Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 894

Chapter 100: To Save My Mate

My head was killing me as I woke up. I didn't know where I was. I furrowed my brows, eyes shut tight as I shivered against the cold in the air.

I squinted my eyes open and was met with nothing but darkness. I blinked my eyes again and again, trying to adjust my eyes but the darkness remained.

Had I imagined getting grabbed? Had I imagined Hestia?

“Hello?" My voice was a pitiful croak that echoed all around me.

But then the darkness began to give away and my eyes started to adjust to the dim light. I began to recognize that I was in a cave, lying on the ground. I tried to sit up.

“Ugh...." My moans and movements echoed eerily.

I fell back down, my cheek smooshing against the damp, dirty floor. My arms were tied behind my back and I couldn't sit up. I strained against the ropes, testing the strength of the knot.

Well, I hadn't imagined getting kidnapped.

“Ahh, you're awake," Hestia's voice echoed through the darkness.

“Hestia! What do you want?"

“Heh, heh. You figured out who I am? Perhaps I underestimated you." She moved from the shadows, coming into the mouth of the cave so I could see her silhouette in the moonlight outside as she laughed a dry cackle.

Goosebumps pinched my flesh as an unsettling feeling hit me in the pit of my stomach.

“Please, let me go. You can't keep me here," I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. "Jared will come looking for me."

Hestia just laughed. "No, I don't think so. Jared has no idea where you are. No one knows you're here, not yet. And even if they did, what exactly do you believe they could do to me?"

She was right. She had spirited me away from Archer and flew through the forest to wherever this cave was in the dark of night. He couldn't possibly have seen her and certainly wouldn't know where to find me.

If I was going to get free and back to Jared, I had to think of a way out of this on my own. Hestia wasn't playing games here. I couldn't see her face clearly, but her voice was loose and unhinged. I had no doubt that she'd do something crazy.

“If you don't let me go, Jared will find you and he will destroy you."

Hestia threw her head back, laughing louder.

“I think you are mistaken. You see, as long as I control you, I control Jared. So, I do hope that he comes looking for you because when he sees that I have you under my control, he'll do whatever I tell him to."

My heart froze. She had been after me and she had kidnapped me because she wanted something from Jared?

I could feel a shiver run down my spine at the thought of what she could be after. But I had to keep her talking, keep her distracted while I tried to work my way out of the ropes.

“And what is that?" I asked, my voice shaking from the cold and the fear I could no longer hide.

“That, my dear, is none of your concern. All you need to know is that I will do whatever it takes to get it, even if that means hurting you or...."

I swallowed into a dry throat knowing that her unspoken threat was toward our baby.

Hestia came over to me. Her bony frame loomed over me in the darkness as she leaned down. I could see her leering face in the darkness.

My heart sank even further. There was no way I was getting out of this, and I was all but certain Jered wouldn't be able to come for me. He was being taken to the blockade, on his way to die.

Hestia would hold me prisoner until the curse killed us both… and she'd be waiting for someone that would never come.

“Why do you need Jared?" I asked again, and I pushed my shoulder hard into the ground, giving myself enough leverage to get into a sitting position. Gasping and panting for breath, I leaned against the cave wall behind me, staring straight into Hestia's soulless eyes.

From this angle, they looked like bottomless, black holes in a bone-thin, expressionless face.

I shuttered in revulsion and looked away. She was too unsettling in the darkness of the cave. The way the shadows fell on her, she looked like some kind of ghoul.

Hestia smirked smugly. “Well, it isn't really Jared I'm after. I just know that he can help me get what I want, him and that wonderful curse of his.

The curse? She was after the curse....

But why?

Before I could ask another question, she gripped my arm harshly and brought me to my feet.

“It's time to go," she said.

“Where?"

She cackled again, her sour breath wafting over me and making my stomach lurch.

“To the Dark Forest, of course!"

***

*Jared*

In the all-consuming darkness that surrounded me, I felt my shadow and my wolf subside.

I shuddered against the dread of waking up to discover what my body had been compelled to do outside of my control. I had no idea what had happened after I'd blacked out. I wasn't even sure where I was now.

I allowed my mind to remain detached as my body waded through the darkness. I was numb and I was alone.

Suddenly, I saw a spark of light and a flowing movement in the distance.

A glowing figure appeared from the darkness, shimmering as it got closer and closer, bringing a soft warmth and sense of peace. When she was within arm's reach, I saw her bright, smiling face and innocent features.

She was dressed in a simple, white dress.

“Are you alright?" She tilted her head to the side as she studied me, her eyes large and searching. Was this an angel? Was I dead?

“I'm… where am I?" I looked around the dark void.

“Where you are is where you stand."

I blinked several times, the warmth and peace inside of me giving away to confusion and frustration.

“What the hell does that mean?"

She giggled and covered her mouth. My frustration gave way to impatience. If I wasn't dead yet, then I certainly didn't have time for this. I had to get back to Eliza.

“Who are you?" I asked, creasing my brow.

If I thought this would intimidate the soft-spoken creature, I was wrong. Her smile brightened, and the warmth she emitted increased around me.

“I am a maiden of the Moon Goddess. And the wind, it told us you were coming."

“Us?"

“Come with me and I will show you." She held a hand out to me.

“I...."

Pausing, I looked around the emptiness again. I wasn't sure if I expected to see anything different or new, but nothing had changed. Other than the glow from this maiden, I was still surrounded by darkness.

There was no sky, no land, no ground beneath my feet. There was nothing....

“I need to find my mate," I said, thinking about Eliza. The last time she'd seen me, I was being carted away by palace soldiers. Hopefully, Archer got her back to the village.

But I had to get her before it was too late. I knew she must be worried sick.

“Oh, you will be with her again. But not yet. Please, please come with me. I must show you...."

“Show me what?"

She grabbed my hands and tugged. I stood firmly in place.

“Come on, I'll show you. You can trust me, I promise."

She hopped up and down like a little child, giggling and pouting, begging me to go. Her curly hair bounced around her face.

She reminded me a little of Eliza, only a younger, tween-aged Eliza of twelve or thirteen, happy and loving life.

“I can bring you to the other maidens. Hestia… she killed our guides and we are here alone. But you don't have to be."

“Right...."

She kept tugging on my arm. I took a step forward and she tugged even harder.

“Can you get me back to my mate?"

“Yes. But first, come with me!"

Relenting, I followed her and we moved through the darkness. I had no idea how she could tell where we were going. Everything looked and felt the same. There was no wind, no smells in the air.

Maybe I really was dead.

I wracked my brain trying to remember exactly what had happened to me.

Aries had betrayed me....

The Royal Guard had showed up to arrest me.

Then… nothing. The next thing I knew, I was here and the maiden was coming toward me.

Out of the darkness I saw more figures appearing. They were young maidens, too, dressed in plain white dresses, dancing around and giggling.

They looked so innocent and sweet. All I could think was that they were acolytes to the Moon Goddess.

But why would acolytes of the Moon Goddess be in such a dark, desolate place? Why would they only come to me in this darkness after the curse shadow had taken me over?

This dark place wasn't where the Moon Goddess resided.

When they saw me, the other maidens ran over to me. They started to clean my dirty skin and they removed my ripped suit, putting fresh clothes on me.

“And after this, you'll take me to Eliza?" I asked.

“We can't take you to her. But we will tell you how to save her."

“Yes, please, tell me."

I stood with my arms out to the sides as they dressed me and brushed off my new clothes.

“First, I must ask, are you willing to do anything to save her?"

“Yes, of course!" I answered quickly.

The maiden who first found me nodded. “Good. Then you will do the most difficult task, for the sake of your mate."

“Just tell me what I need to do."

“First, before the curse claims the both of you, you must reject Eliza as your mate. It will hurt her far less to reject her than for her to suffer through what she would if you didn't."

“What!?" My eyes bulged out of my head. I pushed the nearest maidens away. “I… I can't reject my mate."

“It is hard to accept, yes, but it is necessary. And then, you must take your own life, pouring your blood on the Cryptex."

I gasped and shook my head. “Are you kidding? How will that solve anything?"

“It will break the curse and it will save Eliza and the life within her."

My heart hammered in my chest. That couldn't be the only way to break the curse and save Eliza and the baby. But if it was, why was I even hesitating? I had always accepted my fate. I knew the curse would claim me. I never meant for it to claim Eliza, and certainly not our child.

“Just remember, the order is important. Reject her, get your blood on the Cryptex, take your life before the curse claims you. Otherwise, it won't break the curse."

I glared at the maidens. They'd gone back to dancing and floating around. What kind of women were these? How could they dance around and laugh while I was being told I had to reject my mate and kill myself?

Oh, well, duh… the realization hit me like a brick wall.

Was I dreaming?