Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 1139 - 50 : A Darker Turn

Chapter 1139: Chapter 50 : A Darker Turn

*Eva*

I stomped across the ship, feeling panic and rage sweep through me as I searched for my brother. It didn’t take me long to find him. He was below deck in the tiny room that he was using as a bedroom during our voyage. He looked up from his book in alarm when I entered.

“How could you do this to me?” I raged, pointing at him. “And after we had just agreed to start over!”

I would have liked him to appear more apologetic, but he just stood calmly and made a move to wrap his arms around me, as if he was going to attempt to pacify me.

That might have worked when he confronted me at the warehouse, but I wasn’t going to fall for it this time. I stepped away from him. “Don’t touch me!”

Rion lowered his arms but took another step toward me. “Eva, everything is fine. We got rid of Daphne. She’s not going to bother us again.”

I saw red tinge my vision for a moment. I spoke through my teeth, very narrowly resisting the urge to wrap my hands around my brother’s throat. “That’s not the point,” I snapped impatiently. “You think I see that little princess as an actual threat?”

Rion didn’t respond, knowing that I would elaborate.

“Do you realize what you’ve done by giving away our location to her?” I seethed. “If the princess is here, it’s only natural for more royal forces to come hunting for her and finding me!”

As I spoke the words, I started to really feel the gravity of them. I had avoided confrontation with the royals for this long, and now that I would likely have to face them, I feared that I would have no choice but to use my powers to protect myself and end up losing control. The results could be catastrophic.

I was so lost in my panic that I didn’t realize that Rion was right in front of me. He grabbed onto my wrists, lowering them from my face. He looked into my eyes, lowering his voice to a calming one.

“Daphne tracked us down because she wanted closure. No one is coming for us. We’re going to be fine. I made it very clear to her that I wanted nothing more to do with her.”

I stared at him, in the eyes that were so much like my own that it was painful to focus on them for too long. I averted my gaze. It was still difficult for me to trust him. I had been abandoned and disappointed too many times in the past for me to have faith in anyone. I had hoped that Rion being my brother would make me more confident about putting my trust in him, but that just wasn’t the case.

In fact, Rion being my brother just made me fear losing him even more.

As Rion continued to attempt to comfort me, my dark thoughts continued to spiral out of control. He kept repeating himself, assuring me that he was loyal to me and that he cared about me. I wanted to laugh in his face. Even if he wasn’t lying and believed his words to be true, that didn’t mean he would stay by my side forever. It was childish and foolish of me to even be tempted to believe that.

So, if he dared try to leave me, I would just have to keep him by my side by force.

***

*Daphne*

We were still a few days away from making it back to the kingdom. The voyage back was even more anxiety-inducing than when we were on the way to finding Rion. Now, I had all the time in the world to replay that awful scene between Rion and me in my head.

Why did I believe he would be happy to see me as he was dragged in front of me all tied up? Perhaps I had hoped that our history together would make him see past all that. Maybe I was hoping that he would be happy to see me no matter what circumstances we met under.

What was I going to do now? That could have been my one and only chance to see Rion again, and I had completely blown it. I crawled onto my cot and lay on my side, feeling tears prick at my eyes as I thought about the hostile look in Rion’s eyes when I tried to tell him about the pregnancy.

I hadn’t seen him since he got dragged away to the royal prison when we returned to the palace. Was he angry at me for being locked up and likely tortured? I stroked my stomach, murmuring to our child, tears dripping down the side of my face as I remembered the last time Rion touched me, in the cave after we’d escaped from Eva’s lair.

Was it possible that he hated me now? After everything we’ve been through? I didn’t want to believe it, but it was possible for his previous anger toward my family to rekindle, especially now that he was back with Eva. What if she convinced Rion that I was the bad guy and that all the pain they had endured really was because of my family?

I tried to repeat my mother’s words in my head, telling myself that I wouldn’t be raising this child alone. I would have my family and whatever husband they decided to set me up with. I tried to picture another man, and it just made the pain of losing Rion even worse.

I wanted him desperately. I wondered if it was because we had a child growing inside of me that linked me to him. It felt like we both needed Rion in the same way that we needed air to breathe.

I gasped and sat up when I felt the ship lurch violently. I heard some commotion above me, but it didn’t sound panicked, so I figured we weren’t being attacked. I hoisted myself up and made my way up the creaky steps to the deck.

Crew members were running back and forth, a couple of them adjusting the sails sharply.

We were changing course, but why?

I found Kyle, standing behind the helmsman, who was steering the ship.

“Captain, what’s going on?” I asked, coming up behind them. “Why are we changing course?”

Kyle barely glanced at me, his expression dark. It immediately made me uneasy.

Before I opened my mouth to repeat my question, he answered in a flat voice. “It appears that the daughter of the Dark Witch was aboard that boat that your little boyfriend was on, Princess. Naturally, we’re tracking them down so that I can collect that reward money.”

I felt dread fill me. “But, you’re supposed to be taking me back to the kingdom,” I said. “You know, so that you don’t get in trouble for supposedly kidnapping me? Remember?”

Kyle chuckled. “I’m sure the royal family will be able to overlook that if I have their number one enemy in my possession. They will likely view me as a hero.”

“Do not underestimate the Dark Witch’s daughter, Captain,” I warned in what I hoped was a voice to be taken seriously. “She is powerful and unwilling to yield if something were to get in the way of her goals. I have watched her take lives without hesitation in the past.”

I thought this would surely convince him, but Captain Kyle just threw his head back and guffawed as if I had told the funniest joke in the world.

His laughter cut off very suddenly and he leered at me. “You’d best watch yourself, Princess. I am still the captain of this ship.”

I sucked in a breath, debating what to do. If I argued or fought back, they would deem me as a threat to their mission and possibly tie me up. I backed away and nodded as if I had ordered this very change in plan myself. “Very well. Carry on then, Captain. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.”

Neither man looked at me. “Thank you, Princess,” Kyle said.

I turned to go, my heart racing as panic ran through me. What would happen to Rion if those men captured Eva? Would they turn Rion in as well? I shuddered to think about what my parents would do if they learned that he was traveling with his sister again. I doubted that they would be so forgiving a second time.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what side one was on, a terrible storm hit that night, throwing us completely off course. I stayed below deck, hugging my journal and my stomach as the boat rocked violently. I could hear the crew running around and shouting against the harsh winds. Thunder seemed to shake the entire world.

I didn’t know how long I curled up into a ball in the corner of the room, praying for the violent rocking to stop, but eventually, it slowed significantly. Kyle came down into my quarters, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet.

“Let’s go, Princess,” he said, giving me a firm yank.

“Where are we going?” I asked, hating how frightened and small my voice sounded.

Somehow, the crew was able to get us safely to a harbor until the storm passed. Several other boats were settled along the shore.

My eyes immediately settled on a sleek one that was just slightly smaller than all the others.

It was Rion’s ship.

Kyle ordered for one of his crew members to be my escort for the night. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to make sure I wasn’t harmed, or that he didn’t trust me not to run off. It was likely both.

The crewman was short and stalky, just slightly taller than I was, but he looked like he could hold his own in a fight. He had a thick, wiry beard and a scar above his left eye. I heard the crew members calling him Patch, though I doubted that that was his real name.

We were spending the night in a crowded inn. It wasn’t just full; it was rowdy and loud. The atmosphere of the dimly-lit main room was thick with the smell of salt, sweat, and alcohol.

The air was filled with loud, rough laughter and the occasional out-of-tune singing by a rough-looking group in the corner. Lanterns swung from the rafters, tossing shadows down at the wooden floor.

My breath caught in my throat as we walked directly past Rion and Eva. Eva didn’t seem to notice us, but Rion definitely did, his eyes locking with mine. My eyebrows rose when the expression he wore wasn’t the same hostile one he had had on the ship.

His gray eyes, illuminated by the orange lights that hung above, widened for a brief moment before they seemed to melt as he stared at me. I didn’t understand the expression; he almost looked regretful. The pretty redhead stuck close to his side, eyeing me with suspicion.

It didn’t take long for Patch and the others to have a couple of drinks and completely forget about me. I sat in a corner by myself, nibbling on some bread and some weird, tropical fruit. I wrapped my cloak more tightly around myself when Kyle and the redhead moved toward the bar near me.

I listened intently to their conversation. She was the captain of the ship that Rion was on.

“So, you’ve actually heard of it then?” the redhead asked, her thin eyebrows rising with obvious surprise.

“Why, Captain Carissa, how could you assume that I’m that uncultured?” Kyle asked, causing me to roll my eyes. He lowered his voice slightly. “Do you have reason to believe that Hestia’s legendary treasure hoards are more than just an old pirate’s tale?”

“Oh, it’s real alright,” Carissa said with a sinister grin that caused the tiny hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Her eyes shifted around before she lowered her voice as well. “And I believe I have the leads right aboard my ship.”

I listened intently, my nerves rising as the pirates’ conversation took a darker turn.

How much worse could things get?

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