Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 94 : 1 Kissed Her

Rowan

“It wasn’t easy,” said the metalsmith as he wiped his grimy hands on a rag. He spun around in his car, plopping a small, smooth ring in the palm of my hand. “You were right about the stone; it was jade-a sizable, practically flawless hunk of it. Say, where did you find it?”

“On the beach,” I said softly, turning the ring over in my hand.

The entire thing was made of jade, carved right out of the stone Hanna had found on our walk on the beach several weeks before the snow had begun to fall. That was months ago, I thought, wrapping my fingers around the ring. Things had some how felt easier then.

“There’s enough of the mother-stone left for a second ring, at least partially. Half would need to be metal of some kind, I rec ommend platinum. It’s what I used to give the first ring support, you see.”

“It’s… it’s fine. It’s just a gift.”

IL11

A parting gift.

Something I had planned on giving to Hanna under very dif ferent circumstances. I had carried that damn rock around in my jacket since the day she found it, marveling at the pale sea – green band of jade running through it whenever I had a moment of solitude to fish it out of its resting place.

I had imagined making a ring with it, one of pure jade, think ing the color would look perfect against the paleness of her skin. I

had imagined slipping it onto her finger and taking her hand in mine, as my wife.

I swallowed back the pain and paid the metalsmith, thanking him for his time. The ring felt heavy in my hand as I walked through the center of the village, crossing the road leading up to my house and through the woods toward Hanna’s cabin.

It had been a week since Maeve and my parents left for Mi rage. Two days ago, a pilot from Mirage had arrived in a Cessna 210, large enough to fit six passengers. He had come bearing news of Maeve, but we didn’t have much time to grieve her expe rience. She was fine, as were my three nephews, but the large seaplane that had been carting my family back and forth to Mi rage for decades had crash-landed and needed repairs.

We had all been summoned to Mirage. And I knew in my ab sence, Hanna would likely go back to Red Lakes as planned.

I wanted to ask her to come with me. I was ready to beg. But I knew it would be fruitless.

Any future I had with her seemed to evaporate the second she told Maeve and me what she had seen in her vision of Maeve’ s future. Maeve and Troy had been discussing what sounded like a succession of sorts, facilitated by my dad. My interpretation of the dream was that one of their sons was ascending a throne, which couldn’t have been Troy’s soon-to-be – title of Alpha of Poldesse. That left only two options: Alpha King of Valoria, or Al pha of Drogomor.

Which were the titles I was meant to inherit.

Which could only mean that I would have no children to pass them on to.

was that Hanna had been Wrong about

been wrong, but what did it matter? Hanna was leaving. There was nothing I

the hunk of jade in my

had walked, lost in thought, until i was standing at the bottom

step did she open the door, her black hair hanging loose over her shoulder

purple dappled with stars. I needed to be at the seldom used and grossly neglected landing strip outside of the village in the next

was it. This was

shovel the stairs for you again, but 1-” | started, motioning toward the three or so inches of fresh snow blanketing the

porch light. “It’s okay, Rowan. Pete can do

wanted nothing more than to toss it to her without a word and run then try to continue to stifle the heavy, overwhelming heartbreak. I understood her reasonings for want ing-no, needing to leave. But I would never understand why she felt like I wasn’t strong enough to protect

said you’re leaving

I have to… I wanted to give

unsure if my feet would let me go any further. The truth was, I likely wouldn’t be

And I would set up residency

looked up at Hanna, holding out my hand. I placed the ring in her open

had it. I don’t expect you to wear it. I don’t expect… I don’t expect anything. I respect you, Hanna. I respect you as much as I

looking into her eyes for a split sec ond before I turned and walked away,

Cessna 180, which looked like a toy compared to the glossy two-prop Cessna 210 that was idling only ten yards away on the ice-covered river. He handed George to Gemma, who immediately started fussing over the white snowsuit George was

wool hat Gretchen had knit for him, and he was staring forward at

Gemma asked, her voice distorted by the sound

plane to drape a heavy wool

hat, securing the headset

passenger seat, which had been folded forward to allow Gemma to climb into her seat, and put it back into position. He climbed

know how to fly this thing?” he joked with a wide smile,

mic, and his

pale as she sat behind us with George

laughed, which elicited a steely glare from Gemma. “We’re just waiting on the other plane to

me to take actual lessons from someone in Winter Forest when I turned eighteen. I turned

pilot was smart, he would cut Talon’s mic.

him on how to fly the plane for the

of my own tiny vessel. It had only two rows of seats, big enough to carry four adults at the most. It also didn’t have heat, so we were all bundled up in parkas and heavy gloves. George seemed fine with the arrangement, and within minutes, the heavy vibration in the cabin had lulled him into

voice cut through my headset, and I turned

entire family in comfort but needed to be landed at the port or the lake, which were both far from Mirage. Small Cessnas could land on the practically forgotten airstrips with relative ease, but

you if you crash!” Gemma glared forward and swallowed hard, obviously