Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

I snapped my eyes open.

Ethan! He was here.

I felt fear rushing through me.

What in the world did he want from me?

Immediately, I pushed him away and, leaped back away from him, my arms wrapping around my baby.

“Ethan!” I said, my tone accusatory. “Why are you here?”

“Shhh…” He pulled me into his arms again, and caressed my hair. He looked around to see if anyone ha

d heard me.

But he was making me angry.

He‘d been back in my life all of two minutes, and he was already ordering me around.

“Why did you come?” I asked him. “Are you here to take my baby?”

“No!” he said, and I could see by the hurt in his eyes that he meant it. “Rosalie, no… I would never…”

He stopped talking, which didn‘t surprise

me. He was never one for expressing himself. Still, I had to ask him…

“Are you here to kill me, then?”

I knew how he treated people who went against him.

Ethan‘s eyes nearly bulged from his head. He took a step back, and it

looked as if I had physically injured him.

Shaking his head, he said, “No, Rosalie. I came all of this way to see you. I knew there was no way that

you would ever harm our baby. I had to find you. I had to–”

Before he could finish, I heard footsteps coming in our direction. Ethan clearly did, too.

Regardless of why he was here, my instinct told me that no one should see him. Even though a part of m

e wanted to sell him out, to alert Soren‘s guards that a strange man was standing in my garden, I couldn‘

t do that. Not until I had gotten the opportunity to hear him out anyway.

“You have to go!” I urged him, not even knowing why I was doing it.

It was clear that he understood that, but his feet weren‘t moving.

“I have to see you again, Rosalie,” he said. It was the closest thing

to a request that I‘d ever heard come out of his mouth,

The footsteps were growing closer, and I distinctly heard the sound of Soren laughing. Ethan‘s face wrink

led into a grimace. It made me wonder if he knew Soren, if they had some bad blood, but

now wasn‘t the time for me to find out

“Go!” I said again

“Rosalie,” he insisted. “I have to see you again,”

“Fine!” I said, my eyes wide.

“And you won‘t tell him anything?”

“No. Now, go!”

I could plainly see the pure joy in his eyes.

“Are you still awake, Ro?”

I spun around to see Soren coming around the side of the cottage. I rushed over to meet him, hoping I co

uld cut him off before he saw Ethan. Since Ethan was wearing all black and had been standing in the

shadows, there was a chance he‘d get away before Soren could see him.

“Yes, Soren.”

I was used to Soren stopping by late at night. However, it hadn‘t happened often lately.

“Were you talking to someone?” he asked with a smile.

“Oh, you know me,” I said, smiling back and trying to keep calm. “Just talking to the baby.” I patted my st

omach.

“You sounded… upset,” he told me, looking around. I noticed he had a beautiful pink chrysanthemum in

his hand.

“Upset? Huh? Oh, no. Just the little booger kicked me right in the ribs. I was sitting in the swing talking a

bout how excited I was to meet my baby, and bam, right in the ribcage. You probably heard me say, ‘Ooo

h!‘” I tried to make it sound the same as when I‘d told Ethan to go.

Perhaps changing the subject would help?

“Is that for me?” I reached for the flower.

“Oh, yeah.” Soren was definitely distracted. He was spinning around, looking at every shadow, sniffing th

e air. “I saw it on my way home from your house. It‘s so beautiful. The pink reminded me of the shade yo

ur cheeks turn when you blush.”

“That‘s so sweet of you!” I gushed.

He wasn‘t standing still long enough for me to actually take the flower from him. I moved a few times to st

ep in front of him. We probably looked ridiculous to his bodyguards, who were hanging back a few steps,

as we did a strange waltz around the flower garden.

“Soren?”

“I‘m sorry!” he said, extending the flower to me. “I‘m so distracted. Here you go, gorgeous. In fact, let me p

He broke the stem off and slipped the flower behind my ear, taking a moment to situate it just

so. His fingertips grazed my cheek, and I felt a tingle go down my spine.

It might‘ve been exciting, and I might have even wondered

whether I wanted more from Soren than just our friendship, if I hadn‘t just seen Ethan…

Now, I couldn‘t even let myself think about any of that, with anyone.

Not right now

“Thank you,” I said, smiling at him. “That really was very kind of you, to come all the way back over here.

He chuckled. “Yes, you‘re right, I do. But… was there a skunk out here or something earlier?”

“A skunk?” I asked, staring at him. “What are you talking about?“.

“It doesn‘t smell like a skunk exactly, but more like a skunky wolf. A stinky… horrific. awful wolf with mange

I could only look at him and try not to give anything away.

Had he figured out that Ethan was here earlier?

Of course, I thought Ethan smelled wonderful, but I wasn‘t another dominant male.

“I don‘t smell anything,” I told him, but that wasn‘t quite true. Ethan‘s scent did linger in the air a bit, and if

I could certainly still feel his touch on my body from where he‘d been holding me.

“Well, I think we need to plant some more fragrant flowers around here tomorrow. There must be some s

“Soren,” I said, giggling. “All of these flowers smell wonderful, and there are plenty of them.”

He shrugged. “Something out here smells rotten.”

“I was the only one here…” I suggested, but that just made him laugh.

“You? You smell like a

fresh, spring rain, Ro. It‘s definitely not you. All right. I‘ll go. But you should go inside in case there‘s some

“I will,” I promised him. “My guards are nearby.”.

“Maybe it‘s them!” he joked. He was still laughing when he kissed my cheek for the second time that night

Soren was so fun–loving and good–natured. He was the exact opposite of Ethan.

Ethan.

I stood outside for a few more minutes, waiting to see if he‘d come back out.

But he didn‘t.

Was it possible I‘d dreamt him up? Maybe he was a figment of my imagination, and he hadn‘t really been

No, he was there. I had seen him. I‘d pinched myself and confirmed that I was still awake.

“Ethan,” I whispered– not to summon him, but just to feel his name on my mouth.

He didn‘t come out, but he didn‘t have to. I’d told him I’d talk to

him again, so I knew he‘d come back eventually. Whether I liked it or not.