Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 109 : Only Death Will End the Bloodshed

*Maeve*

I bet you didn't expect to see me here.

It's not my story, after all. At least, it wasn't until the moment my son placed that heavy leather-bound

book in my hands.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was a young woman on a mission to save my world from

destruction. I'd been told it would end with me, that my powers would be beyond reason. But then…

nothing. Hanna was the one who killed Tasia, the Lycennian Dream Dancer hell-bent on destroying

everything, and everyone, we knew and loved. Hanna was also the one to bring forth the conclusion of

the Moonstone Prophecy, giving birth to Selene, the next White Queen–our Lena, my beloved Lena.

I was happy to fall back into the background. All I cared about in those early years after the fall of

Lycenna and Dianny were my triplet sons and my mate. I threw myself into motherhood. I threw myself

into mending the fractured pack of Poldesse by Troy's side. The years ticked by, quiet, uneventful.

But then I… I got pregnant again.

It had been a shock. It was a miracle, if I was being honest, that I was able to carry another pregnancy

full term after the trauma of having the triplets. Our boys were almost twelve years old at the time. We

had thought we were done. We had decided our triplet princes were enough.

“It's a boy," the nurse had said as she placed the infant in my arms–my fourth son, our baby, Lucas. I

looked into his sweet, innocent face and… I panicked. It all came rushing back to me, overwhelming

me. My time in Dianny flashed before my eyes–Una's words, telling us all that my children would be

sons, all FOUR of them… all of the questions, the warnings, the lingering doubts that our troubles

weren't over strangled me until I found it hard to breathe.

There was a time the visions of seers were taken with a grain of salt. Even Hanna's visions were

doubted, and by herself more than anyone.

But now, as I stood deep within the forest, the ice-covered river creaking and hissing steam in my

periphery, a vision from a time long past wouldn't ease its grip on me, just like I couldn't seem to ease

the grip on the howling book of spells.

I saw two white wolves in a clearing, one standing protectively over the other. I'd seen it while standing

in that circle of stones in Dianny; everyone had. I'd been told it was me and my mother.

I realized, as I knelt in the snow to lay the book on the ground in the light of a crescent moon, that

those wolves were me and someone who had not yet been born at the time.

“I hate magic," I breathed, closing my eyes against the soft, feral whimpers of the book as I opened its

pages.

I'd gone out after dinner like I said I would. I refused to let Hanna, Lena, or Clare follow me into the

woods. This I could do by myself. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and I could admit it had

been a long time since I'd shifted. What-ifs had clogged my mind during what ended up being a quiet

supper. Dad and Sasha ended up picking at their plates on the floor, playing with the train set. None of

us women had a single word to say over our plates of broiled salmon and fingerling potatoes.

I'd dressed for the frigid night, a quilted parka covering my body and a thick wool hat shielding my ears

and forehead. Stripping naked in the middle of a snow covered forest was the last thing I wanted to do.

But, I needed to shift. If the secrets of this book could only be accessed in wolf form, and for some

Goddess forsaken reason, only by me… well, I didn't have much of a choice now, did I?

I undressed, hanging my clothes on a low-lying tree branch as the snow bit into my toes. Shivering and

as naked as the day I was born, I stepped back into the moonlit clearing and took a deep breath, trying

to calm my nerves.

The transformation took place, and within a second, I was shrouded in warmth as my body shifted to

that lean, silvery white wolf. I pawed the ground, then stretched, shaking out my fur. I was nearly as

pale as the snow covering the forest floor. I sat back on my haunches, lowering my head to gaze down

at the book.

I heard a crunch to my left and snapped my head around, teeth bared. A moose peered at me with a

shocked expression, its antlers trembling as it took several steps back into the brush and thundered

away.

'Are you alright out there?' Hanna said through the mind-link. 'Do you want me to come to you?'

'I'm alright,' I replied, watching the dark form of the moose disappear as it crossed the ice-covered river.

Hanna wasn't one to pry, but I knew she was likely waiting by a window in the castle, pining for

information. I grinned internally at the thought of Hanna wringing her hands while I pranced in the

woods with the ancient spellbook.

Hanna and I were bound together in a strange way, something rare. It was almost like a mate bond,

and I knew she could feel every ripple of my anxiety coursing through my veins as I lay down on my

belly, weighing my options about how to approach this odd situation.

The book was no longer howling. Its pages rustled in the chilled breeze, mingling with the muted

whispers lifting from within–soft, feminine voices, some whispering in hushed tones while others

giggled.

My ears twitched as I listened, but I was unable to interpret any words. It was just… noise.

I let out a low, guttural growl, sliding upward into a lunge. For whatever reason, I felt as though I was

supposed to approach the book without being invited to come forward. I wasn't sure why, and it didn't

entirely make sense, but I just felt as though I was waiting for something.

The voices halted on the next breeze, which was more of a stiff gust of wind. The book slid across the

snow in the wind's wake, its pages flapping wildly. I rose to all fours and watched as the book came to

rest, a single page dropping to the side, laying open and still.

A hush spread over the clearing, and through the trees, I could see… eyes–dozens and dozens of

them, pale silver and blue, looking right at me, unblinking. My ruff stood on end as the eyes stared at

me in unison. Suddenly, they disappeared, and I saw what I can only describe as shadows kneeling

and bowing to me, some taking a knee before they straightened up again and were swallowed up by

the night, only their eyes remaining.

I swallowed, my upper lip trembling as I forced myself not to bare my teeth at the spirits lingering in the

woods.

“Witch!" came a ribbon of giggles that wove between the trees, echoing away.

'I'm not a witch,' I said through the mind-link, unable to form more than growls, yaps, and howls in my

wolf form.

“Come to us, daughter of Morrighan. Let us show you the answers you seek."

A chill ran up my spine as the mind-link crackled, and Hanna's voice cut through my mind.

'What's happening?' she said hurriedly, but I was already walking forward toward the book.

I looked down at the pages, finding the book remarkably changed. Instead of indecipherable text, the

pages were covered in images that moved across the page, turning and twisting as if they were

dancing. My eyes went wide as I watched what I knew, without a doubt, was the entire story of my

lands, my people, and our gods playing out in rapid succession.

Centuries ticked by in seconds. I saw my own birth, my childhood, my journey to the moonstones and

my mate, then the birth of my sons, my kingdom, every intimate touch of Troy's body against mine.

My heart was thundering in my chest as images went on and on, illustrated as though someone had

painted every moment of my life.

But then, it kept going, and going, and going. Then it stopped, with a picture of a white wolf in a snow-

covered clearing standing before a well of gem-like eyes.

“Shall we show you your future?"

'I need to know how to stop this war,' I replied.

I wondered if they could hear me. Hanna could, and she was frantically trying to mind-link with me, but I

shielded the connection, blocking her out.

“Your son will be the hero you seek," the voices drawled in unison.

'I don't seek a hero,' I said with force, another shiver running up my spine. My son? Which son?

“There is only one way to end the bloodshed when it begins, and that is with death."

'Obviously,' I ground out, this time baring my teeth and growling as I sent my reply through the mind-

link. 'What spell am I supposed to use? And how?'

“A union has been made. The fracture between the twins has mended." The book snapped shut, falling

over on its side. I jumped backward as the book shook violently, then stopped, settling against the

snow. “Open it, witch. Let us show you what you must do."

I pawed the book open, cursing internally. Thumbs would have been nice to have at this moment.

The book was blank, save for one single page in the center. I knew the faces I was looking at–me,

Hanna, my mother, and Lena… Mara, the sister of Tasia… and Clare.

“The coven must reunite and call to Morrighan to shelter the realm," the voices whispered, their voices

like music. “The moonstones… the lily… silver, and stone."

Suddenly the clearing went quiet, and the eyes disappeared. The image on the page faded.

But then, I heard a faint whisper. A single voice remained, its tone somber. Another image appeared on

the page, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I gazed upon it.

“A gift," the voice said, fading away as it retreated into the clearing.

I abruptly shifted back to my human form, hugging myself with my arms as tears rolled down my

cheeks. Hanna was beating against the mind-link, trying to get in.

The page went blank, then filled with its unusual scrawl, erasing all evidence of the image that was now

etched forever into my mind.

It had shown me my entire life.

And then, it had shown me my death.