Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 63 : All This Way for Nothing

*Sasha*

I avoided Lucas’s suggestion that I was pregnant. It wasn’t that I didn’t think it was possible. I just had other things that were more important to focus on right now, like getting the second orb.

It took a few days for me to regain my strength.

Every morning, Lucas came in to feed me my breakfast. Most days, I could keep it down, but now and then it would try to come back up.

“I’m worried about you, Sasha.”

“I’m fine, Lucas. We need to focus on getting in that temple and getting the second orb.”

He sighed and set my empty dishes aside. “Well, you did eat your entire breakfast today.”

I grinned and nodded. “So, can we go?”

Lucas frowned. “Not yet. Cara’s guides are scouting the area. It looks like the most recent rockslide cut off the entrance to the temple. They’re looking for a way to get inside that isn’t dangerous.”

“I’d like to take a look. I’m feeling a lot stronger today, and getting some fresh air would be nice.” I put on my sweetest, most tempting smile.

Lucas smiled back and took my hand. “You’ve been through a lot, Sasha. You fell off a cliff, were drugged and kidnapped, then we got stuck in that storm and you’ve been so sick. Are you sure you’re up for exploring?”

“Yes! I can’t stay in this tent or in this cot one more day!” I threw my head back, groaning.

Lucas chuckled.

“Alright, alright. But we’re not doing any rock climbing or bouldering or anything like that.”

“Okay.”

I blew Lucas a kiss as he left.

Most of my aches and pains had subsided, and I wasn’t feeling feverish or nauseous anymore. I was still a little unsteady on my feet, wobbling a bit as I got dressed. I wasn’t about to tell Lucas that and miss out on my chance to get outside.

I threw the tent flaps open and stretched my arms up, breathing in the fresh air.

“Ah, that’s the stuff.”

Lucas rolled his eyes at me. “Want to get a closer look at the temple?” He held out his hand.

I grabbed his hand and he led me down the path from our camp into the valley.

Lucas’s men and the guides were already in the valley. They were shifting rocks around and climbing over the top of them.

Three of them had their shirts off, and I could see their bodies glistening with sweat.

“How long have they been at it?” I asked.

“A few days now.”

“And they still haven’t found a way in?”

“Nothing viable. The main entrance is completely sealed off. There were some rocks under that window, but it is a sheer drop on the other side.” Lucas pointed. “Besides, the rocks are unstable and could trigger another rockslide with all the debris around the temple.”

“Hmm….”

I wandered away from Lucas. He tried to keep hold of my hand but I slipped from his grasp easily.

“Sasha, be careful!”

“Just let me have a look at it. The temple is very similar in architecture to what we imagined the one at the library site looked like before it was covered.”

I walked up to the temple and studied one of the walls that was still intact.

The temple had three towers in various states of crumbling and destruction. Rocks stuck out of the other walls and temple debris was scattered all around them.

Looking at the temple, I felt a sudden wave of deja vu.

“Whoa.” Staggering back, I put my fingers on my temples.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas was at my side in a second, his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m fine. I just feel… like I’ve seen this place in a dream or something.” I shrugged and returned to studying the temple.

“I’ve walked around this thing a dozen times. We’ve searched every nook and cranny for a way in.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Lucas. His head bowed, he looked so sensitive and vulnerable like he was admitting defeat. My heart swelled and I wanted to take him in my arms and comfort him.

“What if I told you that you missed a spot?” I asked.

Lucas looked up and arched an eyebrow at me.

“Over here.” I beckoned him with a nod and walked up to the temple wall.

Underneath the wall, there was a large crevasse in the ground. It was probably made from a big rockslide in the past, but the opening was clear. I could smell fresh air coming from the crevasse, which meant that it was open-ended, probably inside the temple.

“It’s just a big crack in the ground.”

“Smell the air, silly. It’s fresh. It doesn’t smell earthy at all. This crevasse opens up somewhere else, and I’m betting it is inside the temple.”

Lucas narrowed his eyes at me. “You can’t know that. We don’t know what the condition of the passageway is like. It could be blocked.”

“Sure, but it is probably easier to clear than these monster boulders stacked around the temple.”

“I’m not too keen on you attempting to throw yourself down another hole in the ground,” Lucas growled.

“We have to get into the temple, Lucas. This is the best bet. If it’s a dead end or something, then we’ll come back up and keep looking.”

Lucas begrudgingly agreed. We called the others and got some lanterns before heading underground.

The crevasse was large enough to walk through, standing straight up. The lanterns showed that the walls were solid and the entire tunnel was a strong structure.

“Based on the angle of these curves, I’m willing to bet this tunnel is sturdier than the entire temple.” I ran my hand along the curved wall.

“You know, you can leave work behind sometimes.” Lucas shook his head endearingly at me.

The passage wasn’t very long but the opening on the other side was incredibly narrow. I poked my head through and looked around quickly.

“Yes, it opens up into the temple. But I don’t think we can squeeze through.” I crammed myself into the opening and got one arm through before I couldn’t push my body anymore. The crack was too tight.

Lucas pulled me out. “We’ve got tools to widen it.”

Lucas’s men came forward with pick axes. While they carefully chipped away at the rock to widen the opening, Lucas made me sit and have another snack.

Now that I was out of the tent and moving around, I felt a lot better and a lot stronger, but he was so cute when he worried about me.

I glanced up at him as I munched on my trail mix.

His deep eyes were focused on the work, but I saw the tenseness to the muscles in his neck and arms. He was ready to jump to my defense at any moment, for any reason.

I sighed happily and smiled to myself.

“We’re in!”

I jumped up and followed the others through the opening into the temple.

Gasping, I froze and spun my head around on my neck. Inside, the temple was huge. It didn’t look so massive from the outside with all those boulders around.

A few pebbles fell from a pile of rocks above, clattering to the tile floor.

“Everyone, be careful. One wrong move and all those rocks could tumble down on us,” Lucas warned.

We went through the main entrance of the temple. Lucas commented that it looked almost identical to the one under the library.

I saw several paintings and small statues of the White Queen and Moon Goddess.

My heart hammered in my chest and the same deja vu I had from earlier returned. I approached one of the statues and stared into her marble eyes.

“What are you trying to tell me?” I whispered.

“Sasha, come this way. If I’m right, there should be an identical White Queen statue to the one at the other temple. That’s where I found the orb.”

I pulled myself away from the marble statue and followed Lucas and the others.