Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 331

Chapter 111: We Got Lucky

Maeve

21

Robbie was holding me and Rowan to his chest, his body trembling as he took deep, strained breaths. The dust was clearing, the forest floor now visible through pockets of fog and debris. I blinked, my eyes ringing so violently it made my headache.

Rowan was fighting to free himself from Robbie’s grasp. Robbie let him go, and Rowan fell to his knees, coughing so hard his eyes began to water.

We were soaked from the rain and covered in mud. I looked around, turning in Robbie’s direction to face what was left of the entrance to the tunnel.

The hill was nothing but a pile of shattered stone and broken trees. I closed my eyes.

It was over-and at a tremendous cost.

TILE

“We have to go in for them,” I whispered weakly, unable to hide the pain in my voice. I hadn’t yet registered what had happened.

“Aye, we will. I think I can… I can move some of the rocks out of the way. I think-”

Rowan was already frantically pulling rocks from the entrance, screaming curses as he ripped splintered tree branches from the rubble. He was calling for Hanna, his voice

so desperate it brought hot, painful tears to my eyes. I swallowed against my own fear and grief.

The three of us had been the only ones to make it out.

The trees rustled above us, their bare branches scratching against each other. The forest seemed to moan, the sound echoing through the clearing sounding almost like the cry of a woman, someone hurt.

Someone dying.

Robbie held me close as a huge, violent gust of wind whipped through the space, nearly knocking us over. I knew it was her, Tasia, and as soon as the wind ceased, the sky gave way to stillness once more…

I knew she was gone. Dead.

“Troy,” I cried, turning into Robbie’s chest as I began to cry.

“We‘re gonna get ’em,” Robbie assured me, but his voice betrayed his words. I could tell he was sure we would find them, but whether or not they were alive after being buried under several feet of rock and dirt was something he wasn’t confident in.

“Damn it!” Rowan cried as he began to toss rocks bigger than his head away from the pile of rubble. His hands were bloodied, torn, and oozing red as he dug and dug and dug.

Robbie let me go and went to him, leaving me standing in the clearing. I watched Robbie begin to move some of the bigger rocks out of the way, waiting, holding my breath.

I heard barking.

I looked around, unsure in which direction it came from. I heard it again, and this time Rowan and Robbie noticed as well. Robbie began to pull rocks away from the pile at a speed

that seemed unnatural. He bellowed at Rowan, telling my brother to get out of the way as he began to pull on the exposed roots of one of the trees that used to cover the hill.

Rowan didn’t move out of the way-he jumped up to help and the two men pulled with all of their strength, grunting with effort.

The tree shifted, then gave way, and Robbie and Rowan only had a split second to jump out of its path before several large boulders broke loose from the pile and crashed onto the forest floor. Rowan screeched, and Robbie bounded over to him, freeing him from the large rock that had landed squarely on his foot.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, turning my attention to the large hole that was exposed in the pile of rubble, and saw Duck poke his head out.

“DUCK!” | screamed, falling to my knees. Voices began to rise from the hole, and Robbie left Rowan to nurse his foot, jumping back onto the pile of stone and pulling rocks away from the opening.

He reached in, taking hold of someone, and pulled my mom out of the rubble.

“Hi Robbie,” she said with a little laugh, “Ethan’s next but,”

Dad damn near pushed Mom down the pile of rocks on his way out. He was covered in mud and dust, his hair standing on end and his eyes flaming with fury and frustration as he

slid down the rocks. He was limping badly, winching and cursing as he walked out into the center of the clearing.

Troy came out next, turning around to pull Keaton up. He said something to Robbie, and Robbie nodded in agreement before disappearing into the remains of the tunnel system.

“Troy!” I cried, unable to stop myself from sobbing. He turned to me, smiling, and took what looked like the first deep breath he had taken in a long, long time.

I could hear Mom fussing over Dad, who was physically dodging her attempts to help him as he stumbled around the clearing. He locked eyes with me, narrowing them until they were only slits.

“This is over, it’s done,” he breathed, his voice edged with bitterness. He looked around the clearing, his eyes settling on each of us as he willed our obedience. No more magic, no more moonstones, no more epic quests into the unknown.

I could tell he had more he wanted to say, but he was still a man of few words. He motioned towards Mom, stopping her from advancing on him to heal his twisted ankle.

With that, Dad stormed off through the clearing, quietly cursing his grievances as he fought against the dense thickets of brush in his attempt to go back to the castle.

Mom looked at me, shrugging her shoulders.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly

I nodded, swallowing against the lump in my throat. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, keeping me upright. “Okay. I’m going to-to go after him. Your dad is fine, just,”

“A giant crab?”

“A king crab,” she smirked, using the term Rowan and I used to call each other as children in lieu of something more aggressive or naughty when we were vexed. She walked over to me, embracing me fully. She reached up, wiping the tears from my cheeks before kissing me soundly on the temple, resting her forehead against mine. “We’re okay. It’s over. We can move on now.”

“Okay.” It was all I could manage to say.

Mom ran her hand down my back before taking her leave, her body instantly replaced by Troy’s, who pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Are you hurt?” he asked as he pressed me to him.

I shook my head. Whatever scraps and bruises I had would likely be healed by now. “Are you?”

“I got hit in the head with something when the tunnel caved in, but that’s all. I’ll be fine. Nothing but a scratch. Do you want to go home?”

“I want to get the boys,”

“We will.”

I looked over Troy’s shoulder to where Keaton was standing, alone. Rowan was nowhere to be seen, and I realized he must have gone into the opening of the tunnel with Robbie to find Hanna.

“Is she dead? Hanna?”

Troy was silent, then shook his head.

“No, she’s not dead. She-”

As if I had summoned her, I saw Rowan emerge from the tunnel, holding a limp Hanna in his arms. He had her head pressed against his chest, his eyes full of tears.

I unwrapped my arms from around Troy and stepped around him, noticing the blood on Hanna’s mouth and the long, bright right cut on Rowan’s arm.

He had tried to heal her.

“She’s okay, Maeve. It’s time to go home,” Rowan said sternly, looking past me.

He walked past me and Troy without saying a word, disappearing into the thickets.

“Well, that f*cking sucked,” Keaton said dryly, dusting dirt from the pants he was wearing.

“It’s over-” Troy began, but Keaton held up his hand to silence him.

“Carl got away. We don’t know where he went.” Keaton crossed his arms over his chest.

“But he was with us,”

“What happened in there, exactly?” Robbie asked, glancing from Troy to Keaton.

Keaton took a deep breath, glancing at Troy through his lashes.

“Nothing really. We were spared, that’s all I can say. The tunnel came down on top of Ethan and Hanna, but that broken door fell on them first, blocking the rocks from crushing them. We just… we just waited. It was completely dark,” Troy began.

“Duck started digging; we could hear him. We couldn’t see anything. That’s when you and Rowan started pulling the rocks away. Hanna refused to leave. She kept saying it wasn’t over. She was scared, trying to dream… whatever it’s called, to find Carl,” Keaton continued, shaking his head.

“Carl isn’t powerful. There’s not much he can do at this point but run,” Troy exhaled, shaking his head.

“And I say let him. I agree with Ethan. I’m done.”

Keaton looked around, then shrugged. Duck was sitting at the edge of the clearing, trembling, waiting for us to make a move toward home.

“The warriors went back for reinforcements to help dig ya’ll out,” Robbie said as he began to walk toward the edge of the clearing, his voice fading as they stepped into the thickets.

Troy, Duck, and I were soon all that was left in the clearing.

Troy took my hand, squeezing it.

IL

Dawn was approaching, the sky above our heads a soft, navy blue dappled with faint stars. The trees were still; the only sound was the occasional crumbling of rocks.

“I could use a beer,” Troy smiled.

“Maybe something stronger,” I added, doing my best to return his smile.

Hand in hand, we walked away from the pile of rocks, and away from the threat of Tasia.

I sighed deeply as I sat up against the headboard, all three boys asleep on my chest. Troy was asleep in the high-backed armchair on the opposite side of our room at the castle, his head lolling on his shoulder as he slept.

We had returned to the castle in the early hours of the morning, filthy and exhausted beyond belief. A shower and new clothes later, the boys had been brought back to the castle, and we took them up to our room to sit together in silence as they nursed, the five of us dozing shallowly until the early afternoon.

Troy had been summoned by my dad, and he spent the remainder of the day going over what had transpired in the tunnels. When I awoke in the late evening to a dinner tray being carried into the room by a maid, I found Troy back with us, sleeping in the chair so as not to disturb our slumbering.

I got up and laid the boys in their crib one by one, then ate in relative silence. I had never seen Troy sleep so hard.

The bedroom door opened just as I was sitting back in bed, and Gemma slid inside, wincing as the door creaked as she shut it behind her.

“You’re fine. They’re all dead asleep,” I said softly, reaching for the now tepid cup of tea I had left on my nightstand.

“I wanted to hear from you what happened,” she whispered as she crawled into the bed, laying down against Troy’s pillow. I closed my eyes, fighting another wave of fresh fatigue. I sighed, then told her everything. Gemma listened in silence, which was occasionally broken by the cooing of the babies and infrequent snoring from Troy.

“The warriors are combing through Mirage right now. They’ve apprehended several rogues in the forest, too. Is it true that Carl is missing?”

I nodded, draining my teacup and setting it back down on the bedside table.

“Yeah, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about him. He was the ringleader in all of this. He found Tasia somehow, through the dream realm where Hanna goes when she-“| paused, leaning back against my propped up pillows. “Have you seen Hanna today?”

“No, but I’ve seen Rowan. He’s been an absolute mess all day long, snapping at everyone. Same with your dad.”

“Hanna killed Tasia; she ended it. I want to… thank her. When the time is right. I hope she’s resting.”

“I think your mom is with her. Your mom seems okay, though.”

“We got lucky.” I closed my eyes, ready to rid myself of the turmoil of the last few months. In a month’s time I would be in Avondale, far away from it all, with a clean slate, starting from scratch.

“I just wanted to check on you. Do you need anything?” Gemma whispered, but I shook my head.

“I’m just going to sleep while the boys are sleeping. Tomorrow morning I’ll-I’ll come down for breakfast and figure things out.”

Gemma nodded and rose from the bed, glancing over her shoulder at me before she left the room.

I closed my eyes once again.