Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 287

Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder Chapter 287

 

Rowan

The little blonde girl seated at the kitchen island was busy concocting some potion, from what I could tell. She glanced up from her task, glaring at me, then turned her focus on a bottle of calamine lotion that was sitting next to the sink.

"No," I said firmly

Kat shrugged, picking up a whisk and dipping it into the batter bowl.

"I'll just wait for you to leave," she sighed, her blonde curls bouncing around her ears as her tiny arms fought against the batter. Katerina was only nine but had a personality that could bring even the fiercest warrior to his or her knees. The last time I had seen her, she had been barely four years old, and she had been a handful then.

I stood, sliding the stool back into place and gingerly picking up my coffee mug, peering in side in the event she had put something inside of it when I wasn't looking.

**Don't eat the cake," she said casually, the whisk chiming against the bowl. I turned my head to look at her, the hair on my arms standing on end. Maybe I wasn't ready to have children.

I could hear Talon in the dining room berating my Aunt Vicky for showing up at Winter For est, unannounced and apparently unwelcome. Caroline and Sarah, Vicky’s older daughters, were snickering at the bottom of the staircase, shushing each other as they eavesdropped on the con versation taking place in the dining room.

"Technically, you told Paul not to come, not me,” Vicky sipped from her mug, watching Talon's face flush with fury over the rim. I leaned on the archway, catching Dad's eye from his perch near the window that looked out over the deck. He was trying not to laugh.

"Why the hell would you bring the girls”

"Georgia and Rosalie have been wanting to see their nieces.".

What kind of excuse is that?" Talon hissed.

"And besides, how else would I have been able to get that letter to you?" She motioned to word a single piece of paper laying in the middle of the table with her mug, rolling her eyes. "For Goddess's sake, Talon."

could snatch it away

"How many warriors is the Alpha of Breles sending to Mirage?" I asked, just as Talon picked the letter up and folded it into a tiny square, tucking it in his pocket while he glared at Vicky.

"Roughly a thousand, give or take. The lesser Alphas are putting an army together," Dad stepped toward the table as well, gripping the top of one of the dining chairs. "We're going to leave tomorrow morning."

"Back to Mirage..." I breathed, lifting my coffee mug to my lips. "Things went so well the last

time."

Dad ignored me, turning to talk to Talon. Vicky reached over and squeezed my arm, beaming up at me.

"I heard you found your mate. That's wonderful! It's so good to see you, Rowan. So grown up."

"Yeah, you’ll meet her soon. Mom's been keeping her busy." I replied, not sure how much she actually knew about the situation. I was aching to see Hanna, actually. The last several days had passed in a blur of activity. Georgia and Talon had been in Winter Forest for almost a month, and Vicky had shown up only two days ago, bringing all three of my cousins with her. The house felt a little too warm and crowded with the entire family congregating inside its walls.

Kacidra and Hanna had moved into a small cabin nearby, one of the older ones nestled in the trees near the edge of the new village. Vicky and the girls had been sleeping in the guest room, while Georgia and Talon took Maeve's room, for now. Dad had some of the pack members get ting the White Queen's castle ready for people to sleep in again, its many bedrooms having been empty for years, just so he could breathe again

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Mom seemed to be enjoying the company, however. She was happier than I'd seen her in years. She loved the cousins and had been doting on Gemma, who seemed to be doubling in size by the day

"Where's Ernest?" I asked, looking over at Talon.

S

"Last I saw, he was in the village with Gemma; she saw the midwife today.”

"I am so looking forward to meeting their baby.” Vicky smiled, glancing at Talon, who shook his head.

LL

"No, you'll be back in Breles"

"Like hell I will, Talon!"

I pursed my lips, nodding a farewell to Dad before turning on my heel and leaving the dining room, glancing down at Caroline and Sarah before I walked down to the garage and out into the driveway, carrying my coffee mug.

Will they have a wedding?" Hanna asked as she poked a long piece of seaweed with a stick.

| shrugged, stepping gingerly across the wet rocks along the rocky beach as walked along the shore at low tide.

"Probably, although I don't think Talon and Georgia are as traditional as Dad when it comes to that sort of thing. Ernest is an Alpha; he can do as he wants. Gemma will be his Luna, though. I know that much.”

"She'll be great at it," Hanna stooped to investigate a rock, plucking it from the beach. She walked toward me: her mouth stretched into a smile. "Look this areen band...I think that’s jade.

"You’re probably right,” I took the rock from her hand, holding it up to get a better view of it in

the fading light. The tide was coming in, crashing against the shoreline and sending a surge of bubbling gray water through the rocks beneath our feet. I started to hand the rock back to her, but she shook her head, smiling up at me.

"You should keep it; it'll bring you good luck."

"Okay, I will," I said softly, tucking it into the pocket of my jacket.

Hanna seemed happy here, for which I was thankful. We had been taking walks together al most every evening, walking far from the village and along the shoreline until the lights of Winter Forest were tiny specks on the horizon. She was drawn to the beach, which wasn't a surprise to me at all.

"Will we have a wedding?" I asked without thinking. I fought against the blush rising on my cheeks, shaking my head. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean,"

 "If you want a wedding, Rowan," she said with a soft smile, her eyes creasing at the corners as she leaned on her stick, watching me.

"I mean, yeah. I think we're going to have to have one...being mates and a‘II"

"We don't have to rush into anything-

That's not what I meant-"Goddess, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted  nothing more than to take her into my arms and hold her against my chest and feel her hair against my neck. I wasn't a saint by any means. I had been with women. Kissed them... and more i'd had crushes and even a few girlfriends. But Hanna was so different, so completely and utterly perfect that it almost didn't feel real

But I could barely bring myself to touch her, knowing that once her hand was in mine it would be painful to let go.

"I love you, Hanna. I want you to know that,” I said, closing the distance between us. She looked up at me, her eyes shining the rich crimson sunset.

"Why?'

Why?” I repeated, slightly taken aback,

"Just because we're mates-

"No, l-l really do. I do. And it doesn't matter if you don’t feel the same way. I know we haven' 1 known each other long and... it's been complicated."

She gave me a knowing glance, then laughed, reaching up to tuck her dark hair behind her

"I wanted to tell you that before I go back to Mirage. I needed you... I needed you to know, even if you don't say it back. That doesn’t matter to me. If something were to happen."

You'll be fine, Rowan,”

If something happens here, though, Hanna. Just know I’m coming back, and when I’m back - I took her hand in mine and turned us back toward the village. I didn’t even know what I was going to say next. Her touch calmed me, setting me at ease as her thumb pressed into the palm of my hand

"When you come home, we should build a house." "A house?"

"Yes, something small, with a spiral staircase and a large window overlooking the water, a reading nook, and a large study with a bookshelf that goes all the way to the ceiling. We won't hang art, not yet. I want our children's drawings to line the walls..." she trailed off, inhaling deeply.

"You can have whatever you want."

"Our children could inherit my powers, Rowan. What if,"

"They could also inherit... whatever I am, Hanna."

She looked up at me, furrowing her brow. I swallowed, not sure how to explain this to her. I wasn’t sure of it myself.

1 heal quickly, you know. I can sense people's deepest emotions and play on them. I don’t know how they compare to my mother, or even Maeve, but I do possess them. I won't be a... White King. That's not how this works. But our kids would be... different, Hanna. But they’d be ours."

"Are you sure this is the life you want, Rowan?"

I wanted to say yes without hesitation but couldn't bring myself to.

"Can I be honest?" I asked, turning to face her.

She nodded, her face clear of expression.

"I never thought about having a family, or having a mate, until I met you. I know that’s how this is supposed to work, you know, being mates and all. It changes you, doesn't it?"

"I never wanted those things before either, I just... I thought I'd be better off alone."

"Me too."

We stood in silence for a moment, looking out over the water. Two strange wolves, two practical strangers, now bound by an unseen, earth-bending force.

I'll be the Alpha King one day, that means you'll be... Luna, of everything."

"I know. I don't know if I'm cut out for it, Rowan."

"Well, I’m sure as hell not cut out for it myself. But it's my birthright. I don't have much choice. But I don't want to do it alone. I can't do it without you. I didn't realize that until recently.

She squeezed my hand, and we began walking again. It was August now, the fleeting sum mer weather had given way to days full of rain. The peaks of the mountains were white with ter mination dust, the first indications of impending snowfall. The fireweed that once set the forest

alight with rich pink blooms had now gone to seed.

It was autumn Winter was coming

It was a time to make decisions, Mom always said. Usually, that meant she was planning a purge of the house, and we'd spend an entire weekend cleaning out our rooms and moving furni

ture around to create a new, fresh space while Dad chopped wood in the backyard.

But now it felt real, my relationship with Hanna making me want to make nothing but major, life - altering decisions. I wanted this life with her. I wanted to be the father of her children. I wanted a little house with a spiral staircase.

"Marry me," I whispered, not sure if I had said it out loud.

She squeezed my hand in reply, a hint of a smile touching the corner of her mouth as we walked back to the village.