Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1458 - 57 : Rhys in Trouble

*Rhys*

“Where are you taking me, Dax?” I asked, practically bouncing as we walked away from my bedroom.

I had never felt so light-hearted in my entire life, and the girl I was leaving behind was the reason for that. But I knew she needed to head off to get ready for our day, so I had let Daxton drag me away from her.

“It’s the ceremonial groom’s breakfast,” Daxton announced.

“You say that like I’ve been married before and know what the hell that means,” I said with a laugh, causing him to laugh as well.

“Hey, I just do what I’m told and call it what they say,” Daxton replied. “Everything has a fancy name or something. I could have called it a ridiculous name like Sunrise Feast of the Male Betrothed, and you would have believed that too.”

“You know, you aren’t wrong,” I replied.

We both began to laugh again.

“More like friend’s final feast, though,” Daxton said. While his tone seemed joking, I detected a hint of wistfulness.

Part of me wanted to feel bad for my friend, who was beginning to feel left out, but I couldn’t convince myself to be anything but blissfully happy. We stopped by the royal tailor on the way to the breakfast hall, and he presented me with the finished product for my perfect day.

I dressed with care, straightening the elaborate midnight blue and silver ceremonial jacket I would wear for the remainder of the day. There wouldn’t be time to change later with the events planned filling the entire day.

Daxton got ready beside me, a perfect match to my colors.

Looking at myself in the tailor’s long mirror, I couldn’t help but smile. The memories of the passionate, adventure-filled journey that brought me and my beloved, fierce Saoirse to this point flashed through my mind. It had been a whirlwind of a story from the beginning, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Seeing myself dressed made it all seem so much more real. The day I dreamed of since I first laid eyes on the fiery redhead had finally arrived. Instead of worries, all I could feel was excitement. Nothing was ever perfect, but I knew that with Saoirse by my side, we could get through anything.

My heart was full.

I glanced at Daxton, the grin still on my face. I was sure that it wouldn’t leave for the rest of the day. He grinned back at me, though I could still see the hint of sadness in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, Daxton,” I said, walking forward and giving my best man a firm hug. “You are still my Beta, no matter what.”

“I know that,” Daxton laughed, pushing me off. However, he did look a little more cheerful than before. “Come on, I’m starving. Let’s get going.”

“Do you think we could sneak by Saoirse’s room and see how she’s looking?” I asked. Seeing myself had made me anticipate seeing her as well.

“No way, man,” Daxton objected. “You can’t ruin the surprise. And isn’t it bad luck or something?”

“I don’t believe in that sort of thing,” I said with a laugh.

“Well, I believe that Saoirse will beat me up if I let you ruin it,” Daxton said.

Then we were both laughing. He wasn’t wrong. With a sigh of disappointment, I turned and headed to breakfast. I would just have to wait and see her later when she was walking down the aisle to become my wife.

My heart leaped at the idea.

We reached the hall. I was surprised to find that it was just Daxton and I that would be eating.

“It’s usually just the groom’s party,” Daxton explained. “Since I am your only groomsman, it’s a pretty small group. If you want, I could invite some more people, but I thought you might like a more calm start to the day since it is supposed to get so busy for the rest of the day.”

“No, this looks great to me.” I nodded in agreement.

The servers brought out a table of food that there was no way we were going to finish, but that didn’t mean we weren’t going to try. With both of our plates heaping, we were too busy eating to keep up our normal banter, but again, that didn’t stop us from trying.

“Eat up now, while you still can,” Daxton said, spraying food out of his mouth. “After this, the torture begins.”

I laughed, swallowing before I replied. “Are you insinuating that the wedding is torture or marriage in general?”

“Both,” the muffled reply came, causing me to laugh again.

“Guess that means we’ll have to find you a girl next, so that way you can endure this torture with me,” I told him, taking a giant bite of sausage.

Daxton shook his head aggressively in response, his mouth too full to answer.

“Oh, no reply? I’ll take that as consent,” I said with a laugh as he choked on his food.

Before he could swallow his food and object loudly, there was a pounding on the dining hall doors, making me start. Guards burst through the doors. I jumped to my feet as I saw the look on their faces. My mind instantly went to Saoirse, and my heart dropped.

“What is it?” I demanded. “What’s wrong?”

I was having flashbacks of when she was taken before, and they had come to tell me. My hands clenched into fists.

“Sir, there’s a disturbance in the palace gardens,” they said quickly.

I looked at them in confusion, but the alarm and panic I felt were too much to question why they needed me to handle the disturbance.

“Show me.”

Making my way over to the guards, we turned and left the room immediately and headed toward the gardens. Daxton was on my heels, making me feel a little surer. I needed to learn more about this disturbance.

The guards turned and jogged toward the secluded garden in the east wing of the palace grounds. I followed without a thought. My eyes scanned all around me, worrying that I would see Saoirse in danger at any moment. Noises interrupted my worries, and my eyes focused on the scene in front of us.

Palace security guards were grappling to restrain a small group of intruders wearing all black. I froze as I noticed a feminine figure lying motionless on the ground nearby.

Without another thought and with fear overriding logic, I shifted into my wolf form. The ceremonial garbs tore from around me, but I paid no attention as I dashed to the figure without hesitation. I growled and sliced through the closest dark intruder.

However, when my claws were meant to tear the fabric and skin of the unknown enemy, the form vanished into smoke. I whirled around as a large cloud of smoke appeared. All of the intruders and guards fighting them had vanished into smoke. Only Daxton and I remained, as well as the figure on the stone.

Something was wrong.

I darted to the crumpled figure, my heart beating like crazy. However, when I reached the woman, I was relieved to see that it wasn’t Saoirse lying there before me.

It was Alexa.

Worry gripped me again. We might have been ex-lovers, but I didn’t want anything bad happening to her. And I had no idea what had been done to her. I leaned down, sniffing, trying to see if I could determine if she was injured or what might be wrong with her.

My nose wrinkled as a foul smell hit it. I examined Alexa more closely. Her whole aura seemed to be off as I looked at her unconscious body.

“We need to get a doctor, quickly,” I mind-linked Daxton since I was still in wolf form.

Instead of a reply, I heard a loud thud behind me. I looked to see Daxton collapsed onto the ground as well. Before I had time to react or piece together the alarming incongruities around me, I felt a sharp sting in my flank.

With a yelp, I flipped around, trying to find the culprit. As soon as I moved, I felt my legs wobble and shake beneath me. I gritted my canines, trying to fight the numbing sensation flooding through my body.

What was happening? I was in the palace grounds, so nothing should have been happening to me there.

With a jolt, I realized that it had all been a trap. I shifted to human form and stumbled toward Alexa, trying to protect her from whatever person was after us. However, my Alpha blood had allowed me to fight off the drug’s effects for a few extra moments, but it still didn’t stop them entirely.

I collapsed next to Alexa, helpless as I lost all feeling below my chest.

Alexa, however, was no longer helpless.

I watched in horror as she smoothly stood up from beside me and brushed her dress off as if it were an ordinary walk in the gardens. She stepped closer to me, a look of smug satisfaction covering her face. There was not a trace of fear.

Realization hit me.

It was Alexa. She had laid this trap. She was the one responsible. I couldn’t figure out why.

She seemed to guess my train of thought as she stood above me and explained herself.

“You can thank me properly later for saving you from the huge mistake of marrying that unrefined peasant,” Alexa said coldly.

Every curse word in my vocabulary was streaming through my head as I stared up at the woman I used to love, who had betrayed me. I struggled to cling to consciousness. Forcing my arm to move, I tried to grab her, but she stepped back without issue and laughed.

“Al... exa...” I tried to force it out. My tongue seemed to have gone numb, and I couldn’t manage any other words. My brain started moving slower. I couldn’t even think of all the hateful things I had been thinking only seconds before.

“Guards,” Alexa called out. Suddenly, her personal guards were there surrounding us. “Please escort the prince to my suite to recover from the trauma of this attack.”

“N... o...” I tried to protest, but I wasn’t sure if the sounds left my throat.

I was so weak.

This couldn’t be happening. Darkness crept closer, pulling me under as my eyes glued to Alexa and the malicious smile on her face. If I hadn’t seen it, I never would have believed it. She leaned down toward me, realizing that I was close to unconsciousness. I could see the victorious delight dancing in her eyes. And then it went dark.

What had she done?