Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 572

Chapter 72 : I Can Find Him

*Lena*

Adrian made himself at home, much to my annoyance. He was messy, and he tended to come into the cottage and leave a trail of clothing items behind him, as well as walking away from half-empty mugs of tea. He’d gone through all the books I’d unpacked, leaving them in random places around the cottage, and every morning when I left for the schoolhouse, I’d find him standing in the kitchen drinking coffee in nothing but MY robe, which barely covered his thighs.

He was unphased by my presence. He was fixated solely on locating his Alpha, and complained frequently about the fact that I could only spare so many hours a day trying to activate the bond between us. Mind-linking with Xander had failed, and the mark on my chest was dormant, nothing but a smooth, half-moon scar.

Four days had passed since the night Adrian arrived. I had no friends in Cedar Hollow, so no one seemed to notice anything odd about Adrian hanging around the village or walking back to my cottage.

But on the fifth day, a Friday evening to be exact, something changed.

I was making dinner, decompressing after another day teaching my kindergarteners. We’d spent most of the day outside, turning the soil in the long-neglected garden on the school grounds. This spring, I planned to teach them how to garden, and I was looking forward to it.

But I found myself increasingly protective of Sasha after my strange conversation with Clare on my first day of class. Any time someone I didn’t recognize walked by the classroom, I moved closer to the girl, close enough to reach out and grab her up if I needed to. Clare hadn’t said a single word to me since that day, not in the morning during school drop-off or in the afternoon during pick-up. I’d even seen her at the market, and she didn’t even look in my direction.

Tonight, however, I heard Adrian open the rickety front gate, and he wasn’t alone.

Hale and Adrian walked into the cottage without knocking, and only Hale looked in my direction and smiled in greeting. I gave him a tight smile of my own before flicking my gaze toward Adrian, glaring at him as he kicked his boots off in two different directions and continued his conversation with Hale.

“What’s for dinner?” Adrian asked as he tossed his weight into one of the couches.

“Whatever you decide to cook for yourself,” I said with mock sweetness, then moved my gaze to Hale. “Hello, Alpha.”

“Hale is fine,” he replied, giving me a boyish smile. Adrian snorted, rolling his eyes. The potato and leek soup I was cooking began to boil, and I turned away from the men to stir the large enamel and cast iron pot. The entire cottage smelled like the bread I was baking in the wood-fired oven. It was heaven–at least it had been until Adrian showed up and ruined my serenity.

The men were talking in hushed tones near the hearth while I set the table. I donned oven mitts and carefully pulled the loaf of bread from the oven, the skin crackling and perfectly bubbled. I smiled to myself, exhaling as I slid the butter dish toward the center of the table and took a step back to look at my evening of hard work.

I’d made enough to share, of course. Adrian might be the most aggravating person I’d ever met in my entire life, but I wasn’t going to let him starve. He was spending every day gathering information, and the day before he had been gone for nearly eighteen hours because he took the morning bus to Red Lakes and caught the evening bus back to Cedar Hollow, a ten-hour round trip journey.

No one had seen a tall, striking man fitting Xander’s description this far north and west.

As I set the pot of soup on the table, I heard Hale and Adrian talking about Xander, and Hale glanced at me, his eyes clouded with sudden suspicion.

I stiffened, meeting Adrian’s eyes. Had he told him who I really was? Surely not.

Before I could finish laying out the food, Hale announced his departure. He gave me a soft smile as he shrugged on his coat, then disappeared into the night. I fought back a pang of disappointment as I took one of the three bowls I’d laid out on the table and put it back in the cupboard.

“No meat?” Adrian complained as he sat down at the table.

out my chair. “There’s a few steaks in the fridge. I

a wry smile. “Thank you for

and a chunk of bread dripping with butter. The meal wasn’t as good as the food I’d be served at Castle Drogomor or the Palace of Avondale, but I was learning to take care of myself away from the cafeteria

the Alpha of Cedar

nothing more than to get you in

soup so violently that Adrian stood up and leaned over the table

you going to live?” he teased as

“He doesn’t–”

he does. Don’t worry, I

“You WHAT?”

soup. I was fuming, and leaned back in my car holding

Once we find Xander,

for him in

could help me, you

way,” I hissed, stirring

in silence for the

***

tea in his hands. Steam was wafting from the mug, pale ribbons of moisture snaking into the clear, star filled sky. I was

a night sky like this in your realm,

in the rocking chair and shrugged, still vexed from our conversation over

the constellations are opposite in Egoren?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder

that interesting, but I was currently giving Adrian the cold shoulder. He’d followed me out here and was making no moves to go back

at me, huffing slightly as he turned around to face me with his hands

to get

find him. He obviously doesn’t want to be

think he’s

you expect me to

“Use your powers.”

bristled and

need to help me. Your realm depends on

because you and Xander are keeping me in the dark about the threat. You could be lying,

lying,

to not say anything to me, I get it. You made it very

you safe.

Xander’s not here, okay? I think you should

to do whatever it