Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 605

Chapter 105 : Preparing for War

*Xander*

I was f*****g exhausted. There was no way around it. Three days had passed, and I didn't think I'dslept even once. First, Zeke and I had to fill Oliver in on everything that was happening in theVampire realm, the Realm of Night. Second, Zeke had to lead us to King Nikolas's castle, which hadtaken two nights’ worth of a trek. Lastly, I had to convince him to storm the castle with Oliver andme and free not only the enslaved people who lived in the castle, but also Lena.

Now I was laying flat on my back in the grass, trying my hardest to stay awake so I could take inevery single word Andromeda, a High Vampire who was also, apparently, a witch, said to Lena.

I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to eat something, and I wanted to sleep, and I wanted to get thehell out of there and go back to Lena's realm and figure things out from there. That portal she'dcreated was still open, and based on what Oliver had told us about his experience, it could take youanywhere you wanted as long as the thought was in your mind.

Oliver said he'd just gone for a walk in the hills outside of Gideon's property in Crimson Creek andfelt what he was sure was the mate bond. He said it was intense, and his whole body had reacted,and suddenly he was falling through the sky and into the water just outside the misty wall thatseparated the night realm from wherever the hell we were now. He'd been thinking about his mate,trying to replace her, and based on his behavior now, I was willing to bet she lived somewhere in thisnew realm.

And if his mate was indeed Elaine...

“Narcissa is my sister,” Andromeda said as she sat with Lena in the grass only a few feet away. "Howis she? I haven't seen her since the fall of the High Vampires.”

“She seems happy,” Lena said, her voice wavering. “She's very nice."

"Did she bake for you? She was always doing that. She was fascinated by the Lower Vampires whenthey first came into being. She's always lived with them, you know, acting as though she were oneof them. When our father cursed our brothers for their transgressions by allowing the sun into ourrealm, she chose to go live with the Lower Vampires underground, instead of with... us."

I opened one eye, glancing toward Andromeda as she told what I expected to be a very informativetale about this realm and its history, and what our realms were truly up against if it came to war.Lena only smiled in response to Andromeda's inquiry. Lena hadn't told me about Narcissa, or thatKiern had taken her before a High Vampire that was hidden deep within Brune to eat cookies anddrink tea. I rolled my eyes and shut them again, letting the sun play over my face. But then, theystarted talking about the book.

“It belonged to Leto, the first Moon Goddess. Before she was a god, she was a healer and wisewoman. This was a gift from my father,” Andromeda said as she ran her fingers over the leathercover of the giant book, her eyes glazed with the memory. “He was trying to woo her, but she wasweary of him. She did take the book and fill it with her recipes for tinctures and potions, andeventually, her spells. That was before my father gave her the powers you now possess, Lena, andbefore she used those powers to make your realm and rule over her own people.”

“She was a witch?"

"Of course; most women are,” Andromeda said with a laugh. “That's where your kind's powers comefrom. Leto was a playful thing. She wasn't interested in the powers of darkness like most gods. Shewanted her people to live full, rich lives, which meant keeping them mortal. She used her powers togive them the gift of replaceing their fated matches, their soulmates. But she faltered when she foundher own mate. She begged the gods, our father in particular, for a way to keep the man immortal aswell as the twin children she bore. My father loved her, and gave her the moonstone.”

Ugh, the moonstone. I already knew the tale. Everyone in the pack lands, as well as Egoren, wasfamiliar with Morrighan and Lycaon.

"What happened to your father?" Lena asked, and Andromeda let out a long, somber sigh.

"He's still around, but we tired him out, I'm afraid. My brothers were always fighting over territory,which turned into fighting over slaves. Narcissa and I were our father's favorites, and when we leftour family's home high in the Night Range, he saw no point in staying to watch his sons killthemselves over what they thought was god-like power. I haven't seen or spoken to him in over athousand years. But-" she patted the book with a smile, “I knew he'd replace a way to send me thebook."

“The man in the library... he told me I needed to give it to you, and then bring it to the twentiethWhite Queen, which is my aunt Maeve."

“Ah, yes. I've heard of Maeve. She's expected to be a formidable force when she unlocks her truepowers."

I opened my eyes fully and turned my head to look at them, watching lines of confusion danceacross Lena's face.

“But... she's in her early forties. She came into her powers long ago—"

“She's never had a reason to use her powers yet. I heard of the trials from her early adulthood withthat woman... what was her name? From the line of Lycaon?"

I narrowed my eyes as Lena explained what she knew about Maeve during the time of Tasia. It hadbeen Lena's mother who'd defeated her, though-Hanna, the Luna Queen of Valoria.

“Your mother is a true witch." Andromeda smiled. “I hope I have the chance to meet her one day.”Lena looked quizzical, but Andromeda didn't allow her a moment to ask any further questions.

“You will need to return to your own realm very soon, I'm afraid. My brother is not going to stop hisattack on your realm.There is much to be done to prepare-"

"How do we stop him?" I said, uttering the first words I'd spoken since we arrived in this strangeplace.

Andromeda looked at me with an air of ease, shrugging a shoulder. “It's going to take a lot morethan shooting light out of your fingertips,” she teased, turning her gaze to Lena. “But the book willhelp you. Maeve is the one who it is meant for, however. She will know the truth when she sees it."“Why not just tell us now?" I pressed, frustration coursing through my veins.

This was all just a long game to these beings. Andromeda, Narcissa, Nikolas... they were playingwith us. What else did gods have to do other than torment their subjects?

“Because I don't know," she said a little more sharply than her voice had been before. “This bookbelongs to your kind, not mine. I don't even know why it's here in this realm, but it's imperative youget this back to its rightful owner, which is Maeve. Nikolas has the ability to cause breaks in therealms-that's one of his powers-but he needs bloodstones to do so. His slaves mine for it night andday, and his armies are already gathering for a full assault now that they've sent their hybrids outinto your realm to get the lay of the land. Nikolas must die, and when he does, peace must berestored between the Night realm and the Realm of the Moon-" She turned to Lena, her eyessoftening.

“I came here in a dream once, but I thought... you said something about me coming home to therealm of the gods—"

"Oh, my child. This is not the realm of the gods.”

“Then what did you mean?"

Andromeda looked thoughtful, but shrugged lightly, rolling her eyes between me and Lena.“Maybe will we meet again, after the war, and I will know more," she laughed. “But for now, I onlyknow one thing.”

"And what thing is that?" I asked, growing heated as Lena's face shadowed with confusion onceagain.

“That your child, the child you carry, will live a long, normal life, free of prophecy. Powerful, yes, butnot bound by curses and the crushing weight of expectation. She will grow to be... content andhappy. And she'll replace her mate, as you have found yours. You two, the mates of Shadow and Light,are the endpoint of the great conflict of the gods. Once you prevail, your kind can finally have thepeace Leto so desperately wanted for her people.”

I furrowed my brow. Lena opened her mouth, but no words fell from her tongue. I could see fatiguein her eyes, dark circles casting long shadows beneath her bottom lashes.

“She needs to rest,” I grumbled, taking Lena by the arm.

"You're welcome to use my temple,” Andromeda said with a bob of her head, and in a shower offlower petals and mist, she disappeared.

I yelped with surprise, then felt a rush of heat prickle over my chest and cheeks. “I'm sick of thismagic, Lena.”

“I know, I'm ready to go home-"

"We can rest first. We should both rest.” I led her toward the massive tree that had a house wrappedaround it, which looked too small to contain more than two or three rooms. I noticed Zeke out ofthe corner of my eye talking with lanthe, with Penny standing close beside him. Oliver was trying invain to explain something to a group of Andromeda’s acolytes, all of them dressed in white silk. Noone would miss us if we snuck away for a moment to close our eyes.

I held the door open for Lena, but she stopped in the doorway, her breath hitching in her throat. Ilooked over the top of her head and gasped as an ornate foyer spread out in front of us, glisteningwith floral wallpaper and thick, purple carpets.

It was a palace hidden inside the treehouse, some sort of magic trick. I didn't dwell on it. I led Lenainto the palace and opened the first door I could replace. A bedroom materialized out of a puff of mist,complete with a four-poster bed and rich, silken coverlets that called out to me. I picked Lena upand carried her into the bedroom, laying her on the bed.

She had her arms wrapped around my neck and didn't let go as she sunk into the mattress. I lookedinto her eyes as I brushed a kiss over her mouth, then her forehead, resting my hand on the swell ofher stomach.

“It's going to be alright,” I whispered, and she nodded, a choked sob escaping her throat. I laidbeside her for some time, my body wrapped around hers. I closed my eyes, letting sleep take me.

I didn't dare dream.

I knew when I opened my eyes again, we would be preparing for war.