Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 588

Chapter 88 : Kingdom of Brune

*Xander*

This was a major risk.

The woman hurried ahead of me, her feet sure and agile as she stepped over the roots that covered the forest floor. We followed no trail, but I knew she was aware of where she was going. She exuded the signs of someone who spent time hunting… or being hunted.

She stopped twice, abruptly, covering the lantern with her cloak and shrouding us in complete darkness. I didn’t breathe during these moments, didn’t even dare to move as the woman scanned our surroundings. Small creatures moved through the forest. Birds flapped their wings and shook the branches over our heads. But there was nothing large nearby, at least from my own awareness and understanding.

She was moving faster than I could handle while carrying Lena. My arms and shoulders were numb after hours of effort, and my feet were bare and bruised. I almost asked her to slow down, but I wasn’t sure if she could understand me. It turned out that I didn’t have to because one moment the woman was in front of me, and the next moment she disappeared into the darkness.

I come to an abrupt stop, looking wildly around for her lantern light. I heard a soft whoosh of movement where she had just been standing, and I turned back toward that spot as the lantern light spilled toward me, illuminating the space where I was standing.

I looked up to find a giant, towering tree directly in front of me. There was a cleft in it, just wide enough that I could step inside of it as I followed the lantern.

I lost my balance as the ground beneath me fell away, and I stumbled on what felt like stairs. Two small, childlike hands came up to steady me.

“Down,” said the woman, and she hooked the lantern’s handle over one of my fingers as she stepped behind me. I heard rustling and turned to find her moving several bundles of tree branches woven with alders in front of the cleft in the tree, sealing us inside.

I turned back to the stairs. They spiraled down into darkness… more darkness, just darkness.

“Go!” she hissed behind me, and I did, the lantern swinging on my finger as I balanced Lena in my arms in the crowded space.

“Where are we?”

“Safe,” the woman breathed, and I heard a rustle of fabric that I assumed was her removing the cloak from over her head.

We reached the bottom of the stairs, and I stopped, waiting for further instructions. The woman squeezed past me, grabbing the lantern from me as she moved into the darkness. Suddenly, the area was showered in warm amber light as she used the lantern to light a torch, revealing a long, curving corridor.

I hadn’t noticed the basket the woman had been carrying. It was dangling from her waist by a strap that hung from her shoulder. The basket was full of plants I couldn’t name and had never seen before, several of which were white flowers that had a strange, iridescent glow to them. She noticed my gaze and shrugged, motioning toward the basket.

down the corridor before I could utter a single word in

could understand me. But I bit my tongue as I followed her, the unease of being stuck in a dark, endless forest in a world full of

to face with a heavy, ornate set of double doors, two torches already lit on either side of them. My mouth dropped open as

toward the door. “She needs the healer.” She pointed at

a teenager, and based on the velvet, emerald-green dress she was wearing beneath the black cloak and the polished moonstones she wore in her earlobes and pinned throughout her long, golden braid, I assumed she was some kind of

pattern against the door, and after a moment it creaked open, warmth and light spilling

dropped Lena out

***

*Lena*

by the women circling around me with their kettles of richly brewed herbs wafting fragrant steam into the air as they rubbed my arms, legs,

I didn’t utter a word.

wasn’t sure. Time seemed to stand still. Eventually, I was propped up, a blanket laid over my body and several thick pillows

fed me spoonfuls of hearty stew while another waited to tip a teacup into my mouth. They didn’t give me the option of feeding myself. I ate everything they offered me, every single morsel of food they had. Slowly my strength began to return,

fine silks and velvet. Their hair was twisted in challenging braids and coils, roped with strings of gold and pinned

the women stepped forward, placing a pale, thin hand on her companion’s shoulder as the other women slowly retreated

my gaze left the woman, and I

the castle of

her companions followed suit. I glanced at each and every one

do you feel?” the woman asked, her jet black hair swept away from

“Where am I?”

hills, green trees, a waterfall, and the sparkling lights of a village beyond. I narrowed my eyes, gaping slightly as I tried to catch the breath that was

“But…”

my eyes to hers as she continued, “It mimics the day you experience in

asked, fear

surprised. “No, of course not. You’re

I? Where is

the edge of the bed, and several of the women

fine, resting before he meets the

“I don’t–I don’t understand–”