Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 63 : Into the Mountains

*Jared*

Draven's Cryptex, the Sphere of Dreams, the Diadem of Nyx–three of the most coveted artifacts in the realm, all of them shrouded in mystery and lore. No one knew if the Sphere of Dreams or the Diadem of Nyx were real, the only mention of them coming from vague tales from the creation of our homeland.

But Draven's Cryptex was real, very real. And Hestia, the Dark Witch, wanted nothing more than to prevent me from putting those given powers back into it somehow.

If we prevailed… I was throwing the f*****g thing in the ocean. I'd travel to the Realm of Light with the woman I meant to make my wife and have her White Queen aunt toss it in the deepest trenches of the Northern seas.

For the first time in years, I felt like we were actually getting somewhere.

But my heart was heavy, my entire soul on fire with the idea of Eliza leading Abe and me into what sounded like certain danger. Abe and I could handle it. We were violent and skilled.

Eliza was not.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of activity. Archer and Brandt readied for their trip back to the village. Abe and Lock hid away in Abe's office with Eliza while they poured over maps and texts and whatever else they had going on in there.

I left. I walked right out of his house and out into the village. I walked through the wall and spent the rest of the day walking along the edge of the Dark Forest, willing Draven himself to appear to tell me what exactly he wanted from me and why this was happening.

His spirit obviously wanted the Cryptex mended and solved. He had to be the one who delivered the pieces to me.

But what I really wanted to know was what role Eliza was meant to play. Her appearance in my realm was more than just a coincidence.

When I finally came back to the house, it was full dark. I'd missed dinner, but I had no appetite. The only thing I was hungry for was my mate, and I found her slumped over the desk in my bedroom, her cheek stained with lead as she rested against dozens of smudged scratch papers.

I carried her to bed and wrapped my body around hers, holding her against my chest.

I couldn't lose her.

I couldn't lose her to her realm, her family. I couldn't lose her to death. Maybe that made me selfish. In fact, I knew it did. If Eliza had been a different person, someone submissive and frightened… she'd be gone now, safe with her parents and her pack.

But she was a warrior.

Now she would have to prove it.

***

Six of Abe's best scouts would be escorting Archer, Brandt, Scarlett, and her son back to my village. I watched as the group convened in the square outside the gates leading to the unforgiving outside world. It was drizzling, the fog thick and rolling around their legs as Scarlett held the sleeping boy to her chest, his legs wrapped tightly around her waist.

Scarlett looked like an entirely different person. Those deep cracks in her heart had been mended, and I could tell by the look on her face as she gazed up at Archer that one of those mended fissures had been from their mate bond. He leaned down and brushed a kiss over her lips, his hand resting on Gage's back as he did so. They were a family. Gage was his son now. He'd protect them both with his life.

The sight was enough to make my throat tighten.

I didn't cry. I didn't think I ever had. But this was the closest I'd ever come to it.

“I know you're my third, but if anything happens and I don't come back, you're in charge of the village. They can hold a vote in a year's time if need be," I said to Brandt, who was standing by my side.

He only nodded, his throat bobbing with whatever unsaid words were on the tip of his tongue.

“If Aeris shows up in the village," I bit out, growling his name, “tell him he's not welcome unless I am there."

Brandt nodded again. I clapped him on the shoulder, trying my best to give him a smile, but it faltered. Brandt glanced at me, a soft smile touching the corner of his mouth before he turned back to the group, his eyes settling on Abe, who was barking orders at his scouts.

I could see the color rising in his cheeks, a ruddy glow that had nothing to do with the slight chill in the predawn air.

“Have you talked to him?" I asked.

Brandt's eyes flicked to mine, his cheeks coloring deeper.

“I don't know what you're talking about," Brandt hissed.

“I think you do."

A tense silence settled between us as Abe's scouts began to shift into wolves, helpers coming up beside them to strap bags of supplies to their backs. Archer was going to shift as well, carrying his family on his back through the forest. They would shave two days off their journey that way, at least.

“I'll bring him back, alive," I said to Brandt, who only chewed his bottom lip in response.

Abe was looking back at us now, his gaze moving from mine to Brandt's. Abe colored almost as sharply as Brandt had and lingered only a moment longer before turning away, which told me everything I needed to know.

“Take care of yourself, Jared. Let Eliza… let her help you."

“I don't have a choice," I said wryly, which elicited a soft smile from Brandt.

He walked toward the group, and soon they moved out, disappearing beyond the gate into the tall grasses beyond.

Abe stood at the gate, his hands on his hips.

“Are we ready?"

Eliza's voice cut through the fog and I turned to her, sucking in my breath. Her hair was wild as usual, curling and snaking around her face in the humidity. She was striking like always. She was beautiful in anything she wore, but now....

She stepped toward me, her face fixed in a steely expression. She was dressed in navy blue, her shirt and pants made of thick stretchy fabric that hugged every curve with an expert's touch. A tailored black leather vest and belt dripping with silver-tipped daggers completed the outfit, the belt embroidered with ropes of sapphire and silver thread.

She was wearing the colors of Abe's village, his crew, his pack. This outfit had been made for her for this purpose, Abe's skilled seamstresses likely working around the clock day in and day out to complete it in time for our departure.

My village had no colors. It had no name. I liked it that way, simply calling it home.

But seeing Eliza in Abe's colors made me want to snap his neck. I suddenly wanted nothing more than to break the curse if only to see her dressed in crimson, amber, and pale brown leather.

“Beautiful," Abe drawled, giving Eliza a smile as he approached.

His crew was actively bringing out our supplies, setting us for a long journey ahead.

I was planning to shift when I had to, but Eliza lacked her wolf, and the unknowns of our journey made the three of us come to an agreement that we were doing this on foot, as men–and woman, of course.

“Thank you," Eliza chirped, returning his smile.

I chewed the inside of my cheek as I fixed Abe with a glare that showed just what I thought about the little game he was currently playing with me.

“Has everyone eaten? We have quite a day ahead of us. It's roughly thirty miles to the base of the mountains."

“We'll camp there tonight and decide what route to take into the mountains in the morning," I said.

Eliza looked around, her brow furrowing. “Where is Lock?"

“He's staying here. He's my second, my Beta."

“Ah," Eliza said, then pressed her lips together.

Lock made her uneasy, but he made everyone uneasy. I was sure she was relieved he wouldn't be trailing behind us into the mountains.

Within minutes, we were dressed in cloaks against the rain with our supplies fixed snuggly on our backs. The walled village faded behind us as we walked through the grasses, no one speaking.

By midday, we'd reached the rolling hills at the base of the mountains, which were distorted by the heavy clouds. A boulder field stretched out in front of us, everything slick and dusted with wet moss.

“Does it always rain so much here?" Eliza huffed as I helped her over a boulder the same height she was. Her hands were already marred from the climbing we'd been doing for the past two hours, but she'd hadn't complained at all.

“Yes," I said, steadying her as we reached the top of the boulder.

Abe was ahead of us, enjoying the challenge of hopping from boulder to boulder. Eliza's legs weren't nearly as long as ours, and I wasn't going to risk having her fall between the rocks and get stuck or break a leg on our first day.