I opened my eyes to see Lena and Xander peering over me. Relief swept through them both and Lena stepped away.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I felt stiff and sore, and like I was just coming back from a bad hangover.
“How are you feeling?” Lena asked.
“Like someone spiked the punch,” I groaned.
Xander handed me some water. “This should help. You gave us a bit of a scare, seeing as Eliza just woke up from the same thing.”
“Eliza?” I arched an eyebrow. “What about her?”
Xander pursed his lips. “You don’t remember? Just a few hours ago, you brought her to Lena because she was exposed to some kind of substance that put her in a dream state. You helped us heal her.”
“How’s the baby?” I asked. My concern for the child blossoming fully.
I noticed Xander look at Lena. He seemed confused.
“Are you not worried about Eliza?”
I scoffed and set my water aside. “Why would I be? I only came here to remind her that I’m the father of her child… the one she ran off with to try and hide out in the Light Realm with to keep it away from me.”
“That’s not….”
“Well, she has another thing coming to her if she thinks I’m not going to exercise my Dark Realm rights. That child is mine.” I pointed to myself.
Admittedly, the details of what Xander described were a little fuzzy. I vaguely remembered seeing Eliza passed out, and all I could think was that I hoped her ineptness hadn’t caused harm to the baby.
Hearing that the baby was fine made me feel a little better, but what I couldn’t figure out was why Lena and Xander were looking at me like I had twelve heads.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Am I not better? I’d like to get back to the Dark Realm as soon as possible. Am I well enough to travel after this mess?”
“Jared… you seem kind of… different,” Lena said. “A few hours ago, all you cared about was saving Eliza and now you want to leave her? We don’t even know what happened to the two of you.”
“If I was concerned, then it was for the baby. Eliza means nothing to me. I just wanted to remind her that I have just as much right to that child as her.”
“Don’t you want to see her before you leave?” Lena’s voice was a little hopeful.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Why? You told me the baby was fine. I understand she can’t travel right now. But, I don’t need to stick around any longer.”
Lena huffed and put her hands on her hips. “Jared, this isn’t you! Can’t you remember just a few hours ago?”
I looked at Xander. “Is your wife on drugs?”
Xander glared at me. “Careful, Jared. She’s not the one acting out of character here. We’re just trying to help you and Eliza. We want to know what happened to the two of you.”
“Great, when you find that out, let me know. Until then, I’m going back to the Dark Realm.” I tried to stand up but Xander stopped me.
“You’re not well enough to travel,” he growled.
“Fine, whatever, play your games. But I do not want to see Eliza. If something happens with the baby, you can tell me all about that!”
Lena came over to me and sat on the bed. “Can I ask you some questions?”
I groaned. “Is that really necessary?”
This whole thing was starting to annoy me. I didn’t know how much clearer I could be. They were acting like they didn’t know that Eliza had been a pain in my butt since the moment I brought her back to the village.
She’d served her purpose, to have my child. And now, she thought she could just run off with that child and hide out in the Light Realm.
No, that wasn’t happening.
“Jared?” Lena snapped her fingers in front of my face.
“Okay, I’m not playing your game anymore. Get out!”
Lena sighed and backed away. Slowly, she left the room.
Xander stayed behind and crossed his arms.
“I’m sorry that this happened to you, whatever it is. I’m going to figure it out. Honestly, it is beyond my knowledge.”
“What happened to me? What are you talking about?” I arched an eyebrow.
“You and Eliza were both exposed to a hallucinogenic. I think it altered your minds somehow.”
I scoffed. “That’s not possible. I know what I feel. I know what I remember.”
“And that’s the problem. But you need to tone it down a bit Jared. My wife was about ready to slap you and if you upset her, I’m not going to help you anymore.”
I bit back my remark. I didn’t really think that I needed help, but Xander and I were just starting to piece together our brother relationship. I wasn’t ready to toss that aside.
“Look, I’m going to call in my Uncle Theo. He has more knowledge about this kind of thing than me. Plus, he is related to us, not Eliza. Is that acceptable?”
I nodded slowly.
A few hours later, Xander returned with Theo. I’d met him once before when Eliza was dragging me all around, so intent on breaking the curse. It had been an agonizing journey, even though the curse was broken.
She was always making googly eyes at me like she thought that any second, I’d magically fall in love with her.
As if!
“I’m not familiar with a yellow powder… Jared, can you tell us what you do remember?” Theo asked after Xander and I filled him in.
“About what?” I snarled.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Yeah sorry full of crap clichés skipping chapters...
Really oh fn....off another weak heroine roll, her pack hated her, she was abused, why would she do this .... pfghhj off at another cliche novel. .... Nope...