Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1419 - 18 : Shifting Sides

*Rhys*

My hands were up defensively in front of me, even though they would not do much good compared to the large dragon roaring only feet away, but I was trying to prove I wasn’t there to harm it.

Conall, on the other hand...

"Back off!" Conall yelled. I glanced behind to see him jump into the middle of the eggs. "Get back, or I’ll smash ‘em!"

"No, no, no," I said hurriedly, putting a hand up to each of them as another screech erupted in the small cavern.

The dragon swayed from side to side. I saw its eyes glancing around without pausing for long. It was looking for a way in and an opening to attack.

However, in such a small cave, it was nearly impossible for it to attack us without harming the eggs in the process. The dragon’s movements became more and more anxious.

"It’s just a dumb beast, Prince," Conall said. "There’s no reasoning with it. Let’s destroy the eggs and get on with it."

"No!" I shouted again, command clear in my tone. My tone was probably the only thing that kept Conall’s foot from smashing through the first egg.

The dragon shifted again, drawing our attention back to it. It was backing up slightly. I tensed. There was no way it was leaving, especially with its eggs there. This was a ploy.

Instead of the dragon jumping or leaping as I expected, its shape began to shimmer, blurring at the edges. Murmurs sounded from Conall’s men around us, fear and paranoia causing them to crack.

My men stayed strong.

The dragon shifted. It really shifted. In one moment, the large, surreal beast was towering above us. In the next, a woman with long silver hair and glowing silver eyes stood in its place. The murmuring stopped as we all absorbed what we had just witnessed.

I was taken aback. Were dragons shifters?

This dragon shifter’s eyes were set on me.

"My name is Keelana," a clear but panicked voice rang out as she opened her mouth. "You must be the Alpha here. Please, I’m begging you. I mean you no harm. Please, if you could just save my eggs. I just want my eggs."

"Ha!" Conall exclaimed. "You’re wrong. He isn’t an Alpha. I am, and I won’t be tricked by your magic tricks, monster."

"I might not be king yet, but I am still a royal, making me your superior, Conall," I said calmly, despite the rage I felt at his words. "And we will not be destroying these eggs. We–"

"Like hell, we won’t," Conall cut in. "She’s bewitched you with her good looks and is tricking you into saving her. We can’t allow this."

I was surprised by her words. I glanced back at her and realized I hadn’t really noticed if she was attractive. I had been looking solely at her eyes. Her body was certainly beautiful by human standards, but it didn’t fit my type.

Plus, she didn’t have red hair.

Her otherworldliness was certainly beautiful in its own way. That was undeniable.

"That’s not why, Conall. An educated woman stands before us swearing she means us no harm. In my opinion, that alone dictates a conversation," I reasoned. "Step away from the eggs."

Conall glared at me, not moving a muscle in protest to my words.

"You might be willing to risk the lives of the wolves in Hunter’s Glen and the surrounding areas, but I am not," Conall growled out. "I will kill this demon and her spawn to prevent any possible threat to this area. And if you don’t get out of the way, I’ll take you down too."

My eyes burned. I knew the rage I felt inside was showing crimson in my eyes, warning those around me. Conall didn’t even flinch. I’d give him that. I positioned my body in front of Keelana’s.

"I won’t say it again. Step away and back down." I matched his growl.

The men around us tensed, glancing at each other. We hadn’t expected this while starting our journey, but it appeared that the fight would soon break out with each other versus the winged enemy.

Conall’s face betrayed a dark look of triumph as he stared into my eyes. It was as if he had been hoping for this all along.

"Then you leave me no choice." Conall raised his foot to smash the nearest egg.

My men didn’t need instructions from me to act. I had already mind-linked and placed them close enough to act when Conall gave them the opportunity. One jumped forward and grabbed him, yanking him out of the circle of eggs.

My breath caught in my throat as I saw one of his feet kick the side of one egg, but it just wobbled for a second before righting itself.

"Destroy the monsters!" Conall yelled, trying to free himself from my man.

Another roar erupted behind me. I turned just in time to see Keelana shift into the large dragon again. Movement from the side caught my attention.

Two of Conall’s men were diving toward Keelana, spears raised. Without a second thought, I jumped between them and the dragon, joining the brawl.

"Protect the eggs!" I hollered to my men as they came to defend me. I watched in satisfaction as they obeyed without question.

I was prepared to protect the dragon myself, knowing that it was a tight space with limited range for the beast, but she proved much more resourceful than I expected. Her tail proved to be quite impressive as she swiped it, dropping opponents to their backs.

Even though I knew what they were capable of from what I had seen in my visions, it still stunned me momentarily when bursts of flame spewed out to push back a line of attackers. In all honesty, it didn’t seem like too hard of a fight.

The hard part was trying to fight them off without casualties. There would be injuries for sure, but I did not want these men to die over this. It was not their battle.

The exception was Conall.

"Argh!" he hollered in frustration as he realized the same thing I did. This was not a fight he was going to win.

Even after our short acquaintance, I knew that he wasn’t the type to back down from a fight.

After a few failed attempts to get closer to Keelana and me, he spun and tried the only other target he had. Unlucky for me, my men had been distracted fighting Conall’s men, and the eggs were wide open and vulnerable.

I ran forward. Dread settled in my stomach as I realized I wouldn’t get there in time. Conall would reach the eggs long before me, and he would not hesitate to destroy them.

Fire and death flashed in my eyes as if knowing what the eggs’ destruction would bring.

A whooshing sound overpowered everything else, and a huge tug of air made me lose my balance slightly as darkness passed momentarily overhead. Then the massive shape passed and dropped in front of me, landing squarely on Conall.

Loud cracking sounds reverberated off the walls as Keelana leaped and tried to pin Conall to the ground but stumbled from the tight space and fell on top of him. He didn’t even have time to scream before he was silent.

The sounds of fighting around us stopped almost instantaneously. The only sound in the cave was Keelana trying to adjust and get off the man. One of Conall’s men ran toward him but halted as Keelana snapped her teeth at him. She was defenseless in her position now.

After only a breath, I ran forward.

Keelana did not snap or roar at me, which I took as a good sign. I stood in front of her and glanced around, but the fighting was still halted. It appeared that without Conall, his men did not have the spirit to stand up to the dragon.

When I was sure there was no threat, I bent down over Conall’s body and checked for a pulse. I was surprised to feel relieved at the faint drumming against my fingers. His death wouldn’t have been easy to navigate.

"He’s only unconscious," I announced to the silent cave.

Despite the tension in the air, I could hear relieved sighs and mumbled prayers of thanks to the Moon Goddess.

"He was dealt a crushing blow, so he’ll need treatment," I continued. With Conall incapacitated, I was the only one with the power to lead and guide now. "All the uninjured men need to take Conall and the other wounded warriors back down the mountain to receive medical care from the village healers immediately."

"But what about... what about... it?" one of Conall’s men asked.

"Does it look like I am in danger here?" I asked with a raised brow. Keelana was still slouched behind me, making no move to attack me, even with my back to her. "Your Alpha is at much greater risk than me. The threat is neutralized, so now we recover. Now, go."

This time, there were no objections.

I watched as a couple of men walked forward, carefully grabbed Conall, and started to lead him out of the cave. Over the next few minutes, the majority of them had all cleared out. Before long, it was just me and a couple of my men left.

Keelana shifted behind me again, and I glanced at her. While I watched, she returned to her human form. Just by looking into her eyes, I could see that something wasn’t right. They were flickering like a flame in the wind.

"So what will you do now, Prince?" Keelana asked. Her voice reflected the weakness her eyes had betrayed. "What will you do with me and my eggs?"

"I, um, uh." I was at a loss for words.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

On one hand, the fact that the dragon was a shifter and could reason and communicate like a normal person had spun my head around. Destroying her now would feel more like murder than victory, not to mention the innocent eggs that were obviously her children.

However, the image of Saoirse burning reappeared in my head, and the fear gripped my heart again. I wondered if I would be able to stand by and allow that to transpire.

But Keelana was a different dragon than the one I had seen in my visions. If anything, I had more questions than I had before, which I would have thought impossible. It would not be an easy decision, one way or the other.

As I stood and thought about my options and what words to say, Keelana began to sway on her feet.

"Protect... my... eggs," she said, slowly drawing out each word.

I leaped forward just in time as she stumbled and fell. The dragon woman fainted in my arms. Worry washed over me as I stared down at the very vulnerable creature. I stood there facing a very real choice and very real questions.

What would I do?

No.

What should I do?

And was I strong enough to do it? It was time to find out.