Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 815

Chapter 26 : The Scroll

*Eliza*

I knew Jared was following me. I knew Archer and Brandt would be close behind as well. I had it in mind to turn into my bedroom but turned toward Jared's room instead. If the evidence of our night was still scattered around the room, well, I wasn't going to give Archer the satisfaction of seeing it. I threw open the door and stepped inside Jared's room without hesitation.

“Hey!" Jared hissed, catching the door before it slammed shut. He locked it behind him.

“Brandt and Archer are going to want to see the scroll too–" I began, but he snatched the scroll from my hand and tossed it on the bed, taking a step toward me.

“Last night," he said, then hesitated, his jaw rigid with tension.

I relaxed a bit, but my stomach was tying in a knot as I looked up at him and held his gaze.

“Was it not good for you?" I asked.

He looked shocked.

“Eliza that's not–"

He ran his fingers through his hair, then down over his face as he exhaled deeply.

“That's not it all. It was great. You were… great. I just–"

“It's okay," I said hurriedly, turning away from him to hide the pain on my face.

I didn't want to know what he was going to say next. I went to his bed and slowly picked up the scroll, telling myself I was testing the weight of it in my hands and not trying to distract myself from the searing pain of rejection blossoming in my stomach.

“Eliza," Jared breathed.

I didn't turn around. I'd been wrong, of course. This was just a very intense case of lust, primal lust… primal lust for my captor. There had to be a name for that, some physiological term or condition....

“Eliza, the curse," Jared said firmly.

I turned to face him, furrowing my brow. “What about it?"

“I'm losing my wolf. I don't want to hurt you if you think–if you think that we could be–"

I blinked at him, clutching the scroll to my chest. I bit back the hurt, focusing on the word “curse" to distract myself from the pain and roaring feeling of stupidity rushing through my blood.

I'd heard of people losing their wolf powers, but it was usually because of some kind of severe psychological trauma, like the abrupt loss of a mate. It wasn't always permanent, either. I'd never heard of someone losing their powers because of a curse.

“You said the Cryptex might be something that's capable of keeping time," he continued, taking a step toward me. “I think you're right, and that when I have all the pieces, I'll be able to break the curse and stop it from stealing what's left of my powers."

“What does that have to do with last night?"

“I told you what I was–"

“You guys had all night to do whatever it is you're doing in there. Come on. We want to see the scroll," Archer said from behind the door.


Jared let his breath out in an annoyed growl, his eyes moving toward the door.

“We'll talk about this in a moment," he said, but I turned away from him and walked toward the door, opening it wide for Archer and Brandt to enter.

Get yourself together, I told myself. You're being insane, Eliza. I sucked in my breath and steeled my expression, locking everything else away.

Archer entered and gave me a playful look, wiggling his brows. I smacked him soundly on the arm with the scroll.

“Eliza!" Jared hissed, eyes wide with shock.

“It's fine," I said, closing the door. “It's a fake."

“What?" the men said in unison.

I smiled to myself, twirling the scroll over my fingers before tossing it in the air and catching it in my other hand. Jared winced, looking incredibly annoyed that I was handling his precious scroll so roughly. “Smell it," I said, tossing it to him.

“Smell it?" Archer said, c*****g his brow.

Jared eyed me suspiciously as he raised it to his nose, then narrowed his eyes.

“It smells like tea, and charcoal," I said, watching with interest as he carefully unfurled it. “That's how you process parchment to look older than it is. It might just be a copy of the actual scroll he promised you, but still. I knew the second he pulled it from his jacket that it was a fake. He's playing you."

“I had a feeling he would," Jared said under his breath as he handed the scroll to a very curious Archer. Archer sniffed, shrugging, before handing it to Brandt.

“Why would he be trying to lead you astray?" I asked, accepting the scroll back from Brandt.

I looked at the text, which was obviously copied, and recently. If I had a lab with the appropriate equipment for the job, I could have dated the ink.

When none of the men spoke, I looked up from the scroll, noting how intently Archer and Brandt were looking at Jared, some silent conversation obviously taking place over mindlink.

“Whatever it is," I continued, looking back down at the scroll, “it's written in Pritian, I believe. I'll need some time to work through the translation."

I felt the air in the room shift as the men turned to look at me, stunned.

I blinked up at them, shrugging one shoulder. “What?"

“How do you know any of this for certain?" Brandt asked.

“And what the hell is Pritian?" Archer added.

I rolled it up and tucked it in my back pocket. “Pritian was the name of the language spoken by the people who existed before the time of Morrighan and Lycaon," I said, matter-of-factly. “Artifacts have been found throughout the northern territories in my realm–" I sucked in a breath, glancing from man to man and settling my gaze on Jared.

“I was wondering when you were going to admit that," Archer mused with a smirk.

I broke from the intensity in Jared's gaze and glared at Archer.

“Fine, I'm from the Realm of Light," I said in surrender.

“What's it like?" Brandt asked, a boyish longing in his tone.

I smiled at him, but then my gaze drifted back to Archer, who had a distant look in his eyes. My chest tightened as I watched a shadow pass over Archer's face, some distant memory of the war with the vampire king drifting to the forefront of his mind, no doubt.

“Very different from here," I said softly.

“You can ask her whatever you want about her realm later, Brandt," Jared said sternly.

I met his eyes, noticing the same apprehension behind his gaze in regard to explaining my realm in front of Archer, who had witnessed a very different side of it.

“Anyway," I breathed, crossing my arms over my chest, “this scroll is likely copied from something written on stone. I'll translate it to the best of my abilities and we will go from there."

Jared gave Archer and Brandt a look and tilted his head toward the door, his way of telling them to “Get lost."

I turned to leave as well, but Jared stopped me with a gentle touch to the back of my arm.

“Wait," he said.

I waited to face him until Archer and Brandt closed the door behind themselves and their footsteps retreated down the hall.

“I'm sorry about the scroll."

“I don't care about the scroll," Jared said as I turned around. “This is probably one of his tricks. I know you think you played him today, but Aeris is cunning, and if he finds out who you are–"

“I'm not afraid of Aeris," I replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing my legs. “I don't think he's as cunning as you think he is. I was sold at the auction against my will. I'm not his."

“You're wrong."

“How?"

“Aeris always gets what he wants one way or another. You might slip through his fingers as a breeder, but he will find some new way to use you and make it impossible for you to leave without violence. I have to keep you safe–"

“I'm not asking you to do that–"
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