Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 153 : Restoring the Mate Bond... Maybe?

*Eliza*

“Mommy, Mommy, wake up!"

I opened my eyes to see four young girls bouncing on the bed excitedly cheering for me.

“Good morning, good morning," I laughed, hugging my four youngest daughters.

They were so excited and giddy.

“What has the four of you so excited?" I asked.

“It's a very special day today!" my youngest said.

I arched an eyebrow. “Really, why is that?"

“Mommy! You know! You didn't forget, did you?"

“It's your birthday! And Daddy's birthday, remember?"

“Oh, that's right," I said, teasingly.

The girls laughed and I hugged them again. I loved my family so much.

“Guys, leave Mom alone. It's her birthday and she needs her space to enjoy this." Eloise walked in with a tray of a

home cooked breakfast.

My younger daughters sat aside and let my sixteen year old put the tray on my lap.

“Did you make this, Eloise?" I asked.

She nodded. “I did. The little ones helped… some."

I smiled at each of them. “Thank you, guys. This is absolutely lovely."

There was a little vase with a flower from the garden on the tray and pancakes, eggs, and bacon. It was really the

royal treatment.

“Mom, where is Daddy today? He wasn't here when we woke up," Eloise said.

“He had to run an errand," My voice muffled around a bite of pancake.

“Is he going to be back for his birthday?" Her eyes widened nervously.

“Of course! We have a special party planned to celebrate. He's on an errand with Archer, and neither of them will

miss the party if they can help it," I assured.

My younger girls started picking at the food on my plate, too. I let them, just happy to enjoy my time with them.

“Thank you, my darlings. This is all so delicious."

The girls beamed and rolled around on the bed. They watched me closely, each bite I took. They were so full of

pride at the breakfast they'd made. I just loved seeing how happy they were.

I closed my eyes and let the sweet flavor of syrup soaked pancakes fill my mouth and my senses. This was the

happiest birthday moment I could imagine, except for the fact that Jared was missing.

I sighed and took another bite of pancakes. I knew that whatever Jared was up to, it was important.

Knock. Knock.

My heart skipped and looked to the door, hoping that Jared had made it back already. I wasn't expecting him back

for a few hours.

Eloise went to the door and opened it. It wasn't Jared. Just a delivery messenger. He had a package.

“I have a delivery from your mother," he announced, putting the package on the table.

“Thank you."

As soon as the messenger left, all my girls looked at me excitedly. Eloise picked up the package and brought it to

me.

“Can you open it? Please!" she begged, setting the package in my lap.

“Right now?"

“Yeah! Gifts from the Light Realm are always so much more fun!" my youngest cheered.

“Alright."

Slowly, I peeled the paper back, all of my girls staring on with curiosity. I made sure to slowly peel back one layer at

a time, just to raise their anticipation.

Finally, I opened the box and found a film camera inside.

“Look at this. It's a camera and film. There are even the chemicals and instructions to develop the film and make

really great pictures," I said, pulling the camera out.

Eloise's eyes lit up and she grabbed the camera. “This is perfect! I can take pictures of you and Dad at the party."

She stood up and pointed the camera at us, snapping a few pictures of me and the younger girls on the bed.

I smiled and shook my head.

“Sure. But you'll need to find a place to make a dark room so you can develop the film," I told her. “Help me finish

breakfast and then we can find a place for it."

Eloise and my younger daughters and I walked around the mansion looking for a good dark room.

“A closet would be a good place because there aren't any windows," I suggested.

“Mmm, that might be too small," Eloise said as she looked at the list of instructions. “What about the attic? I think

there's only one window, and it should be easy enough to cover it."

“Alright, let's check it out." I nodded to the attic stairs.

When we got to the attic, I could see that Eloise was set on the attic.

“This is perfect! I can hang the drying lines here, and put the development trays over there. I just need to do a little

dusting," Eloise said, pointing from one side to the next.

“You can set up a dark room here, Eloise. We'll get some of the pack members to help. But once it's set up, you

need to maintain it and do all the work yourself. I don't want you bossing your sisters around," I told her.

“That's fine. I'd rather do it on my own." Eloise waved me off. She was already consumed by her dark room plans.

While she worked on her dark room project, I went back to the bedroom and pulled out a special gift for Jared. I

placed it on the table in our room.

Just then, Jared entered the bedroom. He paused when he saw me.

Jared was covered with dust and looked a little tired from his travels. Smiling at me, he set a second package on the

table.

“Promise me, you'll open it last." He winked.

“Only if you promise to open mine last," I said back.

Jared cupped my cheek and nodded. “I've got to get cleaned up for the party."

I headed down to the party, which was in the garden behind the mansion. The flowers were in full bloom and

everyone from the pack was there. So were a bunch of our friends from around the Dark Realm.

“Happy birthday, Eliza." Scarlett took my hands and kissed my cheek. “I'm so happy Gage got time off from college

to be here for the party."

She nodded to her son, who was playing with his younger siblings on the lawn.

“I'm glad he did too. Thank you for being here, Scarlett." I squeezed her hands.

“There she is, the woman of the hour!" Abe came over and clapped me on the back. I grunted and shook my head.

“Thanks. I'm glad you could make it. How is the family?"

Abe smirked and nodded to Brandt. They'd officially gotten married several years ago and adopted some kids that

were made orphans after Aries's attack on the capital.

“Great! Thank you for inviting all of us."

I smiled and shook my head. “You, Brandt, and the kids are like family."

I mingled around the garden, even after Jared came down. Side by side, we greeted our guests and I watched the

gifts piling up on the gift table.

Eloise popped around the garden, snapping pictures of everyone. She was so happy with the camera and I enjoyed

seeing the big smile on her face. I couldn't wait to see how the pictures came out.

“Hello everyone!" Giselle stood up on a picnic table and clapped her hands, getting everyone's attention.

“I didn't know people were making speeches," I grunted, leaning against Jared.

“Come on, Eliza, just enjoy the day. It is our day, after all." He kissed the top of my head.

“We're going to bring the cake out in a moment. So, I want everyone to start singing as loud as they can," Giselle

said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “One. Two. Three."

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Eliza and Jared. Happy birthday to you!"

My heart swelled as everyone sang to us and my cheeks burned. Everyone in the garden circled around me and

Jared, making us the center of attention.

Miriam brought a cake out from the kitchen. It was definitely one she'd made herself, a three-layer cake that was

carefully frosted and decorated.

She set it on the picnic table just as the singing wrapped up.

“Blow out the candles, Mommy!" one of my daughters shouted.

“There are a lot of candles on that cake," I said.

Forty-one, to be exact.

“I think we'll need some help. Do you girls want to help?" I asked.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!" they all cheered together.

I smiled and ushered them closer to the picnic table.

“On the count of three, girls," Jared announced. “One. Two. Three!"

We all took a big breath and blew out the candles. Everyone in the garden clapped and cheered.

Miriam started slicing up the cake and handed out plates to my daughters first. I stepped back, watching them

happily devour the cake.

Eloise came up behind us and started snapping more pictures of us.

“I can't wait to see your pictures, my dear," I told her.

“I'll put a whole birthday album together. That's my present for you, okay?" she said, snapping another picture of

me.

I nodded.

She went off and took some more pictures. I watched as she pulled Gage aside and took a picture of him, too. It

was a lot more personal than the other pictures she took of the party guests, and I couldn't help but wonder if there

was something blossoming between them.

“Okay, we need to get a group photo," Eloise announced. “Mom, Dad, think you can hold my sisters still long

enough?"

“I'm on it," Jared said.

We all got together as a group and Eloise took the shot.

“Wait, we need you in the picture, too," I pointed out.

Eloise smiled and handed the camera over to Gage. “Think you could get a picture of the whole family?"

“Of course." He gave her a gentle smile as he took the camera.

I caught the slight blush on Eloise's cheeks as she joined us for a big family picture.

By the end of the night, I was so exhausted, but happy.

Jared and I made our way back to our bedroom. There, we saw the two remaining presents we hadn't opened yet.

“Oh, we still have presents to open," I pointed out.

Jared smirked. He handed me the box he'd brought back from his mission with Archer.

I handed over my box too.

“Should we open them at the same time?" I asked, giggling.

Jared nodded. Together, we opened our packages and as soon as I saw what he gave me, I started laughing.

I held up the box with a fresh Luna Lilly bloom in it.

Jared laughed too, showing me what I gave him. It was another fresh Luna Lilly flower.

“Oh… we know each other too well, don't we?" Jared teased. He brushed my nose with the flower I gave him.

I shied away from the tickling petals.

“Well, now we have one to use and one to preserve… just in case we need it again." Jared winked at me.

I sighed and shook my head.

***

A few weeks later, Eloise presented us with her photo album. Jared and I poured over it, looking at all the amazing

pictures she'd taken. They were so lovely.

As we flipped through each page, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the life we had built. We had a beautiful family,

amazing friends, and each other. It was everything I had ever wanted.

Jared wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer. "These pictures are amazing, Eliza. Thank you, Eloise."

Eloise beamed, clearly happy with the reaction to her present. "I'm so glad you like it, Mom and Dad. I put a lot of

work into it."

"You can tell," I said, smiling at her. "They're perfect."

“Thank you so much, Eloise. We are going to treasure this forever," Jared told her

We continued looking through the pictures, reliving the memories of the party and the moments leading up to it.

Jared and I even found a few pictures of ourselves that we didn't remember taking.

As we reached the end of the album, Jared leaned in and kissed me. "I love you, Eliza."

"I love you too, Jared," I replied, snuggling closer to him.