Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 33 : Ambassador from the East

* Xander*

The inn had a modest restaurant on the first floor, decorated in a similar fashion to the rooms above. I was sitting at a round table in a far, quiet comer of the restaurant, a huge platter of roast beef with gravy, sourdough bread, and roasted vegetables laid out between me and the ambassador sent from the East.

He was a young man. likely only a few years younger than myself, with rich dark hair and slightly tilted emerald green eyes. He bore the characteristics of the royal eastern family, with his sharp nose and high cheekbones, and a strong jaw and chin. I eyed him curiously as he forked a piece of roast beef from the platter and dropped it on his plate, letting out a long sigh as he blinked down at his food.

‘’Long trip?" I asked, sipping from my pint of bitter, dark ale.

George, a great-nephew of the former Alpha King of the East, looked up at me tluough his thick, dark lashes as a wry smile touched his lips.

‘‘Absolute hell, if I'm being honest. I always forget how long it takes to get anywhere in Finaldi." He took a bite of the roast and sighed again, shaking his head. “I feel like I haven't eaten in days."

"Same," I said, filling my own plate and stealing a glance toward the foyer.

Lena was in for the shock of her life when she came downstairs to meet us. and I was looking forward to watching her emotions play over her face.

"My partner will be joining us in a moment. She needs to... ulun, finish drying her hair."

"I didn't know your field partner was a woman," he said with a c**k of his brow.

I shrugged, hoping the heat still gripping my body from what Lena and I had been up to only half an hour before wasn't evident on my face.

"She's the best botanist Morhan has to offer." I smiled, despite my efforts to remain neutral.

"Well, don't tell my cousin that." George grinned. swiping a piece of meat through the gravy on his plate. "She's a botanist as well, but her field study is in Red Lakes."

I ran my tongue along my bottom lip, arching my brow and nodding my head in response. Oh, hell. This was going to be interesting.

"You might know her, actually. Selene Gray."

"I don't think I do. My course of study is in pharmaceuticals."

"She'd be hard to miss," he said with a little chuckle. "But I haven't seen her since this time last year. The whole damn family still congregates in Avondale every December-"

I was watching him closely as he spoke. I was feeling a little anxious now. wondering when Lena was going to walk down the stairs. Any minute she'd round the comer of the foyer, and she'd either run or come face to face with the truth.

"Did you come here on your own?" I asked.

have gathered pertaining to the investigation back to them at the end of my stay." He glanced up at me quickly before settling his gaze back

as much," I said lightly, giving

I'd already assumed he wasn't in line for any title, but he was still related to the retired Alpha King of Valoria. Ethan Gray. He would have grown up with the princes, as well as Alpha

him to go over every branch on his enormous family tree. He was tied to the West as well, through the marriage of Alpha King Rowan and Queen Hanna, whose family hailed from Red Lakes and whose father

and offspring, cementing a hereditary monopoly that would rale for generations

noticing the thin gold band on his

She's pregnant, and wasn't feeling

I said earnestly, giving

beer to his lips. "Thank you, it was a surprise, to be honest. I'm still coming to

I quipped, leaning back in my chair. I was

Suntra. and her family vacationed with mine in Avondale every winter. We were

I said with a little

and chuckling as the memory drifted behind his eyes. "We eloped. I thought Ethan- the former Alpha King, as you know-I thought

alive, so I'm guessing the family accepted your decision

but when it came down

about one person. Rosalie,

felt a glimmer of hope settle

actually. Joy and I are moving with her parents and their pack to

it. giving him a

you can believe it. Her parents raised the kids that survived, and now what was left of the people in Dianny have outgrown the island of Suntra. They've been building a new settlement on the shore of the southern jungle for a few' years now;

eyes for a brief

assume?" George shrugged,

if he only

"Xander!"

turned to Lena's voice, seeing her standing in the foyer, her eyes narrow'ed at me. I stood abruptly, biting the inside of my cheek

smile playing over his face, but then he stilled, his brow knitted in marked confusion. She was staring right at him, her face twisted in a

throat as I motioned

she sheepishly walked foivvard. her cheeks flaming with a

her for a moment, trying not to laugh as she did everything but make eye contact with George. I wanted to ask what her deal w'as, but I knew' it'd be fruitless. She wasn't going to tell me the truth, no matter the

George said, giving Lena a stem look that made my skin prickle with adrenaline. "A far cry

interrupted sharply, forking a

to whatever game they were playing via the mind-link, I assumed, and turned Iris attention back to me

the murder of the woman named Gretta and is wanted for information pertaining to the disappearance of the groundskeeper and farmhand." George sipped Iris beer, his gaze flicking to Lena before he met my eye again. "Something unusual was discovered, however. The w'arriors went out into the hills

that day she went with me