Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 119 : An Unexpected Alliance

Payne, Thomas, and all of Soren’s men stood there, shocked looks on their faces.

I imagined they'd come into the dungeon to rescue us and met a dead end in a passage that was supposed to be open, and they were left wondering what to do.

“Miss Mila, you're okay!" Payne exclaimed. I noticed the look of relief in his eyes.

Thomas grinned. He made a motion, like he was wiping sweat off his brow.

I was just as happy to see them as they were to see me.

Payne and Thomas did a quick glance around, evaluating the situation.

"Finally, we can make ourselves usefull” Thomas whistled, his eyes darted over to the army and he immediately led an assault on the puppet soldiers that were swarming Soren.

Payne was staring at the king, his eyes were focused on the thorny root around Dylan's neck. Dylan was practically unrecognizable. He was covered in dirt and his clothes were torn. It wasn't what a king would normally look like. I was keeping a close eye on Dylan, making sure he wasn't going to try and sneak away.

“Is that..." Payne followed my gaze.

“The Alpha King," I confirmed. “He is going to lead us out. Isn't that right, Your Majesty?" I raised my voice at the end so he'd hear me clearly.

Payne balked and stared at the dirty, disheveled king. He looked more like a war prisoner than royalty.

“Well... Surely,” Dylan muttered. “If you could loosen this root... that would be even better." He pointed at his neck.

I arched an eyebrow at him

“I'm not sure what the royal guards would think if they saw this. Better they don't think you're threatening me," Dylan pressed.

I turned to Payne. “Can you please ensure that His Majesty is taken care of?" I don't want him... slipping away."

The corner of Payne's mouth twitched. “Yes, of course, Miss Mila." Payne motioned Dylan over and the king complied.

As slippery and crafty as Dylan was, Payne wouldn't let him get away.

I made the root go away the moment Payne had him surrounded by our men.

Payne moved Dylan out of the way of the puppet warriors.

I turned my attention back to Soren and Thomas. With his reinforcements, Soren was finally able to subdue Sebastian in a way that made the puppet warriors back off.

It looked like the situation was starting to get under control.

"Soren!" I called out to him.

He was still injured and I wanted to run to him and help him heal—I'd learnt a few new healing spells.

Before I took a step, I felt him in my mind.

“Stay there, my love. We're going to finish this off quickly," he told me through the mindlink.

His voice was so soft and tender.

I nodded and looked down. He must have been furious at me for coming to the palace in the first place. I hadn't had a chance to talk to him about it yet.

But he didn't scold me or blame me like I expected. He just nodded to me. And from the moment we could communicate, he'd been gentle and kind...

My heart swelled with warmth and a flush spread over my skin. His soft words of “my love" echoed in my mind, bringing tears to my eyes.

“Be careful, and..." I mindlinked back, watching Soren turn his attention back to Sebastian and the warriors. It might not have been the best time, but I wanted him to know. “I love you."

He didn't reply. Not that I expected him to while he was in the middle of a harsh battle.

I sighed and took a step back. Finally, things were working out.

A shadow crept across my peripheral vision. I whipped my head around and stared at the newcomer.

"What the hell are you doing here, Eros?" I snapped, recognizing him immediately. How many times have I had to ask him the same question?! “I told you to take Helen and get to safety!”

Eros shrugged. “If I ran away, Ashley would kill me the next time she sees me.”

As if on cue, Ashley appeared behind Eros. She glared at him, bristling. She was ready to pounce! “You shut your mouth!" she snapped. “We don't need to wait until “next time’ for me to do that.” Eros ran his fingers across his lips like he was closing a zipper. “Hmmm. Mmm. Hmm."

Ashley wasn't alone. Lee and Madam Scarlet were with her.

What were they all doing here? I didn't think either of them would interfere with anyone else's issues. Especially not Madam Scarlet.

Lee would do Soren's bidding, but I'd never seen him proactively come to a battlefield before. "Hmm. Hmmmmm," Eros kept making those annoying humming sounds.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked Eros, frustrated by his untimely goofiness.

Eros glanced toward Ashley and motioned to her and then his lips.

I rolled my eyes. Just because Ashley said “shut your mouth", Eros had to make a scene, ha? Ashley groaned and rolled her eyes. “For f**k's sake, just say what you want to say!"

Eros looked back at me. “I can't stop Helen..."

“From what?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“From coming back..."

"What are you talking about!? Why the hell can't you stop her? She's so fragile and weak that she could barely speak and you're a full-grown warrior wolf"

Scrape. Scratch.

A shiver ran down my spine as I heard something dragging across the stone floor.

“What is that?"

Eros patted my shoulder. “Get ready, Mila. You're going to be surprised...”

A dark silhouette appeared from the shadows. Based on the shape, it looked like a poised lady wearing a long dress.

When the silhouette came close enough for me to see clearly, my eyes bulged out of my head and I gasped.

A beautiful woman was gracefully making her way down the pathway toward us. It was none other than Aunt Helen! She didn't look broken or weak and she was moving freely! How could that be? While I was still at a loss for words, she had already come to stand right in front of me. Only then, I realized that she hadn't magically grow new limbs, instead, she had used magic to wrap herself in roots. They held her upright and acted as her arms and legs.

The bottom roots carried her around, allowing her to move freely, and the roots that replaced her arms moved similarly to real arms. The color was all wrong but if I'd seen only her silhouette, I would have thought she grew her arms and legs back!

However, I was more in awe when I saw her face.

Her cheeks were healthy and glowing. On her smooth and fair skin, there were barely any wrinkles. Her hair was glossy and straight, all the way down to her waist. She'd even used magic to cover herself in a dress of little green vines with leaves and purple flowers.

What was more, her eyes were no longer empty or focusless, instead, the stunning green orbs were now fixed on me!

That pitiful, injured old lady I'd found in the dungeons was gone. She looked like an elegant forest elf or fairy, full of vitality and power. She now looked like the woman I'd always seen in my dreams. Only now, she looked more youthful and gorgeous.

"Aunt... Helen?" I gasped.

“I told you you'd be surprised,” Eros chuckled beside me.

"Yes, my dearest Mila, it is me,” Helen said, still beaming. A smile filled with strength and power. The roots that acted as her legs made her taller than everyone else in the room so she had to slightly lower her head when she spoke to me.

Her entrance was so beautiful and breathtaking. All I could do was stare at her. And I wasn't the only one. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing too, their eyes wide in shock.

Even Sebastian, who was still subdued by Soren, couldn't hide his shock. His jaw dropped open. “No... that's not possible,” Dylan gasped.

"How..." Sebastian murmured. “How... the fuck... is this possible?"

Sebastian growled and tried to leap at Helen, but Soren ground him into the floor. He lowered his head and snapped his jaws near Sebastian's face.

Helen's smile widened and she held a root arm out to Soren. Her face was glowing and she looked like an angel.

Her voice rang out beautifully. “It's okay, Mr. Black. You can let him go. You've already done more than you need to. Thank you.” She nodded to Soren.

Soren perked his wolf ears up but he didn't release Sebastian right away.

“By the way, it is nice to meet you, Soren. I've heard a lot about you.”

Soren took a slight step back. He tilted his head to the side, looking at Helen with confusion. He lowered his head, nodding to her and slowly backed away from Sebastian, retreating to a corner of the dungeon, still in wolf form.

As soon as Soren released him, Sebastian launched himself toward Helen with a fierce snarl.

My heart leaped into my throat and I tried to jump between them. No matter how good Helen looked right now, she must still be recovering from her fragile state. How could she defend against an attack like that?

However, she shook her head at me and lifted her chin.

The ground trembled, the stone floor split, and several leafy vines burst from underneath. They wove a wall between Sebastian and Helen.

Then she murmured something, several of the vines rushed forward and slammed into Sebastian. He tried to block or dodge, but how could four limbs fight against a hundred arm-thick, deadly stick weapons?

My ability to manipulate roots and vines was like a childish joke compared to Helen's!

In a blink of an eye, before any of us had time to react, two spiky sticks pierced Sebastian right through the heart.

My jaw dropped.

She defeated Sebastian...just like that?!

Sebastian's eyes flickered and his legs gave out but the vines held him in place.

“Finally, we are bringing this to an end.” Helen's voice was firm as she “walked” over to him. “I have been waiting for this day for a long time."

Sebastian coughed and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He opened his mouth and closed it again, but no words came out.

Helen looked at him with pity, she sighed, her tone was calm and soft, “The suffering should end, for both you and me.”

He stared at her for a moment, and gave up struggling. Then his eyes closed and his last breath escaped, long and ghostly, from his lips.

Things happened too fast. For a moment, it was difficult to believe that the root cause of so many mysteries, conspiracies, resentment and pain that stretched over a period of 14 years, was just put to an end.