Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 41 :1 Know Your Family Well

♦Lena*

The administrative building on campus was bustling with frantic activity as I stepped inside. The

secretary who usually maimed the front desk was nowhere to be seen, but her desk was overflowing

with paperwork, some of which had fallen to the floor. I looked around, hoping to make eye contact with

someone who could help me. but no one seemed to even notice my presence.

It was midmoming, and I'd slept terribly the night before. My stomach was in knots over the Xander

situation and what he'd say to me today, whenever that would be.

Finally, the secretary returned, wiping sweat from her brow and looking exceedingly stressed. I stepped

toward her desk but a man cut me off. speaking harshly to the secretary and pointing a finger in her

face.

“Excuse me!" I said loudly, clearing my throat as the man and the secretary turned and looked me up

and down. The man straightened up and adjusted his tie before glaring at me and walking briskly away.

“Can I help you?" the secretary drawled, looking annoyed by my presence.

“I need to speak to the uh... the dean, whoever that is now."

She looked me up and down, then sighed, pushing a few papers out of the way and checking a ledger

that had been buried under the mountain of paperwork. She tapped her pen on her desk, tilting her

head from side to side, then rolled her eyes and pointed to the left.

“Third door on the left," she said, totally resigned.

I swallowed, nodding my thanks. Wliat the hell was going on around here? It looked as though the

entire university was coming apart.

I made my way to the door she'd directed me to and knocked. A soft, somewhat flustered voice replied,

asking me to come in. I opened it, peeking my head inside.

I was surprised by what I saw. It was a younger woman, likely only in her early to mid-thirties. She had

curly black hair that was styled in a short bob around her ears and unique, angled facial feattires that

brought out the deepness of her eyes. They were an odd shade, something I'd never seen before.

They were so dark they were almost black, but as I approached the desk she was standing behind, I

noticed the fine dusting of pale gray around her pupils. She looked up from the file she was holding, her

expression changing abruptly as her gaze swept over me.

"Good Goddess, what are you doing here?" she asked, dropping the file on the desk.

I blinked, unsure if I'd heard her correctly. "I'm sorry?"

"You-" she paused, shaking her head, then looked down at the mountain of files on her desk. "Nothing.

I thought you were someone I knew, or knew of."

"I was just looking for the dean. I need to talk to someone about my status for graduation."

She looked at me for a moment longer, taking in my face. A strange sadness swept over her features,

some long-forgotten memory rushing to the surface of her subconscious.

"What's your name?" she asked as she opened one of the drawers behind the desk.

I told her, but she didn't need to search long. Her fingers were already resting on my file before I'd even

uttered my name, my public name, not the one given to me at my birth.

She pulled the file out of the drawer, but it was surprisingly thin. I felt a jolt of shock rock my body as

she opened it and gave it a quizzical glance, then sat down in the large, swiveling armchair behind the

desk, breathing deeply.

“This is odd," she said with a soft, knowing smile.

I gripped the back of the leather chairs in front of the desk, meant for the guests of the dean, one of

which having been the same chair I'd been sitting in when the assistant dean told me I wouldn't be

going to Red Lakes, but Crimson Creek instead.

"What's odd?"

"For someone who's been a student since they were freshmen, I would think there would be a lot more

information about your courses and grades, but this is... nearly empty." She flipped the single page

housed in the file, and my heart dropped into my stomach. "And redacted, most of it, especially your

senior year-"

"Redacted?"

I paled as she held up the paper and handed it to me. Black ink blurred the majority of the page,

everything but the line at the bottom that showed my credits, GPA. and completion status for my

degree program. I had a 4.0 GPA, as perfect as you could possibly achieve. Every credit I needed to

graduate was accounted for, and the completion line was 100%.

"Looks like you're graduating-"

"Wliat the hell is this?" I said, heat and fury turning my cheeks red as I held the paper up. "Wliat is

this?"

"You tell me."

I ground my teeth and laid the paper on her desk. Three years. Three grueling, sleepless years of

tireless study. My research had been published. I'd had an award bestowed upon me by the Alpha King

of the West for my contribution to a cure for a blight that was taking out the massive and ancient

redwood trees that stretched across the far eastern comer of the continent.

I was fearless, and selfless, in my pursuit of horticulture.

And this flimsy piece of paper was all the university had to show for it.

I could have screamed, but the stranger sitting behind the desk was watching me with interest, turning

side to side in her chair.

"Odd things are happening around here," she noted, looking down at her fingernails.

I exhaled, trying to get control of my emotions before I threw my weight into one of the chairs, slouching

in defeat.

"Not a single record of your field study. Don't all seniors need to complete one in order to graduate?"

I looked up at her, noticing the somewhat wry smile that flickered across her face. Was she teasing me.

in some way?

"I completed my field study-"

"I'm sure you did. I'm sure it's not the reason for all of this... uproar. Or is it?"

I leaned forward, watching her eyes.

"Who are you, exactly?" I asked, and the woman smiled, a real, genuine smile.

"Hm... I don't really know how to explain this to you," she replied, tapping her nails on the desk. My

eyes traveled from her face to her sweater as she adjusted her weight in her chair. Something gleamed

as she tidied the suit jacket she was wearing over her sweater.

A pin, hidden by the jacket until that moment. It was clasped to the right side of her chest, over her

heart. A fiill moon, surrounded by the other phases of the moon, set in a circle. The fiill moon had been

replaced by a gem I didn't recognize. It was likely clear, maybe a diamond, but against the rich blue of

her sweater it had a cobalt hue.

She noticed my gaze and reached up to touch it, smiling softly to herself.

"The Church sent me here to oversee things," she said softly, shrugging one shoulder.

"The Church of the Moon Goddess, or the White Queens?" I asked, my heart beginning to pound. I was

beginning to feel uneasy under her gaze.

"I work for the White Queen." she said, folding her hands in her lap, "as a consultant to the Church. A

middle man. you could say.

I make sure the priestesses of the Church of the Moon Goddess are staying in their lane."

The White Queen.

"How is she?" I asked, my mouth going dry. I hadn't meant to say it out loud.

The woman smiled, her eyes flashing with recognition. "Concerned. Concerned about you."

I flushed.

"Don't worry. You're going to graduate." She tapped the file, shrugging. “Why not, at this point? Given

the hell this university put you through for no reason other than money-"

"Wliat?"

"That's what this whole thing is about. Money. All the chaos, papers, everything-" she waved her hand

around the room, and I saw the upheaval for the first time. The bookshelves that lined the wall were

nearly empty, books strewn around the room in piles. Warriors had been here. They'd pulled everything

from the shelves and wall, likely just to make a point. On whose orders, though? The Alpha of Breles?

My father? My grandfathers?

My family cared for me and wanted me protected, but they wouldn't have gone this far. They wouldn't

have caused meaningless destruction and put several thousand college students at risk of having no

place to go. and no way to complete their studies.

"Where did they send you?" she asked, point blank.

My blood ran cold.

"Me?" I said dumbly, trying to make sense of the situation.

"You obviously didn't go to Red Lakes. That's where your family believed you were, anyway. The man

who went with, Alexander Smith? He doesn't even have a student file, did you know that? No file, no

record of attendance, a portfolio, or grades. He came to see me as well, asking about you and whether

or not what is left of administration would be letting you graduate."

I blinked, gripping the armrests as she leaned forward in her seat. How did she know all of this?

"Wliat happened?" she asked. And her tone wasn't malicious... no, not in any way. She looked

incredibly concerned, almost desperate, as her eyes focused on mine. Why did she look so familiar to

me? I'd never seen this woman in my life, yet her eyes... her voice?

"Who are you?" I asked again, my voice sharp and commanding.

She leaned back in her chair, turning side to side again. "I work between the High Priestess and the

White Queen, a role I've trained for since my youth. I know your family well. Princess Selene."

I closed my eyes for a moment, my formal name ringing warning bells throughout my mind.

"I'm the only one who knows. Don't worry. The dean didn't even know he had royalty on campus.

Dimwits, all of them. Your secret is safe, although I find it hard to believe no one knew, not after all this

time. You're truly striking, you know-"

"Wliat do you want?" I asked, but to my surprise, she laughed.

"Want? Oh, nothing. Nothing. I'm here by chance. I'll likely be here long after you return to your

parents, or wherever you decide to go next."

All I could do was stare at her.

"Feel better now?" she chuckled, and I blinked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"I don't understand why you're here-"

"Well, that makes two of us if I'm being honest. I know nothing about running a university, yet I'm here

until a new dean is chosen. But, I have to ask-" she leaned forward, looking so deeply into my eyes I

thought she could be right into my soul. She placed her hands on the desk, and the light overhead

reflected on the thin wedding band on her ring finger. "Wliat do you know of this Alexander character?

Who is he, and what does he have to do with everything that's happening on campus right now?"

"Xander?" I stammered, tearing my eyes away from her ring. "N-Nothing-"

"He was the one who sent the Alpha of Breles here. No one has information. No one knows what

exactly he said to bring the fiill force of the Alpha's warriors on campus."

"I don't know, truly. He’s just.... We were just on our field study together."

"Watch your back around him," she said, her voice suddenly hard and full of concern. "The

conversation I had with him was... not what I expected."

"How so?"

There was a sharp knock on the door and an unfamiliar person stepped in, looking just as frantic as

everyone else in the building.

The woman rose from her chair.

"Mara, the librarian is asking for you. Something about archives being taken by the warriors."

Where had I heard that name before?

"I'll be right there." she replied, looking a little flushed. I stood, meeting her eye before turning to walk

out of the room.

"Wait!" she said, and I turned back around. She smiled at me. her face nothing but kind. I didn't know

what to think. "Congratulations, Selene, on your upcoming graduation. Your contributions have not

gone unseen, despite the university's lack of organization. I hope you know and remember that."

I gave her a tight smile, then left the room, my breath catching in my throat.