Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1460 - 59 : Dazed Memories

*Rhys*

My eyelids felt heavy as I tried to open them.

I vaguely remembered there was something important I needed to be awake for. The thought was there, but I couldn’t seem to think straight. My mind was fuzzy, and my whole body felt as heavy as my eyelids.

I tried to open my eyes again. I was still unsuccessful. My heartbeat raced as I remembered how it had felt to be trapped in my coma all those years ago.

However, as I lay there, I became more and more alert.

I was in a bed. There were soft sheets underneath me, I was sure of that. And I was also sure a warm body was pressed up against me.

That didn’t seem right.

My eyelids finally listened to my brain’s commands and peeled apart. The first thing I saw was the ceiling above me. There was nothing out of the norm there. I let my head drop to the side of the other presence.

Alexa was lying next to me, sleeping peacefully, with her hair splayed across the pillows.

I jolted up in shock, my body moving faster than I expected. My eyes darted around the rest of the room trying to take in my surroundings. I was in an unfamiliar, lavish guest suite of the palace decorated opulently.

My head throbbed as I tried to process where I was and what was going on. I put a hand to my temple, rubbing it gently. Why couldn’t I remember? Why was my mind so clouded?

Alexa stirred beside me, causing my gaze to return to her. She gave me a sly smile as she saw my eyes turn to her. She stretched out on the bed, reminding me of a cat waking up from a good nap.

“Good morning, my love,” she purred. “Quite a night we had.”

I stared at her, alarmed. I had no clue what was going on. If anything, her words seemed to confuse me even more. Even with a foggy brain, I was sure I hadn’t seen Alexa in years. Questions bombarded my brain. Had we met up last night? If so, why couldn’t I remember?

Then I noticed that she and I were both naked, shocking me further.

No, this couldn’t be. I wasn’t sure why, but the mere thought of being naked in bed with Alexa seemed wrong and immoral. How on earth had I ended up naked in a bed with her?

My mind hit a disturbing blank.

Despite the headache growing in my head, I focused on my memories, trying to work my way backward. There had to be something, some clue to explain to me how I had ended up in this situation.

There had to be a clue as to why I was so upset about it.

I pushed and pushed, but my head just seemed like a puddle of mush. I tried to focus more narrowly. I tried to focus on the last thing I remembered.

A vague, blurry image of me standing in front of a long mirror, dressing for an important event leaked into my mind. It slipped from my grasp before I had time to process it any further. I had been dressed for a special event. What kind of event? Did it include Alexa? And where were those clothes now?

Alexa seemed to notice my confusion. It wouldn’t have been hard since I was sitting in the bed, staring at her like she was a dream I couldn’t wake from.

“You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?” Alexa asked in a low voice, batting her eyelashes and giving me a pouty lip. “We had so much fun.”

She reached forward. I watched as she trailed a suggestive fingertip down my bare chest.

When she reached my stomach I instinctively recoiled away, shocking us both. The unsettled feeling grew in me at my reaction to her. I hadn’t seen her in years, but I never remembered being so repulsed by Alexa. I cursed in my head, questioning what had happened the previous night.

The only thing I could be sure of was that there were gaping holes in my memories. I couldn’t recall anything from the night before, including the apparent intimate moment I had shared with Alexa.

Once again, the mere thought of being intimate with Alexa made me flinch in distaste. Despite my instant aversion to the thought, I tried to force myself to think about it and remember it. Yet, I still found nothing. I had no memories of lovemaking, which I felt grateful for.

Something wasn’t right. Everything wasn’t right. I needed to figure out what the hell was going on.

Alexa moved toward me as if she was going to touch me again, and I panicked. I yanked the covers back and leaped from the bed. There were clothes scattered haphazardly on the plush carpet that filled the room. Without a thought, I gathered them all and stumbled toward the doors.

“Rhys!” Alexa called out after me. “Where are you going?”

I heard rustling behind me. She had to be gathering her clothes as well. I picked up my pace at the urgent need to get away from her and that room so that I could figure out what was going on.

“Rhys!” she cried out again as I yanked the door open and fell through it. “You don’t understand what I did for you!”

Her words had no effect on me. I stammered back to my feet and moved as fast as I could down the hall, looking for anywhere I could hide and dress myself for at least a moment. I was surprised to find that most of the other guest suites seemed to be occupied and locked as well.

What was going on that so many people were visiting the palace?

Finally, there was an open door on my left. I darted through it just in time as I heard the bedroom door open from down the hall and the sounds of heels clicking on the hard floors. I held my breath until I was sure she was past and then dressed in a hurry.

As I put on the clothes, I noticed they weren’t the same fancy ones I had seen in my memory. I wondered if they were from a different night. Maybe I switched clothes at some point. In fact, the clothes that I put on seemed to be old. They were a style I would have worn years ago but hadn’t worn since my duties had changed and I had accepted more responsibilities.

More time at court meant a much different wardrobe for me. Yet, this outfit did not represent that.

What on earth was going on?

Feeling sure that the threat of Alexa had long since passed, I stumbled back through the door. I couldn’t figure out what was going on with my body either. It was one thing for my brain to be fuzzy, but my body was heavy and clumsy as well.

Nothing was adding up.

“Daxton!” I called out over mind-link. He would know what was going on. I didn’t know why I had not thought of him immediately. My Beta had never let me down.

There was no reply to my call. I focused harder and called out again, making sure that it wasn’t a mistake on my end. My brain didn’t seem to be working right anyway, so it was a possibility.

When I still didn’t receive a reply, I chalked it up to another issue that I would have to figure out. The longer I was awake, the more questions I was getting. Yet, there seemed to be no answers in sight.

I thought if I retraced my steps, something would jog my memory. It was worth a shot.

I turned and headed in the opposite direction from where I had heard Alexa disappear. I wasn’t sure where I should go to regain my memory, so I began to wander around aimlessly.

The palace halls were strangely empty for how many rooms seemed to be full. It had to be early morning if nobody else was up yet, nobody except the staff. They were acting funny as well.

When I passed the first housekeeper, I noticed she was looking at me weirdly. When she noticed me looking at her, she looked away, avoiding any eye contact. At first, I attributed it to my weird outfit choice and the hour of the morning. When I passed more and more staff members who reacted the same way, I started to realize that it had to be something more.

I tried to stop a couple to talk to them, but they all rushed off before I had a chance to even open my mouth. Frustration was building inside me as I felt more and more out of control.

There was something important that I should remember. I was sure of it. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what it was. I wanted to yell in frustration but thought better of attracting more unwanted attention. There was no need to give any more validation to the Mad Prince title.

As I walked, fragments of memories seemed to pop into my head randomly, but there were such small fractures that I couldn’t make sense of them. They didn’t seem to be in chronological order either, making my life even more difficult.

Breakfast with Daxton... Flash... A train station lit by the setting sun... Flash. Flowering trees from outside the palace... Flash... A large wall made of stones. Flash... Flying... Flash... A prison cell... Flash... Flames...

The flames seemed to stick with me the longest, but I still had no idea what they meant. It was all so jumbled that it was doing more harm than good now, but I kept digging. There had to be something there, some connection I just hadn’t made yet.

In trying to gain control, I felt like I was losing it all.

In defeat, I turned and made my way to my room. I could at least hide out in there until I could make some sense of what was happening in my life. Maybe I could get ahold of Daxton, or my father and mother. Someone had to know something.

Maybe I would have to give in and go back to Alexa to ask some questions. I didn’t like the sound of that idea at all, but if I didn’t have a choice, I didn’t know what else to do. She obviously knew something. Maybe I had been too hasty in darting out on her.

The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t truly believe it. Something had felt off about Alexa, and I had always been one to trust my feelings.

Finally, I made it back to my room. Thankfully, it seemed to be in the same place. Some things never changed. I pushed in the door, expecting to find comfort, but instead gasped as I stepped into my room.

As soon as the door had swung open, the most enticing and heavenly scent of sunshine and strawberries hit my nose. Everything came rushing back to me at once. I doubled over at the onslaught of memories, emotions, and thoughts. The most important was blazing brightly in the forefront of everything.

Saoirse...

I was supposed to meet Saoirse at the tree to get married.

I ran.