Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 938

Chapter 144 : The Promises We Made

*Jared*

I opened my palm and looked at the moonstone ring in my hand. She’d thrown it at me, but I hadn’t gotten a good look at it.

The ring was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

I frowned and creased my brow. The ring sparked a strange memory. I saw the gardens back at my village and a flash of Eliza walking toward me in a wedding dress. Was it true? Did we get married? Did I really love her?

I scoffed and shook my head.

“The choice is yours. But either way, it will come to pass.” I put the ring in my pocket with my mother’s necklace and left Eliza’s house.

I wasn’t sure why I held onto the ring but I couldn’t help it. Something about it made it impossible for me to let it go.

I headed back to the hotel to meet up with Xander and Theo. They were still working on a plan to get Hestia in the Southern Jungle.

While I walked back to the hotel, I thought about the strange flash and the feelings that came with it. My wolf was restless and agitated. I wasn’t sure if that was because he was upset by the memory or upset that it had gone away so quickly.

Whatever I’d seen, it didn’t change how I felt about her.

Theo and Xander were waiting for me in the penthouse. When I arrived, they both stopped talking quickly and I knew that they’d been talking about me.

“What’s going on?” I closed the door gently and locked it, knowing we couldn’t be disturbed while coming up with a plan.

“Scarlett called Archer and he called me,” Xander said, “about your little visit with Eliza.”

I scoffed. “What about it? I thought we were here to talk about Hestia.”

“We’ll get to that,” Theo said, a deep rumble in his voice that told me I should listen.

Theo nodded to a nearby chair and I took a seat. This was such a waste of time. I knew they were just going to talk at me about Eliza and try to convince me that my memories and feelings weren’t real.

Even with that little memory flash, I couldn’t fathom ever loving her.

“Jared, we’ve worked hard to restore our family’s image and honor. The way you’ve been treating Eliza, it is reminiscent of the days of Sebastian, and it doesn’t sit well with any of us,” Theo said.

“I’m NOT Sebastian!” I glared at my brother and uncle.

What was this, some kind of intervention?

“We know that,” Xander jumped in. “The point Theo is trying to make is that even if you can’t remember loving Eliza, there’s no reason for you to treat her like a breeder slave.”

“I did buy her as one.”

Xander sighed and shook his head. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean you have to treat her that way. It is a really shitty way to treat anyone, especially someone that you loved and that cares a lot about you and is carrying your child.”

“Look, I’m not an i***t. I find it very strange that everyone else remembers this past where I’m in love with Eliza when I don’t remember it. Obviously, something is going on here that is… unusual.”

“I’m glad you can see that much,” Theo grumbled.

I shot him a look. “I might even be willing to entertain the notion that I was in love with her and that is somewhere buried in my memories. But the truth is, I don’t love her now and I might never love her again. So, can we move on?”

It wasn’t like they didn’t have a good reason to be concerned. I didn’t like the way I was treating Eliza. I never treated anyone like that.

For some reason, whenever I thought of her, the anger, resentment, and frustration just boiled over. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced with anyone else in my life.

When I thought really hard about it, I didn’t even know where that frustration came from, or the desire to treat her like crap.

No one in my village would ever describe me as rude, mean, cruel, or vicious. So, why was I acting that way with her?

“We’ll make sure that you get your real memories and feelings back,” Xander said, nodding.

“Until then, I suppose I can look at making arrangements with Eliza after the child is born. Will that put your minds at ease for now?”

Theo sighed and shook his head, disappointment evident in his eyes. The way he looked at me, I felt like my own father, who I never met, was showing just how disappointed he was in my character.

Xander wore a similar look, his lips pulled down in a frown.

I shrugged. It was the best I could offer at this point, and they were either going to have to be okay with it or not.

“Good, that’s settled. So, Hestia is in the Southern Jungle. How are we going to defeat her?” I steered the conversation back to where I wanted it to be.

“From what I’ve learned, there is a temple in the Southern Jungle where we can get some intel on Hestia, her powers, and her goals. The archeologists just unearthed it and are still digging through the artifacts.” Xander pointed to the spot on the map where the temple was located.

“Archeologists,” I grumbled.

Why did everything in this place have to remind me of Eliza?

“Eliza’s brother, George, is heading the excavation team. He’s agreed to meet with us at the temple site and show us everything relevant.”

“Great….” I sighed heavily.

Going after Hestia was supposed to be a distraction from everything going on with Eliza. It wasn’t having the desired result.

Theo stayed behind and promised to be in touch with any more information. Xander and I took a boat with his soldiers and my men to the Southern Jungle. We didn’t talk much. I had nothing left to say on the matter and it seemed that Xander could sense I wasn’t going to be in a talking mood.

George met us at the entrance to the dig site. He gave me a look, like I was a bug that needed to be squashed.