Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 336

Chapter 116: Are We Missing Something?

Maeve

The castle was buzzing with activity. Dinner had been served buffet style, and everyone was congregating in the for mal dining hall where the ball had taken place.

But I found myself in the library, which was quiet and emptý, save for my dad.

He was standing in front of one of the windows, a dram of scotch in his hand. He looked meditative, but his brow was furrowed.

“Hey,” I said, closing the door behind me. “You wanted to talk to me?”

He turned from the window, nodding, and motioned for me to sit. I felt a sudden wave of unease, wondering if I was in trouble for something.

“I just wanted… I just wanted to say I’m sorry, Maeve-”

“For what? What could you possibly be sorry for?” | was dumbfounded, but I could tell something was troubling him greatly.

He sat down on one of the couches in front of the hearth and sighed, bringing the scotch to his lips before thinking bet ter of it. He lowered his glass as I sat on the opposite couch.

“Is this about the moonstones? Dad, you couldn’t have known-”

“I knew enough to not send you to Valoria in the first place.”

“When I came to live with Ernest?”

“Yes,” he lowered his gaze, swirling the scotch in his glass. “It was wrong of me to put that kind of expectation on you-”

“I wanted to do it. You didn’t have to convince me-”

“I should have handled the situation without involving you. I should have put Rowan in Ernest’s place. It wasn’t your re sponsibility to carry the weight of our family’ s obligations, Maeve. It was mine.”

“Dad-”

He looked up at me through his lashes, the fire in the hearth reflecting off his irises. He looked very young at that moment, and for a second I caught a glimpse of what Mom must have seen when she was my age, just getting to know my Dad for the first time.

I couldn’t imagine. Even their stories of that time couldn’t explain the full scope of what it must have been like for them.

I was in love, and able to show it. Troy and I fit together like a puzzle piece. We had always been able to communicate clearly and efficiently, and I didn’t realize that until trying to navigate my relationship with my father.

Dad was an enigma, totally and utterly impossible to read.

“I accept your apology,” I said, even though it felt like a lie. I had no reason to accept an apology from him. He had done nothing wrong. He only felt like he had. “I’m sorry too. For causing you so much stress.”

• He looked at me blankly for a moment, then snorted with mirth, shaking his head.

“I think I owe Troy an apology next,” he smiled, taking a long swig of his scotch.

“Troy? Why?”

“For putting up with you. I didn’t think anyone would be up for the job.”

I scowled, leaning back against the couch cushions.

“I’m kidding,” he said after a moment, “I only meant that… it would have taken a certain type of man to deserve you,

Maeve. I didn’t think one existed.”

“I bet you didn’t think it would be your arch nemesis’s son, either. Did you?”

His eyes darkened for a split second. He drained his scotch, then shook his head.

“Call it karma for all my past transgressions.”

Thuffed, smiling to myself.

“I leave in the morning with your mother, Georgia, and Talon. Ernest and Gemma too-*

“I know. We catch the nine o’clock train to the Port of Val oria. We set sail close to sundown, I believe.”

A silence passed between us. The time had come after many weeks. I had already left my family once, but this felt so much more final.

“I’ll come to visit,” I said, trying to smile to stop myself from crying. “Troy says autumn is a terrible time to be in the Isles…. Hurricanes, can you believe it?”

“You’ll be just in time to see the last of the fireweed blooms if you come in early August,” he said soberly, a flash of sadness in his eyes.

“And you and mom can visit every winter, in January… when it’s negative thirty and windy everyday.”

“We will. I promise you.”

I looked at him, searching his face, seeing lines of fatigue and of surrender. I was going away for good this time, starting a life of my own, on my own terms. Rowan was the new Alpha of Drogomor and would be living here now with Hanna and his future children.

I realized, selfishly and for the first time, how big of a change this was for my own parents.

Trose from the couch and went to him, sitting down next to him. I exhaled deeply, then leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“I’m proud of you, Maeve,” he whispered.

I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Well, we’re building a house just outside of the village. Something small and cozy, you know, maybe a bit smaller than what Rosalie and Ethan have. But, I think we need to plan for at least four bedrooms because, well, Gemma and Ernest will

definitely have another baby. I’d like to have a playroom at our house too-” Georgia was chattering away, her eyes alight with excitement as she spilled her desires for the future to Vicky, who was listening earnestly to every word.

Vicky looked slightly overwhelmed, having been in the background for all of the drama of the last several weeks, but was doing her best.

She and Paul were leaving for Breles with their daughters in the morning, taking the same train as Troy and I. We’d be riding to the port together, but they would immediately board a ferry to take them straight to Breles, rather than the Isles.

The dining room was filled with conversation and music. Gemma was dancing with George in her arms, who was screaming with laughter as his mom twirled in a circle, keeping in rhythm with the piano. Mom was playing something upbeat and happy, and it lightened the somber mood significantly, giving our goodbyes a sweeter taste.

I was holding Charlie, who was wide awake. He was peer ing over the top of my shoulder, chomping lazily on my dress. Troy was walking around with Will in his arms, the boy fast asleep, while Dad had Oliver, of course, resting against his chest as he sat in a high-backed chair next to the piano.

I looked around, remembering how quiet and lonely the castle had once been, back when it was only me, Ernest, and Gemma in residence.

I regretted not knowing the details of their early relation ship, wishing I’d had the wherewithal to notice the small de tails I had missed. They had been in love from the beginning, and I was so thankful they now had the chance to be together like they deserved.

And thank the Goddess for George.

| patted Charlie on the back as I walked around the room, stopping to talk to Pete for a moment. He was planning to stay in Mirage for a while with Kacidra. They were getting mar ried next summer, when his mother could join them in Valoria. He no doubt thought he was the luckiest man alive, and I could see the joy in his eyes when he glanced over at Kacidra, who was talking with Georgia and Vicky.

I was just about to head back over to the piano when a warrior hurried into the room, his face pale and his eyes searching for Dad. He found him, and walked between the group congregated in the center of the dining room without saying a word. He walked right up to Dad and placed a letter in his hand.

Dad looked down at the note, his face undergoing an in credible transformation. He slowly rose to his feet.

Mom noticed the exchange, and she took her hands from the piano keys, looking at Dad with a quizzical expression on

his face.

49er “Everything’s fine, just business,” he said, loud enough for

the entire gathering to hear. But I could tell by the way he fur rowed his brow that something was bothering him immensely.

He put Oliver in Mom’s arms and bent to whisper some thing in her ear, then he crossed the room, exiting through the doors and disappearing into the hallway. I looked around, set tling my gaze on Troy, who had just watched the whole ex change.

“Come with me,” Mom said, her voice shaking slightly. I nodded, following Mom out of the dining room. Troy was be hind us as we reached the hallway, his voice a low hiss.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t-”

“The warriors know where Carl went,” Mom said quickly, her voice unreadable.

“What? Where?” | asked, shocked.

She turned to me, her eyes shining in the dimly lit hallway.

“He went to the Isles, and then… South.”

“But if he went south… Dad, there’s nothing done there anymore, Dianny is gone… There’s only the tomb. Where could

he have possibly gone?”

“I don’t know, Maeve. I’m just as confused as you are. He was spotted leaving Papeno in a cruiser, alone.”

“I thought, if he had survived what happened in the cav ern… he would have gone north, to find the other refugees, Opaline-” Troy interjected.

Troy was right, the refugees from Lycenna had gone north. To where, the old woman, Hanna’s great aunt, hadn’t said.

And they had taken Opaline with them.

“He would have gone after Opaline, surely,” | added, my skin prickling with gooseflesh as I said her name. “Are you sure it was him?”

“He’s not hard to miss. I think we missed something here,” Dad said to himself as he paced back and forth along the far wall of the atrium. “Something isn’t quite right about this. You said the tomb was part of an ancient city, correct? A pack long gone? What business would he have there?”

“Well, he left the pack lands, right? He’s gone. There was nothing else in the tomb besides some gold… we don’t have anything to worry about now, do we?” | asked. I was nursing Will and Oliver, settled on the couch near the hearth.

“You said you thought we were missing something,” Troy said. He was leaning against one of the bookshelves, mulling the situation over in his mind. “Like… another pack, maybe, a pack like Lycenna?”

“Possibly, I don’t know for sure. We didn’t know about Lycenna and Dianny until recently-”

“It’s entirely possible;” Mom said softly, careful not to raise her voice above a whisper as Oliver lounged drowsily in her arms.

“Well, he has no allies. Lycenna is gone, from what we know. The refugees left with no interest in returning,” I contin ued, feeling increasingly uneasy. “Wherever Carl is going… he’ll be alone.”

No one spoke for a moment. I cleared my throat, looking down at my boys. Nothing else mattered to me.

“It’s over,” I said with conviction. “He’s gone. It’s over.”