Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 444

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."

"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.