Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 102: Saving My Mate

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In the middle of the night, I woke up and bolted upright.

“What…?"

The strangest feeling came over me. My mind quivered and my body trembled uncontrollably. I rubbed my arms and legs, trying to warm myself up. It was no use.

I went back to the coals of the fire and held my hands out.

A sharp shiver ran from my head to my toes.

I fell on my hands and knees, shaking and quivering. My whole body tingled and then… as quickly as it had started, it stopped.

I lifted my head, and the entire forest looked different, felt different, smelled different.

There was another presence in my mind.

I looked down and saw furry paws on the ground. A fluffy tail swished behind me.

I'd shifted....

Finally, I'd gotten my wolf.

She shared my joy, our tail wagging like a happy puppy. I pranced around the fire, rolled in the dew-covered grass, and shook my silky, sleek, chocolate-brown coat. It was the most freeing, exhilarating feeling I'd ever felt.

I'd waited so long to meet her, and here she was.

We trotted around the campsite, enjoying each other's company and spending some time getting to know each other, feeling each other's presence and getting used to each other.

After a while, I remembered that I urgently needed to get back to Jared.

With my wolf, I was stronger, faster, and had more stamina. I grabbed my pack in my jaws and we raced off into the night, straight toward the village.

The closer we got, the more I expected to feel the curse. Even in my wolf form, I knew the curse would take hold. I only got my wolf because it was my birthday, and the curse hadn't been broken.

It took half the time to get back to the village with my wolf.

Right outside of the village, I paused and shifted back to human and got dressed. The entire way there, we'd never tired, never faltered. I hadn't even felt the curse shadow stirring inside of me.

I wondered if being in wolf form helped protect me from the curse's effects.

Slinging my backpack on, I paused and looked at my arms.

“Huh…"

I pulled my sleeves up and ran my hands up and down the curse marks. They weren't nearly as thick or dark as they'd been before I shifted.

If anything, they were fading rapidly.

Did that mean the curse was broken? How could it be? Mila needed me and Jared to break it. Even if she got to him first, it wouldn't be enough.

Suddenly, a horrible thought struck me.

What if Jared had given into Hestia, whatever her terms were? Was that what broke the curse?

“Please, Goddess, please. Don't let Jared fall to Hestia's demands. Let him stay strong."

I clutched my hands over my heart and bowed my head. Hopefully, she'd hear my prayer and she wouldn't let anything bad happen to Jared.

I still needed him....

I hurried through the village, heading straight to the packhouse.

I could hear the commotion of the pack. We hadn't marked each other yet, so I wasn't able to reach out to him with the mind-link.

As I began to run, even louder eruptions of my name were called out, and everyone from the house came out to see if it were true.

I pushed my way through the crowd coming to greet me and see if I was alright. They let me pass and I entered the door just as my mother hurried into the foyer.

“Eliza! You're back!" She hurried to hug me. “Your father went out to continue the search."

“Where is Jared?" I asked desperately as I pulled apart.

She seemed confused.

“Eliza!?" Archer ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders. “You're here! I'm so sorry I lost you."

His words rushed out of him in a panic.

“It's fine. Where is Jared?" I asked again. “Is Mila here?"

“Eliza, you look… like you've traveled a long way." Miriam looked beyond worried as she approached me in the foyer.

Why would nobody answer my question? Was he out looking for me as well?

“I have traveled a long way. But I can tell you all the details later. Right now, I need to see Jared."

Miriam touched my cheek, and her eyes watered.

“He has been in his room for several hours, Eliza, refusing to come out… the curse...."

I pulled away from her and darted up the stairs. I ran into his door, but it was locked from the inside.

“Jared! It's me. I'm here!"

I banged on the door, waiting for a response. I glanced at my arms and saw that the tattoos were nearly gone.

“Help me! Someone please, I have to get to him before...."

Archer came up behind me and rammed his shoulder onto the door three times before the lock broke and I was able to get inside.

I wanted to find Jared well and healthy, I wanted to believe that Mila had gotten to him in time.

I stopped dead and felt the blood drain from my face.

Jared was lying on the floor, blood pooled around him.

My heart fluttered and sank and my wolf bayed forlornly. For the first time, I felt the powerful magnitude of the mate bond claiming me. An overwhelming wave of love and joy flooded through me and my wolf, along with all of the pain and heartbreak at seeing Jared bleeding out on the floor.

“Jared! What did you do?"

I hurried to him, hands trembling as I pulled him into my arms. Tears spilled from my eyes onto him as I desperately tried to think of a way to save him. His breath was so shallow and he was so weak.

Sobs shook my body as I realized… he was dying.

***

*Jared*

I sat in the window in my room, looking out at the rising sun.

Any other morning, I might have thought that the sunrise looked beautiful, the way that the sky was a reddish-orange and how birds were already singing in the garden, the very garden I had stood in a few weeks ago, vowing to love and protect Eliza for the rest of my life.

Today, our birthday, if I didn't act, I'd break that vow. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to Eliza and our baby.

Happily, I would give my life if it meant Eliza and our baby lived on, even if that meant taking my own life.

All of our searching had failed. We hadn't been able to find Eliza. Archer and I went back to the place she'd been abducted from over and over again to try to find new clues.

There weren't any.

To make matters worse, I'd annihilated an entire Royal Guard platoon when I fell into the darkness. Any day now, more Royal Guards could show up and take me back into custody.

If I was going to act to save Eliza and our child, it had to be soon. I was running out of time in more ways than one.

Sighing, I glanced at my arm and flexed my bicep, the curse mark moving along with my bulging muscle.

It was time to act.

Even though Archer had given Eliza her backpack, he'd had the foresight to pull the Cryptex out of it. He'd informed me that Mila had the locket and the Diadem. I hadn't heard anything from Mila since my arrest.

Without Eliza here, I doubted there was anything she could do.

Archer had kept the Cryptex safe for me and returned it the moment I'd freshened up and eaten a good meal.

It made it possible for me to do what I needed to do....

Hopping off the windowsill, I grabbed a knife that was sitting on the bedside table. I retrieved the Cryptex from under my pillow. It had been the safest place to hide it while I was staying here in the packhouse.

Quickly, I locked my bedroom door. It wouldn't do any good to have someone like Miriam come in to check on me while I was doing what the maidens told me to do.

They were very clear. I had to die in order for Eliza and our child to live, so I couldn't be interrupted.

I sat on the floor, placing the Cryptex between my spread legs. I held my wrist out over the artifact and pressed the blade to my wrist.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I sucked in a sharp breath and whipped around. A ghostly hag stood in front of me. I quickly lunged at it with the knife, but it went straight through the aberration.