Sold As The Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 348
Chapter 7: Prince Theo’s Challenge
“The king?” I repeated.
“Yes, the king! C’mon, let’s hurry.”
| stashed the flower Prince Warren had given me in a pocket in my dress and thought about what Brook
was telling me.
The king was summoning all of the girls, and we were meant to make an appearance, and a good
impression on him.
However, I was in no position to do that in my current state-not that it really mattered to me. If I had my
way, I wouldn’t be interacting with any of them at all, except for maybe Prince Warren. I’d rather they
didn’t notice I was there. Or not there, as the case may be.
“I don’t know whether I should go…” I murmured.
“You don’t know?” Brook repeated. “Ciana! It’s the king!”
I thought up some excuses. “But… I have to feed the ani mals. You see, I still needed to feed the tiger,
and there were other chores that needed to be done for the animals. If I were to leave now, my work
wouldn’t bepleted, and this was a task the prince had assigned to me….”
“You do know that it’s important to make a good impres sion on the king whether or not you win Prince
Theo’s hand, don’t you? I mean… he’s the king! He can just as easily decide the fate of our packs as
the prince.”
“I know, I know. You go ahead,” | told her. “I’ll see what || can do.”
“But Ciana,” she pleaded.
“Brook, you shouldn’t bete on my ount. Go! Take care of yourself and your pack, and make sure
the king sees how wonderful you are. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She hesitated, but her eyes shed between me and the pce, and I understood that she was
struggling with the burden of trying to be a good friend while not disobeying the king and missing her
opportunity. “Please hurry,” she urged me.
I gave her an encouraging smile. “Of course. Now, go! Don’t bete!”
“All right,” Brook said, and with a sigh, she turned and ran back toward the castle doors.
I couldn’t help but smile after her. She was such a kind hearted person to evene out here to tell
me, and I felt very lucky to call her my friend.
But I didn’t intend to go. Knowing Brook, she should be able to navigate the scenario on her own.
Enough girls would doll themselves up and do their best to look beautiful and elegant in front of the
king. I had inten tionally put myself in a position where anyone who looked at me would think I was a
mess. It was the best way to stay out of the royals’ way and survive these three years so I could go
home.
I’d never been one for entertaining dignitaries anyway. Let
Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
the other girls bat their eyshes, show off their gowns, and fluff their curls at His Majesty. I would be
out here with those | trusted most-the animals.
If anyone asked, I’d simply tell them the prince had given me an order, and as his servant, I was
fulfilling my duties.
With my mind made up, I picked up the handle of the bucket holding the tiger’s food and headed back
to the “zoo,” certain he’d be starving by now. I would need to give him ex tra belly rubs to make up for
my tardiness.
“Here you go, Samson!” I called the tiger, tossing the meat to him. He was keeping his distance today,
possibly because he was irritated that I waste. Once he’d nibbled on a few morsels of raw meat, he
was up for some petting, and I spent
some extra time with him to make up for beingte.
Then, I had headed to a shed to return the bucket i’d been carrying and see what else needed to be
done when I heard a familiar slithering sound.
“Well, if it isn’t my dear friend the python!” I said as he grew closer to me. “Now, what are you up to
today?”
He made a circle around me on the ground, and I thought | saw a gleam in his eyes as if he really
wished he could tell me something.
| sat down on the grass, and soon enough, he was slither ing across myp, letting me run my hand
along his bright yellow scales.
“You are such a handsome fellow,” I told him. “I know an other handsome fellow.” I felt a blush creep
into my cheeks just thinking about Prince Warren. “To think, here I am sharing
my happy news with a snake. Well, of all of the snakes in the
castle, you’re the one I trust the most.”
He seemed to appreciate that as his long, forked tongue darted from his lips and kissed the skin of my
hand. I contin ued to pet him, giggling at his antics as he wound his way around my arm but never
squeezed.
My mind continued to wander back to Prince Warren and that bracelet, which I had only caught a
glimpse of. He seemed to have changed a bit since I’d given it to him. I re called a withdrawn,
mncholy boy, but now, he was outgo ing and friendly.
“I’ll have to confirm that it’s him, you know?” | asked the python. He looked at me with an expression of
understanding in his eyes.
“Time changes everyone, that’s for certain. Besides that, l’ ve dreamt of my mystery boy for so many
years. It’s possible my dreams and my memories have be intertwined and reality is now framed
through a different lens, isn’t it? Could it be him? Even though he’s not so shy now?”
The snake hissed an agreement that made me smile. Then, he gave me a little nudge, and I got the
impression he wanted to show me something.
Getting up off of the grass, smoothed my skirt. “What is it?” | asked him. He glided over the ground but
didn’t go far before he turned to look at me. “Do you want me to follow
you?”
His head rocked up and down just a bit, so I took that as a yes. And then, I was off with the python
taking this opportuni ty to do a bit of exploring in the rest of the courtyard while
the others were with the king.
*Theo”
A sigh leaked from my lips as I watched the remaining women line up before my father. I’d done my
best to keep it at bay, but it couldn’t be helped.
My father walked slowly in front of them, staring through the crowd to catch a glimpse of each of them.
He took his time, as if he were admiring a work of art, and then, when he’d gotten a solid enough first
impression, he retreated to where I was standing quite a distance from them-but not far enough.
“Well, my son,” he said in that deep voice of his. “What do you think of the youngdies?”
I managed to sound believable when I said, “They’re just fine, Father.”
“Fine?” he repeated, and I realized immediately I’d offend ed him. “Only fine?”
I didn’t want to lie to him. If I gave him the impression / was overjoyed with this venture, who knew what
he might pull next? “That’s correct, Sire,” I said with a bow of my head.
My father scoffed at me. “These are the most beautiful, elegant, well-breddies in all of the kingdom,
Theodore! But to you, they’re only ‘fine’?”
Thest thing I wanted to do was argue with him in public, but frustration was beginning to well up
inside of me at his in trusion; the very fact that he’d decided to do this was irritat
ing beyond belief. Keeping my voice low, I repeated to him the same warning I had made when he’d
first told me of the idea only a week ago. “You cannot force me.”
“I cannot force you?” He had a gleam in his eye that told me he disagreed with my assessment. “Theo,
I am ordering you to find a mate. There are eighty of them. At least one has to be to your liking!”
“Seventy-three.” I corrected him.
My father’s eyes snapped back to my face. “What’s that now? Seventy-three?” He looked around the
room, taking a moment to understand my meaning. Turning back to me with an air of disbelief, he said,
“Are you telling me seven of them are dead already? It hasn’t even been a week!”
All I could do was shake my head. “You shouldn’t be sur prised, Father. After all, I am rted to you.
Your blood runs through my veins.”
He didn’t find myment amusing at all, and fury ignit ed within him. “I don’t care if it’s eighty,
seventy-three, or a hundred and sixty! If these girls don’t work, I will find more! You will choose one,
Theo!”
His voice carried to the women, and I heard several shocked gasps. I really didn’t want to have this
conversation here, but since he was pressing the issue, I needed to be firm. “I do not want a child.”
“You may not want a child, but I need you to have one. And I will not continue to waste time because
you feel unin spired to find the right woman. If you still need some persua sion,” he paused and warned
me, “think about your mother.”
I shook my head slowly as I thought about the audacity he was disying. He was really going to try to
y on what little sympathy I had by bringing Mother into this? “That sounds like a threat, Father.
My father sighed and ced both of his hands on my shoulders, and for a moment, he looked like a
father, not the king, but my actual dad. But he and I both knew that I was nothing more than a pawn to
him.
“Listen, I’m doing what’s best for you. You are my son. This needs to be taken care of. So… if you don’t
want to deal with all eighty of them, select a few. Make them your personal attendants. Perhaps one or
two will stand out to you then, when they’re close to you.”
I didn’t want anyone close to me. Ever. But he wasn’t go ing to let up.
“Fine.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Which ones would you like?” He turned and looked over his shoulder. “There are
some beau ties over there.”
My eyes raked over them as well. I’d seen them all before, and I wasn’t impressed. Most of them were
far too weak in ev ery way to be a match for me. “I do not want a timid mouse,” | told my father. “She
will neverst.”
“Some of them look fairly strong,” he replied. “Like they’ve gone through warrior training.”
That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but as he spoke, an idea came to me.
“They can prove their toughness to me by paying a visit to my pavilion.”
My father’s eyes were back on me-wide with displeasure once more. “Your pavilion? You want to ask
these girls to tra verse your dangerous zoo to reach the center pavilion? Your animals will tear them
apart.”
A chuckle departed my lips as I reminded him, “If they can’ toust my pets, they will never make it
more than a day with me, Father. You know that. I will not ept a weakling as my wife. They will have
to prove themselves strong in every way.”
The king lifted a finger to his chin as he considered my words, and then, much to my surprise, he
nodded. “Very well, then. We shall give it a try.”
He signaled to his Beta, who had been standing close enough to overhear our entire conversation.
Xavier stepped up in front of the women with my father and I looking on. “Ladies, I have some
wonderful news! The prince has decided to take a few of you as his personal atten dants!”
The women’s faces lit up, and murmurs of excitement rip pled through the crowd.
“In order to qualify for this extremely privileged task, all you will need to do is make your way to the
pavilion within his private zoo. Thedies who arrive first will be assigned to take care of Prince Theo.”
I watched as the girls’ faces fell. Some of them were wide eyed with shock. I was sure that in the past
few days, they’d learned enough about me to know about my animal pals.
W 228 Vouchere I turned around and smirked. This was exactly what I ex pected. They would never
last in my courtyard. In fact, I doubted many of them would even think of trying.
And anyone who did… well, Perceval would take care of them. He wouldn’t let anyone enter the
pavilion without my approval.
I doubted any of these women had a desire to be swal lowed whole by a python….