Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

***

Dad was talking to the pilot as the rest of us settled into the plane. Troy was picking at his jeans, looking

through the window at the dock where Rowan and Ernest were standing, waiting for us to take off.

“You’ve never been on a plane before, have you?” Mom said to Troy, who turned his head to look at her.

She was wrapped in a thick blanket and sitting in one of the seats across the aisle, dark circles under her

eyes and her skin pale in the dim light.

Troy shook his head, looking a little pale himself.

“Steven is a great pilot. We’ll be just fine,” she said.

Dad was making his way out of the cockpit. He stopped, turn ing to close the door, and waved at Ernest

and Rowan while snapping the door shut and locking it in place. “Are we ready?”.

I nodded, even though the last thing I wanted to do was this. The plane had already been running for a

while, and the cabin was cozy and filled with vibrations. Sleep was already taking over, but i’d promised

Troy I would stay awake at least until the plane took off.

e I could tell he was nervous, and I knew he had been asking

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Dad a barrage of questions about how exactly this hunk of metal was able to zoom through the air. Mom

said Dad told him it was because of magic just to stop Troy from continuing to ask him questions about

the physics involved, but I didn’t know if Troy be lieved them.

Troy had packed me a book to read. I wondered if he knew it was my favorite based on how worn the

cover was. I pulled it out of the bag he’d packed for me, which was full of random snacks and a pair of

socks, for some reason.

Then just as the plane began to move toward the breakwater, I took his hand in mine, squeezing.

“Steven won’t let us crash, I promise.”

Troy grunted in response, but he squeezed my hand back nonetheless.

I fell asleep before the plane made it into the air, lingering on the edge of deep sleep for the majority of

the flight. I didn’t dream. All there was, was darkness.

Steven’s voice over the intercom woke me from my nap. I rubbed my eyes, turning toward the darkened

window and finding Troy’s seat empty.

I looked around, seeing Mom asleep with her head against the window, and Dad and Troy seated further

lip the cabin, talking in hushed voices. I stood, waddling over to them and took a seat next to Troy. They

were playing chess.

“You said you never played chess with other people,” | griped at Dad.

He arched his brow in response, then looked down to ponder Troy’s latest move. “I said I’d never play

chess with YOU people, as in you and Rowan. Troy’s a capable opponent.”

“Well, chess is boring.” | cracked out my book, pretending to be invested in the first page, which I had

already read a thousand times and could probably recite word for word if asked.

Dad moved one of his pieces on the collapsible board after a long moment of contemplation, giving Troy

a careful eye. Troy didn’t hesitate, however, taking out two of Dad’s pieces in a mat ter of seconds. Dad

was shocked, and straightened his back.

“Oh, well… now I see how you could have done that,” Dad said in a hoarse, somewhat annoyed whisper.

I snickered to myself, dramatically flipping a page of the book. “How much longer until we’re in Mirage?” |

asked, finding it harder and harder to find a comfortable position in the cramped airplane seats.

Troy was watching me closely as I shifted my weight. I won dered if he could feel the pain in my hips and

back that seemed to radiate up and down my spine the same way I could, or if he could only tell I was

increasingly uncomfortable.

“Two hours, roughly,” Dad moved another piece, and Troy swiftly took out his queen, ending the game.

“Damn. Who taught you how to play like this?”

“A man I knew in the Isles,” Troy said, leaning back and look ing pleased with himself. “I’m afraid I’m a

little rusty.”

Dad glared at him, then turned to me, his gaze raking over my face. “How you feeling, kid?”

“Like hell,” I bit out. “I’m hungry.”

“I packed some snacks in the bag. I’ll go get them -” Troy stood, but I waved my hand in dismissal,

clutching his arm in sup port as I rose from my own seat.

“I’ll go get it. I want to walk for a minute. I’ll just pace’up and down the aisle for a moment.”

Dad gave me a weary eye, but I turned away, beginning my jaunt up and down the narrow pathway

between the seats.

This went on for the next thirty minutes. Walking eased the pain in my back, but every once in a while, I

had to stop to lean against the back of one of the chairs to catch my breath.

These babies were squeezed up against my heart, and I felt as though my heart was working overtime to

work properly in the small space it had to function. After a while, Dad waved me over again, motioning

for me to sit down and rest for a minute.

“I don’t like your coloring, Maeve. You’re gray,” he said stern

1. ly.

“I’m fine. I’m just ready to be off this plane. I feel like the walls are caving in on me.”

“Soon, we’ll be there soon.” Dad glanced back at Mom, who was still asleep. “Look, Troy and I have

been talking. He told me the two of you are planning to marry, like now.”

I glanced at Troy, who colored. “Yeah, we discussed it,” || said, even though the conversation had only

been a few sen tences long.

“I know I said I wanted the two of you married before the pregnancy ended…. Look, I like you Troy. I trust

you, most impor tantly. This situation has obviously changed things. I knew we talked about this before

we got on the plane, but I want to reiter ate that if the two of you wanted to wait-”

“You guys talked about this without me?” I said through grit ted teeth as a wave of pain washed over me.

I felt light-headed,

taking my head in my hands to stop myself from passing out.

“Goddess, Maeve, are you okay?” Dad’s hand came down on my back just as Troy knelt in the tight

space in front of me, look ing up into my face.

“What’s wrong?” he pleaded.

“It hurts!” | sobbed, unable to stop myself from crying as an other tightening pain wrapped itself over my

stomach and back. I cried out, which woke Mom, and suddenly she was standing over the three of us.

“You have to breathe through them, honey. You’re having a contraction”

“I f*cking know that!” | cried, biting my lip so hard that I drew blood. I had the sudden urge to stand,

wanting space. I fought against everyone’s hold on me, swatting Troy and Dad away. “Get off of me!”

“Maeve, sit down!” Dad barked, his voice causing Steven to turn his head to see what was going on.

“Don’t touch-don’t touch me! I don’t want to have-have them yet. I don’t want to! I can’t! I can’t say

goodbye!” | screamed as another contraction ripped me in half, at least it felt like it.

Mom wrapped her arms around me, her chin resting on my shoulder as she whispered in my ear,

reminding me to breathe.

There was a popping sound, like a rubber band snapping. Ev eryone quieted as a gush of water burst

from between my legs. “Oh, Goddess,” I laughed, absolutely delirious. “Steven, I’m sorry about the floor-”

“Sit her down, now!” Dad was red in the face, but I could feel Mom shaking her head.

“Give her some space, both of you! Steven, how much longer?”

I didn’t hear what he said. The world around me started to spin. I was trembling, finding it hard to

breathe.

“Maeve? Oh, oh, no. No, no NO!” Mom’s voice was the last thing I heard, and then it all went black.