Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 296

Chapter 76: Changing Course

Troy

“Are you sure about this?” Keaton tossed a bundle of supplies taken from Damian’s camp into one of the skiffs, glancing up at me as I handed him a basket filled with what looked like a varied assortment of dried food.

“I don’t have time to return to Dianny. It’s halfway through August already. We have until late October before

“Before the ice, I understand.” Keaton wasn’t happy about my decision to break from the Persephone and head north with Maeve and Pete, but it was the only option. I had spent the majority of the morning convincing Maeve that I loved her, going as far as to mark her, cementing our bond in the most permanent way possible. Maeve was royalty, however, and I had a feeling her dad was going to be pissed that I had marked his daughter without blessing our union first, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I wasn’t about to let her go. “But I’m not talking about that.”

“What, then?”

“Alpha King Ethan is going to kill you, Troy.”

“And leave his grandchildren without a father?” | retort ed, leaning against the skiff as I tried to steady myself. The bandages around my chest were already matted with dried blood, and I was exceedingly lightheaded. I needed rest, but we needed to get off this Goddess – forsaken island first.

“Don’t be a prick,” Keaton said with force. His displea sure was palpable. “I just saw you die and come back to life. And now? I’d hoped the plan was to get Maeve back to Winter Forest and leave her there”

“You knew I was never going to just abandon her, Keaton. Come on.”

Keaton crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.

“What do you have against Maeve? Seriously,”

“I have nothing against her,” Keaton bit out, his voice edged with bitterness. “In fact, I quite like her. Had it not been for her, I would have never met Myla. But she is blind to your situation, Troy. Totally oblivious. She didn’t know about the weight of your deal with Damian, did she? Not until recently.”

He was talking about the fact that I was the rightful Al pha of Poldesse, something I had never considered actually claiming. I had known since Damian intercepted one of our

cruisers a year ago and had the crew send word to our compound in the Isles that I needed to see him.

Keaton and I had thought it was about business. We had been working for Damian for several years at the point but had never done business with him directly. We just smuggled goods to and from the Isles.

I didn’t mention it to Maeve because it didn’t matter to me, and I figured she’d drawn her own conclusions based on the fact I was Romero’s grandson, but it had gone right over the top of her head. We had been busy, anyway, chas ing a damn gemstone to the ends of the Earth.

“I’m going to let Poldesse dissolve-”

“You can’t,” Keaton said firmly, “There would be a pow er struggle, Troy. Poldesse would end up in someone else’s hands, and who knows who that would be? Damian had close ties with prominent families all over the Isles, people that have no business having that much power.”

“Then I say I’m Alpha in name and let-”

“And let the people of the Isles suffer under the rule of a regent, likely one of Damian’s men?”

“No, it would be you. You’d be my Beta.”

Keaton let his arms drop to his sides, flexing his fingers. “You’re not thinking rationally,”

“I just been stabbed through the heart, Keaton!”

“You lose in either situation!” he shouted, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “Goddess, Troy. Poldesse IN VADED land governed by Alpha King Ethan. It doesn’t mat ter what your relationship is with Maeve. You will be held responsible for all of it, especially with Damian dead.”

“What would you have me do, then? Run? Hide like a coward? Leave Maeve to fend for herself? Abandon my kids like my parents did to me? Absolutely not-”

– “This moment,” Keaton said as he pointed to the space between us, “decides everything. Your path. Your future-”

“Alpha Ethan won’t kill me,” I said with conviction, the force of my words sending a rush of pain through my chest. “I’m more worried about her brother.”

Keaton rolled his eyes and turned away from me, busy ing himself with tying up a canvas sack of goods we packed while taking down Damian’s camp.

“This goes beyond your fear of Ethan killing me-”

“I don’t think you’re thinking this through-”

“The only time we’ve been separated was when I was sent to Valoria,” I began, taking a deep breath. “You were angry with me about that too.”

Keaton straightened to his full height, giving me a look that instantly reminded me of the first time I had ever met him. He had been eight years old, the leader of a pack of orphans who varied in age, some younger, but most were older than him, young teenagers who bent the knee to a skinny, scrappy kid in cut-off jeans three sizes too big for him. His parents had died in the war, at least that was the story he told.

I’d never been loyal to an Alpha.

I’d only ever been loyal to Keaton. He was the only fam ily I had ever had.

“I’m afraid I won’t ever see you again.” Keaton struggled with the words, tilting his head back and groaning before making eye contact with me again, shaking his head. “It was different when you went to Valoria for Damian. We didn’t have much of a choice. You couldn’t tell him no.”

“I’m not walking into a trap, if that’s what you think-”

“I don’t think that. I just know… Troy I know the second you step foot on the cruiser, everything we worked for is over. Our crew… our ship. It’s always been ours, not just mine.”

“I know. We have mates to think about now, Keat.”

He considered this, a soft smile touching the corner of his mouth.

“Who would’ve f*cking thought?”

“Not me,” I laughed shortly, reaching up to touch the fresh stitches. We stood in silence for a moment, watching as the crew pulled down the large canvas tent and folded it up.

“If I don’t hear from you, or about you, I’ll come to Win ter Forest and kill Alpha Ethan myself.”

“You should come visit anyway. None of us have ever been that far north. Myla will want to visit Duck.”

“No,” | said slowly, both of us knowing that wasn’t a fight we wanted to take on.

I turned toward the windows of the control room where Pete was seated behind a large dashboard with several dif ferent screens and navigation tools, his eyes wide as he marveled at technology he had likely never seen before.

It was much smaller than the Persephone, but its size would prove useful as we made our way back through the southern pass. We were lighter and faster. I had estimated our journey to Winter Forest to take a month at least, but at the rate we were already moving, we could easily shave off a week.

“I’ll rest,” | assured her as she slipped back into the in side of the boat, stopping to talk to Pete for a moment be fore disappearing from view.