Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 262

Chapter 42: The Right Path

Hanna

The figure was in the distance. A woman. Her long, red-blonde hair was floating around her head like a halo as she drifted limply in the water.

She wasn’t supposed to be here.

I moved towards her, looking up to see the surface of the water high above my head.

This wasn’t right. I was far away from where I usually dreamed. The water was warm, the sun casting a sparkling glow across the surface as I moved through the stillness towards the woman, reaching out to grasp her by the arm.

I could feel life within her still, though the pulse beneath my fingers was slow and irregular. A rope was tied around her waist, the end of it floating several feet above her head.

Holding her by the arm I kicked my feet, moving towards the surface of the water. She was weightless, her hair falling over her face as we rose from the blue depths, our heads breaking through the surface into blinding sun.

A wave came, the water seeming to whisper to me as it took the woman away.

Had it thanked me?

I looked around, treading water in search of where the woman had gone.

But a grinding sound made me look over my shoulder. I blinked, my mouth dropping open in shock.

The white building in my dreams was before me, so close I could see the symbols etched into the stone. It was built into a rock striped with veins of granite, camouflaged from view unless you knew exactly what you were looking for.

A single wave could have brought me to it. I was that close.

But the grinding sound turned into screams of terror and agony. All around me the sky erupted into angry noise. People were yelling, voices lifted in desperation and despair. I reached up to cover my ears, shaking my head and closing my eyes.

No, no, no!

Suddenly, I was pulled beneath the water, the dream unraveling around me into nothingness.

Rosalie

*How often is she doing this?” I asked, reaching into the linen closet to pull a stack of blankets from a shelf and handing them to Rowan, who was standing with me in the upstairs hallway. He shrugged, tucking the blankets under his arm as he followed me through the house to the guest room.

I had sent Gretchen, our housekeeper, home hours ago. I was surprised by Ethan’s quick return from Red Lakes. I was even more shocked when he climbed out of the seaplane with not only Rowan, but two young women in tow.

I hadn’t recognized Kacidra at first, since she had grown into a beautiful young woman compared to the shy, quiet girl she had been when her family visited over ten years ago.

But my heart had nearly stopped when Hanna stepped off the plane, her dark hair pulled away from her face and her eyes shining in the sunlight. I thought it had been her mother standing on the dock at first. My heart beat rapidly against my chest as I watched Hanna move like a shadow behind Rowan, her hand tucked into the crook of his elbow.

Hanna’s mother had had powers even I couldn’t fathom. But they were dark powers. I felt it the moment I met her.

I could feel them in Hanna, too.

And when she collapsed to the ground in the middle of the dining room, her body seemed to pull the water out of the air as her clothes became suddenly damp and water began to soak onto the rug beneath her. I knew something was amiss. This girl, so quiet, so innocent, was battling an inner force she had no control over. It was something even I didn’t understand.

“I never saw it happen, not like what happened after dinner,” Rowan admitted, helping me fit a new sheet over the mattress, “She always came to us soaking wet. Like she had been swimming.”

0.00%

12:40 1

Chapter 42: The Right Path

“Ah, I see.” I said quietly, racking my brain for some semblance of understanding. We made the bed in silence, my eyes grazing over Rowan’ sface, his mouth sunken in a frown.

“Does she talk to you much, sweetheart?” I asked, fluffing the pillows.

Rowan shook his head, “No, not really. A few words here and there.”

“Dad says she’s your mate”

“She is,” he said abruptly, his eyes catching mine. “She is my mate.”

“He also said your bond with her is weakened by –whatever force is-”

“By her dreams. Yes, I believe you’re right.” There was an edge to his voice, something that told me he would rather talk about anything else. I could feel the tension radiating off his body, his brow furrowed in inward contemplation.

He was leaving for Valoria in a few hours with Ethan and a handful of warriors while I stayed behind. It had been my decision to stay, even though I was desperately worried about Maeve. Word had come to Winter Forest about the invasion only an hour before Ethan’s plane touched down on the water.

Maeve was strong, however. She would have gotten herself to safety. She would have fought.

And something in me was keeping me grounded to Winter Forest, some kind of pull that was heightened by Hanna’s arrival.

This is where I was supposed to be. For now.

I could hear Ethan’s voice drifting up the stairs as we left the guest room and walked into the hallway. He was standing in the living room, talking to the warriors he was bringing on his quest.I smiled softly to myself, shaking my head. Rowan arched his brow, his hand on the railing of the stairs.

“What Mom?”

“Your father, he’s excited.