Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 83 : Common Ground

Troy

Well, I was still alive.

I hadn’t been sure what to expect when we finally reached Maeve’s homeland, but I thought Maeve would have been more at peace.

Instead, I watched her crumble at the edge of her parents’ bed, the moonstones in her hands, realizing the act of bringing them together hadn’t worked.

That had been the first time I met her mother, the famous White Queen Rosalie… my future mother-in-law, if Ethan didn’t kill me before a wedding could take place.

We had been in Winter Forest for a full day at that point, and my conversations with Ethan had been short and to the point. I had turned over Opaline to him. I had returned his daughter to her pack. I had given him a complete report on everything that had happened from the moment I first stepped foot in Valoria to the day our boat pulled into the inlet that hugged the shore of Winters Forest’s main village.

Outside of that, he didn’t even look in my direction.

I was only slightly embarrassed that I fell off the dock in front of him, but Rowan made me look slightly better than himself when he jumped in a second time to help me get the moonstone before it was carried away by the tide.

The icy, glacial water had been a baptism of some kind, something that cemented an unlikely friendship between Maeve‘s brother and

1. me.

So, I wasn’t entirely surprised when I woke up the next morning to Rowan in the doorway of Maeve’s bedroom, peering down at me.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” he asked in a whisper, arching his brow.

I ran my fingers through my hair and then over my face, rubbing my eyes. “More room down here,” I tilted my head toward the bed where Maeve was still sleeping like a rock with basically all of the pillows in the house tucked around her body. “What time is it?”

“A little after seven,” he replied, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. I looked out the window behind the bed, seeing nothing. It was pitch black. “The sun doesn’t come up until, like, eleven this time of year. You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” I blinked a few times, my body and mind not yet acclimated to the strangeness of this place. The sun had set the day before at just after 3:00 p.m., and all my body wanted to do was sleep even though I wasn’t particularly tired.

“It’s hard on everyone for a while,” Rowan continued as I stood and folded up the blanket I had been sleeping on. I laid it over Maeve’s feet, which were peeking out of the thick quilt that she had tucked up around her ears. “How’s she doing?”

I could hear the guilt in his voice as his gaze shifted from me to the bed.

In truth, Maeve wasn’t well. She had cried until she fell asleep the night before, spilling her feelings about her homecoming to me while I held her, whispering reassurances against her neck. Maeve was a wreck, and I couldn’t blame her. It was mostly my fault.

1. me.

So, I wasn’t entirely surprised when I woke up the next morning to Rowan in the doorway of Maeve’s bedroom, peering down at me.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” he asked in a whisper, arching his brow.

I ran my fingers through my hair and then over my face, rubbing my eyes. “More room down here,” I tilted my head toward the bed where Maeve was still sleeping like a rock with basically all of the pillows in the house tucked around her body. “What time is it?”

“A little after seven,” he replied, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. I looked out the window behind the bed, seeing nothing. It was pitch black. “The sun doesn’t come up until, like, eleven this time of year. You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” I blinked a few times, my body and mind not yet acclimated to the strangeness of this place. The sun had set the day before at just after 3:00 p.m., and all my body wanted to do was sleep even though I wasn’t particularly tired.

“It’s hard on everyone for a while,” Rowan continued as I stood and folded up the blanket I had been sleeping on. I laid it over Maeve’s feet, which were peeking out of the thick quilt that she had tucked up around her ears. “How’s she doing?”

I could hear the guilt in his voice as his gaze shifted from me to the bed.

In truth, Maeve wasn’t well. She had cried until she fell asleep the night before, spilling her feelings about her homecoming to me while I held her, whispering reassurances against her neck. Maeve was a wreck, and I couldn’t blame her. It was mostly my fault.

“She’s fine. Tired,” I answered shortly, pulling one of the thick knit sweaters Gretchen had laid out for me over my shoulders. Rowan watched me closely. His eyes were so much like Maeve’s, the same color and shape, in fact. But Rowan looked more like Rosalie in the face, at least in my opinion. He had his father’s jaw, though, which tightened and flexed whenever they held back their words.

“I was hoping she’d be awake, so I could… talk to her. Say hi, I guess.”

until noon most days. It’s a lot… the pregnancy,

yeah,” he said awkwardly, pursing his lips and tilting his head from side to side,

want me to

back from Mirage today.” Rowan shifted uncomfortably, then tilted his head toward the hallway. I nodded firmly, my chest tightening

from the butcher block, her eyes creasing

coffee and added a liberal amount of fresh cream, which made my stomach tighten with anticipation. We had been eating nothing but dried food and grains for weeks, and no one aboard Damian’s cruiser could cook worth a damn. Yesterday, we‘d been too busy to eat a proper meal, so I was hoping whatever

breakfast.

and I followed suit, sipping my coffee and watching as Gretchen began to pour pancake batter into a large cast

patient as I imagined you, Troy dear,” Gretchen said sweetly as she flipped the pancakes. “It certainly takes a specific type of man to peak Maeve’s

you mean,” Rowan said over the rim of his coffee mug, smirking at Gretchen as she cast him a dirty look. She was a friendly older woman who exuded what I could only describe as “grandma energy,” and

Maeve should’ve been twins, I always say. So alike. It’s no wonder your mates are such quiet, humble people. Is Hanna coming up to the house

her place later, if not,” Rowan said, watching as Gretchen grabbed two plates from the dishrack. “Could we get breakfast to go? Would that

being uncomfortable. This was Rowan’s domain. Maeve’s childhood home. I was, to be blunt, an unwanted guest. Surely, Gretchen knew about the situation, having worked so closely with

containers in his hands, thanking Gretchen as she filled two thermoses with coffee,

wearing your helmet, Rowan. You know how your mother

I know,” Rowan said over his shoulder. “Thanks

asked as we reached the stairwell that led down to the garage. I had slept there the night we arrived in Winter Forest, but it had been very dark. I could only make out the

as I followed

“I’m from the Isles,”

light switch as we reached the bottom of the stairs, and the garage erupted into light.

was as large, if not larger, than the house itself. Four snowmobiles sat near the garage door, primed and ready for use. An assortment of other outdoor equipment leaned against the walls, bikes and several sets of skis and snowboards. A large pickup truck sat idle in the far corner of the garage next to what looked like a tractor, both covered in tarps. I hadn’t been around cars in my life, but I could tell the truck was old… Vintage, some might say. Rowan caught me looking at it and gave me a crooked smile. “It’s Dad’s.

before.” | ran my tongue along the inside

have it towed up here from the port, and it’s been sitting in the garage for fifteen years or so

said, unable to hide my shock, “I don’t think that matters that much. This place is

gloves and padded jackets. I walked around, glancing at the tool bench before letting my gaze wander further into the

or storage room. I could see an icon bouncing around on what

I

holding and inhaled deeply, his cheeks

“Yeah, it is.”

I’ve never seen

built it.” I could hear the apprehension in his voice, and I quickly realized why his cheeks had colored. He

serious? I‘ve only ever read about them.

of… of the dashboards on boats and planes.” The war had destroyed most of the technology to use them, so there

a moment, his shoulders losing some of their tension as he picked up on my excitement. “I’m building more radio towers. I needed a way to test the frequency needed to connect the packs of Valoria and keep track of the data. It

said earnestly, wanting nothing more than for him to show me exactly what he could do with

balanced the helmet on his hip. “Maybe

and shaking his head. “I’m

to take the snowmobiles out. It was arduous work, and I was sweating by the time we

how to ride one of these!”

he could hear me. “You’re not planning on

he threw his head back, laughing. “You’re not who I was expecting you to be, Troy. I think that

***

so fine it didn’t make a sound as we parked the snowmobiles and stepped off of them. I looked out over the village, which seemed to be miles

something I had never seen before, so close I felt like I could touch them. A green band of light danced over the mountains on the other side of

my helmet down on the snowmobile and lifted the thermos of

you can. But nothing is worse than getting snowballs

I can

handed me one of the food containers and we sat on our snowmobiles to eat in relative quiet, watching the aurora continue its

to apologize for punching you,” Rowan

putting it