Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 117 : Wolf of the Moon Goddess

*Lena*

Mara had her legs crossed, her foot tapping with silent rhythm and she flipped through the spellbook. I was watching her with marked suspicion, my arms crossed over my chest, not even hiding the glare fixed on my face.

Clare was pacing back and forth behind the couch Mara was sitting on, and occasionally Clare looked over her shoulder, peering down at whatever page Mara was studying. Maeve was talking in a hushed voice to Grandma and my mom, who were standing in the corner of the cozy sitting room near the dining hall in the Castle Drogomor.

Night was falling. We'd arrived around midday, and I'd spent the rest of the day listening to the news beginning to trickle in from the west.

It was all bad news–terrible news. Grandma and Maeve had immediately gone to the hospital in Mirage to donate blood for the influx of wounded and dying shoulders we were being carted across the sea towards Valoria for care. The Valorian army, those reserves who had stayed behind, were already setting up a perimeter around the southern tip of the territory to protect the great, bustling cities within.

I donated only a few vials of blood in the infirmary at the castle. I was pregnant, after all. The act made me dizzy and lightheaded for the rest of the afternoon.

But then Grandma and Maeve came home with Mara in tow, and now it was time to figure out what the hell we were supposed to do with this stupid book.

My mom, Clare, and Mara had their powers of sight. My powers of sight only came to me in dreams, which wasn't entirely helpful since I had little to no control over what I saw, and when. Apparently, we were supposed to use our combined powers to do… something.

“This is all in Prithen," Mara mused to herself, flipping another page and dragging her finger down the text.

“Prithen? What the hell is Prithen?" Clare leaned over the back of the couch to look at the page Mara had stopped on.

“An ancient language, something from before the time of Morrighan and Lycaon from what we know. The Church of the Moon Goddess has a few scripts but that's it, never a full… a full example of the alphabet those early people used. This is… priceless."

“It doesn't belong to the Church," Maeve said firmly as she rounded the couch and came to sit beside me.

Mara gave her a side-eyed look as she flipped another page.

“Can you translate it?" Mom asked from the corner of the room.

Mara let out her breath and nodded, then shrugged. “Some. I think I knew enough to get the gist of what this book is about. It's a fairytale."

“It's not a fairytale," Maeve retorted. “It's a book of spells."

“It's a book about spells; that's the difference. This comes from Leto's people before she was a Goddess. This book in particular is about a girl who is given the powers of a wolf so that she can effectively hunt during an especially brutal winter. There's a spell for it–"

what?" Maeve interrupted, looking

already said there's only a few scripts left from this

into my

origin on how, and why, we have the powers of wolves," Mom said absently, walking past the windows on the far side

and for protection against enemies," Mara added, pointing to a sketch on one

jumped to her feet and snatched the book from Mara, staring down at it in

with this book, when I saw the spirits, they showed me my entire life. Everything. But they… they lingered on this moment," she jabbed at the sketch, her eyes pleading with ours for understanding as she looked around the room. “When I went into that circle of stones in Dianny, I thought it was you and me, Mom. I thought I

choked. I didn't like the look in her

trying to do something to stop this war, to stop the vampires. I could see it in your eyes when you chased me outside last

our realm again," Mom cut in before I could say anything, nodding her head toward Maeve.

to her,

comes into her wolf powers," Maeve said, turning to look

asked sharply. “What are you

held it up

***

whether or not this was a good idea. People shifted all the time while they were pregnant. It wasn't uncommon

would activate wolf powers, regardless of

care. I was itching to get going, to get to Breles like we'd planned. I would be going with Maeve and Mara while everyone else stayed behind.

than ready. I'd had a sinking feeling in my gut all day long, and that tethered thread binding

were all standing in the chilly back garden and night was falling, casting a pale purple glow over the castle behind us. I shivered, then

continued, pointing to the book.

say the spell. All of them would need to tap into their powers, no matter how small and insignificant, and essentially pull my wolf powers out of me and put them back in, if

but again, I was

I repeated, catching my mom's gaze.

she replied in a small voice,

her hands and cleared her throat, turning to Mara to fetch the book. Mara murmured something, pointing to a page. “So, I have to be the one to

to be you. At least, I'm pretty

why,

me. Clare reached out to Mara,

hands when doing

she stepped forward, a mere foot from where I stood. She placed her hand