Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 605

Chapter 105 : Preparing for War

*Xander*

I was f*****g exhausted. There was no way around it. Three days had passed, and I didn't think I'd slept even once. First, Zeke and I had to fill Oliver in on everything that was happening in the Vampire realm, the Realm of Night. Second, Zeke had to lead us to King Nikolas's castle, which had taken two nights' worth of a trek. Lastly, I had to convince him to storm the castle with Oliver and me and free not only the enslaved people who lived in the castle, but also Lena.

Now I was laying flat on my back in the grass, trying my hardest to stay awake so I could take in every single word Andromeda, a High Vampire who was also, apparently, a witch, said to Lena.

I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to eat something, and I wanted to sleep, and I wanted to get the hell out of there and go back to Lena's realm and figure things out from there. That portal she'd created was still open, and based on what Oliver had told us about his experience, it could take you anywhere you wanted as long as the thought was in your mind.

Oliver said he'd just gone for a walk in the hills outside of Gideon's property in Crimson Creek and felt what he was sure was the mate bond. He said it was intense, and his whole body had reacted, and suddenly he was falling through the sky and into the water just outside the misty wall that separated the night realm from wherever the hell we were now. He'd been thinking about his mate, trying to find her, and based on his behavior now, I was willing to bet she lived somewhere in this new realm.

And if his mate was indeed Elaine....

“Narcissa is my sister," Andromeda said as she sat with Lena in the grass only a few feet away. “How is she? I haven't seen her since the fall of the High Vampires."

“She seems happy," Lena said, her voice wavering. “She's very nice."

“Did she bake for you? She was always doing that. She was fascinated by the Lower Vampires when they first came into being. She's always lived with them, you know, acting as though she were one of them. When our father cursed our brothers for their transgressions by allowing the sun into our realm, she chose to go live with the Lower Vampires underground, instead of with… us."

I opened one eye, glancing toward Andromeda as she told what I expected to be a very informative tale about this realm and its history, and what our realms were truly up against if it came to war.

Lena only smiled in response to Andromeda's inquiry. Lena hadn't told me about Narcissa, or that Kiern had taken her before a High Vampire that was hidden deep within Brune to eat cookies and drink tea. I rolled my eyes and shut them again, letting the sun play over my face. But then, they started talking about the book.

“It belonged to Leto, the first Moon Goddess. Before she was a god, she was a healer and wise woman. This was a gift from my father," Andromeda said as she ran her fingers over the leather cover of the giant book, her eyes glazed with the memory. “He was trying to woo her, but she was weary of him. She did take the book and fill it with her recipes for tinctures and potions, and eventually, her spells. That was before my father gave her the powers you now possess, Lena, and before she used those powers to make your realm and rule over her own people."

“She was a witch?"

“Of course; most women are," Andromeda said with a laugh. “That's where your kind's powers come from. Leto was a playful thing. She wasn't interested in the powers of darkness like most gods. She wanted her people to live full, rich lives, which meant keeping them mortal. She used her powers to give them the gift of finding their fated matches, their soulmates. But she faltered when she found her own mate. She begged the gods, our father in particular, for a way to keep the man immortal as well as the twin children she bore. My father loved her, and gave her the moonstone."

Ugh, the moonstone. I already knew the tale. Everyone in the pack lands, as well as Egoren, was familiar with Morrighan and Lycaon.

“What happened to your father?" Lena asked, and Andromeda let out a long, somber sigh.

“He's still around, but we tired him out, I'm afraid. My brothers were always fighting over territory, which turned into fighting over slaves. Narcissa and I were our father's favorites, and when we left our family's home high in the Night Range, he saw no point in staying to watch his sons kill themselves over what they thought was god-like power. I haven't seen or spoken to him in over a thousand years. But–" she patted the book with a smile, “I knew he'd find a way to send me the book."

“The man in the library… he told me I needed to give it to you, and then bring it to the twentieth White Queen, which is my aunt Maeve."

“Ah, yes. I've heard of Maeve. She's expected to be a formidable force when she unlocks her true powers."

I opened my eyes fully and turned my head to look at them, watching lines of confusion dance across Lena's face.

“But… she's in her early forties. She came into her powers long ago–"

“She's never had a reason to use her powers yet. I heard of the trials from her early adulthood with that woman… what was her name? From the line of Lycaon?"

I narrowed my eyes as Lena explained what she knew about Maeve during the time of Tasia. It had been Lena's mother who'd defeated her, though–Hanna, the Luna Queen of Valoria.

“Your mother is a true witch." Andromeda smiled. “I hope I have the chance to meet her one day."

Lena looked quizzical, but Andromeda didn't allow her a moment to ask any further questions.