Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1693 - 135 : Burn It all Down

*Kryzen*

Somehow, Drius and I raced back to the palace. It was a day’s journey away, but I didn’t remember stopping once. The only thing on my mind was that Briella and Emberly were in danger, and I wasn’t there to protect them.

I knew that was Malphas speaking to me back at the obsidian castle. He didn’t have to even say Briella’s name for me to be able to feel that was who he wanted. It was layered in every laugh that echoed through the dark building.

I was barely breathing when my palace came into view. I had a sliver of hope left that maybe Briella and Emberly would be inside, all tucked up in bed and ready with a smile for me when I burst through the door of our bedroom.

I should have been ready for that tiny piece of hope to be shattered.

I didn’t even pause despite the staff members waiting in the foyer to greet me and apologize. Their wide, distraught eyes told me enough, but I had to see for myself what my heart already knew, what it was splintering for. I shoved past the staff, tore up the staircase, and threw our bedroom door open.

I was immediately met with the sound of my daughter’s cries. They weren’t pained ones. I had been a parent long enough now to know the difference between her cries. This one was distraught and upset. It pulled at my heartstrings. Some relief went through me to find my daughter safe in our room.

It wasn’t Briella holding her though. It was Alyna. She looked at me with wide eyes that were filled with tears.

She bit her lip and looked away. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Alyna,” I said through my teeth, already knowing the answer but needing to confirm it. “Where is Briella?”

Alyna shushed Emberly for a moment, bouncing her soothingly before she met my eyes with her tear-filled ones. She shook her head, allowing a couple of those tears to fall. “We don’t know. She’s vanished.”

I wasn’t surprised, but hearing the words aloud unleashed all of the anger inside of me. I roared, and the sound rattled the windows of the room. I felt my fingernails dig into my palms as guilt and anger coursed through me.

I had left to protect her. I had fallen for Malphas’ trap. Briella had needed me there, and I hadn’t been there for her. The thought tore me apart. The realization was painful. The urge to break things and burn the entire realm became almost overwhelming as I fought hard for control over myself.

I suddenly couldn’t see anything in front of me as rage threatened to tear me apart. I turned, ready to storm out of the room only to find Drius in front of me.

“Move,” I intoned dangerously. Anyone who got in the way of me saving my mate would pay dearly.

Drius’ face hardened, and he didn’t move. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, perhaps we should formulate a plan of some kind to find the queen.”

His tone wasn’t disrespectful at all, but his words still caused me to clench my jaw. I needed to move immediately. I didn’t give a fuck that he was Briella’s best friend. He didn’t have the authority to get in the way of me tearing this whole place to shreds until I found her.

“Kryzen.”

The broken voice of my sister had me whirling around. She was staring at me reproachfully, tears forming little rivers down her cheeks. She looked down at what she was holding, and my heart nearly broke when I met the large gray eyes of my daughter.

She looked completely frightened, her orbs wide with horror.

And they were directed at me.

My heart melted, and guilt immediately replaced all of the anger I felt. My whole body relaxed. I stepped forward. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s alright,” I murmured. My heart splintered even further when my little girl flinched away from me. “Shh, don’t be scared. Daddy’s sorry. He was just mad, but he’s okay now.”

I reached out to her, but Emberly just buried her face into Alyna’s chest, whimpering softly. I felt like the biggest jerk possible. I gently put my hand against her tiny back. She flinched, whimpering a little louder. I shushed her gently and began to rub slow soothing circles on her back.

It took a few moments, but she finally peeked up at me, looking up at me with some uncertainty.

“There’s my sweet girl,” I said, smiling at her and tentatively lifting my hand to stroke her cheek as I had done hundreds of times over the past few months of her young life.

I continued to talk quietly to her. She eventually pulled her face away from Alyna’s chest to smile at me. She reached for me, setting her tiny hand against my cheek. I took her in my arms. Alyna let go of her so I could tuck her against my chest.

I marveled at how tiny she was. It was remarkable how such a tiny person held such purpose in my life. Briella might not have been there, but there was someone else precious who needed me at that moment.

I was going to be that person for her.

Still clutching Emberly protectively, I looked over my shoulder at Drius. “General.”

Drius straightened, but I thought I saw his eyes softening at the sight of my daughter and me. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I want all the available men out searching for any sign of the queen,” I ordered. “Immediately.”

Drius bowed low. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he said, turning to go. He looked over his shoulder right before stepping out of the room. “Don’t worry. We’re going to find Briella.”

I nodded curtly, turning my attention back to my daughter when Drius was gone.

Emberly was clinging tightly to me. I felt my protectiveness swell. I murmured quietly to her and stroked her back, bouncing her slightly in an effort to soothe her.

“I’m sorry, Kryzen.”

I looked at my sister, stunned. “What are you sorry for?” I demanded gently.

Alyna swiped at her cheek, pushing at the tears that had gathered there. “I offered to stay in the room with Briella, but she insisted I go. I should have fought her and stayed in the room with her. Maybe she wouldn’t have disappeared otherwise.”

I took a deep breath in. It was moments like this where I realized how similar my sister and I were. We were both beating ourselves up over this. “You can’t blame yourself,” I told her, feeling like I was talking to myself as well. “We had no way of knowing what would have happened. Right now, we just need to focus on getting Briella back.”

Alyna bit her lip but nodded bravely. I extended my free arm to her, and she gratefully stepped up to Emberly and me so that she could join in the comforting embrace. I wrapped my arm tightly around them both, praying that Briella was alright and we would be reunited soon.

“Thank you for being here for Briella and Emberly,” I said to my sister, feeling a rush of gratitude despite the tragedy that had just befallen us.

I could tell she was still harboring guilt by the way she stiffened in my hold. “Don’t thank me,” she practically begged.

“Stop it,” I ordered gently, tightening my hold around her. “If you are to blame for this, then I should be as well since I am the one that left all of you vulnerable.”

Alyna snorted quietly. “You had to go,” she said. “You were doing it to protect your family.”

“And you were here helping my family,” I said tersely. “We’re done blaming ourselves.”

Alyna giggled quietly. “Yes, Your Majesty,” she said teasingly.

I rolled my eyes. Just as we started to step away from each other, a guard burst through the door, his dark eyes wild.

“Your Majesty,” he said apologetically, bowing low and seeming embarrassed to be stumbling in on a tender family moment. “So sorry to interrupt, but we just received word that someone who fit the queen’s physical description was seen wandering around in the forest on the northern end.”

My eyebrows flew upward, my mind racing as I tried to make sense of what that meant. My blood froze when I remembered the night I found Briella on top of the roof, seconds away from jumping to her death.

She was being controlled.

“Alert General Drius and inform him that he and his men are to accompany me into the forest,” I barked sharply.

The guard bowed again. “Yes, Your Majesty!” He turned and fled from the room to obey my orders.

It was time for me to get ready to leave. While I was eager to find my mate, I felt hesitant to leave my infant daughter.

As if she could sense I was about to depart, Emberly looked up at me with wide, pleading eyes. She gripped the front of my shirt tightly in her hands.

“Don’t worry,” I murmured to her. “I’m going to find Mommy. I promise.” I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before handing her over to Alyna, who took her immediately.

“I’ll take good care of her,” my sister promised.

I hugged Alyna and then bent to press another kiss to the top of Emberly’s head. “I know you will,” I said, turning to go. “Thank you, Alyna.”

It was appropriately dark and stormy as Drius and I led our men through the forest. The howl of the wind in the trees seemed to warn us to turn back, but I just scoffed in reply.

“We’re approaching where Queen Briella was spotted yesterday around this time,” Drius announced as we moved swiftly through the trees.

I ground my teeth together at the reminder that it had been a full day since Briella disappeared. I tried to stomp the overwhelming worry down, but it was next to impossible. Anything could have happened to her in that amount of time.

I forced myself to calm down. I couldn’t explain why, but I knew that Briella was still alive. Maybe I didn’t have that kind of sense that my mate had, but I was confident that I could still feel her presence. She might have been far away, but she was still around.

I inhaled deeply, searching for my mate’s familiar flowery scent. The scent had calmed me through many trials and hardships. Just being beside her gave me the courage to get through even the toughest times.

I lifted my head when I caught just a hint of that familiar and comforting scent. “This way,” I said to my men, leading the way deeper into the forest.

Briella’s scent was faint but unmistakable. It had to have been nearly a day old with how weak it was, but I still knew it anywhere.

My heart raced at the fact that she had been there and we were that much closer to finding her.

As Briella’s scent got just a bit stronger, I had a sinking feeling that I knew her whereabouts. My fears were confirmed when we arrived at the mouth of a cave with a deep, dark staircase leading deep down into the ground.

Briella was in the land of shadows.