Sold As The Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 289


    Chapter 69:1 Felt Her Go


    Ethan


    Mirage was in shambles, but it was quiet. All around us people were moving as though in slow motion.


    It had been roughly


    eight weeks since Damian invaded and tore the ce to shreds. But oddly enough, the destruction was


    the only trace left of his invasion.


    All of his warriors were gone. The castle was empty.


    We had left Winter Forest three days ago, shortly after Ernest and Gemma had arrived. Rosalie and


    Georgia had stayed behind, and with good reason. Gemma was too far along to risk travel, and Rosalie


    seemed to have ns for Hanna.


    U nced over my shoulder at Rowan, who was huddled amongst a group of men pouring over several


    sheets of blueprints. Rowan was pointing to the lopsided radio tower that rose out of the trees and was


    covered in vines, his eyes shining as he exined his course of action.


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    I watched him for a moment, seeing at once the man he would one day be. A leader. The next


    Alpha King. He would inherit it all. The West. The East. Whatevernds Maeve found past the


    Southern channel. It would be his.


    I wouldn’t let him inherit ruin. I was going to end this, whatever it was.


    Ernest was walking ahead of us as we sauntered around the castle grounds, bending every once in a


    while to examine debris left behind by Damian’s men.


    “He feels guilty for leaving,” Talon said, tucking his hands into his pockets as we walked.


    “He shouldn’t; there was nothing he could have done.”


    I believed it wholeheartedly. Mirage was a city of many packs, the territories bleeding into each other


    the closer you got to the city. Ernest didn’t flee like a coward. He had hidden Gemma in the center of


    Mirage while he gathered the other Alphas. together, cing a few in charge of caring for those people


    who had been disced, and the rest to fight and guard their hold on their territories that bordered the


    city. Then he brought Gemma home, praying to the Goddess that things didn’t unravel further in his


    absence.


    He was born and bred to be the Alpha of Drogomor, the sole ruler of Mirage. Ernest felt like he had


    abandoned his people, but what choice did he have? We didn’t know then what we knew now.


    And he was after her, right now, while we tried to put the pieces of Valoria back together.


    “He wille back to rule, of course. Gemma too.” Talon bit the inside of his cheek, shaking his head.


    “I think you and Georgia should stay as well-”


    “Of course, we wouldn’t think of leaving. But this is his throne now, Ethan. I have no desire to take


    over.”


    “I wasn’t asking you to,” I breathed, tucking my hands into my pockets. I already knew Ro would fight


    the decision to break the family apart again, and she was probably right about it. Regardless of the fact


    that Damian and his army had already left Valoria, we were on the brink of another major, far-reaching


    war. The Alpha’s of the west were already gathering thanks to Paul and Vicky. We had to take care of


    Poldesse, once and for all.


    But then there was Lycenna to think about. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around


    who those people were or what they wanted. I dismissed the thought, for now.


    Ernest was standing next to the castle now, looking up at a window on the fourth floor. A piece of


    plywood covered it from the inside, the ss broken and glistening in the sun in the shrubbery below.


    “Troy… broke out the window to get Maeve out of the castle,” Ernest said sadly as we caught up to


    him, nking him on either side. “Gemma heard it happen, but she was… she…”


    “It’s alright, son.” Talonid his hand on Ernest’s shoulder, squeezing. “We‘re safe, all of us,”


    “I should never have let her go to get Maeve alone. I thought we had more time. We all did.”


    “They came in through the tunnels. There was nothing you could have done,” I said sternly, hoping to


    ease some of his guilt. Ernest looked at me, his blue eyes sharp and focused as he let out his breath.


    “It was my fault. I showed… I showed Julian of Greenbriar the tunnel system. He asked me about it and


    … I didn’t think…”


    “Ernest,e on kid. This wasn’t-” Talon began, but I turned to Ernest, cutting off Talon with a wave of


    my hand.


    “Alpha Julien? How-but he’s an old man? What use would he-”


    “Old?” Ernest looked confused. “No, he wasn’t old. He was close to Rowan’s age-”


    “You said Greenbriar?” Talon looked from Ernest to me, his eyes shining in confusion.


    “I did, yes. He came with his sister, or wife, I honestly wasn’t sure. She was the Luna of,”


    “Oh, shit,” I said, running my fingers through my hair, remembering the blonde woman with the beady


    ck eyes who had been in the castle whén Rowan and I came to the Mirage for the first time after


    Damian’s invasion.


    “What?” Talon arched his brow, waiting for someone to exin, but Ernest shrugged.


    “Alpha Julian of Greenbriar was blond, wasn’t he? Strange looking guy?” I asked Ernest. Ernest


    nodded. “F*ck. We need to go back to Winter Forest, now. All of us.”


    “What? Why? I can’t leave before-” Ernest began, but I cut him off.


    “Lycenna. Damian was working with Lycenna this whole time. That woman… I didn’t even realize it until


    now,” I was stuttering, trying to organize the plot ying out in my head. Blond, ck eyes, the strange,


    lifted ent. Opaline and Julian weren’t of Greenbriar, no. They were Lycennian. I’d bet my life on it.


    Julian was likely a grandchild, or however his crisscrossed gics tied him to Alpha Julien of


    Lycenna. Ernest had unknowingly opened the door to him, giving him a glimpse of the inner workings


    of the castle so Julian the younger could go back to Damian with a n. With a map of the tunnels.


    “What would Lycenna want with Mirage? From what you told me about them”


    “This goes beyond territories, Talon,” I snapped, my skin prickling with adrenaline. Goddess, this was


    getting more and moreplicated by the minute.


    “What’s wrong with you guys?” Rowan walked up to us, eyeing us coolly.


    “We‘re going back to Winter Forest,” I said, giving Ernest amanding look.


    “What? We just got here! There’s work to be done,” Rowan


    shifted his weight and dropped several of the blueprints he had rolled up and tucked under his arm,


    cursing under his breath as he bent to pick them up.


    “Lycenna was in on the invasion, Rowan,” Talon said before 1 could answer.


    Ernest crossed his arms over his chest, exhaling deeply.


    “I’m not leaving, not yet,” Ernest said defiantly.


    “Ernest, you have to,” Talon retorted, his voice carrying a stern, fatherly edge.


    *Lycenna? How do you know?” Rowan was looking from face to


    face, waiting with little patience for an exnation. A few minutes passed as we argued back and forth,


    Rowan and


    Ernest protesting and being overall bull-headed about the situation. Rowan was clutching his blueprints


    in his hands, his mouth drawn in a scowl of defiance.


    “Listen to me, Rowan,” I said sternly, but then stopped, sensing that something was wrong.


    “Dad?” he said, but then looked away, his face undergoing an incredible transformation. His brow


    furrowed as he lifted his hand to his chest. “Rowan? What’s the-“| barely had a chance to catch him as


    he fell to his knees.


    “What’s wrong with him?” Talon knelt, taking Rowan’s head between his hands. “Rowan, hey, kid”


    He screamed, and Ernest dropped to his knees, the three of us holding onto Rowan for dear life as he


    crumbled between us. He began to protest, saying “no” over and over.


    “Rowan!” I eximed, shaking him. I was seriously concerned; I had never seen him act like this


    before. “Are you hurt? What hurts,”


    A wave of what I can describe as absolute dread washed over me, drowning me in an instant. I felt my


    breath leave my body as I swayed, pitching forward. I didn’t catch myself,nding on my side in the


    grass.


    “What the hell –” Talon’s voice faded as I closed my eyes, finding it hard to focus enough to take a


    breath.


    My entire body was on fire, the pain so intense I couldn’t stop myself from crying out. I closed my eyes,


    gritting my teeth


    against the onught of pain rippling through my body.


    And then I saw her, sitting upright in a hospital bed. She was young, her hair falling loose over her


    shoulders. She was hurt, her body covered in bruises. I was angry. I was trying not to scare her.


    Estre was talking to me, Vicky by her side. I turned to Talon, whose mouth was moving, but his words


    were distant, an almost silent murmur tickling my ear. So young. Everyone was so, so young.


    “Ethan?” Rosalie said, her mouth curved in a soft smile..


    I turned to look at her, a girl of barely twenty. My breeder. My mate. I knew it then. I remembered. I


    remembered I felt it the second Iid eyes on her


    “I’m sorry, honey,” she said in a quiet, strained whisper.


    “Rosalie-”


    “Ethan?” she said, suddenly panicked.


    I went to her, the images of Estre and Vicky disintegrating as | walked through them.


    “Ethan!” Talon screamed, shaking me until I opened my eyes.


    I looked up at the clouds moving rapidly over our heads. I wasn’t in the hospital anymore. I wasying


    in the grass in front of the castle.


    “No,” I said weakly, willing it to stop. Willing her to obey me. “Stay, I’ming. I’ming home,”


    I felt her go, taking my heart with her.