Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 38 :1 Made a Huge Mistake

♦Lena*

Crimson Creek faded from view, its lights just a shimmer on the far horizon as the train rumbled forward through the slow rolling hills. The train car was dark: the few passengers sharing our journey were settling in their seats, closing their eyes.

Seven hours until we reached Morhan.

I glanced at Xander, who was sitting opposite me. He had a magazine in his hands and was staring blankly at it. His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and I quickly looked away, a feeling of absolute dread washing over me.

We'd ended things. Mutually. Even if we hadn't actually said the words that whatever we had been was done. I didn't know why he'd chosen to sit so close to me when there were rows and rows of empty seats.

The constant vibration of the train began to lull me into a stupor, my eyelids growing heavy with sleep. I looked over at Xander one last time before closing my eyes.

Let bygones be bygones, I thought with distress.

It was over.

It was time to go home.

I'd built this place. Every pebble along the edge of the clear pond, every drop of water cascading from the gentle waterfall lapping down the dark chunks of granite leading to the forest above. This glen was mine, every inch of it. I'd made the emerald grass so soft it felt like cashmere against my bare toes, and the glistening dew that dusted the grass wasn’t wet, or cold.

Ivy climbed up the trucks of the weeping willows that encircled my haven. Thickets of honeysuckle grew along the side of a workshop, its walls painted blue and dappled with stars.

I hadn't been here in years. I'd locked this place away in my mind, keeping it safe.

Time hadn't touched my glen, my secret garden. Pockets of sunlight drifted through the willows and dusted the grass as I walked forward, breathing deeply the heavy scent of hyacinth and hydrangea.

The door to the workshop was well-oiled and didn't make a sound as I opened it. Shelves full of paint lined one wall, and a large built-in hutch was on the far side, filled to the brim with paper, canvas, pencils, and pens. I breathed in the scent of ink. my body letting go of the tension I'd been carrying.

A short while later. I was sitting at the edge of the pond with my sketchbook propped on my knees. I was sketching the small golden fish that lived in the pond, their scales reflecting like jewels in the crisp, clear water.

I decided at that moment that I had no reason to leave this place. I had everything I needed. The weather was always warm. It never rained. I had an abundance of flowers and plants to look at and study.

No one could find me here. It was only for me. Just me. No one was here to tell me what to do, how to think, who to be.

I placed my hand on the grass, gripping the emerald tufts between my fingers. Purple clover began to sprout around my touch, blossoming right before my eyes. I smiled, flipped the page of my sketchbook, and began to draw the purple blooms.

But my pencil didn't make a single mark. I lifted the leaden tip and turned it, eyeing the pointed edge with interest. I tried again, but the pencil disintegrated against my touch, turning to dust.

“What-"

where the stut was filtering througli the canopy as tiny specks of light came cascading down over me and the water's edge. They settled on the water, floating in

direction to the voice, it was just there, echoing over the water

long," I whispered, looking around for the voice. How many times had it found me over the years? It was the only thing that had breached my sanctuary's defenses. It was not malicious or wanting, however. The genderless voice had simply been there, and it had likely been there before I

your time in

white specks

do them

cannot," I said simply. "Did you miss me. voice? I haven't been here

not of time,

"Alt, yes. I forgot."

from the water, drifting througli the air like dust in a ray of sun coming througli the glass

is starting soon, I believe," I whispered, tilting my head

voice said, then chuckled softly, the sound earned away by the breeze. "What's different this time? Is it

flushed, narrowing

"How did you know?"

you. He's trying

heavy fluorescent light of the train car. Xander was

The train was

reaching up to pull our bags from the overhead bin. He roughly tossed me my duffle bag, and I caught it,

seat, but then looked down. I froze

sprouted from the carpet, its tiny leaves

the elbow, but

platform. Xander was right behind me. grasping me by the hood

the hell was

don't know what you're talking

to hiss in my ear. "You were

I sidestepped around him and tiudged through the thickly

me as I walked off the platform

me, not since all of my equipment was now considered evidence pertaining to the estate. I adjusted the weight of my duffle bag as I walked up

building where our apartment was situated, the lights from the bodega on the first floor flooding into the street. I looked up at the fourth floor, seeing a light on in what would be our

in

"Lena." Xander said.

seeing him standing only twenty yards away, his hands tucked

look on his face broke whatever was left of my heart. He shifted his weight,

he said, his

you?" I asked. I was on the verge of tears again. Twenty yards, that was it.

you," he said,