Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

I hit him again and again, but he was much larger than me. He had roughly an inch on Troy, although he

was not nearly as strong. Hayden swayed and staggered at each of my blows, and soon I had him

cowering along the wall, his fists covering his face as I swung wildly.

“That’s enough-”

Carl had come into the room. He glanced down at Troy, narrowing his eyes at him before taking three

long strides across the floor and grabbing me by the hair, pulling me off of Hayden.

He tightened his grip on me as he pulled me out of the room by my hair, tossing me into the tunnel.

“Where are you taking me?” | bit out as the red – eyed Rogue covered the entrance of the room behind

us.

“Back to Tasia. She’s ready for you now.”

Carl led me through the tunnel, which forked at one point, reading us along a narrow passageway full of

moss and tan gled tree roots, the space having been taken over by nature for some time.

“Don’t think about running, Maeve,” he said coolly, “it’s entirely too easy to get lost in here.”

“It must feel like home to you,” I quipped, my tone dry and sarcastic.

“Close,” he replied, smirking. “Did you ever hear the fable?”

“About how Morrighan chased Lycaon out of what is now Winter Forest? Yes -”

“Ah, yes. That did happen. But did you hear what she did, exactly? How she used her power to try and

stop her twin?”

I shook my head. He was walking behind me, holding a lantern up as we walked into the pitch black of

the tunnel, which had now turned into an intricate cave system.

“Well, she used her powers to bring down the north east ern mountains, sparking a massive volcanic

explosion, so leg end goes. Lycaon had no choice but to leave his family behind and seek refuge

elsewhere-”

“But he left his mate and had children for another woman. That is where the people of Dianny came

from, from what ! was told. He sounds like a total douche-”

Carl flicked me sharply on the back of head.

“Ah, well. Many years had gone by, by the time that hap pened. The family he left behind burrowed into

mountains,

living within the cave systems created by the eruption. The same caves we stand in now.”

“Here? How is that possible? The eastern mountains are hundreds of miles away!”

“Morrighan prayed to her mother, who had already left them, for guidance and help. Lycaon’s betrayal

angered the Goddess herself, you see. Morrighan had access to that anger, and her powers showed it.

“Think back on what you know of your mother, and ances tors. Tell me, when has a White Queen ever

used her powers to their fullest? It’s a once in a lifetime occurrence, from what I’m told. Your mother’s life

was spared when her true mate took on her burden of death, and he was only spared because your

mother used the Moonlight Lily, which wasn’t hers to take.

“Lycenna had been tending to that plant for hundreds of years and it was sacred to us. But your

grandmother used her gift to heal her pack during a sickness, I believe? How boring. Especially when

she could’ve brought down entire kingdoms had she simply prayed for it-”

“It’s because White Queens are good.”

“No, it is because they are weak, Maeve. You used your gift to see your future, didn’t you? That’s what

Tasia said. She said you didn’t mean to do it, and for whatever reason you were spared. You won’t have

the chance to do it again, I’m

afraid. How sad. Watch your step, now-”

I stumbled as we began to walk along a decline. He held the lantern up over my head, illuminating a

massive cave, the light reflecting off huge stalactites that formed like columns

1 B

all around us.

ouchert

“Tasia will destroy the stones. Once she does that, and kills both you and your mother, the Moon

Goddess will have no physical tie to our world. We’ll be free of her, and Lycaon’s descendants can finally

rule what is rightfully theirs.”

“Why trick Damian and Romero into saying the powers had indescribable powers?”

“It wasn’t a lie, not for the average wolf. Any power out side of being able to shift is infallible to them, you

know. We needed their help to access you, Maeve. All I had do was offer Damian riches, and the

possibility of having a single day added to his life, and he was in.”

I remembered what my Dad had told me before the ball, that no one else could know about the

moonstones. He, and Carl, were right in that regard. Greed was rampant. And what did everyone want,

even if it was never mentioned?

Power.

We walked on for a moment longer, swallowed by the vastness of the great cave. How often I had

explored the for est outside of the castle grounds whenever we visited Mirage when I was a child, never

knowing such a place existed be neath my feet.

I could see a light nearby, reflecting off the stalactites as we covered more ground. The strange,

crystalline formations

gave way to a large open area.

And I saw my Mom.

“Mom?” | stammered, unable to hide not only my shock

51

but my deep concern. “How did you get here?”

“Maeve, don’t say anything,” she warned, turning her gaze back to an area that was hidden from view by

several large columns of crystal.

A fire burned in the center of the space, but the flames were strange. They were the brightest, most vivid

blue I had ever seen, and beneath the fire, no embers burned. I saw the eudialyte stones on second

glance, the flames licking over their shiny surfaces, making them glow.

A cloaked figure stepped into view as Carl pulled me to a stop, squeezing my shoulder hard.

The woman let her hood fall back, revealing Grace, the former High Priestess.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I snarled. She only smiled, giv ing me a tight, businesslike nod in greeting.

“Well, now we can begin,” Tasia said from her perch atop one of the crystal formations. She hopped

down, brushing pale dust from her pants as she stalked toward me, taking me forcibly by the elbow and

leading me over to where Mom was standing. I could now see the rest of the space, my view no longer

blocked by obstacles.

| gasped as I met Hanna’s eyes, her face bruised and bloodied, as she sat next to Rowan, who was

kneeling, his wrists bound behind his back, looking just as beaten.

“What the hell -” | started, but Mom reached out to me, taking my hand in hers. I could feel her trembling,

but her face remained sharp, focused, and expressionless.

“I’m going to ask you again,” Tasia sneered, walking over fo Hanna as she directed her words at Mom.

“Where are the stones?”

“I don’t know,” Mom said softly..

Tasia smiled, chuckling to herself. Then she wound back her arm and slapped Hanna so violently the

sound echoed through the cave for several seconds.

“Get your hands off of her you filthy bitch!” | said, yanking my hand free of Mom’s grasp and starting

forward.

“Ha! Oh, Maeve. You can end the torment now if you just tell me where the stones are.”

“I won’t,” I said, swallowing against the fury and fear tight ening my throat, “I wouldn’t, even if I knew.”

“Carl,” Tasia called out, tilting her head in his direction, “Tell me. Have the infant princes been located

yet?”

My heart dropped into my stomach.

“Don’t tell her anything, Maeve!” Hanna screamed before Carl could reply.

“We have rogues watching the safehouse as we speak, Ta sia.”

“Ah, that is good news.” She turned to face me, arching her brow. “Ready to tell me where the stones

are?”

“You’re going to kill all of us anyway,” | spat, “including my children, who carry my blood. Why would it

matter if I tell you where the stones are, since you have no bargaining chip, Ta sia? What are you going

to do, let my children live?”

“You know I cannot do that,” she said slyly, giving me a fight smile, “but I could possibly spare your

mate.”

I swallowed and lowered my gaze, shaking my head. “No. Troy would rather die than carry on without us,

Tasia. I will not tell you where the stones are. I will not let you have them.”

“I’m sure your father will be more apt to tell me. That is, if he survives whatever battle is taking place on

the surface. He was once a Rogue, was he not?”

“He was,” Mom answered, her throat bobbing as she swal lowed.

“And you saved him from a life of emptiness and sorrow when you changed him back to his former self?

Then, you used the Moonlight Lily to save him? Ah, Rosalie, see? You started all of this. That act, that

selfless act that saved your mate was the dawn of the prophecy.

“Now your son will perish, and his daughter, the sacred one, will never be. Do you have any regrets, I

wonder? Would you have stayed in your little house, with your tyrant of a fa ther and sadist of a step-

brother had you known what was in store for you? Twenty – six good years you had. Was it enough?”

Mom’s eyes darkened, her cheeks coloring deeply as she looked at Rowan, who was sneering around

the gag in his mouth.

“Do it,” Tasia said shortly, casually as she motioned to the Priestess. Grace looked scared, fear flashing

through her eyes as she unsheathed a knife from her belt. It gleamed in the light of the blue fire, and

landed with a clang as she dropped it into the flames.

“My mother learned a great deal from the keeper of the stone, the very stone that was stolen from the

White Queens long ago. Seraphine. Oh, I do not remember her. She left us before I was born. I had no

idea a moonstone had been hid den in Dianny until my mother made it known to you, Maeve, and to

Troy. She kept it from me on purpose. Now, I know why. Maybe she saw this moment in my future, knew

I would turn on her.”

“You still have a chance to stop this, Tasia. You too, Grace. I knew you to be a good woman for a long

time.” Mom’s voice echoed through the cavern.

Grace shifted her eyes to her feet, a single tear falling from her silver lashes.

“Too late for all of that,” Tasia sighed. Then, to my utter shock, she reached into the flames and grabbed

the knife, gritting her teeth as her skin wilted and reddened around its hilt.

Crazy bitch.

“Any last words?” she asked the group, looking around.

I was too stunned to register her movements, watching the skin of her hand blistered where she held the

knife. I felt sick to my stomach by the sight and the smell of burning flesh. I almost didn’t notice Tasia

drive the scalding knife into Rowan’s chest.

Mom screamed, lunging forward, but was held back by Carl, who forced her to her knees. Hanna was

pushing against Tasia, fighting her for the knife. I wondered for a split second why none of us, other than

Rowan, had been tied up.

But then I realized this was exactly what Tasia wanted. A Challenge. A reckoning. A trial.

Our deaths couldn’t be easy. We needed to be prey, and she the predator. When we were gone, the

story of our deaths would live on. She wanted nothing more than to look like the hero of Lycaon, not a

murderess who executed her victims one by one.

I didn’t realize I was moving in on her until I had her by the shoulders. I spun her around, looking her in

the eyes for a fraction of a second.

Then I headbutted her so hard my vision momentarily went black

She staggered backward, dropping the knife.

“Maeve, GO! Go find your Dad! Please!” Mom cried.

Carl let go of her, stunned as Tasia fell to her knees.

I looked down, grabbing the knife before Carl could lunge for it. I held it out, pointing it at him as I backed

away towards the entrance of the cavern.

“Maeve, RUN!”