Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

He arched an eyebrow, and commented, “I’m not a medical professional, but I’d listen to the doctor.”

I smiled, “I agree.”

“Well, I should let you rest,” he said. “But when the two of you are ready, I want to hold that baby.”

| smiled up at him. He was sweet. Regardless of my doubts and suspicions of him, he had been my

friend and by my side during my most difficult times.

“I’m sure you’ll get plenty of chances to hold him.”

Soren leaned forward and gently brushed the baby’s cheek. When he pulled back a bit, the two of us

smiled at one another. Maybe it was the mothering hormones flowing through me, but I felt closer to

Soren at that moment than 1 had in a long time.

I felt he was truly happy for me, and he cared about my child.

After all, he was also related to the baby, he was his uncle.

He played with the baby’s face for a few moments, and I noticed that he seemed to have something to

say. I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” he started, but then he decided to be honest, “Alright, here’s the thing. I may need to head to

the frontline in the next couple days.”

By now, there was no need for Soren to lie to me about his involvement in the war. I had no say in

anything he did – not that I wanted to interfere with his life anyway.

Since he and his half-brother were war enemies, all I could say was, “Stay safe.”

He smiled and patted my hand again. “Rest, beautiful,” he told me. “I’ll see you soon.”

I watched Soren leave the room and closed my eyes, thinking I would take his advice, but a few

moments later, Seraphine came in. “Everyone’s gone,” she told me.

“Okay,” I said appreciatively. “Thank you.”

“Rosalie,” she said, her tone so serious. “I need to tell you something.”

My instinct told me that whatever it was that Seraphine was about to tell me, it was important.

A chill went up my spine, leaving every hair on the back of my neck standing on end, as well as the fine

hair on my arms,

“Wh-what is it, Seraphine?” I asked her. My eyes opened wide.

She didn’t answer me right away. Instead, she took a deep breath, her lips pressed together, as she

walked over and sat down next to me, careful not to disturb the baby as she sat down with her hip next to

my knee.

Seraphine swallowed hard, her eyes focused on the wall. “I hope that you can forgive me for my part in

what I’m about to tell you. If I had known you before I got involved in all of this, I would have….” She

stopped talking, and it sounded as if she might start crying.

Thad never seen Seraphine cry before.

My eyebrows knit together, and if I’d had a free hand, I would have reached forward to comfort her.

“You would have what?” I asked her.

“I would’ve told him no, but I trusted Soren; and the way he told me the story, what he was doing was

going to help our cause, I had no idea that you were going to be so wonderful. I didn’t think you were the

innocent, sweet girl I’ve come to love and respect.”

She turned to look at me then, her head swiveling around, like her mind was elsewhere, and there were

tears brimming her eyes.

“What are you talking about, Seraphine?” I needed to know what was going on.

“Soren orchestrated everything, Rosalie,” she said, no longer calling me “Ro.” “He was working with

Damian from the beginning. None of this was a coincidence. The boat, my running into you there, the

little girl… even the men that beat you, although they went way beyond what they were supposed to… all

of that was him. Rosalie, he’s been lying to you.”

Her words were entering through my ears, but they weren’t quite registering in my mind. They were

floating around on the surface of my brain, and no matter how hard I tried to absorb them, they refused

to soak in.

“How is any of that possible?” I whispered, not necessarily asking her. I was asking the universe.

How could this man who’d been so kind to me be such a liar? How could he be such a fake?

All I could do was shake my head in disbelief. It all seemed like a dream, like nothing Seraphine was

telling me could possibly be true. How could someone I had trusted so completely be telling me lies from

the very beginning?

Sweat broke out all over my body, but I felt cold and clammy as I tried to brush my hair away from my

face with my free hand. It felt like I was moving in slow motion, like my body was underwater.

WE

Even when I had doubts and suspicions towards Soren, I still believed that he had his burden and he

didn’t mean any harm. Yes, I may choose to leave him at some point, but at least, I would still always

remember him as a friend and a… family member.

But none of those happy days in my life with him were real?

None of it made any sense at all, and yet… I believed her.

My breathing was heavy, my teeth clamped together as I tried to contain my emotions.

Seraphine’s hand came down on my arm. “Rosalie, I don’t blame you for being upset. But there’s more to

what I need to reveal.”

“Seraphine,” I said, looking into her eyes, “I’m not sure I can handle anymore.”

She tipped her head to the side and patted my hand. “This next part isn’t bad news, dear, I assure you.

You may even find it as a blessing, a new hope.”

At the moment, I would take any good news she could provide. “What is it, Seraphine?”

Letting go of my arm, she reached up to the necklace she wore around her neck and removed it.

I watched as she dropped to her knees on the floor next to my bed, the necklace in one hand as her

arms were bent at the elbow and she bowed down several times at the waist.

“We finally found you, Princess! May the Moon Goddess bless you and your child!”

She said this several times, and I watched, shocked, until I finally demanded, “Seraphine, please, stop!

Stop! What are you doing?” It seemed to be some sort of a ritual.

Finally hearing my cries as a command, Seraphine got up on her knees and kneeled next to me,

showing me the necklace. “Do you remember this?”

My eyes fell on the woman with the white hair, and I remembered seeing it in the nursery not long ago

when we were working together to get it ready for the baby. The woman in the picture had reminded me

of my mother. I nodded. “I remember.”

“Well, dear, my lady, you are the descendent of an ancient royal pack. There is an entire pack in the

north, my pack… our pack… awaiting your return.” Seraphine smiled proudly at me, but all I could do

was stare at her with wide eyes.

Had she lost her mind?

“Me? The descendent of royalty? No, Seraphine, I don’t think so.”

“Princess Rosalie,” she said, “you were bleeding out! You don’t know because you were too busy giving

birth to understand, but I have delivered a lot of babies. You lost so much blood. The doctor and I were

both so worried tha you were going to die. We couldn’t control the bleeding!”

I must have blocked out just how dangerous my labor was. I had no idea my labor was that dangerous. I

might have underestimated the severity of what I went through. I heard her continue, “Then, suddenly,

the bleeding just stopped, and you were miraculously healed. It shouldn’t have happened. You should be

dead right now. The only explanation is that you bear the blood of the royal bloodline of the Edevanes!

Your father was an Alpha, yes?”

I nodded, doing my best to understand what she was saying.

“And your mother resembled her, the woman in my locket?”

Again, I nodded.

Seraphine said, “Hear what I’m saying. You belong to my pack. You are our leader, and our people are

waiting for you.

I didn’t know what to say to her, so I could only tell her, “Can I have some time to myself, please?”

“Of course,” she said. “Rest. Think about what I’ve said. But know that you cannot trust him.”

“I hear you,” I told her, the knot in my stomach that had formed from my distrust of Soren growing by the

moment.

“And Rosalie, I am so very sorry for my part in all of it.” Seraphine’s eyes were still glistening with tears.

All I could say to that was, “Please… leave.”