Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 82 : I’m Coming for You

*Xander*

The girl's name was Sasha, and she hadn't let go of my hand for the last eight days.

Blonde, blue-eyed, and innocent, she had no idea what was going on or the level of c*****e we'd left behind when I'd carried her out of the forest. Even now, she seemed oblivious, perfectly content in the arms of strangers as she sat in my lap on the ferry as we neared the port of Avondale.

It was the closest we could get to Breles. We'd left the coast of Finadli from a small port town called Porthaven, and had been on the ferry for several days now. The journey out of Cedar Hollow had been a nightmare on every level.

I'd come out of the woods within minutes of dropping from what felt like the sky onto the forest floor. I had a few broken ribs, that was for sure, and I had been in total shock, handing Sasha off to a stunned Adrian and Abigail before turning on my heel and walking back into the forest.

I spent a full day looking for Lena. It would have been more had Adrian not physically removed me from the area and thrown me on a bus, holding me down until we were far enough away from Cedar Hollow that I couldn't sprint back into the smoldering remains of the territory.

It was gone, all of it–the village, the Alpha's castle… everything. I'd spent the day walking through the wreckage, screaming Lena's name into the trees as I stepped over the bodies of villagers and the hybrid beasts who had hunted and killed them. Survivors milled about, taking stock with pale faces lined with shock and confusion.

I had no idea what had happened, not until the initial fury and panic over what I thought I saw happen to Lena subsided, leaving me in a state of numbness.

I was sure I'd seen her lifted into the sky by a beast with bat-like wings. It happened in the blink of an eye, and then she was gone.

I was beginning to think I'd imagined it–all of it–her garden realm, Henry, the voice that was my only companion.

But then Adrian started talking.

I felt like I'd spent only a day or two in the realm of Lena's creation, but it had been weeks. Weeks had gone by in my absence, and as we arrived in Porthaven, I learned that all available warriors from all three continents were gathering off the coast of Breles.

The same beasts that had attacked in Cedar Hollow were attacking the smaller pack villages between Crimson Creek and Breles, making their way toward the capital city during the night and disappearing during the day.

As the days passed in an anxious blur aboard the ferry, which had stopped along the coast of northwest Findali before making a three-day long jump across the open ocean to the Isles of Denali's capital of Avondale, I had time to wrap my mind around the situation.

War. Blood. Death.

I'd warned Ethan of this. It was happening.

And I couldn't do anything to stop it.

“We need to talk about what's going to happen when we, uh, you know," Adrian said under his breath as he walked up to where I was sitting, Sasha sprawled on my lap flipping the pages of a children's book I'd read to her at least a dozen times this morning already.

I made no move to get up, and Adrian sighed in resignation as he crossed his arms over his chest.

'No one has seen Clare,' he said over the mind-link, tilting his head toward Sasha, who was invested in the pictures in the book and not giving Adrian a single second of her time.

'Clare?'

'Her mom! I explained this to you already,' Adrian said with a peeved expression.

I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling.

I was numb. I felt nothing–not anguish, not heartbreak, not panic. Just… nothing.

The only thing stopping me from strangling the captain of the ferry, turning it toward Breles, and storming the shore was the fact that I knew Lena was being kept alive. They needed her alive. He, the Vampire King, needed her alive.

I could feel her holding on. She was weak, but she was there, hanging on by a thread across the mate bond. Stay with me, I thought, praying she could hear me, or at least feel me through our bond. I'm going to come get you, I said to her as I met Adrian's gaze again, no matter what.

Adrian narrowed his eyes at me, tapping his fingers on his elbows as he waited for me to react to his command.

“You should just be Alpha King," I breathed, watching his eyes narrow further. “I'm tired."

“We're going to be in Avondale tomorrow morning," he said through gritted teeth.

“I know," I replied, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a caramel candy wrapped in shiny green paper, pressing it into Sasha's waiting palm. “It'll be fine. I already know what I'm going to say."

“That you lost their princess?"

“Ms. Grayleigh isn't a princess," Sasha said flatly as she opened the candy. “She's my teacher."

I smirked as Adrian looked down at Sasha with a furrowed brow. She plopped the candy into her mouth, unbothered.

“Sasha," Adrian said with remarkable calm and even a shred of sweetness in his voice, crouching down to look her in the eyes, “I need to talk to Xander for a minute. Could you go find Abigail? She has some… hair stuff you can play with." He waved his hand around his head, and I couldn't help but raise my brows as I watched him interact with the girl. Sasha frowned at him, looking him up and down before hopping off my lap and hugging the book to her chest. She walked off without a word and disappeared into a corridor leading down to the inner rooms of the large boat.

Adrian sighed as he rose to his full height, shaking his head as he said, “What are we supposed to do with her?"

“Several people were taken, from what I've heard. Her mom could be one of them."

“Their Alpha, her uncle, is gone too. I think it's more likely he's dead."

We would likely never know for sure. If he was in the castle, well, nothing would be left of him but charred bone. Sasha told us she had been walking home from a diner, or restaurant, with her mother when the attack began, and the two of them had been separated.

She was alone, but something stopped me from handing her off to one of the families who had left Cedar Hollow and fanned out along the coast as the ferry made its way toward the Isles. Maybe it had been the look in Lena's eyes before she'd been taken, something that commanded me to keep the girl with me, to protect her, to get her to safety.

“We'll hand Sasha off to Lena's family. The palace is crawling with kids; at least it was during the wedding. They're set up for it."

“They likely evacuated their families somewhere else, somewhere hidden. We're walking into a warzone," Adrian protested.

I shook my head. “Avondale hasn't been touched. It won't be touched by the Vampire King's forces, either–too much sun, too much heat." I ran my tongue along the inside of my lower lip as I bent forward and ran my fingers through my hair, ruffling it. I wanted a shower, a real one, not a cold drip that was all that was available on the ferry. “This is the plan," I exhaled, looking back up at Adrian.

We were going to dock in Avondale and immediately go to the palace. From there, we'd explain everything to Lena's family. We'd ask for help getting to Breles, and they would no doubt allow it. They had to. They'd use their power to get us a ship, maybe a navy cruiser, and we'd land in Breles in less than two days. From there…

“Lena is our priority. This goes beyond my relationship with her, Adrian. Okay? She's the only one who can stop this."

Adrian nodded solemnly, his eyes flashing with the memory of her powers. He'd told me about the silver wolves she produced, and commanded, which had likely saved the lives of countless villagers. She'd ended the battle in Cedar Hollow, and then she'd been taken.

We needed her. I needed her.

I swallowed back the fury rising like bile in my throat. Whoever had taken her, whatever it was, well… I'd have its head on a stake in a matter of days.

“There's one more thing I need to discuss with you, Alpha," Adrian said slowly, sitting down on the bench next to me. His blue eyes shined in the fluorescent lights over our heads, and a hopeful, almost pleading emotion fluttered across his face.

“She's your mate, isn't she?" I asked, settling my back against the bench.

Adrian pursed his lips and nodded, his cheeks coloring a bit. “We haven't done anything to, uh, consummate the bond, you know," he coughed, clearing his throat. “I haven't marked her. She's thinking about it."

“You want her to come to Egoren?"

“Yes, if that's what she wants. It's hard to see… to see a future right now, if I'm being honest, all things considered."

Adrian's words cut into my heart as I looked over at him. The mate bond between Adrian and Abigail had surprised me. Abigail wasn't his type at all. He tended to lean toward the more submissive, easygoing type of woman. Abigail was a force to be reckoned with.

She'd rule beside him, whispering her commands and opinions in his ear as he served as my Beta, no doubt.

She'd be great at it.

“You have my blessing, of course," I said with an easy smile, patting his on the back. He shrugged in response.