Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 260

Chapter 40: Tempest Tossed

Maeve

I cursed under my breath as another pan slid across the kitchen work table, slamming into the floor with an audible thud. I reached for it, thrown off balance as another wave violently rocked the ship.

Olly appeared, a large set of keys in one hand as he steadied himself on the doorframe. “No dinner tonight, Maeve. Throw some water on the fire while I lock up the cabinets.”

I moved to the water pump, gripping the sink as we rocked back and forth. I felt sick to my stomach by the motion but filled a large bucket with water nonetheless. I could hear Olly tossing random items in the cabinets, his keys jangling and scraping against the wood surfaces as he locked each one.

I opened the wood stove, leaning back as I tossed the bucket of water on the embers and closed the air filters, shutting the door to the oven tightly. “Is everything okay?” I asked, not bothering to mask my concerned expression.

“We’re fine, just a bit of rough weather.” His face betrayed his words, however. His brow was furrowed, his mouth pursed in a tight line.

“Have you been in many storms before?” I asked, my anxiety beginning to rise as the boat was tossed violently to the side once more. hissed, rubbing my hip where I had bumped into the side of the worktable.

“I have, but never this far out in open water. We usually find a port to wait out the storm but-Olly was cut off by a wave crashing into the circular window on the far wall of the kitchen.

“How big are these waves?!” I asked, panicked.

“Pretty damn big,” he said, his face going pale as he spoke. He was gripping the counter, watching the window in alarm. “You’d better head back to your cabin, Maeve. I need to go fetch Meran.”

I nodded, taking off the apron and hanging it on a hook near the doorway to the galley’s dining room. It was empty, all the chairs put away in the closets along the walls. The tables had been nailed to the floor, and now I knew why.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor, which housed the staterooms. I could hear the crew on the deck above my head, running along the floorboards as they fought the pitch of the waves.

“Batten down the hatches!” came a voice from above, followed by the sound of thunder. I winced, suddenly remembering the storm that had marked Troy’s first night in the castle. It felt like so long ago now. A lifetime ago.

I walked into the room I shared with Troy, the bed still unmade from our rushed and desperate coupling. An odd sensation gripped my chest as I shut the door behind me, sinking against the heavy wood of it as I closed my eyes and let the memory wash over me like the waves hitting the boat. I hoped he would come back again tonight, but that seemed unlikely given the circumstances.

Plus, I had sworn to hate him for all eternity. Having him in my bed would defeat the purpose of that, I supposed.

I changed out of my clothes, standing naked in the room and holding on to the wall for support as the ship continued to rock back and forth. I opened one of the doors along the wall and fished through Troy’s things, grabbing one of his shirts and a pair of loose-fitting thermal pants that were meant for much cooler weather, but they were all that would fit around my waist. The shirt smelled like him, and I was instantly comforted, even if I hated myself for admitting it.

“What does one do while riding out a storm on the high seas?” i said to myself, looking around. The bed seemed like the safest place to be. I could be tossed around on the mattress by the waves and not bruise myself like I had in the kitchen, at least.

So, I climbed into the bed, unruffling the quilt and bringing it up to my chest as ! laid back against the pillow, my eyes fixated on the ceiling.

I listened to the men above fighting with the storm. Had I heard Troy’s voice yelling commands? Was that Pete’s voice crying out in reply?

I thought of Myla, tucked up in Keaton’s quarters, wondering what she was doing right at this moment. I thought of Cleo, who was probably panicking, in the room right across the hallway from my own.

I should go to her, I thought, but my legs didn’t move. I was tired, the boat inadvertently rocking me to sleep.

Eventually, I closed my eyes, letting shallow sleep waft over me, waking two or three times to the sound of thunder. I didn’t realize I was clinging to the mattress until the door swung open and bounced off the wall, bouncing several times before the boat pitched in the opposite direction and the door slammed shut again.

I inhaled deeply through my nose, trying to calm myself the way my mom had taught me.

Chapter 40: Tempest Tossed

Count to three, I thought, holding my breath. One. TWO…Threes,

I rolled across the bed as the boat was suddenly thrown to the side, my head cracking against the wall. My ears were ringing, and I had nearly bitten through my lip. I rolled back over, clutching the side of my head and closing my eyes, groaning in pain.

“Get up!” Troy had suddenly appeared, his voice cutting through the sound of the sea hammering against the ship. He threw the quilt from the bed, pulling me into his chest as the room abruptly pitched to the side again, sending anything that wasn’t nailed to the floor flying through the air. We slammed into the far wall, Troy’s body absorbing the blow and protecting me from crashing into the rows and rows of built-in shelving, the cabinets rattling from the impact.

gasped, clutching his shoulders as the ship pitched violently to the other side, flinging us back onto the mattress.

“We have to get above deck!” he cried, wrapping his arm around my waist and getting me to my feet. The door to the room was open, swinging and slamming into the wall as the boat continued to be rocked by waves. I felt bile rising in my throat as we were thrown sideways once again, Troy clutching me to his chest with one arm while his free hand grasped the doorframe.

I heard yelling on the deck above our heads, the sound cutting through the violent scraping of crates sliding across the deck and slamming into the railing.

“I thought we beat the storm,” I said.

“We were in the eye of it! I was wrong,” A crashing sound from above us drowned out his voice. Screams of terror tore through the air as Troy pulled me into the hallway where water was now rushing down the stairs.

It was raining harder than I had ever seen as I looked up through the open doors into the storm. The sky was blackened, angry, the clouds hanging so low you could reach out and touch them.

Troy pulled me up the stairs, his grip on my arm so tight, I could feel my skin bruising beneath his touch.

“What are we going to do?” I cried; my vision blurred by the heavy sheets of rain pounding the deck as we emerged from the dark stairwell.

But the answer was right in front of me. The skiffs. They were usually tied to the side of the boat, held in place by long cables so they could be hosted up to the railing for easy access.

One had been brought up but suddenly came loose, dropping onto the deck and sliding across the width of the ship right in front of us where it burst through the railing on the opposite side, the crewmen inside clinging helplessly to the small craft as it slid from the deck as the Persephone was hit with another massive wave.

“Oh, Goddess!” | screamed as the crewmen’s faces disappeared into the inky, furious depths of the sea, boat and all. I barely noticed the rope being tied around my waist until Troy tugged on it, hard, and then took me in his arms, cradling me against the doorway to the lower levels as the boat pitched to one side, sending crates flying through the air.

The sails had come apart, shredded by the wind. They flapped incessantly, the sound loud enough to ring in my ears more intensely as Troy began to move us forward through the ankle-deep water on the deck. I tried to wipe the water from my eyes, but it was no use. It was pouring, every inch of air thick with rain.

“KEATON!” Troy called out, gripping the railing as he guided me along the deck. Another skiff was smacking against the side of the ship with each wave. He looked back at me, his eyes shining with a mix of terror and grief.

“Get on the skiff!”

“Not without you!” i dug my fingernails into his arm.

Another wave crashed into the ship, turning the entire vessel in a sharp semi-circle.

“Maeve! GET ON!”

“NO!”

He reached out, cupping my cheek with one hand while gripping the railing with the other. Time seemed to stop. The violent pitch of the Persephone faded into nothing but stillness. I laid my hand over his, leaning into his touch as tears welled in my eyes. “You have to get on

“I won’t, not without you.”

“I have to stay with the ship-”

“Then I’m staying too!”

He pulled me in, kissing me deeply. His tongue slid along my lower lip until I opened my mouth to him, desperate, my chest heaving painfully

No, I thought, this is not goodbye. Not like this.

Chapter 40: Tempest Tossed

He pulled away pressing his forehead against mine as a prayer escaped his lips, the words drowned out by the rain.

Then he picked me up, tossing me over the railing and I landed hard on my bottom in the skiff, water splashing over my legs from the impact. He was bent over the railing, fumbling with the other end of the rope that was tied around my waist as he tried to tie it to the side of the skift

But then he stilled, his eyes fixed on something behind me.

I turned my head, slowly, as a cold shadow fell over me, followed by a spray of salty water. The Persephone seemed to abruptly sink, and my stomach flipped as though I were falling. I looked up, seeing the crest of the monstrous wave, three times the height of the Persephone’ s tallest mast, just as the peak of it crashed into the sails, snapping the masts as though they were toothpicks.

I looked at Troy as the masts fell, slicing through the deck and sending a spray of debris into the sky as the wave came down as though in slow motion. His eyes were shining with tears, his mouth twitching into a soft, somber smile.

“TROY!” I screamed, but it was too late. I saw a flash of metal as his pocket knife cut through the cables securing the skiff to the side of the Persephone,

The wave swept over the deck, taking Troy with it.

And then I was falling through the air, the skiff tumbled down into the sea below me. I plunged into the water, the air forced from my lungs from the impact and I sank down, and down, and down into the darkness.

Then everything was still Quiet. As though I were asleep.