Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 312

Chapter 92 : Unexpected Visitor

Maeve

I didn’t even feel the long, horizontal wound below my navel. The doctors and nurses who had tended to me were shocked as they removed the sutures that should have been in for two weeks but were taken out after only three days.

There had been a discussion about discharging me, but I wouldn’t hear it. I wasn’t going to leave the hospital without Oliver.

He was the smallest of the boys by far. There was practically no fat on his body. But despite his size and the fact that he and his brothers had been born a month early, he was doing exceed ingly well.

He was spirited and awake, his eyes constantly open, and his limbs always squirming. He was ready to take on the world, thought, as I ran my fingers over his bald head.

Charlie and Will were our big boys, chubby and happy with thick heads of fine, red hair. Charlie was the quiet one out of the three, and will was the grumpy one. I was looking forward to see ing how these newborn personalities took shape as they got older.

And they would get older. All three of them. And I would be there to witness it.

After only five days of hospital surveillance, Oliver was al lowed to go home with us. Home, it turned out, was the castle since we had crash-landed the seaplane.

It would take another two weeks to repair it, which seemed like a miracle given the damage, and Dad was adamant that we

not “risk our lives” by flying in a single-prop airplane back to Win ter Forest in the middle of winter.

The castle felt like an unfamiliar place to me despite how much time I had spent there. Mom had me up and walking every few hours, my hand placed in the crook of her elbow as we walked from one end of the castle to the other, over and over

again.

We talked about every manner of things. My childhood and her childhood. My journey through the pass. Our shared friends and family members back in Winter Forest. Not once did we men tion the moonstones or Mom’s power. Not once did I speak on the fact that I could feel Troy was truly my mate. Not once was Tasia’ s name spoken aloud.

Troy and Dad had used the time we were spending at the castle to talk about what they should do about Poldesse, and I no ticed a great shift in their relationship as the days went by. I had no memory of what had happened, not the plane crash or the stones or even the birth of our children.

But during that time, Troy had proven to my dad that he was the man I already knew him to be. He was capable of anything. And he was capable of saying no to Dad, if necessary, which was why I was shocked when he accepted Dad’s proposal that Troy become the Alpha of Poldesse.

“But I thought that wasn’t what you wanted? Carrying on Romero’s legacy, or whatever.” I was struggling to get Will’s arm into a pair of bright green footed pajamas. He squawked, which caused Charlie to stir.

All three boys were currently in our bed in various states of undress. Troy had just finished changing Oliver’s diaper, stepping back to admire his work. Oliver tucked his knees into his belly and his face turned a pale purple, and his diaper filled once again.

“Why do you do this?” Troy asked playfully, unclasping what had just been a fresh diaper.

Charlie continued to happily doze, likely having sweet, milky dreams while his brothers caused a ruckus. I looked down at Will, who was looking back up at me with his darkened irises. I could just see a hint of blue in them now as they lightened, pale blue, like my own.

Charlie had the same coloring, but Oliver’s eye color was still a mystery. He had grown substantially in the last week since we’d been out of the hospital, and his head was now covered in pale copper peach fuzz. Charlie and Will’s hair had darkened, which made me wonder if they’d have more of Troy’s coloring as they got older.

“It’s my birthright, Maeve, and I have an opportunity to change things in the Isles. It was my home, I guess, at least home base. I don’t want another generation of kids growing up pack less. Something’s gotta be done.”

“But… I’ll be White Queen one day. What happens then?”

“One of the boys will take over as Alpha, and we’ll return to Winter Forest with you for my retirement. I’ll just fish all day and read books out on the bluff. The grandkids can visit every sum mer.”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, despite my doubts.

“What if I become White Queen before… before they’re grown?” | asked, unable to stop my mind from wandering to the moonstones and Tasia.

Troy sighed as he zipped up Oliver’s pajamas. “We don’t know where Tasia is. We don’t know what she’s planning. It sounds like she has one ally, and that’s that Carl fellow from

Lycenna and none of us, including your Dad and Rowan, have ever met.

“Plus, your mom and Hanna got royally f*cked,” he paused, blushing as he looked down at Oliver, “MESSED up, by Tasia,” he corrected, clearing his throat. “She couldn’t have come out of whatever happened between them unscathed.”

“None of this makes sense to me, Troy. Does it make sense to you? Una and Tasia said combining the moonstones would bring the Moon Goddess back, and that whoever held them would have considerable power.

“We brought the stones together, and I still almost died. Mom has her powers, but she’s still weak. And… and the vision I had in the stones, of the two white wolves… I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do!”

“Maybe we don’t have to do anything. Maybe we just focus on your recovery, and our sons, and starting a new life, together, far from Valoria.”

“Then what of the prophecy that crazy old woman was talking about?” | scooped Will off the bed and patted his back, bouncing him on my shoulder. “It sounds like war is coming, and we’re right in the middle of it.”

Troy considered this, then shrugged, seeming generally unin terested in the topic altogether. “Maybe your mom’s immortal now, and we won’t have to worry about what we’re going to do in the event you become White Queen.”

“Immortal?” | laughed, which startled Will. He flinched in my arms and screwed his face into a grimace. “Oh, darling, I was kid ding!” | patted him vigorously and he settled back down, keeping a careful eye on me. I had a feeling Will was going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

“Plus, it sounds like the prophecy is more related to Rowan and Hanna than to us.”

I bristled, suddenly feeling a little headed. “Didn’t you tell me once that Romero called me the… the key?”

Troy was playing with Oliver, moving his legs as if Oliver were riding a bike. “He did. I didn’t understand his meaning,”

“Rowan said Hanna always talked about needing to find the door to her dreams, to get out of them. She told Dad Rowan be came the door, all she had to do was think of him… and me, I’m the key? But what am I the key to, exactly?”

“Well, you found the moonstones.”

“I didn’t find a single moonstone, Troy. Gemma had one, Soren gave Mom the other before anyone knew its meaning, and you found the one hidden in the tomb.”

“So? You were the reason for the quest, Maeve. Had you not been sent to Valoria, who knows if Damian would’ve acted in the way he did. You set things in motion. Maybe that’s why you’re the key.

“You … unlocked the prophecy, and now Rowan finishes it. That’s how I interpret it. It sounds like whatever child he has with Hanna is possibly the child Una was talking about, the twenty first wolf, or whatever,”

“Twenty-first White Queen, Troy, which would mean my title would go to their daughter, not one of our own.”

“Well… do you want more kids?” He motioned toward our bed, which was covered in babies.

I laughed, shaking my head. “I never want to be pregnant

again, thank you very much. I feel like there was a war inside my body.”

“Good, because I never-” Troy flushed, his cheeks burning with heat. “I can’t lose you, Maeve. I came very close. I don’t want to do that again.”

“I’m done if you’re done.” I swallowed against the odd tighten ing in the chest as I said the words. I was supposed to have a daughter to carry on the White Queen line, but Mom and Dad had had two children… me and Rowan. Rowan had Mom’s blood. He could carry on the White Queen line.

That was, if Hanna stayed with him, and accepted her des

tiny.

There was a sharp knock on the door, and a maid stepped in. She was new, unfamiliar, but pleasant and soft-spoken.

“Princess Maeve,” she said with a curtsey. “Um, Troy.”

“Is everything alright?” I asked as I turned to her.

Her cheeks were pinkened from the effort of what looked like her mad dash to our bedroom, which was my old room in the cas tle.

“Your father…. th – the Alpha King… is fighting with a man downstairs who has been asking for the two of you.”

“Fighting?” Troy asked, letting go of Oliver’s legs.

The maid nodded with vigor, looking a little pale. She didn’t need to describe what was happening downstairs. Now that the door was open, I could hear Dad’s raised voice wafting up the stairwell down the hallway from us.

“I will watch the babies!” the maid exclaimed as Dad yelled

something quite colorful.

Troy gave me a suspicious look, then nodded at the maid.

“We’ll send the nanny up for you. Maeve needs to rest soon anyway. Maeve, let’s see what this is about.”

I followed Troy out of the bedroom and into the hallway, Dad’ s voice getting louder as we walked down the many flights of stairs to the grand foyer. I could see Mom standing with her arms crossed, her hair pulled back into a long braid as she watched Dad berate whoever had come calling.

Troy paused at the bottom of the stairs, then ran forward, leaving me behind.

Keaton was standing in the center of the foyer, two warriors holding him back while he went back and forth with Dad, his beautiful face twisted in a sneer.

“Keaton!” I cried, running toward him.

Dad immediately quieted, shocked by the joy in my voice as Troy and I nearly tackled Keaton to the ground.

“Get off! This is a new coat. It’s velvet-” Keaton choked out, pushing us both away.

“Where’s Myla? And Cleo?” | said excitedly.

“Shopping.” Keaton said, matter-of-factly. “But we all heard you were here, the both of you. We wanted to visit –” Keaton glanced at Dad, glaring. “But your father isn’t the most welcoming host.”

My eyes went wide as I turned to Dad. He had asked about Keaton, of course, and the entire crew of the Persephone. I knew he blamed Keaton for the fact I was missing for so long when in

reality it was more Troy’s fault than anything.

“Get that pirate out of my castle,” Dad said calmly, his hands on his hips.

“Another time, then?” Keaton bowed dramatically, mocking Dad’s position.

“You’re going to get yourself killed, you idiot,” Troy whispered before putting an arm around him, leading him toward the door. “Let’s go sit in the garden.”

“Maeve needs to come too. And her parents,” Keaton said, stopping before they could cross the threshold. He looked over his shoulder at Dad. “We need to talk about Dianny.”