Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 264

Chapter 44: Waves of Emotion

Chapter 44 : Waves of Emotion

Maeve

The camp was nothing more than a few large canvas tents spread out across the beach above the tideline. I sat next to Cleo around a small fire, hugging my knees to my chest as we watched the skiffs dart around the Persephone in the high tide, looking for leaks.

“The ship is definitely floating.” Myla said as she approached our circle, handing out bowls of some kind of stew. I accepted a bowl, thanking her as I straightened my legs and rested the bowl on my thighs.

Cleo was looking out over the water, her gaze eventually shifting to the starry sky above us as we ate our soup in silence. “The stars are so clear,” she said, setting her bowl down in the sand, “It’s truly amazing. You can see everything.”

“No lights,” I said with a smile, following her gaze, “I don’t remember ever seeing the stars in Valoria, especially near Mirage. But back home

– swallowed against the lump in my throat, feeling incredibly homesick.

I was sick of the heat, honestly. I felt sticky and filthy all the time. I thought Valoria had been bad with its thick humidity, but this place was far worse.

It had been two days since I washed up on the beach. We didn’t have much to do but wait, and watch, as the crew of the Persephone tried to mend the boat. Olly had us fetch water all day long, insisting that he boil every bucket before using it for cooking, washing, and drinking. Meran had brought her goats and chickens on shore, letting them roam just within sight. The dog proved to be a great companion to have around. He spent his days watching over the chickens, alerting Meran if they began to stray too far into the brush.

“I think they’re close to finishing fixing whatever was wrong with at least one of the engines,” Myla said, stirring her soup, “That’s what Keaton told me, at least.”

“How are things going with you two?” I asked, smiling softly to myself as she blushed.

“Oh, it’s been great. Kind of a shock, of course.”

“I don’t know if shock is the best way of describing it,” Cleo laughed.

“Oh? Do you have a better word for waking up from a coma to finding your mate on a pirate ship, learning your house burned down, and your pack was taken over by a rival Alpha, then getting swept up in a hurricane and spending your first few nights with your mate sleeping in the sand?”

I laughed, shaking my head as I looked back over the water, watching as the two skiffs made their way back to the shore.

“You’ve hardly touched your soup, Maeve,” Cleo scolded. I shrugged, bringing my knees to my chest again.

*I’m not very hungry.”

Cleo gave me a motherly look of disapproval, then looked away, leaning into a conversation with Myla.

I let the night wrap around me, enjoying the cool breeze coming off the waves. I saw Troy jump off one of the boats, walking through the waves as he guided it up onto the sand. He was smiling.

I asked what had happened to him after he cut the skiff loose. He had been reluctant to talk about it at first, but eventually opened up about it the night before as we laid in his tent on nothing but a blanket over the sand.

He thought he was going to die. He was sure the ship was about to go under. He hadn’t seen me go into the water, or that I had missed the skiff by only a few feet. He had been tossed across the deck, crushed against the railing by the wave that nearly tipped the Persephone on its side.

But the ship righted itself, continuing to thrash back and forth in the water for another two hours before the storm passed over. Troy had managed to climb up the stairs to the helm where he gripped the steering wheel for dear life, trying to angle the boat over the waves in a way it wouldn’t tip the boat or take on too much water.

“It was only Keaton and I left on board, neither of us willing to leave each other or the ship behind. He had gotten the women onto one of the skiffs. I thought you were with them. It wasn’t until I saw them lower it into the water that I realized you weren’t there,” he had said, guilt racking his voice.

I told him what I remembered, which was practically nothing after I hit the water. I tried to remember what had happened in the water, but it was though my memory had been wiped clean of the trauma. I told him about trekking through the jungle and the dog finding me, about the pool of water and seeing one of the skiffs reflecting off the sun.

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Chapter 44: Waves of Emotion

We had laid there for a long time in total silence, my head resting against his chest. I fell asleep to his heartbeat and the slow roll of the tide.

“Hey,” he said, sitting down next to me and breaking out of my musings. He had a bowl of soup in his hand, resting it on his knee as he threw another piece of driftwood into the fire.

“Hey.” I breathed, my stomach clenching as the smoke blew in our direction, the sharp, salty smell of the burning driftwood making me feel slightly nauseous.

“Not hungry?” he asked, motioning towards my untouched bowl. I shook my head, my stomach turning as I looked at the bowl sitting tepid in the sand. Troy arched his brow, looking from me to Cleo, and she exchanged a knowing glance with him before settling back into her own soup

“I think I should go to bed now,” I said, not likely the look that had passed between Troy and Cleo. A wave of fury washed over for no reason, my mood changing abruptly.

“I’ll join you in a-”

“No.” I said to Troy, the word coming out harsh and slightly cold. I cleared my throat, mumbling an apology under my breath before walking briskly up the beach to the row of tents that sat along the tree line.

I could feel their eyes on me. I hated it. I just wanted to be alone all of a sudden.

I slipped out of my shoes, a pair of leather sandals several sizes too large for me, and set them outside the tent, careful not to track sand onto the blanket. Supplies had been brought off the Persephone after the storm and carried on the skiffs to the beach camp: clothes and linen and food mostly. I felt much better after changing into a fresh shirt and pants, and laid down on the blanket with my knees tucked against my stomach, my arms wrapped around the pillow.

Then, I cried. And for no reason at all.

“Maeve?” Cleo lifted the tent flap, her voice soft and motherly like usual.

“What?” I sniffled, burying my face in the pillow.

She exhaled deeply, stepping into the tent and sitting on the edge of the blanket, her hand hovering over my ankle for a moment before she touched me, gently, the weight of her hand a slight comfort as I continued to cry. “We need to talk, my dear.”

*About what?” I reached up to wipe the tears from my face, feeling totally idiotic. I never cried just for the hell of it. I rarely cried at all, in

fact.

“Have you started your period yet?”

I looked up at her, glaring, “Why?”

I honestly hadn’t thought about it at all since leaving the castle. It hadn’t crossed my mind once. I counted back in my head, trying to get a

grasp on the time that had passed, but the days seemed to blur together.

Cleo tilted her head to the side, her fingers pressing into the skin just below my ankle and sending a sudden rush of comfort and fatigue through me. Ah, pressure points. She was always doing that to her patients.

I sat bolt upright, looking at her. Cleo was a midwife. She worked with the pregnant women in Old Town and even Mirage on a daily basis. At least, she had, before everything got turned upside down.

“It’s not due yet,” I said quickly, swallowing the anxiety budding in my throat, “I have another week, I think.”

She shrugged, a soft smile on her face, “Premenstrual syndrome, then.”

“What?”

“Your attitude at the fire, Maeve. Do you always snap at Troy like that?”

“Yes, actually. I do.”

“Well, you had an attitude with me as well. And you never do.” She watched me closely, her eyes taking in my face. It was almost as though she were trying to look inside of me, to catch a glimpse of what was happening inside my body at that moment. I felt exposed.

I laid back down, reached over to pull the thin, tattered blanket we had been using to keep warm at night over me in an attempt to hide from her gaze.

“I won’t even ask if there’s a chance you might be pregnant because, well, you very well could be. If circumstances were different, we could probably rule that out right now.”

“How?” I asked, although I didn’t even want to know. I didn’t even want to think about it.

“This early? Likely a blood test. Even so, we don’t have any pregnancy tests at our disposal here. I asked.”

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Chapter 44: Waves of Emotion

“Of course, you did.” I mumbled, pulling the covers over my head to block her out. She still had her hand wrapped around my ankle, and she squeezed the magic spot again, the sensation rippling through my legs and causing me to relax involuntarily.

“You need to try to eat in the morning. You won’t feel nearly as sick if you do.”

“You’re assuming that I’m actually,”

“You very well may be pregnant, Maeve.”

“And what if I am? What happens then?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” she breathed, releasing her grip on my ankle. “We carry on like we’re already doing. Try to survive the next day.”

“That’s all?”

“Well, getting you to safety is the priority right now, if everything Troy said is true.”

“I want to go home,” i breathed, desperately missing my mom. What would she say to me, if she were here?

“We’re going to get you back there soon, Maeve. I know we will.”

“Please, don’t promise me anything,” I said weakly, bringing my knees higher into my chest until I was laying in an almost perfect ball. 1 heard excited panting near the entrance of the tent, and then Cleo chuckled to herself, patting the blanket near my feet. The dog came in, sniffing the blanket I was hiding under before turning in a circle several times and laying down, his snout resting on my leg.

“Can I tell Troy he can go to bed? Or are you going to snap at him again?”

“He can come to bed,” I said, surrendering.

Cleo stood, stooping as she left the tent, the flap swinging shut behind her as her footsteps crunched in the sand.