Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 292

The moonstone.

Chapter 72: When a White Queen Dies Maeve

I didn’t even fight as Rex dragged me away from the tomb. I was limp in his arms, my strength spent, every cell in my body bursting with pure, unadulterated grief.

I felt empty.

I didn’t notice how the landscape changed as Rex carried me over a rocky hill and down into a small, sheltered cove. I didn’t notice when my hands were tied behind my back around a tree and I was left on the shore, facing the water.

Troy was trapped inside the tomb we had spent months trying to find

And something had happened to my mother.

I could feel it in my bones as I looked out over the water, a great transformation taking place within me minute after minute, the image of the two wolves I had seen in the circle of stones flowing in and out of my mind.

“Not yet. I’m not ready to lose them,” I whispered as I sat on the beach, waiting for whatever came next.

Damian’s cruiser was rocking on the water in the distance. It was a large, modern boat, its white frame glimmering in the sunset as I sat on the beach just outside of a large canvas tent at Damian’s beach camp.

I counted nine people in total, including Damian. I had been watching the cruiser for several hours and hadn’t seen a single person moving across the deck.

Nine people, that was it. That was all that was between me and getting back the Persephone for help freeing Troy from the tomb and doing whatever it took to get back to Winter Forest as quickly as possible. If I could get free….

I wondered how quickly I could get there if I stole Damian’s boat.

A laugh rang out somewhere behind me, and I winced, turning my head only slightly toward the noise. That’s when saw her, and my skin prickled with heat.

“Opaline?” I said, as though to myself.

She was within earshot, however, and looked right at me as she walked along the beach, her icy blonde hair trailing behind her.

She bowed dramatically, then laughed again as she rose, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Princess Maeve, our royal fugitive!”

“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed, digging into my restraints with my nails.

“I could ask you the same thing, but I already know. On a little treasure hunt with your boyfriend, huh? I see he was a successful breeder.” She walked toward me, stopping short of me by mere feet.

My cheeks flamed with fury as I narrowed my eyes at her. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m here because my soon-to-be husband is here, that’s why.” 

“Who? You’re already,”

“Oh, Julian? He perished in the invasion,” she said, giving me a faux frown before she began to laugh again.

I swallowed against the lump in my throat, sensing there was much more to her story about her brother’s, or husband’s-whatever he was-death. She watched me for a moment, then knelt so we were at eye level. She tilted her head from side to side, her black eyes narrowing.

“Damian is making me his Luna.”

“Congratulations,” I said, the sarcasm in my voice biting.

“I will be Luna of all of it, Princess. Every inch of the pack lands.”

“Okay,” yawned.

She pursed her lips, unhappy about the lack of reaction she was getting out of me. “Did you not hear what I just said?”

“I did. But, you’ll have to pry the title of Alpha King out of my father’s cold, dead hands before you can ascend the throne as queen.”

“Who says I haven’t?” Something in her voice made the breath catch in my throat.

I looked at her, trying to peer behind her haunting eyes. “You’ve seen him? My dad?”

“Oh, yes. I’ve seen him. He came to Mirage not long after the invasion with his son, the heir. Your brother.”

Fear gripped my chest as I leaned forward, frantically picking at my restraints. “Where are they now?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? A lot has happened since you fled from Valoria, Maeve. Like a coward.”

“I didn’t flee. I was being held against my will –”

“By the man you now love, the same man who is the father of your child?”

I bit my lip, closing my eyes to stop the tears welling in the corners of my eyes from running down my cheeks. I couldn’ t possibly be this alone, could I? Dad and Rowan wouldn’t have gone down so easily.

“Tell me what happened,” I said firmly, my voice edged with righteous fury. Opaline smiled menacingly, her eyes narrowing into cat-like slits.

“Opaline, that’s enough.” Damian’s voice wafted over to us, and Opaline turned her head, her face falling as her opportunity to torment me further evaporated into thin air.

Damian approached us, looking tired, his eyes lined with dark circles and his hands bandaged, likely from the injuries he had sustained when he tore the tomb to pieces. He reached down and picked me up by my restraints, lifting me to my feet and roughly pushing me forward to keep in step with him as he led me into a large canvas tent.

Opaline followed but was quickly dismissed before she could gain entrance to the tent. I gave her a menacing smile of my own as the tent flap closed in her face.

To my surprise, Damian cut the rope that bound my hands behind my back. I looked around, taking in the splendor of the tent. The sand had been covered with large rugs, and several couches had been placed around the table Damian had been using as a desk. This place looked lived in, like Damian had been here for quite a while.

“How did you know where to find the tomb?” | asked without even thinking. The question had been at the tip of my tongue since my arrival at his camp.

He shrugged, motioning for me to sit as he took a seat behind the desk. A large tray of food was sitting on a side table. It was nearly nightfall, and it had been almost ten hours since Damian had taken me away from the tomb. I was starving.

“I have a friend,” he said casually, cleaning off his glasses with his shirt.

“A friend?”

“Don’t listen to Opaline; she is upset you weren’t dealt with right away.”

“She said my father went to Mirage.”

“She can’t use them. She’s not a White Queen.”

“She’s still a descendant of the Moon Goddess. The Lycaonian line has always been much more powerful than  the White Queens. I thought you’d know this already, having seen Dianny and its people.”

I swallowed, feeling lightheaded. Damian was right; Dianny held great powers in its valley. But Una had told me not everyone had the powers of Lycaon, that they were rare. That Tasia had been the first one born with them in many generations.

“What are you planning to do, Damian?” I was growing impatient. Every minute that went by was another minute Troy was trapped in the tomb and my mother was dying-at least that’s what I felt like was happening.