Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 241

Chapter 21: The Golden Generation

Rowan

I could've kissed the ground at the rocky, wind-swept beach when our boat finally reached the smallport of Red Lakes. The journey had been the most difficult thing I had ever done, and I was sure Iwas going to die at least twice before we finally saw the rolling hills and snow-capped mountains ofRed Lake's territory in the distance.

The precious cargo, our solar panels, had made the journey unscathed. We hadn't lost a singlecrewman, and our boat was in one piece. The forty-foot swells had tossed us mercilessly, but we hadsurvived. The journey across the Ghilhanda Sea was doable. We had been successful.

And my success was met with a prize. My mate.

I felt her the second I set foot on the beach. I could smell her, her scent warm and comforting likehoney and freshly baked bread. She smelled like home somehow, but a home I'd never known. Ahome, I realized shortly after Eugene introduced me to his daughters, that I would likely neverknow.

Because the beautiful Hanna, with her dark, lustrous hair and warm brown eyes, was betrothed toanother man.

And I was meant to marry her older sister, Kacidra

Red Lakes was everything I expected it to be. It was densely wooded and mountainous, the water ofthe vast, seemingly endless lake the village bordered was just that, red, its rocky beach dappled withstrangled colored burnt orange and green rocks.

The trees here were the real prize, thick evergreens and redwoods with trunks so thick your handswouldn't touch if you wrapped your arms around them. These trees were older than the earth itselfit seemed, ancient giants towering over man’s creation with their thick branches outstretched andfull to create a never-ending canopy over the small, sleepy village the Alpha of Red Lakes and hisfamily called home.

Eugene was a small man, standing nearly a foot shorter than myself but with a loud, outgoingpersonality to make up for it. He was vibrant and domineering, demanding and receiving respectfrom the three hundred or so pack members who accepted him as their leader. Eugene had forgeda path for these people. He had accomplished what was seemingly impossible when he broke awayfrom the packs of Finadli and traveled north with his flock, knowing full well the separation wouldbe a dangerous endeavor. But they had survived, and thrived, in a place once thought inhospitable.My parents respected him for it. I could see why my father trusted the man and why he consideredhim a friend.

And I was to marry his daughter.

There was no point in protesting. Kacidra had done that enough to cover the length of my stayduring the first few hours on land. Kacidra was the eldest by two minutes, Aaron's twin sister in fact,fair of skin and hair like her father but with an attitude to make even the most stoic man surrender.Oh, Kacidra would have been a true match for Maeve, no doubt. They would've hated each other, atleast until they realized how powerful they could be as allies. Kacidra and Maeve could rule theworld together if given the chance.

And so, I spent two weeks in the torment of Kacidra and agony over her sister, who hadn't said asingle word to me and wouldn't meet my eye, no matter how much I tried to accidentally replacemyself in her path. No, Hanna wouldn't even look at me. She was

going to reject me. It was likely she had no choice

I could already feel the pain of it.

I kept busy, however, setting up the rows upon rows of solar panels in a large open space on theoutskirts of the village where the trees were sparse and the ground was dry and flat from constant,unrelenting sun. Sulfur springs bubbled incessantly in the background as I worked, my head alwaysbent to my task.

But the third week, things changed. Kacidra had given up on making my life as miserable aspossible, growing bored of pestering me. We found ourselves, surprisingly, enjoying each other'scompany as we set up the panels and tested the lines, Kacidra pouring over the blueprints for theunderground lines that would eventually bring power into the village.

Suddenly, I had a friend in Red Lakes, the relationship budding between us taking the edge of mypain of losing my mate, at least

temporarily

"Are you sure you're doing it right? I think that's upside down.” Kacidra was leaning against one ofthe solar panels, her blond hair tied back in a long braid over one shoulder as she watched mestruggling with a shorted-out battery pack. I wiped the sweat from my brow, running my fingersthrough my hair that had grown too long for my liking since arriving in Red Lakes.

“I know what I'm doing!” I said under my breath, hitting the pack several times with the palm of myhand. To my surprise, the little green light that indicated it was absorbing power from the solarpanel came back on and began to blink. “See, I told you I knew what I was doing.

She rolled her eyes. “Dumb luck, Rowan. What am I supposed to do when one of these breaks againand you're not here?”

"Well, it won't be your problem, seeing as you're coming back to Winter Forest with me.”

“I will absolutely not be doing that.”

“Sure,” I breathed, fumbling with the breaker box on the back of the panel as I tried to slide thebattery pack back in place.

“What's the matter?” I asked, moving on to the next solar panel.

"Oh, nothing really. Just thinking of some gossip I heard in the village this summer.” She twirled theend of her braid between her fingers, giving me a teasing smile.

I waited a moment for her to continue as I pried open the next utility box, peering over the top ofthe panel when she remained silent. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”

"Mmm. if you really want to know.”

"Well, it's either listen to you talk or enjoy the peaceful solitude of nature.”

She scowled, tossing her braid behind her back and rolling a rock back and forth along the pad ofher foot as she pondered whether I was worthy of whatever she had to say. This was the game wehad been playing since I arrived.

"Wrenn Abdordeen got someone pregnant,” she said, matter-of-factly, tilting her head for a betterview of the flush that ripped across my cheeks.

“Who?”

Hanna was betrothed to Wrenn, who was nothing more than a neanderthal in tight jeans and a crispwhite T-shirt. The man could barely put a sentence together. I was more shocked by the fact heknew where he was supposed to put it over the scandal of a baby born outside of a marriage.Nevertheless, the news sent a ripple of excitement through my core as I straightened up to my fullheight, the question I desperately needed the answer to written clear as day on my face.

"Doesn't matter, really. Someone from a neighboring pack to the south.”

“Does that mean...”

She pursed her lips, shrugging casually as she nodded her head. “Well, Dad might not go throughwith the wedding now,”

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pumping my fist in the air before I could stop myself. Kacidra only rolled her eyes,crossing her arms over her chest as she watched me dissolve into a puddle of hope andanticipation.

Kacidra had known for a while that Hanna and I were mates. She had sensed it, somehow. Seeingme struggle with the pain of Hanna's rejection had been the turning point in my relationship withKacidra. We now had the same enemy. Wrenn.

"Don’t get too excited yet, cowboy.” She picked at a hole in her jacket, watching me throughnarrowed eyes. “You and I are still supposed to get married, remember?”.

“Yeah, so,"

this drama spin for a while before we can even think of broaching the subject of dissolving our ownengagement.”

“Would your dad seriously have Hanna marry that guy? After-after this?” I waved my hands wildly,fear creeping in again. I had

Chapter 21: The Golden Generation

been on edge over Hanna since my arrival, and Kacidra was obviously enjoying toying with myemotions right now.

"Uh, yeah. It's possible.”

“But why?"

"Why? Come on, Rowan! Think with that big, manly brain of yours.”

I fought back the scoff that was tickling the back of my throat as she took a few steps forward,stopping to lean on another solar panel

She continued, “What are we to our parents besides pawns in a great game of conquer and divide?Your family was one of the lucky ones, you know, able to hang on to their lands and birthrights afterthe war and all. My father will go down in history as the Alpha who brought the packs to thenorthwest to settle land once deemed uninhabitable. They even named that road after him. We'rethe golden generation. We give them the ability to further their conquests.”

Kacidra was referring to the narrow dirt road that led from Red Lakes all the way down to the borderof Finaldi. Eugene had cut through the dense forest himself, with the help of his pack of course,chopping down trees to clear their path to where they would eventually put down a claim on theland. Other smaller packs from Finaldi had followed, settling here and there along the four hundredmile stretch of road that took ten years to complete. Kacidra had been a teenager by the time theybegan to build the new village.

“This is a young pack,” she continued, “and my dad would do anything to keep it alive, includingselling his own daughters.” “You weren't sold to me,”

"Oh? What else would you call it? An exchange? I was the payment for these solar panels.”

“Stop-"

“I'm the bridge for the alliance between our packs, right? The two of us are just pawns, Rowan. Justlike Hanna and Wrenn. Wrenn is hands down the stupidest person I have ever met. He's just a prettyface. But he is the son of Alpha Hector of the Red Moon pack. Dad needs an alliance with them tocomplete the road south past the border of Finaldi.”

“This is..." I began, unable to replace the words.

“Medieval?” she suggested, tapping her fingers on the top of the solar panel. “Look, all I'm saying isdon't get your hopes up. okay? Alliances, alliances, alliances. Look at Aaron and Maeve's situation,”“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving my hand in dismissal, not wanting to talk about it. “But, I mean, thealliance between our families would still be in place if I married Hanna instead.”

"What about Red Moon, then? Hmm? Who are they going to marry off to Wrenn—" She paused,glaring at me. "NOT me.”

I shrugged, playfully kicking a small rock across the dirt in her direction. She stopped it with hershoe, rolling it with her toes. “Why not? He's not your type?” I teased.

She scowled, shaking her head as she kicked the rock forcefully in my direction. The small stonebounced off the ground and bit me in the shin.

"He's not my type.”

“What is your type, then? Tall, lean men with—"

“No one here, that's for sure.”

“That's not a very nice thing to say in front of your future husband,” I said dryly.

She snorted, looking away from me as she continued, “Anyway, do you understand what I'm tryingto say?”

“Yeah, I get it. You're definitely not wrong,” I said as I crouched back down behind the solar panel,screwing the door of the utility box back into place.

"Hanna is wholly loyal to our pack, Rowan,” she said with slight annoyance. She won't do anythingto stop her engagement from going through, not unless she’s ordered to. You have to understandthat.”

“Yeah, sure.” i felt a little hot, my throat dry as I swallowed. Surely, the mate bond was stronger thanthe loyalty she felt, stronger than her sense of duty and purpose.

I needed to talk to my parents about this, but my dad wouldn't be there for a while yet, and it wastoo important to write in a letter.

I stood, walking past Kacidra and beckoning her to follow as I made my way through the rows ofpanels toward the little cabin like structure that had been built to house the huge batteries thatwere fed by the solar panels. I opened another set of utility boxes, searching through the switchesand flipping them on. A low, electric thrum filled the space around us as the panels began to turnon, lifting their faces toward the sun,

“Perfect,” I muttered as I closed the boxes, looking out over the glistening field of silicon. “Therewon't be power to the village for two or three days still, if everything goes well. Once the mainbatteries are charged, and the back-up batteries are at fifty percent capacity, we can open the linesand feed power through to the village.”

She looked over my shoulder, standing on her tiptoes to do so. “Cool.”

*Is that all you have to say? Look at all the work we did today,”

“Rowan?” came a soft, honeyed voice from behind us. I turned around, taking Kacidra by theshoulders to move her out of the way