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.”

sleeps until noon most days. It’s a lot… the pregnancy,

and tilting his head from side to side,

you want me to wake her

and Ernest get back from Mirage today.” Rowan shifted uncomfortably, then tilted his head toward the hallway. I nodded firmly, my chest tightening with anxiety as followed him down the

eyes creasing as her mouth stretched into a beaming smile. “Good morning!” she exclaimed, setting the knife down and turning to pull

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 a damn. Yesterday, we‘d been too busy to eat

breakfast.

himself on a stool next to the kitchen island, and I followed suit, sipping my coffee and watching as Gretchen began to pour pancake batter into a large cast iron

handsome and patient as I imagined you, Troy dear,” Gretchen said sweetly as she

cast him a dirty look. She was a friendly older woman who exuded what I could only

say. So alike. It’s no wonder your mates are such quiet, humble people.

said, watching as Gretchen grabbed two plates from the dishrack. “Could we get breakfast to go? Would that be too much

cabinets for two plastic 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,

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

helmet, Rowan. You know how

said over his shoulder. “Thanks for breakfast,

in Winter Forest, but it had been very dark. I could only make

as I followed him down the stairs.

“I’m from the Isles,”

the stairs, and the garage erupted into light. I took a moment to be shocked,

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

tongue along the inside

here from the port, and it’s been sitting in the garage for fifteen

said, unable to hide my shock, “I don’t think that matters that much. This place

I walked around, glancing at the

a set of rooms in the back, a bathroom and what looked like a small office or storage room. I could see an icon bouncing around on what looked like a screen and couldn’t hold back my questions

a computer?” I asked, turning to

helmet he was holding and inhaled deeply, his cheeks

“Yeah, it is.”

never

in his voice, and I quickly

serious? I‘ve only ever read about them. I

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

building more radio towers. I needed a way to test the frequency needed to

wanting nothing more than for him to show me exactly what he could do with

balanced the helmet on

his lips and shaking his head. “I’m not supposed to

snowmobiles out. It was arduous work, and I was sweating by the time we had packed

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

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

his head back, laughing. “You’re not who I was expecting you to be, Troy. I think that would be a waste. Plus, Dad would kill me if anything happened to

***

and stepped off of them. I looked out over the village, which seemed to be miles below us, the lights of the

I could touch them. A green band of light danced over

shifted,” I said as I set my helmet down on the snowmobile and lifted the thermos of coffee to

But nothing is worse than getting snowballs stuck between the pads of

I can

one of the food containers and we sat on our snowmobiles to

punching you,” Rowan said after a few minutes

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