Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 103 : Journey to the Great Witch

*Lena*

We stayed in the cave until daybreak. The screeching of the hybrids had ceased, and as Xander and Oliver pulled the rocks that had hidden the entrance to the cave away, I stepped out into the faint, pinkish light that embraced the barren landscape.

Penny and Zeke lingered in the back of the cave, nothing visible but their eyes as I palmed the sunstone in my hands. Xander was stretching, rolling his neck. Oliver too was moving his aching limbs after spending the night tucked in the cramped cave. They noticed my sightless gaze and turned to me.

I glanced down at the sunstone in my palm, running my thumb over its raw, jagged surface. Then, I raised my hand and threw the sunstone into the ground with enough force to break it into three chunks.

Oliver yelped in surprise, and Xander scowled, his eyes meeting mine in a glare.

“What the hell did you do that for?" he barked as I gathered up the pieces and tucked them into my cloak.

“Zeke and Penny each need to carry a piece with them. It will prevent them from burning in the daylight."

“Who told you that?" Oliver asked, furrowing his brows.

“Zeke," I mumbled, sweeping up the thin shards of sunstone that littered the ground and dumping the dust in my pocket. “And I believe him. He can't escort us to the witches during the day without it, and we'd be up against the king's guard and hybrids if we travel at night."

“I know the way to the witches," Xander said, anger lacing every word. “You could've asked me–"

“This isn't our realm, Xander."

“We don't know who to trust–"

“I know who to trust," I snapped. Oliver raised his brows, looking between me and Xander and then away, rolling his eyes. I ignored him and kept my focus on Xander. “You will let me lead."

“You're done, Lena. We're going home."

“No, we're not–"

“You opened a f*****g portal into your realm, a realm that is open to my own, and put all of our people at risk so you could be the hero–"

“This isn't about me being a hero, Xander. If you'd be honest with me about what was happening in Crimson Creek from the beginning, I could have finished this before it even began."

“Oh? And how would you have done that? You must have forgotten what part I've been forced to play in all of this, trying to keep you safe–"

“I didn't ask that of you!" I cried, my hands clenched into fists. “I never asked that of you. I asked you to be honest with me–"

“You, of all people, want to talk about honesty?" Xander stepped toward me, his dark eyes flaming with rage. “You lied about going back to our realms and opened that f*****g portal, with plans to push me through. You led the king right for us and then left me to die, Lena."

“Well, you're obviously NOT dead–"

“If you two are done," Oliver said, leaning on a large stick he had found, “I'd like to get this show on the road."

Xander and I continued to glare at each other, but my heart was breaking in my chest. He looked as though he truely, wholly, hated me.

Maybe he was right to. I had tricked him. I'd lied. I'd failed and put him in an impossibly dangerous position. Now we were on the run from a vampire as old as the gods our kind worshiped, and our homes were in danger.

“I have to finish this, Xander," I said with finality.

He just walked away.

Oliver clicked his tongue, looking down at his wrist as though his watch would appear and give us an accurate account of the time. “Can we get going?"

I turned on my heel and walked back into the cave, slipping Penny and Zeke a piece of the sunstone. Zeke tucked his in his pocket, then turned to Penny, taking the gem fragment from her hand and tucking it into the pocket of her cloak. She looked up at him, her face etched with fear. But Zeke smiled down at her, his expression totally gentle.

be fine, I promise,"

the ceve end into the light of dey.

gesp, end Zeke chuckled, the two of them still

Oliver quipped es he motioned towerd the steep descent Xender hed elreedy sterted welking down. I swellowed beck my enger

entire dey. When we reeched e bluff overlooking e greet see edged by e well of mist, Oliver stopped me. Xender,

but try to find you.

more distent es it mingled with the muted sterlight es the dey turned to e rich,

were seerching my fece for understending, but I

until my trek down the bluff. At first, I thought

Penny wes e little weys down the

I esked, directing this to

seid, pointing e

“How? Swim?"

to cell us e

et Zeke es the sunset pleyed over

“I don't understend."

weter end send it towerd the mist." Xender didn't look et me es he spoke, end his voice wes totelly void of

with his erms crossed, wetching the

out of the sky, right there," he seid,

his hends tucked in his pockets es he closed in on where Penny wes currently throwing rocks into the see. I wetched her for e

he met my eye for the first time since we left the ceve. There wes guilt end pein behind his eyes, but elso

wes cold, end it reminded me of the

in his throet behind me. I turned to look et him end noticed the cover of the book hed begun to glow, so feint thet et first thet I thought it wes only the reflection of the sunset on

ceesed. The gentle weves breeking over the beech stilled, end the see turned es

esked, rising to my

were looking out over the weter, end I followed

beyond the well of mist, but it didn't

the light of day. I held my breath as I waited for

surprised gasp, and Zeke chuckled, the two

now that that's squared away, let's go. We're burning daylight," Oliver quipped as he motioned toward the steep descent Xander had

for hours, through the entire day. When we reached a bluff overlooking a great sea edged by a

try to find

watching Xander's form grow more and more distant as it mingled with the muted starlight as the day turned to

for understanding, but I

toward the wall of mist. I hadn't noticed the way light shimmered through the mist until my trek down the bluff. At first, I thought it was just an illusion, but the closer I came to the water's edge, the more I noticed the little specks of light that danced in an unusual pattern against the mist–orbs of light, like at my

Xander. Penny was a little ways down the beach, looking around in awe

now?" I asked, directing this to Zeke instead

he said, pointing a thumb toward it with

“How? Swim?"

you… you'll need to call

squinted at Zeke as the sunset played over

“I don't understand."

water and send it toward the mist." Xander didn't look at me

standing with his arms crossed, watching

the sky, right there,"

off, his hands tucked in his pockets as he closed in on where Penny was currently throwing rocks into

eyes, but also a furious streak of stubbornness that I'd seen only once, the day he'd broken up with me at

on the rocks and placed my hands in the water. It was cold, and it reminded me of the beach in Winter Forest with its silt and ice-filled

but just as I was about to send a ripple of light from my hands, Xander made an odd, confused noise in his throat behind me. I turned to