Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 609

Chapter 109 : Only Death Will End the Bloodshed

*Maeve*

I bet you didn't expect to see me here.

It's not my story, after all. At least, it wasn't until the moment my son placed that heavy leather-bound book in my hands.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was a young woman on a mission to save my world fromdestruction. I'd been told it would end with me, that my powers would be beyond reason. But then...nothing. Hanna was the one who killed Tasia, the Lycennian Dream Dancer hell-bent on destroyingeverything, and everyone, we knew and loved. Hanna was also the one to bring forth the conclusionof the Moonstone Prophecy, giving birth to Selene, the next White Queen-our Lena, my belovedLena.

I was happy to fall back into the background. All I cared about in those early years after the fall ofLycenna and Dianny were my triplet sons and my mate. I threw myself into motherhood. I threwmyself into mending the fractured pack of Poldesse by Troy's side. The years ticked by, quiet,uneventful.

But then I... I got pregnant again.

It had been a shock. It was a miracle, if I was being honest, that I was able to carry anotherpregnancy full term after the trauma of having the triplets. Our boys were almost twelve years old atthe time. We had thought we were done. We had decided our triplet princes were enough.

“It's a boy," the nurse had said as she placed the infant in my arms-my fourth son, our baby, Lucas. Ilooked into his sweet, innocent face and... I panicked. It all came rushing back to me, overwhelmingme. My time in Dianny flashed before my eyes-Una's words, telling us all that my children would besons, all FOUR of them... all of the questions, the warnings, the lingering doubts that our troublesweren't over strangled me until I found it hard to breathe.

There was a time the visions of seers were taken with a grain of salt. Even Hanna's visions weredoubted, and by herself more than anyone.

But now, as I stood deep within the forest, the ice-covered river creaking and hissing steam in myperiphery, a vision from a time long past wouldn't ease its grip on me, just like I couldn't seem toease the grip on the howling book of spells.

I saw two white wolves in a clearing, one standing protectively over the other. I'd seen it whilestanding in that circle of stones in Dianny; everyone had. I'd been told it was me and my mother.

I realized, as I knelt in the snow to lay the book on the ground in the light of a crescent moon, thatthose wolves were me and someone who had not yet been born at the time.

“I hate magic,” I breathed, closing my eyes against the soft, feral whimpers of the book as I openedits pages.

I'd gone out after dinner like I said I would. I refused to let Hanna, Lena, or Clare follow me into thewoods. This I could do by myself. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and I could admit it hadbeen a long time since I'd shifted. What-ifs had clogged my mind during what ended up being aquiet supper. Dad and Sasha ended up picking at their plates on the floor, playing with the train set.None of us women had a single word to say over our plates of broiled salmon and fingerlingpotatoes.

I'd dressed for the frigid night, a quilted parka covering my body and a thick wool hat shielding myears and forehead. Stripping naked in the middle of a snow covered forest was the last thing Iwanted to do

But, I needed to shift. If the secrets of this book could only be accessed in wolf form, and for someGoddess forsaken reason, only by me... well, I didn't have much of a choice now, did I?

I undressed, hanging my clothes on a low-lying tree branch as the snow bit into my toes. Shiveringand as naked as the day I was born, I stepped back into the moonlit clearing and took a deepbreath, trying to calm my nerves.

The transformation took place, and within a second, I was shrouded in warmth as my body shiftedto that lean, silvery white wolf. I pawed the ground, then stretched, shaking out my fur. I was nearlyas pale as the snow covering the forest floor. I sat back on my haunches, lowering my head to gazedown at the book.

I heard a crunch to my left and snapped my head around, teeth bared. A moose peered at me witha shocked expression, its antlers trembling as it took several steps back into the brush andthundered away.

'Are you alright out there?’ Hanna said through the mind-link. 'Do you want me to come to you?"'I'm alright,’ I replied, watching the dark form of the moose disappear as it crossed the ice-coveredriver.

Hanna wasn't one to pry, but I knew she was likely waiting by a window in the castle, pining forinformation. I grinned internally at the thought of Hanna wringing her hands while I pranced in thewoods with the ancient spellbook.

Hanna and I were bound together in a strange way, something rare. It was almost like a mate bond,and I knew she could feel every ripple of my anxiety coursing through my veins as I lay down on mybelly, weighing my options about how to approach this odd situation.

The book was no longer howling. Its pages rustled in the chilled breeze, mingling with the mutedwhispers lifting from within-soft, feminine voices, some whispering in hushed tones while othersgiggled.

My ears twitched as I listened, but I was unable to interpret any words. It was just... noise.

I let out a low, guttural growl, sliding upward into a lunge. For whatever reason, I felt as though Iwas supposed to approach the book without being invited to come forward. I wasn't sure why, andit didn't entirely make sense, but I just felt as though I was waiting for something.

The voices halted on the next breeze, which was more of a stiff gust of wind. The book slid acrossthe snow in the wind's wake, its pages flapping wildly. I rose to all fours and watched as the bookcame to rest, a single page dropping to the side, laying open and still.

A hush spread over the clearing, and through the trees, 1 could see... eyes—dozens and dozens ofthem, pale silver and blue, looking right at me, unblinking. My ruff stood on end as the eyes staredat me in unison. Suddenly, they disappeared, and I saw what I can only describe as shadowskneeling and bowing to me, some taking a knee before they straightened up again and wereswallowed up by the night, only their eyes remaining.

I swallowed, my upper lip trembling as I forced myself not to bare my teeth at the spirits lingering inthe woods.

"Witch!" came a ribbon of giggles that wove between the trees, echoing away.

'I'm not a witch,’ I said through the mind-link, unable to form more than growls, yaps, and howls inmy wolf form.

"Come to us, daughter of Morrighan. Let us show you the answers you seek.”

A chill ran up my spine as the mind-link crackled, and Hanna's voice cut through my mind.

“What's happening?’ she said hurriedly, but I was already walking forward toward the book.

I looked down at the pages, replaceing the book remarkably changed. Instead of indecipherable text,the pages were covered in images that moved across the page, turning and twisting as if they weredancing. My eyes went wide as I watched what I knew, without a doubt, was the entire story of mylands, my people, and our gods playing out in rapid succession.

Centuries ticked by in seconds. I saw my own birth, my childhood, my journey to the moonstonesand my mate, then the birth of my sons, my kingdom, every intimate touch of Troy's body againstmine.

My heart was thundering in my chest as images went on and on, illustrated as though someone hadpainted every moment of my life

But then, it kept going, and going, and going. Then it stopped, with a picture of a white wolf in asnow-covered clearing standing before a well of gem-like eyes.

“Shall we show you your future?”

'I need to know how to stop this war," I replied.

I wondered if they could hear me. Hanna could, and she was frantically trying to mind-link with me,but I shielded the connection, blocking her out.

“Your son will be the hero you seek,” the voices drawled in unison.

'I don't seek a hero," I said with force, another shiver running up my spine. My son? Which son?“There is only one way to end the bloodshed when it begins, and that is with death.”

“Obviously,’ I ground out, this time baring my teeth and growling as I sent my reply through themind-link. “What spell am I supposed to use? And how?"

“A union has been made. The fracture between the twins has mended.” The book snapped shut,falling over on its side. I jumped backward as the book shook violently, then stopped, settlingagainst the snow. “Open it, witch. Let us show you what you must do.”

I pawed the book open, cursing internally. Thumbs would have been nice to have at this moment.The book was blank, save for one single page in the center. I knew the faces I was looking at-me,Hanna, my mother, and Lena... Marg, the sister of Tasia... and Clare.

“The coven must reunite and call to Morrighan to shelter the realm," the voices whispered, theirvoices like music. “The moonstones... the lily... silver, and stone.”

Suddenly the clearing went quiet, and the eyes disappeared. The image on the page faded.

But then, I heard a faint whisper. A single voice remained, its tone somber. Another image appearedon the page, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I gazed upon it.

"A gift," the voice said, fading away as it retreated into the clearing.

I abruptly shifted back to my human form, hugging myself with my arms as tears rolled down mycheeks. Hanna was beating against the mind-link, trying to get in

The page went blank, then filled with its unusual scrawl, erasing all evidence of the image that wasnow etched forever into my mind.

It had shown me my entire life.

And then, it had shown me my death.