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.”

It’s a lot…

he said awkwardly, pursing his lips and tilting

me to wake her

actually came for you. I wanted to, uh, talk to you for a minute before Talon 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 hallway and

in the kitchen, surrounded by the smell of breakfast sausage and coffee as she chopped potatoes. She looked up from the butcher block, her eyes creasing as her mouth stretched into a beaming smile. “Good morning!” she exclaimed, setting the knife down and turning

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

breakfast.

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 skillet slicked with bacon

I imagined you, Troy dear,” Gretchen said sweetly as she flipped the pancakes. “It certainly takes a specific type of man

as she cast him a dirty look. She was a friendly older woman who exuded what I could only describe as “grandma energy,” and she looked the part as well, dressed in an apron decorated

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

as Gretchen grabbed two plates from the dishrack. “Could

rummaged around in the 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, to be

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

wearing your helmet, Rowan. You know how

Rowan said over his shoulder. “Thanks for

slept there the night we arrived in Winter Forest, but it had been very dark.

followed him down the stairs. “Ever

“I’m from the Isles,”

flipped on a light switch as we reached the bottom of the stairs, and the garage erupted into light. I took a moment to be shocked,

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

I’ve never seen a vehicle that old before.” | ran my tongue along the inside of my lower lip, wondering if Rowan would protest if I poked around the

and it’s been sitting in the garage for fifteen

my shock, “I don’t think that matters that much. This

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

was 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

a computer?” I asked, turning to face

the helmet he was holding and inhaled

“Yeah, it is.”

I’ve never seen

his voice, and I quickly

I‘ve only ever read about them.

destroyed most of the technology to use them, so there was no

needed a way to test the frequency needed

said earnestly, wanting nothing more than for him to show me exactly what he could

on his hip. “Maybe when we

he paused, pursing his lips and shaking his head. “I’m not supposed to like

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 two backpacks and backed the snowmobiles out into

to tell you how to ride one of these!”

not planning on leading me away

“You’re not who I was expecting you to be, Troy. I think that would be a waste. Plus, Dad

***

were blanketed in snow so fine it didn’t make a sound as we parked the snowmobiles and stepped off of them. I looked out over the village, which seemed to be miles below us, the lights of the cabins just visible

so close I felt like I could touch them. A green band of light danced over the mountains on the

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

But nothing is worse than getting snowballs stuck

I

me one of the food containers and we sat on our

for punching you,” Rowan said after a

closing up the empty container and putting it in my backpack. He did the same,