Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 106 : Portal to Home

*Lena*

This place, whatever it was, was a land of eternal sunshine. I wondered if I may have dreamt about it at some point during my childhood, and maybe that dream had spurred the creation of my own garden realm.

Everything was too beautiful and too good to be real, and as we gathered in the clearing under the gentle rays of a forgiving sun, I felt a pang of regret at the idea of leaving.

We'd only spent a day here at the most, enough time to rest and eat. Xander and Zeke spent much of the last several hours in quiet conversation, but their eyes told me they were plotting something grandiose, something… violent. I tried to stop myself from thinking of what would need to come next. Next was war, next was c*****e, and even in her seemingly infinite wisdom, Andromeda had little answers for us.

Xander was upset by this and accused her of purposefully talking in riddles. Oliver was too wrapped up in the mate bond he felt in this place to focus on anything, or anyone, who required his attention. But something changed in him as we prepared to leave, and Andromeda noticed the change, although she hadn't spoken a single word to him and left him to her acolytes instead.

“They said there is no one by the name of Elaine here," Oliver said, his voice laced with hurt. Andromeda twisted one of his glossy, copper-blonde curls around her finger as she circled him, her wide mouth curving into a smile.

“She was here, but she left. You'll see her again."

“I haven't seen her at all," he said in a whisper, his cheeks coloring as he lowered his eyes. Xander watched him with a careful gaze, then glanced at me, those dark eyes heavy with emotion.

The only thing Oliver had ever wanted was his mate. I'd known that since we were just children. He'd thought that was Hollis, and maybe even for a moment, he'd thought that had been Abigail as well.

He'd followed that bond here, and it had dropped him right at the doorway to the place where Elaine had been, at least for a moment. Now, she was gone.

“People can just come and go?" Xander asked.

Andromeda shook her head, folding her arms over her lap as her acolytes scurried around behind her, readying the book for its journey. They were wrapping it in silk and tucking dried flowers within the folds of fabric.

“Your witch was seeking her friend, and through our seers was able to locate him–"

Xander said beneath his breath, glancing at Oliver with a quick nod that said, 'We'll talk about this in a moment,' as he turned his attention to Zeke, leaning to whisper into the

eyes fixed on Zeke as she wrung her hands. The two of them had been notably absent when the group of us sat down for a picnic a few hours earlier, and based on the glow of her skin and the sparkle in her eyes, I had

at each other, their plans finalized, and then he wrapped an arm around Oliver's shoulder and led him away to talk in private. My stomach was in knots, my throat tight and my mouth dry. My time spent in Crimson Creek felt so

the book is given to your aunt as soon as possible," Andromeda said as she

I looked into her eyes. “It's a long journey to Winter Forest from

dismissal. She removed one of the many rings she wore on her fingers, turning the ring over in her palm before

my father had made into wedding rings for himself and my mother. I met Andromeda's eyes

and I stepped forward, taking her outstretched hand. My free hand laid over the swell of my belly, which seemed to be doubling in size every day. I had a slight waddle to my gait now, and I could feel the

place for two weeks,

have been

we walking into once we breached the rift between our

turned to look at Penny, who was standing hand in hand with Zeke. Zeke nodded

back here," Xander said

led the way, and we walked in silence, followed by the acolytes, one of which was carrying the

trees that wouldn't normally grow together–willow trees with thick trunks and billowing

wood stove smoke as we neared a temple made of ancient stone, grown

herself in a memory for a moment, a

“Were you friends?"

tearing her gaze away from mine as she exhaled deeply with her eyes now fixed on the temple. “Yes, we were friends. I would say… if my kind had the blessing of a mate bond, we would

then she turned back in the way she came, motioning for the acolytes

Andromeda said, nodding at Oliver, who looked a little stunned as he gathered the silk-wrapped book in his arms. Andromeda looked between Xander and

fabrics, and myself in a pale blue dress that brushed my ankles as I walked. Andromeda had brushed my hair, her strokes causing it to lengthen until it was nearing my waist, and she twisted it into long braids that she wove into a glistening silver and moonstone

that it had been a gift, and I realized as I reached up to touch the moonstones that it had been a gift to her from Morrighan. Who else could have worn silver without it burning

two different colored gems in the light