Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 608

THE MAGIC BOOK

*Lena*

Time passed in a blur of mingled stillness and impossible activity. I spent much of my days in Winter Forest sitting in the library at the castle, snuggled in a plush blanket and flannel pajamas while I stared blankly at the same page of the same book I’d been trying to read for nearly a week.

I knew I wouldn’t hear from Xander for a while, likely a very long time if I was being honest with myself. Mom did her best to lift my spirits. On the third day after Xander and Oliver left, she started reading aloud to me in the confines of the library from books I’d loved from my childhood spent running wild in this territory.

Maeve joined in on the fourth day, sitting with her long legs draped over my mother’s lap as she rested her head on the armrest and stared at the ceiling with the same blank expression I wore on my own face. All three of her sons, my cousins, were in Breles. Her husband, her mate, was there too. Her brother, my father, would be fighting beside them all.

We just didn’t know when the first thundering of war would sound, and every minute waiting was a cruel game of what-ifs.

Grandma Rosalie was the one who kept us fed and warm while we holed up in the library. Snow fell heavily outside the frosted windows as cart after cart of tea was wheeled in, though often left untouched, untasted.

On the fifth day, Grandma joined us in the “depression nest,” wrapping a thick blanket around her shoulders as she settled on the couch next to me, resting her hand against my knee.

But on the sixth day, my grandpa came to the library, and our self-pity party was forced to an abrupt end.

“This is getting ridiculous,” he grumbled, easing himself into an armchair with a view of all four of us.

“Why? I thought you’d enjoy a break from all of us women,” Maeve yawned, twirling a lock of her red hair around her finger.

“Every blanket in the castle is currently in the library,” he continued, motioning toward the twin couches we had claimed, which faced each other with a coffee table in between, which was currently littered with books. The spell book sat on top of the strewn books, its leather cover shimmering in the reflection of the fire. We’d taken turns flipping through the pages, looking for something, anything, substantial, but had found nothing.

“Leave us be, Ethan,” Grandma smiled softly.

Grandpa furrowed his brow, looking at us one by one. Maeve narrowed her eyes at him, sizing him up.

“Don’t look at us like that, Dad.”

“Why not? You’re all acting like infants.”

“You know for a fact that if I had a choice, I’d be in Breles with the rest of the armies, not wasting my years of warrior training trying to figure out what I’m meant to do with this!” she waves her hand toward the book for emphasis, then tucked her hand back under her blanket, scowling. “I hate that I’m not there.”

“Me too,” I agreed, and Grandpa settled his gaze on me. He’d been filled in on the situation when he returned to Winter Forest two days ago, after a long trip from Breles with a stop in Mirage. All of the Alphas were congregating in Breles, where news of new night attacks was starting to trickle in from the westernmost packs in Findali.

yet, though. They hadn’t found the portal, or they hadn’t figured out

men and women tasked with forming the committees that kept peace in

elder now, and a

Maeve,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s that

not that simple,” Mom cut in, casting Grandpa a long look.

about… contacting the

head, considering. “It’s actually not a bad idea. Monica has been helpful in a lot of different ways. Maybe she can grant us access to the records they keep in

Dianny and the younger sister of none other than Tasia, when she had been overseeing the investigation of Morhan University and

tell them the truth of the matter,” Grandma

Word is already spreading about what’s being seen in the rural villages in Findali. Rumors are spreading. Oliver, Xander, and his Beta have been tasked with readying the

hurriedly. Grandpa nodded, settling back against

was preparing to head south for Egoren, with his

jumping to my feet. I got tangled in the blankets and nearly tripped over my grandma, who steadied me

didn’t ask

safe, at least for a little while longer. I wondered if Abigail had gone with him, and then prayed that she had. Maybe Adrian

was still a flicker of longing in his eyes. He hid it well, and it was gone in an instant as

girl,” he asked Grandma, “is she still

a laugh. “Yes.

used to love. She looked rather bored when they

as I was hit with a sudden realization that, hopefully, would change things for the better when it

tell you about her history?” I asked my mom and

the

took a deep breath, choking on a laugh. “Clare’s a seer. Her mother was Lycennian. She… she might be able to help

***

playing in the dining hall just across the foyer from us, her blonde pigtails bouncing as she jumped up and down with excitement as Grandpa put together the train

were different from what Mom and I could do. She didn’t have visions. She didn’t really see anything at all. But she could feel things, which seemed significant to me, since we’d looked and looked through the book and were obviously missing

and had the same scowl on her face that I remembered her by. She hadn’t bothered to tell me what happened to her after the fall of Cedar Hollow. I wasn’t even going to ask. Xander was convinced that Hale had died in that battle, and I

step toward the book with her hand overstretched, then pulled her hand

dark, whatever it is. There’s some kind of… barrier around it. It

burned Xander, too,” I said. “And

see

motioning toward the book. “Open it for

page. Clare stepped forward, her jaw flexing as she leaned over the table to get a better

was incredibly small, almost hard to