Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 563

Chapter 63 : Can I Marry Her?

*Xander*

Breakfast was being served buffet style in the cozy, informal dining and kitchen area in the back ofthe palace, closest to the guest's wing of the behemoth that was the family home of the Alpha ofPoldesse.

I'd never witnessed anything like this place. The size of the palace was similar to the one back inEgoren, which would cover the same amount of ground taken up by a small village. That didn'tinclude the acreage, cabanas, and guest cottages that dappled the palace's extensive grounds. Butunlike the palace in Egoren, this place was open, immaculately clean, and didn't seem nearly as fullof dark places and secrets.

And given the amount of people, not including Lena's extended family, it had been damn nearimpossible to sneak out of her room when I woke the morning after the wedding and make it backto my room unseen.

I'd turned the corner to the hallway near my room and ran right into Georgia and Vicky, Lena'selderly Great Aunts.

There had been no formal greeting fit for an Alpha King from these two old hens. They'd clucked atme, smiling at each other as they turned to face me, blocking me from walking past and into myroom.

"I take it you had a fun night?" Georgia had grinned, her blue eyes so like her brother's, Ethan,shining against the gold flaked marble column she was leaning against. “Is Lena awake yet?Breakfast is being served downstairs-waffles, her favorite.” Her tone had been teasing and playful,not a single hint of malice, but I'd narrowed my eyes at her nonetheless.

"She's sleeping in," I'd said with the most genuine smile I could muster. My head was pounding andI desperately needed a cup of coffee before delving into conversation with her family, especiallythese two. I'd already been stuck in a conversation with Georgia and Vicky during my first night atthe palace, and an hour later I had still been stuck until George, her grandson and namesake, cameto my aid with some made up emergency.

I'd nodded at them both and slipped between them before Georgia could say another word, but asI'd opened my door and stepped inside my room, I'd heard Vicky quip, “I cannot wait for theirwedding."

Well, I couldn't be upset. Neither could Lena. Her family was obviously aware there was somethingmore than friendship between us, and our not-so-private jaunt through the palace as we made ourway to her bedroom likely solidified it as being much, much more.

I'd sighed, undressing quickly and tossing my dress shirt and pants on the floor, realizing with acurse beneath my breath that I'd left my suit jacket on the beach.

A button-up shirt and trousers had seemed appropriate enough for what I was planning on doingthis morning, so I'd gotten dressed and came downstairs for breakfast.

Rowan Gray, the Alpha King of Valoria, blinked at me several times as I sat across from him at a cozymosaic-tiled bistro table on the private terrace outside of the dining room. Inside, at least a dozenextended family members were milling about, drinking coffee and eating a late breakfast. A groupof children sat on the other side of the terrace playing some board game, and their presence waslikely the only reason Rowan hadn't reached out to strangle me.

I pushed the velvet drawstring bag he'd been ignoring for the last two minutes toward him, resistingthe urge to chuck it into his lap. He sucked on his lower lip for a moment, then exhaled, nostrilsflaring.

"You had no right to mark her. She's not of age to know her mate.”

“She was under the impression that she wouldn't be able to feel the mate bond because of what sheis. I feel the bond-"

“Because you imprinted and marked her," he interrupted.

I swallowed, flexing my jaw. “No, because I felt the mate bond for her, and I acted on it with herpermission. She marked me first."

“I don't believe that-"

"Ask her," I pressed, knowing I was playing with fire.

Rowan, compared to everyone else in his family, seemed to be the only level-headed Gray in thethree or four generations I'd met so far. Even his Luna, Hanna, was sensitive and stoic. But I couldsee the fury blazing in Rowan's eyes, which had not yet glanced down at the velvet bag. I wasgrowing impatient and pushed the bag a fraction of an inch toward him again.

His hand clamped down on my wrist, fixing it in place against the tiles.

"No," he said in a firm hiss, low enough that the children playing on the other side of the terracecouldn't hear him.

“Uh, yes," I retorted, and his grip on my wrist tightened.

My powers were not as strong as the powers possessed by some of the White Queens. I could willall of the darkness and shadows I wanted and if they countered them, they would have little effect.So I was stuck with my arm pinned, looking into Lena's father's eyes while he told me there was noway in hell that I was marrying his daughter.

"Why?" I asked sweetly, mockingly, which was a really stupid thing to do. He was going to be myfather-in-law, after all, regardless of how he felt about it.

"Why?" he repeated. "Because"

“Because she's the Moon Goddess, and no one is worthy of her hand? Or because she's needed inWinter Forest immediately? Speaking of which, it wasn't very cool that no one told her about LunaMaeve's plans—"

“That is enough," he growled, his eyes narrowing into slits.

“She was very upset about it last night,” I continued, ignoring the way his fingernails were bitinginto my skin. “I did everything I could to calm her down, you know-"

The noise he made, low in his throat, sent a chill up my spine. I could see the faint glow around hisirises, and felt his nails sharpen into claws, drawing blood. Shift, I thought. Let's do this right here,right now, in front of your whole damn family.

"Oh, there you are. Good morning, Alpha King Alexander,” came a honeyed voice in the doorway tothe terrace.

Rowan let go of me and removed his hand from the table, clearing his throat as Luna Queen Hannaof Valoria set a plate of fruit and a cup of coffee on the table, taking a seat between us.

"You can call me Xander," I smiled, removing my arm from the table.

Blood was seeping through the sleeve of my shirt, which was now torn from where Rowan's nailshad pierced the fabric. She smiled back at me, a genuine smile, warm and welcoming. I glanced atRowan, raising my brow at him in a mocking fashion. He glared.

"What's this?" she asked her husband, reaching for the velvet bag, but Rowan snatched it from herbefore she could grasp it.

"Nothing"

“It's a ring that belonged to my mother,” I said softly, forcing my face into the warmest yet mostforlorn expression I could possibly achieve.

"A ring?" Hanna said, her eyes focusing on mine. Her cheeks colored, and an excited smile twitchedagainst her lips. Rowan was practically steaming with fury.

“I'd like to give it to Lena."

“To Lena?" Hanna repeated, looking a little shocked

“I want to ask her to marry me. I was just asking for her father's blessing—" I set my eyes on Rowan.He swallowed, his jaw set. I could see him grinding his teeth as he clutched the bag in his fist fordear life.

"Oh, Rowan, this is wonderful!"

“Isn't it?" Rowan ground out, holding my gaze with furious intensity.

"May I see the ring?" she asked, and I nodded, but Rowan made no move to let go of the bag andhand it to her.

She gave him a quizzical look as she pried his fingers loose and took the bag from him. “Goddess,Rowan, are you all right? You look like you're having a stroke—"

“I believe I just might be," he said under his breath. “Excuse me."

He slid his chair back and stood abruptly. He looked down at me like he wanted nothing more thanto grab me by the collar and toss me over the side of the terrace, but then thought better of it,looking down at his wife.

“I'm going to take a walk."

Before she could reply, her face twisted in concern, he was gone.

“He told me no," I said, leaning back in my chair.

She blinked at me, then shrugged, opening the little bag and fishing for the ring at the bottom“It's not our decision to make," she said with a kind smile. “It's Lena's. Rowan comes from an old-fashioned family, you know. Times are different now."

"Old-fashioned as in arranged marriages and breeders?" I said with a little laugh.

She gave me a knowing smile in return. “He was supposed to marry my sister. Did you know that?But it turned out he was my mate.” She pulled the ring from the bag and sucked in her breath, herbrow furrowing as she held it by the band, letting the sun catch on the smoky, charcoal-coloreddiamond at the center that was flanked by sapphires of the deepest blue. It was set in platinum withflakes of sapphire, obsidian, and smoky diamonds through the band

She was speechless, and I'd expected that. Compared to the bright, colorful jewelry favored by thewomen in the family, this ring was pure night, pure shadow and darkness. Hanna herself wore aband of jade around her ring finger.

She looked thoughtful, almost melancholy as she turned the ring in the sun, watching the colorsdance within the main diamond. I figured she'd hate it. It wasn't a beautiful ring by the standards ofthis realm. It was gothic and dated

I was the King of the Dark Realm after all.

“You know, don't you?" she said softly, her eyes misting with tears. “You've seen her glow-"

"At night? Yes. That's her... her best time." I didn't anticipate the sudden rush of emotion that hit melike a rogue wave as I watched Lena's mother turn the ring, marveling at the way it cast speckles ofcolor across the palm of her hand. She looked at me eventually, her eyes so deep and full ofemotion.

“You love her,” she said, a statement, not a question. All I could do was nod. “But she-"

“She has to go to Winter Forest and take over the throne. Soon, from what I understand.”

Hanna licked her lower lip, nodding as she slipped the ring back into the bag.

“We didn't know Rosalie's intentions until two days ago. I thought she would rule for another tenyears at least, and then Maeve... But-"

“Lena knows," I sighed, looking down at Hanna.

Hanna chewed the inside of her cheek, then broke from my gaze to look out over the water. “Ididn't want this for her,” she whispered. Her words broke my heart.

“She could rule my kingdom, with me—"

"How?" she said, not looking me in the eye. Her gaze was firmly fixed on the distant waves rollingaway from the beach.

That was a question I couldn't answer.

Silence filled the space between us, broken only by the sound of the children fighting over theboard game and people talking in the dining room. I heard Maeve's voice fill the room, her laughterbooming through the area.

“You have our blessing," Hanna said after a long moment of reflection.

I could also see the memories flickering behind her eyes. I wondered what she was thinking about, ifmaybe she had been thinking about her own challenges when it came to marrying her mate. Shesaid he was meant to marry his sister. Was there more?

But then I heard Lena's voice raised in protest, and turned to see her making her way through thecrowded dining room, a plate of waffles balanced in one hand. She met my eye, arching her brow asshe noticed me sitting with her mother.

I quickly tucked the velvet bag in my pocket and motioned her over.