Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 491

Chapter 149: That's My Daughter

*Soren*

Hugging my unconscious Ciana tightly, I picked her up, trying to steady her trembling body. Her eyes were closed, a look of extreme pain on her face. It was pouring rain, the wind howling, whipping through the trees of the forest, soaking all of us.

The king's Beta, Jake, along with six others had arrived almost the same time as us. From the way they moved, all top warriors.

The young king uttered. “Thank you, Alpha and Luna Black."

“Let's find someplace dry,“ my wife suggested. I nodded.

'We can use the secret tunnel that Ciana and I found when we were here last time.

Jake, lead the way, I'll tell you where to go." Theo's voice was weak, but just enough for us to hear him through the downpour.

He was in obvious pain and his face twisted slightly. As he spoke, his body was weakened by the loss of blood. I could see the stark white of his shirt, now stained a deep red by the stab wound in his chest. I was worried that if we didn’t get him medical attention soon, he might not make it.

Jake quickly called for one of Theo's warriors, who shifted into his wolf form. The Beta gently helped his king up and got him onto the warrior's back. I followed behind with my daughter in my arms and my wife by my side as we made our way through the pouring rain.

Ciana's face seemed to be turning more pale by the moment.

'She is going to be okay," I assured my wife, who was almost as pale as our daughter.

She nodded and whispered, "Yes, she’ll be okay," as if she was sending positive thoughts and prayers for our baby girl to the universe.

I knew the tunnel Theo spoke of. It would provide us with the shelter we desperately needed. On my many travels looking to open the portal between the Realm of Shadow and the Realm of Light, I'd discovered just about every secret this kingdom had to offer, but I hadn't realized it was so close.

It didn't take us too long to get there, but when we did, Theo had also passed out.

The tunnel was narrow and dark, its walls slick with moisture. The air was musty and damp, and I could hear the sound of dripping water echoing off the stone walls. A few other wolves followed us at a distance, their panting breaths and soft footsteps blending together in the darkness. Since Jake didn't seem to be concerned, I had to assume that these were also Theo’s men.

At one of the intersections that lead to four different directions, Jake hesitated. It was obvious that he hadn't been here before and Theo wasn’t there to direct him.

'This way," I told the group. Jake was a little surprised, but he respected my privacy and didn't ask why I was so confident about a secret tunnel within the Ortiz pack.

Everyone else followed without questioning as well.

It was quiet and I led the group turning and twisting through the endless underground pathways.

'Hang on, sweetie, almost there,' I murmured.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we came to a small alcove, where we could rest for a few moments. I carefully laid Ciana down, assessing her wounds. I couldn't see what was wrong with her physically.

'It’s her mind,' my wife shook her head and said quietly. 'If this is a curse, I'm afraid there's not much we can do."

"There has to be. On the way here, Alpha gave me some more information over the mindlink before he passed out,' Jake said while he tended to Theo, doing his best to stop the bleeding.

After cleaning Theo's wound, Jake continued, “Ciana stabbed him. Knowing her, she would never have done such a thing had she been in her right mind. It was almost like someone had not only modified her memory, but also forced their emotions and wishes on her. Something that may be done using the Moonlit Crystal.'

My heart sank. Damn it!

I should've kept a closer eye on her back home. If I had, none of this would happen!

'It’s all my fault!" I looked at my wife, and clenched my fists, "I'm so sorry, honey, I should’ve protected our little girl better! Damn it, what the fuck was I thinking letting her go to the woods by herself!"

She placed a hand on mine and squeezed it. "Honey, self-blaming is not going to solve anything right now. Our girl needs you to be calm to help her."

My mate was right. I took a couple of deep breaths in. I needed to find a way to get her help, but now that Ciana was not in immediate danger, all of us turned our attention to the other unconscious person, who seemingly was more severely wounded.

"How’s the king?" I asked Jake, not wanting to tear my eyes away from my daughter but I needed to check on her victim, and potentially her love. "What can we do to help?'

"Alpha should be okay, thank goodness," Jake replied, and then he showed us something stuck at the tip of the dagger. "It was a little better than we thought, thanks to this."

I was relieved to hear that Theo was alive. It was difficult for me to see what I was looking at from this angle.

"What is that thing?" I asked, gesturing at the object he was holding in Jake's hand.

"It s a lapel pin," he replied. "Thank the goddess it was there so that the dagger couldn't go right through his heart! Had it not been there, I don’t know how he would survive the blow. With his strong bloodline, hopefully he can make it through in a few days."

"Thank the Goddess!" my wife said a prayer.