didn't want to support his insane vendetta. They realized they weren't

actually fighting for peace. Many of them began to back away from him.

Some of them even switched sides on the battlefield and joined my army, a safer place to be at that

moment.

"Damn you! Damn all of you to hell! Anyone that abandons me will suffer the same fate as Theo. If the

whole world abandons me, then I will destroy the entire world!" Luther

shouted and snarled, pointing at anyone close to him.

Luther reached into his pocket and pulled something out that I couldn't see.

"Theo, stop him!" Warren shouted, "Kill him now. Don't let him open it..."

"Open what?" I asked. I charged toward Luther realizing that he held something that could very likely

destroy the world like he threatened.

Above us, the sky darkened as thick clouds rolled in and a dark, crimson glow enveloped the valley. It

was like the whole valley was turning into the Moonlit Crystal.

Only the light of the silver moon showed through the dark clouds as they swirled around the perfectly

round, silver sphere.

The moon seemed to tremble in the sky and in front of it, a red disk appeared, covering the silver moon

completely in red. It was the Moonlit Crystal creating an illusion.

Luther's lips moved furiously as he chanted a dark spell. "By the light of the full moon, bright and

crimson on high, the shadow reunites with the light. From silver to red the world will dim. Open the

gates releasing the darkness within!"

I leapt at Luther, ready to tear his throat out to stop the spell, but I couldn't get close. It was like the

magic cast a protective barrier around him. I ran at him from every direction but I could never get closer

than six feet in any direction.

It was like he had an invisible, magical shield around him, wrapping him and his confidants in the circle.

"Shit!" Warren called on me, panicking. "Theo, he still has Maggie!"

"Fucking hell!" I muttered under my breath, but all my efforts to get closer to Luther turned out to be

without avail.

The light from the two moons seemed to split the sky open. I stopped trying to attack Luther and stared

at the crack in the cloud. Behind them, a misty, swirling darkness poured down from the opening. Like a

floating mist, it descended directly toward the valley.

Fear ran through the gathered armies. It was so thick that I could almost taste it in my mouth and nose.

Everyone's bones trembled as the terrifying, all-consuming darkness approached.

I had no idea what that darkness was but I knew I had to stop it. It seemed like it would devour the

entire world, starting with us in the valley. But I couldn't get anywhere near Luther. What was I

supposed to do!?

The darkness inched closer and closer. My kingdom, my world was about to be devoured, yet other

than watching our death float down to us, there was nothing I could do!

Two delicate hands grabbed mine and pulled my gloves off. The sudden movement snapped me out of

my trance.

"What-"

Before I could put my gloves back on, one soft hand slipped into mine and held on tightly. Immediately,

someone's life essence poured into me.

I stilled for a moment as a weak female voice called me, "Theo..."

"M-Maggie, what are you doing!?'

I tried to fling away her hands when I saw who was holding onto me. But I couldn't! At that moment, I

felt a second life force getting sucked into me, too.

"Don't... let go,' she begged, gripping her fingers tightly to mine.

"No! Maggie! You're killing yourself!*

Maggie shook her head. "No. I'm saving us all."

I realized she was still close enough to Luther to be inside his protective bubble. She had her other

hand grabbing Luther's wrist and was using herself as a conduit. We made a chain and I was sucking

Luther's life out through Maggie!

Luther grunted and figured out what was happening, his eyes filled with disbelief as blood faded fast

from his face.

Maggie was weakening quickly.

"Maggie, let go," I said, trying to shake her hands off.

"No, Theo... hold me... I...I want to do this. Please... tell Demarco... tell him that I’m sorry I lied. This...

this is my best ending. I... couldn't... be... happier..."

Her words trailed off as her life left her.

Her final emotions weren't fear or terror, which was what I was used to. It was something I'd never

experienced from any other victims of my power before.

They were determination, relief, and a small bit of regret.

The life left her eyes but there was a faint smile on her face.

“Maggie!" I roared.

Her body fell to the ground and I dropped to my knees. Even at that moment, she was still clenching

Luther's wrist tight.

"No!" Demarco cried, his voice turning to a miserable howl as he watched Maggie die, fora second

time.

I wanted to release her but I could still feel Luther's life essence pouring into me. My vision blurred, but

I had to keep contact until Luther was dead.

"What... what is this...' Luther turned to face me, and couldn't pull away from Maggie.

"You're not taking the world with you when you go!' I hissed at him.

"Why... did you...' Luther murmured to Maggie, his voice nothing more than a husky whisper as the rest

of his life's essence drained out of him.

The crimson glow over the valley vanished and the terrifying darkness from the sky folded back into

itself. The moon turned back to silver and everything began to return to normal.

I held Maggie's body in my arms and stared at her peaceful face.

In the end, she chose to sacrifice herself.

Not for a world without Sebastian's heirs, but a world for Sebastian's heirs.

"Was it really worth your life, Maggie?" I asked her gently, but this time, she really wouldn't be able to

respond.