Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 564

Chapter 64 : Shadow of Darkness

*Lena*

My chest squeezed as I watched Xander and my mom speaking in low tones on the terrace. I’d been trying to make my way toward them for the better part of five minutes but found myself stuck in meaningless conversations with practically everyone in the room.

He’d motioned me over, but I was stuck in place, chewing on a dry waffle I hadn’t had the chance to dress with butter or syrup because of my cousin Kat’s extensive questions about the reception.

She was the youngest daughter of my great-aunt Vicky and was heavily pregnant with her third baby. She’d fallen asleep during the wedding ceremony and hadn’t felt well enough to attend the reception, but was begging everyone for any tidbits of drama or gossip they might have seen or heard.

Thankfully, Oliver and Charlie stumbled into the kitchen, both of them looking worse for wear and reeking of seaweed. Maeve cried out, pointing to the sand they dragged in behind them, and suddenly the entire room erupted in noisy exclamations as several different conversations converged into one.

I exhaled through my nose and sidestepped around a few people toward the coffee bar, pouring myself a mug while balancing my plate in my free hand. The wedding guests outside of the family, those who stayed in the guest houses and cabanas that dotted the palace grounds, would be attending a formal breakfast laid out in the ballroom.

Will and Hollis, I realized with a sigh of relief, weren’t here at all. They’d most likely left for their honeymoon a few hours earlier, catching a private yacht to wherever the hell they were going.

I had just turned to head out onto the terrace when someone small tugged on the sleeve of my shirt. I looked down, seeing a sly-looking Luke peering back up at me with his steel gray eyes.

“What do you want?”

“I know something you don’t know!” he teased, batting his eyelashes at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, shifting my weight and looking down at him expectantly. “Oh? Are you going to tell me?”

“My information comes at a cost,” he drawled, sticking out his lower lip. “I want to play hide and seek.”

“With me? I’m too old. There are plenty of other kids around to play with.”

“I don’t like them,” he retorted, crossing his skinny arms over his chest. “I want to play with you!”

“How about you tell me first, and then we can play–”

“No! I want to play right now!”

I set my unfinished breakfast down on the coffee bar and glared at him, flaring my nostrils as I relented to his request.

“One round, and then you tell me what you know. And it better be good.”

“It’s about your boyfriend,” he said with a sly smile, then made little smooching sounds at me.

I ground my teeth, glancing over at Xander, who was staring right at me. “The adults need me, Luke. One round, in the back foyer. That’s it.”

He beamed and called out to the rest of the children, who were using the commotion Oliver and Charlie had started to scream and run between the legs of the adults without being corrected. My ears were ringing by the time Luke and I reached the foyer, which was less extravagant than the main foyer at the front entrance of the palace, but still had plenty of places to hide behind thick velvet curtains and several cabinets, tables, and plush couches near the open doors to the back garden.

to a variety of my extended family members looked up at

to be it, Lena,” one of Keaton

I cried, playfully

oldest!” said one of my second or third cousins, a little boy with curly blonde

was one of Sarah’s, Aunt Vicky’s middle child, but I wasn’t sure.

I said, pretending

the children squealed in

stiffened, surprised, but then relaxed as he came up behind me. All the children looked up at him with a stroke of fear lingering behind their eyes. “You

leaned over me, baring his

screamed and began running around in a panic, but their initial surprise dissolved in frantic giggles as Xander took me by the shoulders and

close your eyes,” he said,

my throat as the sound of childlike chatter mingled with the curtains straining under the weight of children ripping them along the rod and cabinets opening

are there?” he

sixteen–” I counted loudly, then grinned, shrugging my shoulders. “Nine kids,

going to take all

all and give their parents some peace for the rest of the day,” I suggested, and Xander laughed, but then a small voice burst out, “That’s more than twenty

and Xander and I both sputtered with laughter as we called out, “Twenty!”

whispered before we broke apart and began following the giggles throughout the room. It wasn’t hard to find the kids. They were

none of

demanded, dangling a piece of chocolate in a gold wrapper he’d found in his pocket

cheater. He

the chocolate to the little boy who’d snitched on Luke, and the rest of the kids whined for candy, to which Xander directed them to a bowl along the hallway leading

telling the kids where the candy is,” I teased as we watched them run

it–” but Xander was silenced as one of the boys got on his hands and knees while Keaton and Myla’s youngest daughter used him as a stool. She

get out of here,” Xander said,

find Luke,” I said, taking him by the hand and leading him out of the

***

art were practiced and polished to a fine edge. We spent nearly

you think he’s even out here?” I hissed,

a bush rustled about ten feet away from us, a little giggle filtering through the foliage. Xander arched his brow at me, then pounced into the bush. A scuffle ensued, and after two entire minutes, Xander rose from the bush, sticks and leaves sticking in his hair while holding Luke up by the collar of his shirt. Luke’s feet were dangling in the air as Xander stepped

game,” he laughed, shaking himself off like a wet dog

so fast!” I

at me, a boyish gleam in his eyes. “Fair is fair,” he snickered, then

things in my pockets,” Xander said with

for

inside of his lower lip, watching Luke with a sudden gleam of marked disapproval behind his eyes.

going to say what

not–” Xander said sternly, but Luke stuck

“Luke, stop–”

a ring in it! A big,