Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 1126 - 37 : An Unwilling Sacrifice

Chapter 1126: Chapter 37 : An Unwilling Sacrifice

*Daphne*

The witch’s grip on my arm was like iron as she dragged me along the road. My heart pounded with fear and anger–fear at what they would do to me, and anger at Rion for betraying me to save his sister.

The witches hustled me along, glancing back nervously as though expecting pursuit. I prayed Rion would come after me but feared he wouldn’t risk Eva again.

Suddenly a battle cry rang out from in front of us. I glanced back to see Geoffery leading a battalion of Royal Guard warriors charging down the road, weapons drawn. The witches shrieked in surprise and outrage.

"Release the princess!" Geoffrey bellowed.

The guards let loose a volley of arrows. Most missed but a few found their marks, hitting some of the witches.

The one holding me yanked me in front of her like a shield. "Stay back or the princess dies!" she snarled.

I struggled in her grip. Where was Rion? Had he abandoned me after all?

The witches unleashed bolts of purple energy at the guards. Men cried out as the bolts found their flesh, searing and burning. Still, they kept coming.

There was a roar from the tree line and enormous wolves burst forth, slamming into the witches’ flank.

It was Rion and his pack....

Relief swept through me. He had come for me after all.

The wolf that was Rion was like quicksilver, hamstringing one witch and then ripping out the throat of another before they could react. Blood sprayed, painting his fur red. His savage fury frightened yet thrilled me.

My captor was distracted by the wolves’ onslaught. I seized the opportunity, stomping on her foot and then driving my elbow into her gut. She doubled over with a wheeze and I wrenched free.

"Daphne, down!" Geoffrey shouted. I dropped to the ground just as an arrow whistled over my head, striking my former captor in the eye. She dropped dead behind me.

I scrambled back as the battle raged around me. The guards and wolves made short work of the remaining witches until only bloody corpses remained.

As the last foe fell, Rion shifted back to human form, chest heaving a crew member brought him some pants. His eyes met mine across the carnage, full of relief and something more primal. He started toward me but Geoffery got there first, pulling me behind him.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, trying in vain to pull away from Geoffrey’s vice-like grip on my arm.

"Arrest those men immediately!" Geoffrey shouted to the contingent of Royal Guard warriors, pointing toward Rion and the other wolves. "They are guilty of kidnapping the princess and conspiring with these witches. They cannot be trusted and must face justice!"

I struggled fiercely against the captain’s hold. "No, wait! You don’t understand. Rion saved me from them and I was helping..." I protested desperately.

But Geoffrey was already motioning the guards forward as they approached Rion’s crew with shackles and iron chains glinting cruelly in the sunlight.

"Please, stop this!" I pleaded, my voice breaking as the guards encircled Rion and his crew.

The shifters fought desperately against the Royal Guard.

"Rion is on our side! Call off your men, I beg you!" I pleaded with him fruitlessly.

Rion’s glowing eyes met mine, full of sorrow and regret. My heart shattered.

After everything, how could it have ended like this?

Geoffrey ignored my cries as he dragged me away and forced me into the waiting vehicle. Tears blurred my vision.

After a while, the fighting stopped, and most of the crew did not resist as the heavy chains were fastened around their limbs. It was clear Geoffrey came prepared specifically to capture and imprison them.

I could only watch helplessly as Rion and the others were chained up like animals. The proud shifters walked with heads lowered in defeat.

I buried my face in my hands, sobbing bitterly at the injustice of it all. What cruel twist of fate was this? I had to make Geoffrey see reason before it was too late.

***

*Rion*

My anger roiled as I watched Geoffrey shove Daphne into a waiting SUV. I looked to the Royal Guard surrounding my crew and knew this was a fight we would not win, but we had to try anyway.

We fought with ferocious desperation but were quickly subdued by the overwhelming numbers against us. I stopped fighting as I watched Jasper and a few of my men manage to slip away into the forest, but the rest of us were ruthlessly captured, and a couple were even killed in the skirmish.

Within a few brutal minutes, two burly guards had me pinned face down to the bloody ground. They roughly wrenched my arms behind my back and cuffed my wrists together. My ankles were also tightly bound with coarse rope that chafed my skin.

Geoffrey, who had been sitting safely in the SUV surrounded by a contingent of hefty guards the entire time, now swaggered arrogantly over to where I lay prone and helpless. He was close enough for me to hear and see him clearly, but too far for me to make any attempt at biting or attacking.

“Well, well... look who we have here. Fancy meeting you like this,” Geoffery snickered down at me smugly.

I said nothing, glaring up at him in impotent fury.

“What do you want from me? You’ve got Princess Daphne. Just take her home," I finally gritted out.

"Oh, I fully intend to, don’t worry. But I’ll get paid even more handsomely if I bring you in too," Geoffrey sneered. "Besides, I just wanted to do this first."

Without warning, he swiftly brought his boot down forcefully onto my already throbbing hand. A fresh wave of excruciating pain flared up from my palm all the way to my wrist, but I was unable to even flinch away with my limbs tightly bound. My hand was scratched raw and began to bleed as Geoffrey ground the heel of his boot sadistically into it.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally lifted his foot, cackling at my obvious agony. "There, that’s all I wanted, for now at least."

He sauntered back to the SUV and casually motioned for the guards to haul us away. Defeated, with my men either captured or scattered, I could only submit as we were dragged roughly toward the waiting prison transport vans.

But then the van door suddenly swung open again, and two more battered figures were tossed inside to join us–Eva and Katheryn. A multitude of emotions swirled within me at the sight.

After we were left alone, Eva subtly tapped her toe against my leg to get my attention. "Want to know how Hestia’s followers found you so easily?" she asked, her face unreadable.

I frowned warily. "I’m not sure I follow."

"Don’t be daft, brother. I sent them after you myself," Eva stated bluntly.

As she spoke, her eyes began to glow with an unsettling purple light. The very air in the van seemed to vibrate with a strange energy.

"They are my followers now, not Hestia’s," Eva continued, her voice resonating with arcane power. "As you’ll soon see, much has changed...."

***

*Daphne*

The SUV bumped and rattled violently underneath me as it sped recklessly down the main road toward the palace. I was eager to see my parents again after the ordeal, but not like this.

I turned beseechingly to Geoffrey. "Please, I implore you–just let my friends go free," I pleaded.

But he only barked out a derisive laugh in response. "Not a chance! After everything I just risked to retrieve you, I’ll be collecting that hefty reward your parents offered."

I opened my mouth to continue begging, but before I could get the words out, there was a deafening explosion from somewhere behind us that violently rocked the entire SUV.

Geoffrey released a pathetic yelping scream as the large vehicle rumbled and tilted up onto two wheels, teetering precariously. I prayed desperately for it to settle back onto all fours, but the top-heavy transport finally failed, crashing over onto its side in a chaos of shattering glass and twisting metal.

Dazed, I peered out through the cracked window and was shocked to see Eva floating high in the sky above us, eyes glowing brilliant violet. She seemed to be contorting her hands purposefully, and as she did so the debris of glass and metal followed her movements through the air as if she were manipulating it directly by some mystical force.

I watched in stunned disbelief as she focused her power on the Royal Guard vehicles, intent on destroying them completely. Meanwhile, Geoffrey was already scrambling like a panicked rat through the front windshield to get away, not even bothering to check on me.

Following his lead, I painfully crawled out through the broken windshield, cutting my hands and knees on the jagged glass before landing hard on the pavement outside. The tree line of the forest stood just a few yards away.

I staggered quickly to my feet and managed to make it to the edge of the woods. Crouching behind a thick copse of trees, I cautiously peered back out at the scene of destruction.

Eva still hovered in the sky, but now her eyes seemed to shift from violet to an eerie glowing white. She contorted her slender arms dramatically as if orchestrating the movements of an invisible symphony, and in response, the destroyed vehicles twisted and crushed further, decimating the hapless Royal Guard members still trapped inside.

Horrified by the display of wanton power, I whipped back around, now fully intending to flee blindly into the depths of the forest. But before I could run, I suddenly found myself face to face with an unfamiliar woman in a vivid crimson dress, grinning wildly at me.

"Well, well... look who we have here," the mystery woman purred in creepy delight.

I didn’t even have time to react or respond before two more figures descended swiftly from the tree branches above and enveloped me in tight bindings. Though I struggled fiercely, within moments I was wrapped thoroughly in ropes and unable to move.

A thick cloth was then clamped forcefully over my nose and mouth, leaving me unable to cry for help. I was forced to breathe in the sickly sweet chemical fumes emanating from it, and rapidly everything went dark around me.

***

When I eventually came back to groggy consciousness, it took a few long moments for my vision to adjust to the bright surroundings. I kept my eyes lowered at first to the lustrous floors of pearlescent marble veined with gold, my gaze tracing up massive stone pillars rising to support an ornately carved vaulted ceiling. Though faded with age, the crumbling grandeur indicated this had once been an opulent mansion.

As my vision sharpened fully, I noticed a towering gold and ruby-encrusted throne at the far back of the vast chamber. Upon it sat Eva, regarding me imperiously. And at her side stood Rion, though strangely immobile and expressionless.

Bodyguards forced me to a stop directly in front of Eva, who stared down at me from her high seat. There was no contempt or malice in her gaze, yet still I felt small and utterly powerless before this dangerous sorceress.

"What is happening here?" I asked, hearing my voice echo weakly off the chamber walls.

Eva leaned forward slightly as she replied to me in a cold, calculated tone. "I should have simply come for you myself from the start–so much needless trouble for one princess. But no matter. Time was running out, so I had to reveal my forces sooner than anticipated."

I shook my head in confusion, but she continued on relentlessly.

"I sent the witches to coerce Rion into delivering you to me. For you see, I mean to make your royal parents suffer and pay dearly for the agony they inflicted upon us so long ago. Soon I shall sacrifice you beneath the coming blood moon, and use your royal blood to resurrect our dead mother, Hestia."

She smiled then, but it was a cruel grin that promised unimaginable suffering.

"Won’t that be grand?"