Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 626

Chapter 126 : No Time for Ghosts

*Xander*

Adrian was sitting at a makeshift desk made of pallets and wooden crates in the corner of my tent, his back arched as he looked down at a stack of documents that had been delivered to the tent this morning. He blew out his breath, straightening to his full height as he turned around with his hands on his hips.

“What are you going to say?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, stooping to finish tying the laces of my boots. The worst of my injuries had healed, and I’d had my sutures taken out three days ago. My body was still stiff and sore, but otherwise, I was on the mend.

But I was still numb from Lena’s loss. The jagged scar running from my shoulder to my collarbone was red and bruised from the trauma of having her mark cut out of me, and then sewn shut.

She was gone, and I was still alive. I had no interest in living, and had I not been an Alpha I may have done something about that, but I had warriors to bring home, and a kingdom to rule.

I’d rule it alone, leaving no heir behind, no legacy.

“But this–”

“It’s nothing, Adrian. It’s not a big deal.”

But it was a big deal, despite my attempts to shrug off the request of the Alphas of Lena’s lands and the High Elder Council that helped mediate conflicts between the territories. They were asking for someone from Egoren to serve on the elder council, someone who would be willing to split their time between Egoren and the pack lands.

Ethan had included a personal note, requesting one man in particular–his half-brother.

I doubted Soren would be willing to do that. He had a life in Egoren–a family, and grandchildren. Hell, if I really wanted to off myself now, one of those kids could take over Egoren.

The thought fluttered in and out of my mind before I could blink, and I went back to getting dressed. Adrian rocked on his heels, turning away as I pulled a clean shirt over my head.

“Where’s Abigail?” I asked, and he turned back around, a sly grin on his face.

errands before

dancing around my ears. I needed a haircut. I needed to shave. But all of that could wait until our warriors were on the warship taking us back to the portal to Egoren. We’d be leaving first thing in the morning, before the sun came up. I was more than ready to leave this realm and never look

of Lena. I hated it. I

the past week. Some of the royals had already returned to their territories, leaving behind their ambassadors to help with the cleanup in Breles and to oversee the resettlement of the displaced communities in the west. Everything south of the northern border was in shambles. Hundreds of thousands of people had no homes to go home

going to sign it?” Adrian asked, jabbing a

then shook my head. “I need to think about it. I found

nodded nonetheless. We hadn’t talked about Lena, but I knew

5:00 am gets left behind,” I said, sounding every ounce the Alpha that

“Where are you going?”

drown my sorrows in again, like I had for the past several nights in a row, unable to sleep. If I did sleep, it was nothing but nightmares, and based on the wailing and whimpering that erupted from the sprawling war camp near the

tent, his head bent as he talked rapidly to a man I didn’t recognize. He’d sent his wife back to the isles, kicking and screaming of course, and had stayed behind to help with

the man from the moment

to return to

I couldn’t. And sometimes, I was

who were seated at a table, mouthing “5:00 am” and tapping my wrist before I passed the tent completely. They nodded, their darkened eyes lined with fatigue. I needed to get them home, back to

the edge of the camp. It wasn’t actually a fence, but a darkened alley where warriors traded their meal and shower rations for bottles of booze, magazines, and cigarettes. I was a regular now,

the distance, a chunk of concrete falling into a nearby, but thankfully cleared out, market square. I saw a flash of white and stopped in my tracks,

around the camp many times. She’d been in my tent, stepping out of the shadows and running her fingertips over my skin. But she was just a ghost, disappearing every time I got

turned away from her, stuffing my hands deeper into my pockets as I picked up my pace. I knew Lena would haunt me for the rest of my life. I knew

“Xander!”

time for ghosts. I licked my lower lip as I neared the fence. I

“Xander, slow down–”

arm and I whirled around, grabbing its owner by

“Don’t f*****g touch–”

hugging herself with her arms. She was wearing a white, sleeveless top, and I could see the red marks I’d left on her skin. She looked

my lungs in choked sobs as she wrapped her

here. They were