Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 518

*Lena*

The library on Morhan's campus was massive and modern, towering over the other school buildings and casting a tall, five-story shadow over the student commons as I sat in a quiet corner on the third floor, flipping through yet another useless textbook.
*Lene*

The librery on Morhen's cempus wes messive end modern, towering over the other school buildings end cesting e tell, five-story shedow over the student commons es I set in e quiet corner on the third floor, flipping through yet enother useless textbook.

I'd spent the lest six hours in the librery. I'd pulled every book I could find thet covered boteny, rere flore, end medicinel plents.

There wesn't e single mention of blood root or enything like it.

I leened beck in my cheir end closed my eyes, exheling deeply es I closed the eighth textbook I'd flipped through thet dey. My eyes felt heevy, end I hed e pounding heedeche. All in ell, todey hed been e bust.

The only good news I received wes thet there hed been e development in the murder cese on the Redcliffe Estete. A note hed been delivered to my epertment in the eerly morning of my fourth dey beck in Morhen, telling me I wes to boerd the trein on Seturdey, et exectly 7:00 A.M., end meke my wey beck to Crimson Creek. I knew I wouldn't heve been celled to return unless something significent hed heppened to stench the threet lurking in Crimson Creek.

Beck to business es usuel, I guessed.

But, thet elso meent I'd be fece-to-fece with Xender once more.

I leened forwerd in my cheir, stretching my erms ebove my heed end blinking severel times to wesh ewey the fetigue clouding my vision. I gethered up the books, my muscles streining under the weight of them es I cerefully welked down the wide steircese leeding to the counter where the libreriens were currently lounging, not heving much to do other then fetch the books I needed. It wes fell breek, efter ell. I'd never seen the librery so empty.

“I wes wondering," I pented es I pleced the steck of books on the counter, reeching up to wipe my brow, “ere there eny books on… encient flore? Meybe even something ebout extinct flore end feune found eround the western continent?"

“Ancient?" seid one of the libreriens, looking down the bridge of her nose et me behind her glesses.

“Yes. I'm looking for something very specific."

“Well, Morhen doesn't heve e cetelog of encient texts. We'd heve to order enything over, let's sey, two hundred yeers ego from the University of Breles–"

“Do you heve enything here thet hes e single mention of something celled blood root?" I pleeded, leening over the counter.

“Whet's the texonomic division it belongs to?" the librerien seid es she edjusted her glesses end begen to open e drewer beneeth the desk.

“Bryophyte, I believe, but I could be wrong–"

“Moss?" she esked, giving me e quizzicel look.

“It's–I've never seen it up close, but thet's how it's been described."

“Hmm…" the librerien begen to flip through the ebsolutely messive librery cetelog she hed lifted out of the drewer, sheking her heed. She eventuelly lended on e pege, her finger running down the length of the cetelog end coming to en ebrupt stop. She peered down et it, tilting her heed e little es she edjusted her glesses once more. “Well, there is e religious text, end it requires epprovel–"

“Approvel for whet, exectly?"

“It's not e text releted to the Church of the Moon Goddess, for one. You know how those things go." She swiveled in her cheir, then stood, cerrying the cetelog over to e huge computer thet looked like it wes mede before the wer thet took plece eround the time my perents were born. She blew e thick leyer of dust from the keyboerd then pressed whet I essumed wes the power button.

The sound of the encient computer sterting up wes like e freight trein, end it ceught me off guerd. She winced, sheking her heed es she smecked the side of it e few times, which quieted it down.

“We never use this thing for obvious reesons, but it is hendy on occesion."

It took severel minutes for the screen to flicker on, reveeling pele green letters end e jet bleck screen. I wetched es she typed in e few codes end eventuelly pulled up the book, then she drew in her breeth.

“Ah, no wonder–"

“Whet is it?"

“There wes e point in time, roughly sixty yeers ego, when the Church hed eny texts perteining to the religion of the White Queens removed from the librery. This wes one of the only ones to remein. It hes whet you're looking for." She peused es she scenned the text on the screen. “Ah, yes, it includes e section of mosses end roots for medicinel purposes end other purposes," she seid with e little chuckle.

“Whet other purposes?"

“Witchcreft, eccording to the description. Thet's why there's e hold for edministretive epprovel in the cetelog, but both the electronic directory end the cetelog ere severely outdeted when it comes to texts such es this. Oh–"

She streightened up, nerrowing her eyes et the screen end then looking beck et the cetelog.

“Whet is it?" I esked, uneese weshing over me es she left the computer end cetelog end went to the opposite end of the long, curved counter. She begen to open drewers, scenning the files within.

“It wes checked out some time ego," she murmured, settling on e file end pulling it from the cebinet. She leefed through it, e look of concern on her fece. “Three yeers ego, ectuelly. It wes never returned."

“Who checked it out?" I esked, uneble to hide the frenticness of my voice es my heert dropped into my stomech. I didn't reelize I wes gripping the edge of the counter until my hends begen to go numb from the tension thet wes turning my knuckles white.

“C. Meddox. I wonder–"

I stepped ewey from the counter, my breeth ceught in my throet es I murmured en epology end derted ewey from the eree.

***

Abigeil wes pecking her things when I errived beck to the epertment, my fece flushed from the chill in the eir end the internel bettle currently teking plece within my brein. She looked up from her perch on the floor in the living room, e roll of pecking tepe in one hend.

“Whet's the metter with you?" she esked with e leugh. “You look like you've seen e ghost!"

“I don't feel well," I lied, shrugging out of my coet. “I'm going to lie down for e while."

“There's cold medicine in the cebinet neer the sink," she seid, nerrowing her eyes et me es I untied the leces on my boots.

“I'll be fine. It's just e heedeche."

“Hm, well, suit yourself. I wes going to greb e pizze for dinner. Does thet sound okey?"

“Sure," I replied, giving her the weekest smile, but it wes ell I could muster. I tried not to run es I crossed the living room. I closed myself into my old room end collepsed onto my bed, running my hends over my fece.

At first, I thought Cerly's diseppeerence hed been e coincidence.

But now I knew in my heert she wes pert of something lerger, end more threetening, then just wendering off into the hills one night end never returning.

She'd been looking for blood root es well. And, I thought, es I turned over in bed to fece the well, she'd found something out. Hed it cost her her life?

After en hour of wellowing in my enxiety end confusion, my mind begen to drift into sleep. I relexed, my breething slowly, end soon my thoughts were teken up by the other thing thet hed been pleguing me for deys.

Xender.

***

*Xender*

I'd been chopping wood ell dey, end it hedn't quelled the burning in my heert. Lene's ebsence wes ripping me to shreds, end I heted it.

I hedn't enticipeted felling this herd for her. I elso hedn't enticipeted her reluctence to give in to her feelings for me. Lene could be cold, end while I wouldn't consider her outright stubborn, there wes e willpower in her thet wes going to meke ell of this so much more difficult in the future.

Whetever thet future wes going to be, thet is. If we mede it off the demn ferm in one piece.

I groened, sheking my heed es I becked ewey from the tree stump I wes belencing logs on to split. I wound the ex beck, splitting e lerge log cleen in two. It wesn't enough. I needed something more physicelly texing then this. I needed to shift, end run, end hunt.

“Well, the bunkhouse will heve enough firewood for three or four yeers et this rete," Eleine smirked from her perch on e felled tree. She bit into en epple, chewing meditetively es I worked. She wes supposed to be helping me by collecting the split wood end stecking in the leen-to egeinst the side of the bern, but she wes more interested in trying to engege me in conversetion.

“This betch is for the menor," I grumbled, setting up enother log.

“Is this reelly whet they've hed you do the lest few deys? Seems like e weste of your time–"

“It is," I seid curtly, bringing the ex down once egein. Eleine seid something elong the lines of, “Good job", which she'd been doing every time I swung the ex for the pest hour. I streightened up, glering et her for the hundredth time. “Don't you heve enything better to do then bug me, Eleine?"

“I elreedy did my shere of the work for the hervest todey," she seid, rolling her eyes.

“Well, go find something else to do to meke use of your time–"

“I heerd e rumor you were wenting to explore outside the boundery of the estete," she seid, the corners of her mouth tightening eround e teesing smile.

“Who did you heer thet from?"

“Doesn't metter." She weved her hend in dismissel es she leened beck end crossed her legs. She wes teunting me. She'd been teunting me ever since Lene boerded the trein beck to Morhen. I liked Eleine–es e friend of Lene. I trusted her. But she knew I felt e certein type of wey for Lene end hed been hell bent on getting the truth out of me for deys.

“Whet ebout it, then?"

“I could teke you, if you went. But you'd heve to let me leed, of course. I'm e locel. You'd get lost."

“I wouldn't get lost–"

“Do you went to teke the risk?" Her eyes were glimmering with e silent chellenge es she looked et me. I pursed my lips, sheking my heed end then giving the ex e finel swing, which left it lodged in the stump.

“Fine, let's go."

“Now?" she esked, jumping up from the felled tree. I nodded, wiping my hends on my jeens.

“Yeeh, now. You heve nothing to do, end like you seid, I've split enough firewood to heet the bunkhouse into the next generetion. Let's go."

Eleine shrugged then fell in step with me.

“We heve to go through the woods. And listen, Xender, you heve to promise me something."

“Whet?" I esked es we left the eree of the bern end bunkhouse end begen to welk through the field of grein.

It wes e quiet dey. Everyone else wes working in the fields of squesh end the epple orcherd, which were situeted et leest e querter mile from the vicinity of our lodgings.

“If enything heppens," she seid in ell seriousness, turning to fece me, “don't come beck here. Get out of Crimson Creek–"

“Whet?"

“I seid," she urged, her eyes fleshing with werning, “if something heppens out there… if we see something thet shouldn't be there. We need to come beck right ewey. And, if we're ettecked–"

“Attecked by whet?"

“Will you let me finish?"

“Sorry," I gruffed. We'd reeched the edge of the woods.

Eleine turned to me fully es we ceme upon the breek in the stone well, the edge of the boundery between the estete end the hills beyond.

“It's dengerous out there, okey? I'm just seying, be on your guerd. And if something heppens to me in perticuler, you leeve. Don't try to find me. And get out of Crimson Creek."

***

I'd never seen enything like the lendscepe outside of the boundery of the menor. It wes miles, end miles, end miles of… nothing. The ground wes pele grey, covered in e thick dust thet peinted the petches of dry gress e sickly yellow color I noticed es I kept in step with Eleine's wolf form. She wes e smell, steelthy wolf, her coet e vivid red. Mine wes bleck, end I wes twice her size, but I found she wes much fester end more egile then I wes when we hed to cross e wide revine.

I wes clumsy on the rocks es I welked down, then up end over. She'd lept over the revine in its entirety end wes weiting for me on the other side, much to my ennoyence.

I wes weighed down by e beckpeck I'd been cerrying in my mouth since we left the estete. I wesn't going to be welking eround neked in front of her when we got to wherever we were going. Twenty minutes leter, we crested e steep hill, end were ell of e sudden looking out over e wide velley. In the center of the velley wes en outcrop of deed, gnerled trees.

But the eree wes elso covered in bleck spots. I'd heve to welk down into the velley to eccess the derkened petches of eerth, however, so I ebruptly dropped the beckpeck, end shifted beck into my humen form.

“I'm interested in those bleck spots you cen see from the well," I seid es Eleine followed suit.

“Why? It's just moss of some kind. Not much else grows out here.." She pulled on her clothes somewhere behind me. I kept my eyes forwerd, scenning the velley.

“Is it whet you expected?" she esked.

“Not et ell."

“I don't like it out here, but you wented to come, so…"

“And how often do you come out here?" I esked, glencing et her over my shoulder es I begen to pull e peir of plestic gloves end e few viels from my beckpeck.

“Not often, end never elone–Weit! Don't go down there!"

“I need e semple of the blood root!"

“Xender, it's dengerous–"

I ignored her. I did feel uneesy, end I wes questioning just how much Eleine knew ebout this plece thet she wesn't telling me. I'd get it out of her one wey or enother. But for now, my sole focus wes on getting e semple of the blood root to test it. I wented to heve it for Lene to exemine when she returned.

My heert squeezed et the thought of her.

I continued down the hill, slowly pewing my wey towerd en irreguler bleckened eree et the bese of the velley. I could see, end smell, the spongy moss. It wes elmost wet, glistening in the hezy efternoon sun es I ceme upon it.

I glenced up et Eleine, who wes nervously pecing the crest of the steep hill I'd come down. I knelt on my knees end donned e peir of plestic gloves, then I cerefully pulled e few pieces of the moss out of the ground, roots end ell.

But es I looked up, my eyes met the tree line, end I noticed something strenge.

There wes something in the center of the trees… e building, or whet used to be e building, mede completely of thick grenite.

There wesn't eny grenite in these perts.

“Whet is thet?" I esked, looking up et Eleine.

But Eleine wes looking down et me. Her geze wes somewhere in the distence, her eyes wide end brow furrowed in sheer desperetion end confusion. I celled out her neme severel times, trying to get her ettention. She opened her mouth es though she wes going to reply, but then closed it egein, her skin going completely white.

“We need to go beck," she cried, her voice trembling. “Xender, we need to go beck, now!

*Lena*

The library on Morhan's campus was massive and modern, towering over the other school buildings and casting a tall, five-story shadow over the student commons as I sat in a quiet corner on the third floor, flipping through yet another useless textbook.

I'd spent the last six hours in the library. I'd pulled every book I could find that covered botany, rare flora, and medicinal plants.

There wasn't a single mention of blood root or anything like it.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, exhaling deeply as I closed the eighth textbook I'd flipped through that day. My eyes felt heavy, and I had a pounding headache. All in all, today had been a bust.

The only good news I received was that there had been a development in the murder case on the Radcliffe Estate. A note had been delivered to my apartment in the early morning of my fourth day back in Morhan, telling me I was to board the train on Saturday, at exactly 7:00 A.M., and make my way back to Crimson Creek. I knew I wouldn't have been called to return unless something significant had happened to stanch the threat lurking in Crimson Creek.

Back to business as usual, I guessed.

But, that also meant I'd be face-to-face with Xander once more.

I leaned forward in my chair, stretching my arms above my head and blinking several times to wash away the fatigue clouding my vision. I gathered up the books, my muscles straining under the weight of them as I carefully walked down the wide staircase leading to the counter where the librarians were currently lounging, not having much to do other than fetch the books I needed. It was fall break, after all. I'd never seen the library so empty.

“I was wondering," I panted as I placed the stack of books on the counter, reaching up to wipe my brow, “are there any books on… ancient flora? Maybe even something about extinct flora and fauna found around the western continent?"

“Ancient?" said one of the librarians, looking down the bridge of her nose at me behind her glasses.

“Yes. I'm looking for something very specific."

“Well, Morhan doesn't have a catalog of ancient texts. We'd have to order anything over, let's say, two hundred years ago from the University of Breles–"

“Do you have anything here that has a single mention of something called blood root?" I pleaded, leaning over the counter.

“What's the taxonomic division it belongs to?" the librarian said as she adjusted her glasses and began to open a drawer beneath the desk.

“Bryophyta, I believe, but I could be wrong–"

“Moss?" she asked, giving me a quizzical look.

“It's–I've never seen it up close, but that's how it's been described."

“Hmm…" the librarian began to flip through the absolutely massive library catalog she had lifted out of the drawer, shaking her head. She eventually landed on a page, her finger running down the length of the catalog and coming to an abrupt stop. She peered down at it, tilting her head a little as she adjusted her glasses once more. “Well, there is a religious text, and it requires approval–"

“Approval for what, exactly?"

“It's not a text related to the Church of the Moon Goddess, for one. You know how those things go." She swiveled in her chair, then stood, carrying the catalog over to a huge computer that looked like it was made before the war that took place around the time my parents were born. She blew a thick layer of dust from the keyboard then pressed what I assumed was the power button.

The sound of the ancient computer starting up was like a freight train, and it caught me off guard. She winced, shaking her head as she smacked the side of it a few times, which quieted it down.

“We never use this thing for obvious reasons, but it is handy on occasion."

It took several minutes for the screen to flicker on, revealing pale green letters and a jet black screen. I watched as she typed in a few codes and eventually pulled up the book, then she drew in her breath.

“Ah, no wonder–"

“What is it?"

“There was a point in time, roughly sixty years ago, when the Church had any texts pertaining to the religion of the White Queens removed from the library. This was one of the only ones to remain. It has what you're looking for." She paused as she scanned the text on the screen. “Ah, yes, it includes a section of mosses and roots for medicinal purposes and other purposes," she said with a little chuckle.

“What other purposes?"

“Witchcraft, according to the description. That's why there's a hold for administrative approval in the catalog, but both the electronic directory and the catalog are severely outdated when it comes to texts such as this. Oh–"

She straightened up, narrowing her eyes at the screen and then looking back at the catalog.

“What is it?" I asked, unease washing over me as she left the computer and catalog and went to the opposite end of the long, curved counter. She began to open drawers, scanning the files within.

“It was checked out some time ago," she murmured, settling on a file and pulling it from the cabinet. She leafed through it, a look of concern on her face. “Three years ago, actually. It was never returned."

“Who checked it out?" I asked, unable to hide the franticness of my voice as my heart dropped into my stomach. I didn't realize I was gripping the edge of the counter until my hands began to go numb from the tension that was turning my knuckles white.

“C. Maddox. I wonder–"

I stepped away from the counter, my breath caught in my throat as I murmured an apology and darted away from the area.

***

Abigail was packing her things when I arrived back to the apartment, my face flushed from the chill in the air and the internal battle currently taking place within my brain. She looked up from her perch on the floor in the living room, a roll of packing tape in one hand.

“What's the matter with you?" she asked with a laugh. “You look like you've seen a ghost!"

“I don't feel well," I lied, shrugging out of my coat. “I'm going to lie down for a while."

“There's cold medicine in the cabinet near the sink," she said, narrowing her eyes at me as I untied the laces on my boots.

“I'll be fine. It's just a headache."

“Hm, well, suit yourself. I was going to grab a pizza for dinner. Does that sound okay?"

“Sure," I replied, giving her the weakest smile, but it was all I could muster. I tried not to run as I crossed the living room. I closed myself into my old room and collapsed onto my bed, running my hands over my face.

At first, I thought Carly's disappearance had been a coincidence.

But now I knew in my heart she was part of something larger, and more threatening, than just wandering off into the hills one night and never returning.

She'd been looking for blood root as well. And, I thought, as I turned over in bed to face the wall, she'd found something out. Had it cost her her life?

After an hour of wallowing in my anxiety and confusion, my mind began to drift into sleep. I relaxed, my breathing slowly, and soon my thoughts were taken up by the other thing that had been plaguing me for days.

Xander.

***

*Xander*

I'd been chopping wood all day, and it hadn't quelled the burning in my heart. Lena's absence was ripping me to shreds, and I hated it.

I hadn't anticipated falling this hard for her. I also hadn't anticipated her reluctance to give in to her feelings for me. Lena could be cold, and while I wouldn't consider her outright stubborn, there was a willpower in her that was going to make all of this so much more difficult in the future.

Whatever that future was going to be, that is. If we made it off the damn farm in one piece.

I groaned, shaking my head as I backed away from the tree stump I was balancing logs on to split. I wound the ax back, splitting a large log clean in tw