Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1581 - 23 : Unwelcome Guest

*Kryzen*

I sized up the dark-haired man across the table from me.

Drius didn’t look so tough. He looked like he wanted to appear tougher than he really was. I didn’t trust him at all, nor did I like seeing him and Briella share inside jokes and tell stupid stories about their training together.

Whatever military training Drius underwent, I had done the same, if not more strenuous. A lot of people thought that because I was the son of a general I had it easy. They were wrong. I always had to prove my worth, and I’d have no problem proving it to Drius if I needed to.

I scowled as Briella smiled at Drius talking about his family and how his dog had puppies or something. It was so transparent that he was trying to distract her from the fact that he was there to make her do what he wanted her to do.

“And then the smallest puppy barked at our other dog, and it just came out as this little squeak.” Drius shared some asinine story and Briella laughed, her eyes twinkling.

I couldn’t believe this guy just waltzed in and was trying to diffuse this shady situation with puppy stories. My blood burned that his attempt to butter her up was actually working.

“I forgot that your family bred service dogs. I can’t wait to see the little sweeties,” she replied, her body turned completely toward him as if they were the only two people in the dining room.

My throat burned to think of a retort that wouldn’t land me in the doghouse, but none came. Making fun of puppies didn’t sound good for anyone.

Next to me, Roy shifted. To everyone else, he looked friendly and engaged in the conversation, but I could tell by his stiff posture that he wasn’t convinced about Drius either. It made me feel a little better knowing that my best friend had my back. I would have felt even better if Briella called Drius out like she did with me.

In fact, recently she barely gave me the time of day at all.

My instincts were on high alert when I heard the front door click shut that morning, knowing full well Roy was still in the house. I looked out the window and saw her run by. When we were kids, if one of us wanted to go on a run, we’d get the other for a race, but she didn’t this time.

I had to admit that I was concerned. Just how long was she going to keep all of this bottled up? Didn’t she know that running away from things didn’t solve them?

I knew I had to follow her. I put on my running shoes to try and get her to talk to me without the conversation erupting into an argument. However, I wasn’t expecting her to get ambushed by some guy.

I had been in combat before and seen far worse happen to unsuspecting people. But when I saw him grab her, an inferno erupted within my chest. A rage overtook me that had me going for my weapon, readying a killing blow. It was only when I saw Briella soften that I stopped.

She gazed upon him with an open wonder that she never had with me.

It caused the murderous rage within me to sour into a bitter contempt. Drius, who she had known for maybe even longer than me, was able to ambush her and got basically nothing but jokes and smiles from her.

“Well, with how time flows in Embervale, by the time we get back, they’ll be twice or even three times the size.” The dark-haired man’s expression turned serious, which got my attention.

He led into that for a reason.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that my home time moves nearly double as fast, or rather I think I just haven’t wanted to think about it.” Briella leaned back, pursing her lips.

My hackles raised. The last thing Briella needed to feel was more guilt, and this guy was laying it on thick.

“Hey, Drius, lay off,” I said with a slight snarl. “Can’t you see she’s been through enough?”

Drius’ eyes widened, and he put his hands up. Before he could say anything, Briella cut in, her dark hair whirled around her toward me.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, and I don’t need you defending me.” Briella’s eyes hardened at me, and something in my gut twisted into a knot.

“Hey, hey, Kryzen is right. I can see why that came across badly, especially since I should’ve told you what your parents wanted you for,” Drius said placatingly. It made me even more mad that he agreed with me.

It just painted me to look like the bad guy even more.

I opened my mouth to tell him off, but Roy kicked his boot out into mine from the side. His classic “Don’t do it” expression was painted across his face.

Briella furrowed her dark eyebrows and turned back to Drius as if I wasn’t even in the room.

“You told me about home and that things were okay, but you haven’t told me about my parents. What do they want? How are they? Are they okay?” Briella spitfired questions, and Drius softly smiled.

“Well, first they’re fine, but they are really worried because they heard about the problems in Celestial Valley with the crops, the influx of refugees, and the rumors of a plague,” the man across from me explained. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

I’d bet my entire armory that he wasn’t there just because her parents heard about Celestial Valley.

“I knew I should’ve checked in with them. They tend to hear news, assume the worst, and then overreact.” The spitfire across from me sighed. Drius chuckled a bit.

“You could’ve called, but your mom would still be wringing her hands and your dad pruning the garden for the fifth time in a week. They want you to be safe, and don’t want you or Kai to miss out on what’s happening back in Drogomor,” Drius explained, his voice soft. I clenched my fist under the table.

It was so obvious that he was trying to charm her. It made me want to puke.

“So that’s how you found her here in Celestial City. You must’ve wrangled the information out of her brother.” My voice plummeted to an ice-cold temperature. Briella shot me another glare.

“Actually, I talked to Matthias when I noticed you weren’t there. He told me where you went. He didn’t tell me about you guys though,” the dark-haired man explained, his hazel eyes too friendly.

I hoped she would reply to me. Instead, she turned back to Drius.

“My parents can’t have it both ways. They’re the ones who wanted me to go to Celestial Valley so I could study Embervalian magic, the same as Kai. They can’t now be worried that I’m where they want me to be, doing what they wanted me to do.” Briella crossed her arms and huffed. Drius shrugged.

“That’s true, and I agree, but they told me they had intended for you and Kai to only be gone a few months. They fear you’re missing out too much at home and losing touch with the goings on.” Drius leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table, closing me and Roy out of the conversation.

“But you just told me that things at home are fine. What am I really missing out on?” Briella retorted. Drius put his hands up.

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just here to say they want you home and feel you’ve gotten strong enough that you can help out at home now,” Drius replied disarmingly. “But I get the feeling you don’t want to go back home.”

Briella slumped on the table.

“No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you. If my parents asked me to find you, I’d do the same thing,” Briella admitted. I hated how she was apologizing again.

“You don’t have to apologize to him, Black. He’s a big boy.” I planted my hands on the table. “Especially since he’s so clueless about what’s actually going on here and hasn’t even asked you why you’re here in Celestial City instead of back in Drogomor to begin with.”

I got tired of being ignored in this conversation, and I wasn’t going to be ignored any further. This guy was going to understand that he couldn’t keep making Briella feel bad and get away with it. I was sure he couldn’t turn this back on me like the last comment.

“I was going to ask about that, but I wasn’t really sure if it was any of my business,” Drius said and then turned back to Briella. “It’s not my intention to make you feel bad Bri, honest. I’m just getting the feeling you don’t want to go home.”

I want to pull out my hair. This guy could spin everything his way.

“No, no, Drius. You’re definitely an improvement on the vibe. And it’s time for me to tell you that it’s not that I don’t want to go home. It’s that I can’t. I promised the Alpha here, Ray, that we’d help him with a serious problem,” Briella explained. Drius turned to her, his eyes wide.

“We? What sort of problem? What kind of Alpha would just ask you to do something without consulting your family first?” Drius asked urgently. He turned to her again.

I sighed and Roy, who had been silent until now, decided to speak up.

“Alpha Ray is young and has been thrust into an almost impossible position to protect Celestial City. Please don’t judge him on how he handled this situation.” Roy said. Drius nodded and seemed to acknowledge him just fine.

It seemed it was only me he refused to engage with. My blood simmered hot again. I wanted nothing more than to spar against him, win, and send him packing.

“Okay, I won’t, but what is the situation?” Drius replied cautiously.

“The plague has spread here too. With prayer and a potion, they managed to quell the plague. However, at the royal celebration ball, a shadow creature appeared and possessed a woman. I tried to dispel the creature with my Embervalian magic before he could kill her, but I was too late. I exorcized the monster, but she died in the process.” Briella’s eyes turned glassy and far away. Drius reached and grabbed her hand.

The visceral urge to rip his hand off hers spiked hard in my chest, but Roy kicked my boot again.

“Briela, I’m so sorry. That had to be so horrible. It wasn’t your fault. You got rid of the monster and did the best you could.” He gazed into her eyes. Even I could sense the connection between them.

My stomach flipped. I wondered if they could be more than just friends.

I smirked slightly when she squeezed his hand once and took her hand back.

“I’ve come to terms with it, but Alpha Ray requested that we stay to help figure out what that magical shadow monster was and prevent more deaths from occurring if more appear. We gave our word that we would stay and help,” Briella explained, her voice still trembling slightly.

“I see what you’re talking about, Prince Roy. It sounds like only Briella’s Embervalian magic can deal with these magical shadow monsters if he requested her to stay and not take care of it with his own forces.” The dark-haired man rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Yeah, hate to break it to you, Drius, but we have to stay and figure all this out. You can just report back home and tell Black’s parents that we have official Alpha business to attend to here.” I dusted off my hands for effect and smiled fully for the first time all morning.

I couldn’t wait for things to get back to normal.

“Well, Bri, your father said that you may not want to come home yet. In that case, he wanted me to protect you. So if it’s alright with you, I’ll stay and help out.” Drius scanned the table. I wanted to scream.

“Of course, you can stay. We can use all the help we can get since we don’t know what we are really up against, and I know I can trust your skills,” Briella agreed. I straightened up like a shot.

She wanted him to stay.

“Oh, it’s too bad though, we don’t have enough space at the guest house. Roy is already bunking with me, and there isn’t another bedroom. We also couldn’t possibly impose on Alpha Ray’s already generous hospitality and ask for another house either. It’s okay though. We are strong enough to handle everything.” I did some quick math and threw out every excuse I could think of to get Drius packing.

“Are you joking Kryzen? Drius can stay with me in my room. Problem solved.” Briella beamed. Drius’ eyes widened in surprise, a slight smile playing on his face.

White hot anger shot through my veins like a lightning strike.

“You and Drius sleeping in the same bed together? That’s far from okay,” I sputtered in complete disbelief that she’d be okay sleeping next to him when the thought of me being anywhere near her made her wince in revulsion.

“Just who are you to decide who I can and cannot bunk with?” Briella pushed back from the table, her eyes burning in indignation.

My frustration rose, wondering why she had to fight me on everything.

“Since this is Alpha Ray’s property, and we don’t know about his views on propriety, it would be wise that Drius sleeps on the sofa here in the living room, seeing as it’s big enough to lay down on,” my best friend suggested. At that moment, I could have picked him up and hugged him I loved him so much.

Drius shifted like he wanted to add his unwanted two cents, but then Roy did something else I didn’t expect.

The prince straightened in his chair and leveled his “Just try to debate me” stare.

“Sofa sounds good. Thanks for the suggestion, Roy,” Drius said, but I could tell by how his hazel eyes darkened that he really wanted to bunk with Briella.

Again, I really lucked out having Roy as a friend.

“You make a good point, Roy. Thanks for at least thinking of a good solution instead of trying to kick Drius out like some people.” Briella glared at me, and I couldn’t have cared less.

If she wanted to be mad at me for preventing her from dealing with some hotshot who would probably claim he cuddled in his sleep, then fine. I only had her best interests at heart.

And I doubted Drius did.