Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder novel Chapter 610

Chapter 110 : Show Me the Portal

*Lena*

I woke to faint sunlight filtering in between the thick curtains blanketing the frost-covered windows in my room at the castle of Winter Forest. Another day closer to the war, another day further from Xander.

Maeve had gone out into the woods with the book last night, and we had waited up for her to return. She came inside, her parka hanging loose over her shoulders and her glorious copper blonde hair tousled and fanning out beneath her hat. Her face was blank and flushed, and she had a distant look in her eyes.

She handed my mom the book, murmuring, “All of us are meant to gather–you and I, Lena, Mom, Clare… Mara too."

“We'll get Mara here as soon as possible–" Mom had begun, but Maeve turned on her heel and walked away, gliding up the staircase like a ghost.

A feeling had settled in my gut that twisted and lurched for the rest of the night, making it nearly impossible to sleep. Whatever Maeve had seen, or heard, had wrecked her beyond words.

Her face at the breakfast table was like frosted glass when I finally joined the rest of the family for our morning meal. She didn't touch a scrap of food, and my mom silently took away her tepid and stale cup of coffee and replaced it with a new one, which Maeve didn't so much as sip.

Grandma was staring at her, her eyes narrowed on Maeve's face. She was searching for something within Maeve's eyes that I myself couldn't see. I shifted in my seat and pressed a hand over my growing belly, pressing gently until I felt the baby kick against my touch. I heaved a breath, and reached for my tea, catching my mom's eye.

“The midwife is coming tomorrow," Mom said with a smile. “She has a birth to attend to today."

“She's been rather busy the past week," Grandma added with a sigh, her mouth curving into a proud smile. “If I'd been told that Winter Forest would be as it is now, I wouldn't have believed it. The pack has come so far in forty years."

“Have any of you been to Egoren?" I asked.

Grandma shrugged one shoulder as she dropped a sugar cube into her coffee and stirred. “Your grandfather has, several years ago now, after Soren came back with his daughter, Ciana."

“What is it like?"

“He said it's rather beautiful, lush and green–a temperate climate, much like eastern Findali. Forested. But, I haven't been there myself." Grandma brought her coffee to her lips, giving me a smile. “He said–"

“The book showed me how I will die."

Maeve's voice broke through the conversation like a heated blade. I dropped my fork, and Mom spilled her coffee across the white tablecloth as the three of us stared at Maeve. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She reached up and wiped it away, sniffing as she shook her head and tucked her hands in her lap. “I'm fine–"

“Maeve," Mom said with nothing but tenderness and concern in her voice.

“It won't be soon," Maeve said, a choked laugh escaping her throat. “Troy and I, we go–we go together."

Grandma's eyes were clouded with tears as Maeve met her gaze. Maeve gave a sad shrug, tilting her head to side as though trying to physically brush away the image in her mind.

I thought back on the conversation I'd had with Xander and Charlie on the beach. It felt like so long ago now. We'd talked about the rumor that my grandma was immortal, which had seemed so incredibly far fetched at the time. But looking at my grandma now, I wondered if it was a possibility. The pain that lingered behind her eyes was palpable, like she was looking deep within her daughter's soul and seeing just how fragile it was, and how fleeting Maeve's life would be compared to her own.

I wanted to ask. I wanted it all laid out on the table and open for honest discussion, but I knew now was not the time.

“How?" Grandma asked, a sudden sternness to her voice that made me pause my musing and look right at her.

My mom shifted her weight in the chair, her mouth opening to protest my grandma's inquiry. Knowing your own death… that was deeply personal. I couldn't imagine what harboring that knowledge felt like.

“In our bed," sas all she said, reaching for her coffee and draining it in one swallow.

Mom ran her tongue along the inside of her lower lip, her eyes shifting from Grandma to Maeve. Grandma held Maeve's gaze, and for a moment, I thought they might have been mind-linking.

Grandma sighed heavily, a flash of frustration sweeping behind her eyes as she stood and pushed in her chair, motioning to me.

“Meet me in the temple, Lena. There's a lot you need to know and to learn."

I sunk into my chair and toyed with a piece of bacon as Grandma left the dining hall. Mom sucked on her lower lip, watching Grandma as she left the room and started up the stairs, out of hearing range.

“I don't think… I don't think it was painful," Maeve said in a near whisper, sucking in her breath. “But something felt off about it."

“We don't have to talk about it now, Maeve," Mom replied hastily, catching the edge of grief in Maeve's tone.

“They said it was a gift," Maeve choked through a sob. “What a f*****g awful gift–"