Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 314

Chapter 94 : 1 Kissed Her

Rowan

“It wasn’t easy,” said the metalsmith as he wiped his grimy hands on a rag. He spun around in his car, plopping a small, smooth ring in the palm of my hand. “You were right about the stone; it was jade-a sizable, practically flawless hunk of it. Say, where did you find it?”

“On the beach,” I said softly, turning the ring over in my hand.

The entire thing was made of jade, carved right out of the stone Hanna had found on our walk on the beach several weeks before the snow had begun to fall. That was months ago, I thought, wrapping my fingers around the ring. Things had some how felt easier then.

“There’s enough of the mother-stone left for a second ring, at least partially. Half would need to be metal of some kind, I rec ommend platinum. It’s what I used to give the first ring support, you see.”

“It’s… it’s fine. It’s just a gift.”

IL11

A parting gift.

Something I had planned on giving to Hanna under very dif ferent circumstances. I had carried that damn rock around in my jacket since the day she found it, marveling at the pale sea – green band of jade running through it whenever I had a moment of solitude to fish it out of its resting place.

I had imagined making a ring with it, one of pure jade, think ing the color would look perfect against the paleness of her skin. I

had imagined slipping it onto her finger and taking her hand in mine, as my wife.

I swallowed back the pain and paid the metalsmith, thanking him for his time. The ring felt heavy in my hand as I walked through the center of the village, crossing the road leading up to my house and through the woods toward Hanna’s cabin.

It had been a week since Maeve and my parents left for Mi rage. Two days ago, a pilot from Mirage had arrived in a Cessna 210, large enough to fit six passengers. He had come bearing news of Maeve, but we didn’t have much time to grieve her expe rience. She was fine, as were my three nephews, but the large seaplane that had been carting my family back and forth to Mi rage for decades had crash-landed and needed repairs.

We had all been summoned to Mirage. And I knew in my ab sence, Hanna would likely go back to Red Lakes as planned.

I wanted to ask her to come with me. I was ready to beg. But I knew it would be fruitless.

Any future I had with her seemed to evaporate the second she told Maeve and me what she had seen in her vision of Maeve’ s future. Maeve and Troy had been discussing what sounded like a succession of sorts, facilitated by my dad. My interpretation of the dream was that one of their sons was ascending a throne, which couldn’t have been Troy’s soon-to-be – title of Alpha of Poldesse. That left only two options: Alpha King of Valoria, or Al pha of Drogomor.

Which were the titles I was meant to inherit.

Which could only mean that I would have no children to pass them on to.

1 The only shred of hope I had was that Hanna had been Wrong about only two of the triplets surviving. The entire vision

could’ve been wrong, but what did it matter? Hanna was leaving. There was nothing I could do about it.

And I couldn’t carry the hunk of jade in my pocket any longer.

| barely noticed how far I had walked, lost in thought, until i was standing at the bottom of the steps leading into her cabin.

She must have heard me coming because no sooner had i put my foot on the first step did she open the door, her black hair hanging loose over her shoulder and a plush bathrobe covering her flannel pajamas.

It was late afternoon, the sky an inky purple dappled with stars. I needed to be at the seldom used and grossly neglected landing strip outside of the village in the next hour.

This was it. This was goodbye.

“I meant to shovel the stairs for you again, but 1-” | started, motioning toward the three or so inches of fresh snow blanketing the stairs.

Hanna leaned on the doorway, her eyes shining in the porch light. “It’s okay, Rowan. Pete can do it. You’ve… it’s been a rough week.”

“Yeah, it has been.” The ring was burning a hole through the palm of my hand. I wanted nothing more than to toss it to her without a word and run then try to continue to stifle the heavy, overwhelming heartbreak. I understood her reasonings for want ing-no, needing to leave. But I would never understand why she felt like I wasn’t strong enough to protect her, and my family, from whatever was coming.

“Kacidra said you’re leaving soon.”

“I am. Now, actually. I have to… I wanted to give you some

thing before I went. In case you weren’t… weren’t here when I re turned.” I climbed a single step, unsure if my feet would let me go any further. The truth was, I likely wouldn’t be returning to Winter Forest for a long time. Dad had called a major conference in Mi rage, and all of the Alphas would be required to attend.

I would be made Alpha of Drogomor, officially. And I would set up residency in the castle immediately.

I looked up at Hanna, holding out my hand. I placed the ring in her open palm, wrapping my hand around hers.

“I had it made from the piece of Jade you found on the beach. I thought… I want you to have it, despite everything. I couldn’t leave without knowing you had it. I don’t expect you to wear it. I don’t expect… I don’t expect anything. I respect you, Hanna. I respect you as much as I love you… and Goddess, I love you. I just needed you to know that.”

I took my hand from hers, looking into her eyes for a split sec ond before I turned and walked away, letting the dark of our early nights wrap itself around me.

Ernest lifted George into the snug cabin of my Cessna 180, which looked like a toy compared to the glossy two-prop Cessna 210 that was idling only ten yards away on the ice-covered river. He handed George to Gemma, who immediately started fussing over the white snowsuit George was wearing, which made him look like a marshmallow.

His black curls were sticking out of the bright purple wool hat Gretchen had knit for him, and he was staring forward at the dashboard of the plane, mesmerized by the lit-up switches and gauges.

Ernest handed her the fluffy blanket in question, then stepped into the plane to drape a heavy wool blanket over his mate and their child, tucking the blanket around Gemma’s hips.

“Not until Georgie is six months old,” I laughed, which elicited a steely glare from Gemma. “We’re just waiting on the other plane to taxi. Shouldn’t be long.”

Talon was, of course, sitting in the co-pilot seat. If the pilot was smart, he would cut Talon’s mic. Otherwise, Talon would be

I smiled a bit at the thought then turned back to the dash board of my own tiny vessel. It had only two rows of seats, big enough to carry four adults at the most. It also didn’t have heat, so we were all bundled up in parkas and heavy gloves. George seemed fine with the arrangement, and within minutes, the heavy vibration in the cabin had lulled him into a deep sleep.