Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 83 : Common Ground

Troy

Well, I was still alive.

I hadn’t been sure what to expect when we finally reached Maeve’s homeland, but I thought Maeve would have been more at peace.

Instead, I watched her crumble at the edge of her parents’ bed, the moonstones in her hands, realizing the act of bringing them together hadn’t worked.

That had been the first time I met her mother, the famous White Queen Rosalie… my future mother-in-law, if Ethan didn’t kill me before a wedding could take place.

We had been in Winter Forest for a full day at that point, and my conversations with Ethan had been short and to the point. I had turned over Opaline to him. I had returned his daughter to her pack. I had given him a complete report on everything that had happened from the moment I first stepped foot in Valoria to the day our boat pulled into the inlet that hugged the shore of Winters Forest’s main village.

Outside of that, he didn’t even look in my direction.

I was only slightly embarrassed that I fell off the dock in front of him, but Rowan made me look slightly better than himself when he jumped in a second time to help me get the moonstone before it was carried away by the tide.

The icy, glacial water had been a baptism of some kind, something that cemented an unlikely friendship between Maeve‘s brother and

1. me.

So, I wasn’t entirely surprised when I woke up the next morning to Rowan in the doorway of Maeve’s bedroom, peering down at me.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” he asked in a whisper, arching his brow.

I ran my fingers through my hair and then over my face, rubbing my eyes. “More room down here,” I tilted my head toward the bed where Maeve was still sleeping like a rock with basically all of the pillows in the house tucked around her body. “What time is it?”

“A little after seven,” he replied, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. I looked out the window behind the bed, seeing nothing. It was pitch black. “The sun doesn’t come up until, like, eleven this time of year. You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” I blinked a few times, my body and mind not yet acclimated to the strangeness of this place. The sun had set the day before at just after 3:00 p.m., and all my body wanted to do was sleep even though I wasn’t particularly tired.

“It’s hard on everyone for a while,” Rowan continued as I stood and folded up the blanket I had been sleeping on. I laid it over Maeve’s feet, which were peeking out of the thick quilt that she had tucked up around her ears. “How’s she doing?”

I could hear the guilt in his voice as his gaze shifted from me to the bed.

In truth, Maeve wasn’t well. She had cried until she fell asleep the night before, spilling her feelings about her homecoming to me while I held her, whispering reassurances against her neck. Maeve was a wreck, and I couldn’t blame her. It was mostly my fault.

1. me.

So, I wasn’t entirely surprised when I woke up the next morning to Rowan in the doorway of Maeve’s bedroom, peering down at me.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” he asked in a whisper, arching his brow.

I ran my fingers through my hair and then over my face, rubbing my eyes. “More room down here,” I tilted my head toward the bed where Maeve was still sleeping like a rock with basically all of the pillows in the house tucked around her body. “What time is it?”

“A little after seven,” he replied, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms over his chest. I looked out the window behind the bed, seeing nothing. It was pitch black. “The sun doesn’t come up until, like, eleven this time of year. You’ll get used to it.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” I blinked a few times, my body and mind not yet acclimated to the strangeness of this place. The sun had set the day before at just after 3:00 p.m., and all my body wanted to do was sleep even though I wasn’t particularly tired.

“It’s hard on everyone for a while,” Rowan continued as I stood and folded up the blanket I had been sleeping on. I laid it over Maeve’s feet, which were peeking out of the thick quilt that she had tucked up around her ears. “How’s she doing?”

I could hear the guilt in his voice as his gaze shifted from me to the bed.

In truth, Maeve wasn’t well. She had cried until she fell asleep the night before, spilling her feelings about her homecoming to me while I held her, whispering reassurances against her neck. Maeve was a wreck, and I couldn’t blame her. It was mostly my fault.

“She’s fine. Tired,” I answered shortly, pulling one of the thick knit sweaters Gretchen had laid out for me over my shoulders. Rowan watched me closely. His eyes were so much like Maeve’s, the same color and shape, in fact. But Rowan looked more like Rosalie in the face, at least in my opinion. He had his father’s jaw, though, which tightened and flexed whenever they held back their words.

“I was hoping she’d be awake, so I could… talk to her. Say hi, I guess.”

most days. It’s a

yeah,” he said awkwardly, pursing his lips and tilting his head from side to

you want me to wake

get back from Mirage today.” Rowan shifted uncomfortably, then tilted his

eyes creasing as her mouth

and added a liberal amount of fresh cream, which made my stomach tighten with anticipation. We had been eating nothing but dried food and grains for weeks, and no one aboard Damian’s cruiser could cook worth

breakfast.

on a stool next to the kitchen island, and I followed suit, sipping my coffee and watching as

Gretchen said sweetly as she flipped the pancakes. “It certainly takes a specific type of

you mean,” Rowan said over the rim of his coffee mug, smirking at Gretchen as she cast him a dirty look. She was a friendly older woman who exuded what I could only describe as “grandma

Maeve should’ve been twins, I always say. So alike. It’s no wonder your mates are such quiet, humble people. Is Hanna coming up

her place later, if not,” Rowan said, watching as Gretchen grabbed two plates from the

containers as we continued to drink our coffee. I felt a little shy to the point of being uncomfortable. This was Rowan’s domain. Maeve’s childhood home. I was, to be blunt, an unwanted guest. Surely, Gretchen knew about the situation, having worked so closely with the family over the years. Maeve called

containers in his hands, thanking Gretchen as she filled two thermoses with coffee, which she handed to me

Rowan. You know how your mother feels

over his shoulder. “Thanks

there the night we arrived in Winter Forest, but it had been very dark. I could only make out the immediate area around me, which

followed him

“I’m from the Isles,”

but for snow. It’s very similar.” He flipped on a light switch as we reached the bottom of the stairs, and the garage erupted into

than the house itself. Four snowmobiles sat near the garage door, primed and ready for use. An assortment of other outdoor equipment leaned against the walls, bikes and several sets of skis and snowboards. A large pickup truck sat idle in the far corner of the garage next to what looked like a tractor, both covered in tarps. I hadn’t been around cars in my life, but I could tell the truck was old… Vintage, some might say. Rowan caught me looking at it and gave me a crooked smile. “It’s Dad’s.

it? I’ve never seen a vehicle that old before.” | ran my tongue along the inside of my lower lip, wondering

port, and it’s

shock, “I don’t

containers on one of the snowmobiles and started to grab gear off the shelves on the far wall, pulling down an assortment of gloves and padded jackets. I walked around, glancing at the tool bench before letting my gaze wander further into the recesses of the garage, which was double the length of the house, built like a basement beneath the

small office or storage room. I could see an icon bouncing around on what looked

I asked,

down the helmet he was holding and inhaled deeply, his cheeks

“Yeah, it is.”

I’ve never seen

built it.” I could hear the apprehension in his voice, and I quickly realized why his cheeks

you serious? I‘ve only ever read about them. I didn’t

on boats and planes.” The war had destroyed most of the technology to use them, so there was

my excitement. “I’m building more radio towers. I needed a

nothing more than for him to show me

balanced the helmet on his hip. “Maybe

his head.

help but laugh. Rowan motioned me over to him and we spent the next fifteen minutes suiting up to take the snowmobiles out. It was arduous work, and I was sweating by the time we had packed the food and coffee into

to tell you how to ride one of these!” Rowan shouted through his

it out!” I replied, not sure if he could hear me. “You’re not planning on leading me away from the

be, Troy. I think that would be a waste. Plus, Dad would kill me if anything happened to that

***

looked out over the village, which seemed to be miles below us, the lights of the

had never seen before, so close I felt like I could touch them. A green band of light danced over the mountains on the other side of

my helmet down on the snowmobile and lifted the thermos of coffee to

is worse than getting snowballs stuck between the pads of your

yeah. I can

the food containers and we sat on our snowmobiles to eat in relative quiet, watching

to apologize for punching you,” Rowan

expecting an apology,” I replied, closing up the empty container and putting it in my backpack. He did the same, but kept