Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 625

Chapter 125 : I’m Not a Ghost

*Lena*

I was home; how, I didn’t know. I’d simply opened my eyes and found myself lying on my back looking up at a star-flecked sky, turning my head to see the muted lights of Crimson Creek in the distance. Some of the grand estates dotting the horizon had lights glistening in their windows, and a sense of peace washed over me as I sat up, hugging my knees.

I was still dressed in the warrior garb I’d been wearing when I first passed through the portal. I knew the portal was no longer there; I couldn’t feel it. There was no longer an unearthly pull toward the sweeping hills outside of Crimson Creek. It was quiet, still, and peaceful.

Gideon’s house rose against the horizon as I made my way through the hills. Below me, Crimson Creek was awash in activity. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people moved between black tents, lanterns bobbing as they made their way through the dark. Armored trucks were stationed around the village, and I could see shadowed figures passing out boxes into waiting hands.

Our kind was helping the lower vampires who had escaped. They had nowhere else to go now. This was their home, as much as it was ours.

My chest tightened as I continued my slow walk to Gideon’s property. I didn’t know why I felt like I needed to go there first. It seemed like the right thing to do. I wanted to check in with my friends and find out what had happened in my absence, however long that had been.

I opened the rusted gate at the end of Gideon’s driveway and looked up at the house. Someone was sitting on the porch steps, their body casting a long shadow across the moonlit front yard. They looked up at me, and I saw a flash of copper as the figure stood, stepping into the light.

“Lena,” Oliver breathed in disbelief.

I gave him a weak smile, noticing the lines of grief and exhaustion lining his face as he walked forward. He looked as though he wasn’t sure I was actually there, his eyes wide and skeptical as he took me in.

“I’m not a ghost,” I said softly, my eyes leaving his to catch a flicker of movement behind the windows in the house, which were drenched in a pale amber glow. Several people were inside, and my heart leaped in my throat as I realized Xander might be one of them. “Is he here?”

“No,” Oliver replied. He knew exactly who I was talking about. His voice softened as he said, “He’s in Breles, recovering.”

“Is he alright?”

Oliver was only a few feet away from me now. He stopped walking, his face flushing with color as he reached out his hand and grazed my sleeve with his fingertips. He let out his breath in a whoosh and jumped back a step.

“I’m not a ghost,” I repeated, noticing the slight tremble that rippled over his body for a moment. He didn’t pull me into a hug like I thought he would. His skeptical expression didn’t change, not a bit. My heart squeezed as I looked into his eyes, noticing the usual fire was gone. “Are you alright?”

“Come inside,” he said without a hint of emotion. I exhaled deeply, clenching my fists at my sides as I opened my mouth to say his name and demand that he tell me what was wrong, but he turned away, heading back into the house without so much as a word.

down the portal. He’d done so without a glimmer of emotion in his eyes.

had been toppled; thousands were dead. I struggled

to the kitchen, their faces smudged with flour. Bethany gave me a soft smile, her eyes glistening with tears. Alma looked stoic

across from Ben, who was looking over his shoulder at me with a knowing smile on his face. Gideon’s brothers were next to the fireplace,

to take my hand and led me toward the staircase, nodding in

called out, but Gideon

we going?” I asked, but before he could reply a man stepped out of one of

coming to stop before the man. “She’s

am?” I asked

with a handsome if not menacing face glowered at me, then reluctantly stepped aside to

of sheets and quilts as my eyes moved from the foot of the bed to the young woman lying in it, her arms wrapped around a nursing infant. She had bright, pale gold hair that was braided loosely away from her face and shockingly

never seen her in person. I didn’t

of the fear lining her features faded at the mention of her name. She swallowed weakly, glancing toward the doorway

she gathered it defensively to her chest, wincing in pain.

the heat in my voice. I knew lower vampires could breed with wolves. Xander had said as much when he told me about Henry being Bethany’s father. I glanced up at Lincoln, my eyes

choked, a

out of the way before

love. You

My love?

gaze wandered past the couple to a cart full of supplies on the other side of the bed, and then to a

old,” he said softly. “We haven’t been able to stop the bleeding,

I heard Alma’s distinctive footsteps on the stairs and within a second she was in the doorway, holding a fresh set of towels

much as looking at me as she bustled into the room, waving Lincoln away from Carly’s bedside.

in Alma’s voice, which was exceedingly unusual for her. I glanced at her as she coaxed Carly to hand

and when I looked up I

what happened to her?” he said without an ounce of kindness in his voice. Every word was dripping with malice, and I almost shuttered under the steel behind his gaze. “She was dragged by her hair into my realm, then beaten and used as a feeder. That man–that man who ran that estate in this realm sold her to the king, but his guards got to her first. I was a slave in his castle, a

a lie. Fury burned behind Lincoln’s eyes as he

just how long it had been,

and

see the gray color starting to creep over Carly’s skin and the yellowing of her eyes. Her lips were