Sold To The Alpha King: His Son's Forbidden Mate

Chapter 4 : Nightmare

~~~Dante~~~

I burst through the doors to her quarters without bothering to knock. The sitting room is empty, but I hear her whimpering from the bedroom. Mrs. Adler hovers in the doorway, wringing her hands anxiously.

"She fell asleep right after her bath, Sir," Mrs. Adler says quickly. "Then the nightmares started. I didn't know if I should wake her…"

"Leave us," I order, and she scurries out.

Sera is on the bed, tangled in expensive sheets, thrashing like she's fighting invisible enemies. Her face is twisted in terror, tears streaming down her cheeks even in sleep. She's wearing a simple white nightgown that makes her look impossibly young and vulnerable.

The mate bond screams at me to comfort her, protect her, chase away whatever demons haunt her dreams.

I approach slowly and sit on the edge of the bed. "Sera. Wake up. You're safe."

She doesn't respond, just whimpers again. The sound breaks something in my chest.

Against every bit of judgment I possess, I reach out and touch her shoulder. The moment we make contact, her eyes fly open with a gasp.

For a heartbeat, she stares at me, completely disoriented. Then recognition sets in and she scrambles backward until she hits the headboard, putting as much distance between us as the bed allows.

"Easy," I say, raising my hands to show I'm not a threat. "You were having a nightmare. You screamed."

"I…" She presses a hand to her chest, breathing hard. "I was back at the auction. Morrison bought me instead of you. He was…" She cuts herself off with a shudder.

Rage floods through me at the thought of what Morrison would have done to her. My wolf snarls, wanting to hunt the bastard down and tear out his throat for even looking at our mate.

"That won't happen," I tell her firmly. "You're here. You're safe. Morrison can't touch you."

"But you can." Her voice is small, accusing. "You own me now, right? That's what you said. I'm your property."

The words hit like physical blows. Does she really think I bought her to use her? To hurt her the way Morrison would have?

"Sera…"

"Don't." She holds up a trembling hand. "I can't do this right now. I can't process any of it. My mate rejected me in front of everyone. I was sold like cattle. Now I'm bonded to his father who made it very clear he doesn't want me." Her voice cracks. "I just need to be alone. Please."

Everything in me rebels against leaving her when she's this distressed. The bond is physically painful, demanding I stay and comfort her. My wolf is howling, desperate to protect our mate.

But she's asking me to leave. Begging me to give her space.

So I stand, even though it feels like tearing myself in half. "If you need anything, pull that cord by the bed. Mrs. Adler will come immediately."

I make it to the door before her voice stops me.

"Why did you really buy me?"

I look back at her, this girl who's already wrapped herself around my dead heart in just a few hours. Her dark hair is wild from sleep, her eyes red from crying, and she's looking at me like I'm either her savior or her doom. Maybe both.

"Because you're my mate," I say quietly. "And despite everything, the age difference, the impossibility of it, the curse that hangs over my head, my wolf recognized you the moment we locked eyes. I bought you because the alternative was watching Morrison take you, and I physically couldn't allow that to happen."

"That's not a real answer."

"It's the only one I have." I grip the doorframe. "Get some rest, Sera. We'll figure this out tomorrow."

I leave before she can ask more questions I don't have good answers for.

Back in my office, Marcus is waiting with fresh whiskey. He takes one look at my face and pours a generous amount.

"Nightmares?" he asks.

"About the auction. About Morrison." I down the drink. "She's terrified, Marcus. Of me, of this situation, of everything. And I'm the one who put her in this position."

"You saved her."

"Did I? Or did I just trade one prison for another?" I collapse into my chair. "She thinks I'm going to use her like Morrison would have. She sees me as another Alpha who wants to own her."

"Then prove her wrong."

"How? I literally bought her. The law says she's my property. How do I prove I'm not like every other bastard who sees women as possessions when I did the same thing they would have?"

"By treating her like a person instead of property," Marcus says simply. "By giving her choices, freedom, respect. By showing her through actions that you're different."

"While keeping her at arm's length because getting close will kill her." I laugh bitterly. "This is impossible."

"Most things worth doing are."

My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number. I almost ignore it, but something makes me check.

The message is simple: "The Severer lives. Find her before we do."

My blood turns to ice. I look toward where Sera's quarters are located, and suddenly everything clicks into place.

The reason she survived the auction relatively intact. The reason Morrison wanted her so desperately. The reason the mate bond formed so quickly and powerfully between us.

"Moon Goddess," I breathe.

"What?" Marcus moves to read over my shoulder. "The Severer lives? are extinct."

"Everyone thinks they're extinct. But the bloodline went into hiding two centuries ago." I'm already pulling up files on my computer, cross-referencing Sera's information with old Severer family trees. "They bred with regular wolves to hide their abilities. The gene became dormant but never disappeared."

"You think Sera is a Severer?" Marcus sounds skeptical. "Based on one anonymous text?"

"Based on multiple factors. She's an orphan with no known family history, typical for hidden Severer descendants whose parents died protecting the secret. She has unusual healing abilities according to her pack records. And she formed a mate bond with me instantly, despite my curse. Severers are the only ones who can manipulate bonds, including cursed ones."

"That's a lot of assumptions based on limited evidence."

"Then I'll get more evidence." I'm already formulating a plan. "But if I'm right, if she's really a Severer, she's in more danger than I thought. There are wolves who've been searching for a functioning Severer for decades. They'll do anything to possess that power."

"Including killing for it," Marcus finishes grimly.

I nod. "I need to know for certain. Tomorrow, I'll test her. Carefully. Without revealing what I suspect."

"And if she is a Severer?"

"Then everything changes. She's not just my mate who I need to keep at a distance. She's the key to breaking my curse and the target of every power-hungry Alpha in existence." I close my laptop. "Either way, she's mine to protect. Even if she hates me for it."

Marcus leaves, and I'm alone with my thoughts and the mate bond that won't stop pulling at me.

Somewhere in this castle, Sera is probably still awake, probably still afraid. Part of me wants to go back to her, sit outside her door like a guard dog, make sure nothing disturbs her sleep.

But that's not what she needs. She needs space, time to process everything that's happened.

So I'll give her tonight. Tomorrow, we start figuring out how to navigate this impossible situation.

Tomorrow, I'll discover if my mate is the last Severer, the one person who might be able to break my curse and save both our lives.