Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 322

Chapter 102: Our World Would End

Troy

Maeve was sleeping soundly beside me, Will and Charlie nestled in her arms. Oliver was asleep onmy bare chest, his mouth moving in a suckling motion as he slept. I rested my hand over his back,closing my eyes for a moment. Oli seemed to melt into me, succumbing to full sleep as the minutesticked by.

It was not very late, but getting all three boys to sleep was an exhausting undertaking. It was notuncommon that one, or both of us, fell asleep with the boys while we fumbled through theirbedtime routine.

I waited a few minutes longer before slowly rising from the bed, careful not to wake any of mysleeping family mem bers. I patted Oli softly on the back while I crossed the room to where theirbed was, which was just a twin-sized mattress. with a railing all the way around it, like an oversizedcrib.

Rowan and I had built it only a few days ago, shortly after the gala. We found that the triplets sleptbetter in the same bed, and I understood why. They had been together since the moment ofconception. Who were we to separate them when all they had known was each other?

One by one I carried the boys to bed, laying them down next to each other. Will turned to his sideand snuggled into Oli, their tiny noises touching, while Charlie sprawled out in the shape of astarfish, his tiny fingers splayed as he dreamed.

They were beautiful. I didn’t know it was capable of loving something so deeply, while also beingterrified of that some thing at the same time.

Who would they become? And what would life be like for them when they were my age? I hadmade a promise when the High Priestess placed the crown of Poldesse on my head that I wouldhelp shape a world worthy of not only my sons but my grandchildren, and so on and so forth. Thatburden, even in its infancy, felt almost impossible to bear.

I left their crib and walked to Maeve's side of the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and tuckingthem around her. I wasn't afraid of waking her up. I could beat on a drum next to her head and shewouldn't even stir. She slept through the stirrings of the boys as well, and because my sleep was often paper-thin, I was the one awake in the dead of night when the boys woke up, and I didn’t mindit at all.

Rocking them back to sleep in the rocking chair near the window made me feel as though I wasback on the Perse phone, slowly lulled to sleep by the soft pitch of the boat.

I knew I had at least an hour or so to myself now that ev eryone was asleep.

I could've slid into bed beside Maeve, but I was wide awake. I decided to go down to the library andsit beneath the mural for a moment and enjoy the solitude.

But I found myself sharing that solitude with Ethan.

Three days had passed since the gala. Three days of try ing to convince Ethan that Hayden wasn't athreat, just a menace. Three days, and no word of Tasia's whereabouts or plans.

We had been busy, however, with the boys and making plans for the future. Maeve and I wouldneed to leave for Poldesse, and soon, to start our new life. But Maeve was re fusing to leave on thegrounds that the moonstone business was unfinished, and I agreed with her.

But for now, we all felt entirely stuck in place, not sure of what to do next, and what to expect.Ethan was sitting near the hearth, an untouched glass of fine scotch sitting on the side table as helooked down at a letter in his hands. He hadn't noticed me come in, so I walked loudly across thestone floor, trying not to scare him as I came into the light of the hearth.

I had pulled on a cozy knit sweater and socks before com ing down to the library to fight the wetchill in the air and was thankful to replace that Ethan had already created a warm, cozy space within theconfines of the massive library.

“I was wondering if I'd see you tonight,” he said as he closed his book and leaned back in his chair,looking thought ful.

"What am I in trouble for this time?” I sank into the couch and chuckled to myself, remembering thenight Maeve and I had spent here after the social, when I had been beaten to a pulp.

I felt my cheeks go red as I remembered the second night we had spent in the library, which hadbeen a lot less inno cent, and tried to hide my blush before Ethan saw.

I wondered briefly if now was the time I was going to get punished for allowing Hayden to getaway. So far, Ethan had only been angry he hadn't had a chance to talk to the man

himself.

“I have something for you. Here-" Ethan reached into the pocket of the thick cardigan-like sweaterhe was wearing and tossed me a package. It was small, wrapped in brown paper, with a notescribbled in an illegible scrawl.

“It's Charles’ journal. From the tomb. I had a guy in Mirage separate the pages. It took him a while,but he got it done, says it's still in good shape.”

“Did he... read any of it?" I said stupidly, knowing full well Ethan wouldn't have just given the journalto anyone.

“No. I paid him triple to keep his mouth shut in the event he saw something he shouldn't have.”Ethan settled back in his seat, opening his book again.

Ethan seemed uninterested in speaking further. I leaned against the couch cushions and quietlyunwrapped the paper, looking down at the three-hundred-year-old journal with in

terest.

I had read snippets of it, mostly the end that detailed Charles’ journey through the pass and thediscovery of the tomb. The beginning of the journal was frayed and the pages had been stucktogether, too fragile for me to pull apart.

But now the entire journal was readable, the man who had repaired had sewn a new spine. I couldnow flip through it in its entirety with ease but still needed to be careful not to tear the fragilepaper.

I read it from the beginning at first but found it mostly about his family life. Skipping forward, Ibegan to unravel the story of how Charles ended up on such a quest to begin with,

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Lv 1

which started with a summons from Alpha King Hector of Val oria.

A Priestess had come from the North one day, demanding an audience with the King. The Priestess,Onya, had brought two maids with her, and her daughter, a young woman named Alouette.Alouette was a beautiful woman, and the Alpha King was immediately taken with her. But Onyarefused to give her daughter to the king, stating Alouette would be the next White Queen and wasnot ready to marry.

The king was devastated and considered taking Alouette by force, but he soon realized he couldbarter with the Priest ess, who was actually the White Queen of the North.

The White Queen was looking for a relic that had been stolen from their temple. A great flood hadwashed their vil lage, and during the frantic process of trying to save what they could from theirancient temple, a gemstone had been picked from the statue of the Moon Goddess that they worshiped.

The White Queen had been frantically looking for the stone for decades and had heard the king hadan explorer in his court who she wanted to hire to replace the stone, since she was unable to travelmuch further south without leaving her pack alone to fend for themselves.

King Hector made her a deal. He would let her use his ex plorer, a man named Casimir, in exchangefor Alouette’s hand in marriage. Onya took it one step further, saying that he could have Alouette ashis wife and Luna if his explorer re turned from his journey with the gemstone she sought.

Lu1

An agreement was made, and Onya produced a map, which would lead Casimir to what she saidwas an ancient ter ritory, long forgotten by the pack lands.

Charles had worked for the King for many years at that point and was immediately summoned toassist the royal ex plorer Casimir in his quest. Why Onya believed the missing relic was in theSouthern Pass, they did not even ask. They just went.

But something interesting had happened before the quest began. I read over Charles’ words severaltimes to make sure I was interpreting them correctly. I stood, which caused Ethan to look up fromhis book, his brow furrowed in concern.

"What's wrong?” he asked, but I shook my head, begin ning to pace as I read aloud.

“I went to the castle at the behest of King Hector for a ca sual supper. A fortnight were we from ajourney that seemed like it would be endless, and I feared the length in which I would be separatedfrom my family. King Hector was a kind man, however. He invited not only myself but also myfamily, so I arrived at the castle with Mary and Callum, whose twenty -third birthday we hadcelebrated only the day before.

“The king raised a toast to my son in well wishes for his twenty-third year. But that is when I noticedCallum’s odd be havior. He was locked in a gaze with the fair Alouette, who looked just as shockedas Callum did. I knew that look, the same I often give my dear wife. Can it truly be that they aremates?” I looked up from the journal, catching Ethan's inter ested gaze.

“Go on,” he urged.

Lv 1

“I returned to the village with my family and hurried them into the house. Mary and I knew we couldsay nothing about the mate bond in front of the king, who had been treating Alouette as hisbetrothed. On explanation, Callum seemed forlorn but understood the dangers. Who was he to goagainst the king and pursue a woman with ties to Our Majesty, and Alpha? Even if she was, in fact,his mate.”

I had an awful feeling about this as I flipped the page, stealing a glance at Ethan.

"Onya came to our home a week later. She told us Alou ette was with child, and that child wasCallum’s, and it would be a daughter. We argued about it, but Callum admitted to his being intimatewith Alouette. How Onya and Alouette knew of the pregnancy so soon was impossible to us. ButOnya spoke of a prophecy, that the missing relic must be found and re stored to its rightful people.If not, she said, the ancient packs lurking in seclusion would wage war, and everything we knewwould be gone. If the relic fell into the wrong hands, it would all be over. She needed the relicbefore the winter solstice and was frantic in her seriousness on the timeline. She was fearful.

“I didn’t understand her. We asked her to leave, fearing King Hector would replace out about hisbetrothed’s deception and retaliate against our family. But she was firm, saying our world wouldend on the full moon of Winter Solstice in three hundred years if the relic was not returned to theWhite Queen. I found this mystic hard to believe, myself a man of in tellect. Plus, the White Queenswere rumored to be witches and were no longer recognized by the Church of the Moon Goddess-"I flipped the page and found it blank. The next page had been torn from the journal, as if whateverhad been written

was not something Charles wanted anyone to know. I slowly closed the journal, my fingers lingeringon the worn leather

cover.

"When was this written?” Ethan said as he stared up at me, an unreadable expression crossing overhis features.

“Three hundred years ago,” I replied, swallowing against the words. A prickle of adrenaline rippledover my skin as I gently set the journal on a side table, sinking back down on the couch. “The WhiteQueens have the moonstones again. So... all must be well.”

“You don't believe that, do you?” Ethan reached and clasped his glass of Scotch, bringing the amberliquid to his lips.

"Something doesn't feel right about this at all. Charles found the moonstone after he was alreadyshut into the tomb. We know nothing about what happened to Casimir or this King Hector guy afterthat. Obviously, Alouette survived. These are... likely relatives of Rosalie, right? There was no break inthe White Queen line?”

“Not that I know of, but Rosalie may know for sure. There’ s a rectory in Mirage. It would haveinformation about the past Alphas and Kings of Valoria. If Alouette became Luna of Valoria and hada child, it would be public information-"

“I'll go tomorrow,” I said quickly, interrupting him. My mind was moving a million miles an hour.“When is... when is the Winter Solstice?”

Ethan blinked, then furrowed his brow. “A week from now, I believe. On the twenty-first.”

I exhaled, my chest tightening so abruptly that I had a hard time taking a new breath.

“Tasia is going to strike on the solstice, Alpha Ethan. We need to be prepared. That has to be whatthis... what Onya meant. It could be nothing else.”

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