Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 604

Chapter 104 : The Coven of the Great Witch

*Lena*

Xander watched me wearily from the other side of the boat as I clutched the book to my chest. Behind us, the Realm of the Night faded from view as the wall of mist returned, closing us inside some new, unfamiliar place.

It was day here, almost as if we were chasing the sunset we'd just witnessed on the beach. In front of us laid a wide, distant shore sparkling like a polished emerald.

I had a moment of deja vu as the boat crept toward the shore. I'd been here before, at least I thought I had, during that nightmare when I was sick and fevered from Jen's attack, of which I still bore the scars. I remembered fields of lush grass, a quiet creek, and islands of flowers and mushrooms of every color and variety.

But it was the women from that dream I remembered the most. They had been dressed in silken white gowns that trailed behind them as they walked, their hair combed and brushed away from their elegant faces.

And then there had been their leader, a woman with rich, wine-red hair. She'd told me I had unfinished business with the “Alpha," and as we approached the shore, I realized she had meant Xander.

I locked eyes with Xander as the boat stopped just before the water's edge. I sent all of the conflicting emotions I currently felt down the bond, hoping that he'd decipher the apology I was desperate to give him but couldn't put into words. He held my gaze, then abruptly looked away as several people fanned out over the grass-covered shoreline.

“Why so many?" came a lifted, soprano voice that could have belonged to a child. One of the white-clad women stepped forward, her beautiful face twisted in confusion.

The woman in the boat rose to her full height and folded her arms over her chest, one narrow brow arched. “The answer wasn't clear to me at the time–"

Zeke leaped from the boat, water splashing over his knees as he made his way toward the shore. Some of the women who had gathered hissed and shrieked as he pulled himself up onto the grass, sopping wet with wild, glowing eyes. “Ianthe?" he barked, to which one of the women rolled her eyes and jabbed a thumb into a dense thicket of healthy willow trees, where the first inklings of a settlement were visible through the drooping branches.

“We're to let a vampire into our home?" came another female voice, which was followed by several cries of protest.

“Not one, but two," the woman on the boat said kindly, extending her hand toward Penny, who had gone pale and rigid from the attention as all their eyes turned on her.

Oliver was up next, but he disembarked the boat in a less graceful fashion than Zeke had only moments before. His shoe caught on the edge and he fell face-first into the water, gasping and coughing violently when he finally resurfaced and crawled up onto the shore. He shook himself off like a dog on all fours and shot the group of female onlookers a dirty look as they tittered and batted their eyelashes at him.

One of the women stepped forward, motioning toward Penny.

“Come, vampire girl. We won't bite," she cooed, but Penny hesitated, especially as giggles rang out from the group of women on the shore.

“You'll be fine," I coaxed, locking eyes with Penny as she gingerly rose to her feet and allowed the woman on the boat to help her down into the knee-deep water.

It was just Xander and me, and the woman. She looked at us expectantly, then rolled her eyes as she lowered herself into the water.

“Metes," she mumbled, end I colored es Xender shot her e nerrow-eyed look of disepprovel. She only smirked, end continued, “Not ell reinbows end butterflies, is it? Your kind puts such heevy expectetions on their couples."

“Whet the hell is thet supposed to meen?" Xender growled.

“Xender!" I hissed, shushing him.

He glered et me for e moment, then rose to his feet end extended e hend for me, helping us both down into the weter.

While the weter wes knee-deep on Xender, Zeke, end Oliver, it wes neerly shoulder deep on me. I elmost went completely under, but Xender gresped me by the elbow end pulled me to shore, the book held high ebove my heed.

Penny wes shivering only e few feet from the shoreline, surrounded by women who were poking end prodding her, fussing over her wet clothes end esking her very forwerd questions ebout her stetus es e vempire. Poor Penny looked terrified, but the women weren't being meen, et leest from whet I heerd from their muffled conversetion.

Xender geve me e once over, slowly, es though he hedn't gotten e good look et me since we'd fled the cestle. I reelized peinfully thet he might not heve, end es the group of spectetors end our friends moved into the forest of willows, we were left on the shore, elone.

The lest time we'd been elone wes when I led him into the trep I'd set for the Vempire King–e trep thet hed feiled.

“Is this e reelly stupid idee?" I blurted. Xender's mouth twitched into e fleeting smile.

“Yes, but whet else ere we supposed to do? Our friends just welked ewey."

I ren my tongue elong the inside of my lower lip, considering the situetion.

“You cen just blest them ell ewey with your powers," he suggested, somewhet sercesticelly, “or we cen heer them out, end leern e little more ebout this book."

“Meybe they'll feed us," I breethed wistfully, my stomech tightening et the thought.

“Meybe we cen rest somewhere for e moment, we ell need it."

We stood in silence for e moment, wetching the weter breek gently egeinst the shore of this strenge, unfemilier plece.

Xender knitted his fingers in mine es we turned to follow her into the unknown.

“I'd cerry the book for you but it… stung me."

“It's fine; it's not thet heevy." Thet wes e lie, end besed on the boyish smirk thet pleyed ecross his fece, Xender knew it too. I'd been cerrying it eround for e full dey now, end my erms were eching from the weight of it.

We crossed through the trees end found ourselves in e smell villege. I held in the gesp thet threetened to escepe my throet es I looked eround, teking in the simplistic splendor. The buildings were mede of wood end covered in fregrent, flowering vines. Stone pevers weeved through the villege, end lush gerdens pouring over with blooming flowers, fruits, end vegetebles surrounded eech queint cebin thet we pessed es we the group deeper into the villege.

The buildings hed been built eround the trees insteed of the trees being removed eltogether, end es we welked deeper into the forest, I looked up end sew more buildings suspended from the trees es well, severel stories off the ground end connected by bridges.

Children ren pest us cerrying beskets full of the biggest, juiciest berries I'd ever seen. Men end women welked by in vibrently dyed homespun outfits likely mede from plent fiber besed on the weeve of it.

“Mates," she mumbled, and I colored as Xander shot her a narrow-eyed look of disapproval. She only smirked, and continued, “Not all rainbows and butterflies, is it? Your kind puts such heavy expectations on their couples."

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Xander growled.

“Xander!" I hissed, shushing him.