Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 625

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 625

Chapter 125 : I'm Not a Ghost

*Lena*

I was home; how, I didn't know. I'd simply opened my eyes and found myself lying on my backlooking up at a star-flecked sky, turning my head to see the muted lights of Crimson Creek in thedistance. Some of the grand estates dotting the horizon had lights glistening in their windows, anda sense of peace washed over me as I sat up, hugging my knees.

I was still dressed in the warrior garb I'd been wearing when I first passed through the portal. I knewthe portal was no longer there; I couldn't feel it. There was no longer an unearthly pull toward thesweeping hills outside of Crimson Creek. It was quiet, still, and peaceful.

Gideon's house rose against the horizon as I made my way through the hills. Below me, CrimsonCreek was awash in activity. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people moved between black tents,lanterns bobbing as they made their way through the dark. Armored trucks were stationed aroundthe village, and I could see shadowed figures passing out boxes into waiting hands.

Our kind was helping the lower vampires who had escaped. They had nowhere else to go now. Thiswas their home, as much as it was ours.

My chest tightened as I continued my slow walk to Gideon's property. I didn't know why I felt like Ineeded to go there first. It seemed like the right thing to do. I wanted to check in with my friendsand replace out what had happened in my absence, however long that had been.

I opened the rusted gate at the end of Gideon's driveway and looked up at the house. Someonewas sitting on the porch steps, their body casting a long shadow across the moonlit front yard. Theylooked up at me, and I saw a flash of copper as the figure stood, stepping into the light.

“Lena,” Oliver breathed in disbelief.

I gave him a weak smile, noticing the lines of grief and exhaustion lining his face as he walkedforward. He looked as though he wasn't sure I was actually there, his eyes wide and skeptical as hetook me in.

“I'm not a ghost,” I said softly, my eyes leaving his to catch a flicker of movement behind thewindows in the house, which were drenched in a pale amber glow. Several people were inside, andmy heart leaped in my throat as I realized Xander might be one of them. “Is he here?”

“No,” Oliver replied. He knew exactly who I was talking about. His voice softened as he said, “He's inBreles, recovering.”

“Is he alright?”

Oliver was only a few feet away from me now. He stopped walking, his face flushing with color as hereached out his hand and grazed my sleeve with his fingertips. He let out his breath in a whooshand jumped back a step.

“I'm not a ghost,” I repeated, noticing the slight tremble that rippled over his body for a moment.He didn't pull me into a hug like I thought he would. His skeptical expression didn’t change, not abit. My heart squeezed as I looked into his eyes, noticing the usual fire was gone. “Are you alright?”“Come inside,” he said without a hint of emotion. I exhaled deeply, clenching my fists at my sides asI opened my mouth to say his name and demand that he tell me what was wrong, but he turnedaway, heading back into the house without so much as a word.

It wasn't that I hadn't known what he'd done. I'd seen it in the shimmering altar, a vision of Oliverbringing down the portal. He'd done so without a glimmer of emotion in his eyes. Oliver, who'dbeen the epitome of sunshine, was nothing but a shell of himself now, and it broke my heart.

He wouldn't be the only one left with scars. This was likely the most brutal war our kind had beenthrough. Cities had been toppled; thousands were dead. I struggled to wrap my mind around thescope of the c*****e as I stepped into Gideon's house and gazed upon the familiar faces staringright back at me.

Alma and Bethany were standing in the entrance to the kitchen, their faces smudged with flour.Bethany gave me a soft smile, her eyes glistening with tears. Alma looked stoic as always, a ghost ofa smile touching her lips as she nodded in my direction.

Henry was seated in an armchair, sitting directly across from Ben, who was looking over his shoulderat me with a knowing smile on his face. Gideon's brothers were next to the fireplace, their armscrossed over their chests.

Gideon reached out to take my hand and led me toward the staircase, nodding in a business-likefashion in a way of greeting.

“Dinners in a few minutes,” Bethany called out, but Gideon ignored her as he led me upstairs.“Where are we going?” I asked, but before he could reply a man stepped out of one of thebedrooms and into the narrow hallway, his teeth bared-pointed teeth, a vampire.

“That's enough, Lincoln,” Gideon said beneath his breath, coming to stop before the man. “She'shere to help.”

“I am?" I asked weakly, thoroughly confused.

Lincoln, tall and dark haired with a handsome if not menacing face glowered at me, then reluctantlystepped aside to allow me to cross the hallway into the bedroom he was guarding.

A soft cooing sound came from the bed, which was a tangle of sheets and quilts as my eyes movedfrom the foot of the bed to the young woman lying in it, her arms wrapped around a nursing infant.She had bright, pale gold hair that was braided loosely away from her face and shockingly greeneyes that were fanned by dark lashes. Her cheeks were hollow, and scars ran up the length of herarms—bite marks, dozens of them.

I recognized her immediately, even though I'd never seen her in person. I didn't think she was stillalive.

“Carly,” I whispered, and some of the fear lining her features faded at the mention of her name. Sheswallowed weakly, glancing toward the doorway where the vampire male was now standing,watching our exchange with marked concern.

"Who are you?” she asked, her voice cracking with fear. The baby in her arms made a noise, and shegathered it defensively to her chest, wincing in pain. She was... ill, perhaps, or hurt. The baby wasstill a pale pink from birth, which had been recent. I turned around slowly, meeting Gideon's gaze."Who is the father of that baby?” I asked, unable to hide the heat in my voice. I knew lower vampirescould breed with wolves. Xander had said as much when he told me about Henry being Bethany'sfather. I glanced up at Lincoln, my eyes narrowing into slits.

“Don’t hurt him,” Carly choked, a whimper escaping her lips.

Lincoln started forward, pushing me out of the way before I could react.

“Relax, my love. You need to rest"

My love?

I turned around and watched as the vampire knelt beside the bed and caressed Carly’s cheek. Hereyes watered, her face twisting into a painful pout as she began to whimper. My gaze wanderedpast the couple to a cart full of supplies on the other side of the bed, and then to a trash bin in thecorner of the room. Blood-soaked gauze was damn near spilling over the top of the bin. I glanced atGideon, who had been following my gaze.

“The boy is only two hours old,” he said softly. “We haven't been able to stop the bleeding, not yet.”I looked back at Carly, who was indeed very pale. I heard Alma’s distinctive footsteps on the stairsand within a second she was in the doorway, holding a fresh set of towels and sheets under onearm and a tea tray balanced in the other.

“Oliver's blood didn’t work,” Alma said without so much as looking at me as she bustled into theroom, waving Lincoln away from Carly's bedside. “We already tried.”

There was a whisper of sadness in Alma’s voice, which was exceedingly unusual for her. I glanced ather as she coaxed Carly to hand the baby to Lincoln so Alma could tend to her, but Carly wasrefusing.

That's when I noticed the bloody sheets beneath Carly, and when I looked up I noticed Lincolnlooking right at me

“You want to know what happened to her?” he said without an ounce of kindness in his voice. Everyword was dripping with malice, and I almost shuttered under the steel behind his gaze. “She wasdragged by her hair into my realm, then beaten and used as a feeder. That man-that man who ranthat estate in this realm sold her to the king, but his guards got to her first. I was a slave in hiscastle, a feeder as well. Some of us escaped at the same time his guards were having their way withher. We were able to stop them, and took her with us.”

My stomach tightened into a knot. Maxwell had told me that he'd fallen in love with Carly, but thathad obviously been a lie. Fury burned behind Lincoln's eyes as he continued, “We found refuge inone of the underground cities. We married, and I got her out before the portal came down. We wentwith the rest of the refugees.”

Carly had been missing for five years. I wondered if she knew just how long it had been, given thattime worked differently between the two realms.

Tears were streaming down Carly's face as Alma gently prodded her belly, and Alma turned to lookup at me, a pleading look in her eyes.

I could see the gray color starting to creep over Carly’s skin and the yellowing of her eyes. Her lipswere tinted a muted blue. She was dying.

Fire erupted in the pit of my stomach as I walked across the room and grabbed the unused tea cupsitting on the tray Alma had brought in the bedroom moments earlier. The wound on my hand fromwhen I'd activated the altar was still fresh and barely healed. All I had to do was flex and thensqueeze my hand to get the blood flowing again. I glanced at Lincoln, who paled as he watched mesqueeze my blood into the teacup.

Alma was at my side suddenly, gently taking the teacup from me and replacing it with a length ofsterile cloth to wrap around my hand. I gave her a strained smile in thanks, but her eyes werefocused on the teacup as she reached into her apron and pulled out a vial full of inky black powder.I smelled the blood root immediately, its acrid scent filling my nostrils, but then it was quicklyreplaced by the earthy scented tea Alma poured over the powder and my blood. She mixed theconcoction, and I grimaced as she met my eye.

Nothing had looked more unappetizing, but it would likely save Carly’s life.

Lincoln was holding the infant in one hand and settling Carly into a seated position in the bed withthe other, which Alma had dressed in fresh, clean sheets. The bloodied sheets were piled in thecorner of the room, and I sucked in my breath at the sheer amount of blood staining the fabric. Ilooked at Carly, who was incredibly weak, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Drink, darling,” Alma coaxed, lifting the teacup to Carly’s lips.

Carly barely had the strength to protest, and Alma wasn't giving her an option to refuse. Alma didn'tstop tilting the potion into Carly’s mouth until it was gone. Lincoln patted the infant on his shoulder,glancing from Alma then back to Carly, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Carly's lashes fluttered, and she mumbled something inaudible as she slumped against the pillows. Istarted forward, but Gideon caught me by the arm, shaking his head as Alma straightened her backand turned to us.

“Let them rest now,” Alma whispered. “We've done all we can do.”

Alma guided Gideon and me into the hallway, shutting the door behind us.

“Dinner is nearly ready-" Alma began, but I cut her off.

“Does she know how long she’s been gone? Has her family been told"

"Warriors were sent to Breles with information about her whereabouts,” Gideon replied as wewalked down the hallway towards the stairs. “Her father fought in Breles and hasn't been located,and her mother was evacuated to Valoria. I don't know if word has reached her.”

I had so much I wanted to talk to Carly about, so much I needed to know. But now was not the time.I wasn't sure if I'd ever see her again.

"How long ago was that?” I asked. How long was I gone? How much time had passed while I was inthe temple with the God of the Night?

“Two weeks ago. They came through with the last wave of refugees.”

“Two weeks,” I breathed, blinking back an onslaught of tears.

"Eat with us, Lena,” Alma demanded, taking me by the elbow.

“I need to go to Breles—"

“I'll take you there myself, after dinner. I promise,” Gideon replied with a rare smile in my direction.“I have something to discuss with the Alpha of Egoren, anyway.”