Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder Chapter 640

Chapter 140 : Labor Pains

*Lena*

Xander was walking a few paces behind me. He glanced down at his watch from time to time, especially whenever I bent over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath every time a contraction ripped from my lower back and settled over my belly.

“Are you doing okay?” he asked as I wiped tears from my eyes, refusing to look at him.

“What am I supposed to do with a newborn at our wedding, Xander?” I asked hotly, swallowing back a sob. I was delirious with pain and heavy, crippling anxiety. I felt several conflicting emotions at once, and all of them threatened to send me over the edge into a full-blown breakdown.

I couldn’t blame anyone but myself for having our wedding only a week before my due date. Summer Solstice was a major holiday, and it felt like the perfect time to gather our family together to celebrate. I figured Alexis would be right on time.

But she had other plans–early plans, it seemed.

Maybe I could blame Xander a little bit. He needed to return to Egoren before the end of the summer, which meant we were pressed for time anyway. I felt an irrational rage toward him as the contraction continued to run down my back like claws, but that fury began to wane as the pain loosened its grip on my body.

“Whatever it is we’re supposed to do with a newborn,” he replied, keeping his expression neutral and avoiding eye contact. “Feed them, change them, find them a warm body to snuggle against–”

“You’re not helping!”

“What can I do, Lena?” he said, glancing at me before looking down at his watch. I straightened up as the contraction began to ease. “That was a long one–”

I started walking away from him, and he gave me a few seconds to put some distance between us before he followed.

It didn’t take him long to catch up with me, however. We walked along the edge of the front garden, and for the first time in my life, the smell of the summer blooms made me sick to my stomach. I paused to try to catch my breath and glanced up at Xander, who was watching me closely.

“I’m not having a contraction!”

“Alright, alright,” he murmured, his eyes still laser-focused on my own. “Do you want to sit down for a moment?”

“Not here,” I breathed, sucking in my breath and charging forward again. Xander sighed as he followed through the garden and out the other side, where we walked along the treeline of the forest that surrounded the castle. The grass that took up the fields in the back of the castle was nearly as tall as me, but when we reached the edge of the sprawling castle grounds, we came upon a clearing with soft, short grass and moss. A creek bubbled through the trees and ran across the clearing, and I quickly took off my slippers and dipped my feet in the water, sighing in relief.

“Are your feet hurting?”

“Yes. Ahh…” I bent forward, my hands resting on my knees as another contraction rippled over my midsection. I found it hard to breathe for a moment and felt Xander’s hand resting on my lower back as the pain thrummed and then ebbed away.

I knew he was watching his watch as closely as he was watching me. He was timing my contractions. We’d taken a single childbirth class during our time in Mirage. A midwife had come to the castle, and we sat on the floor in the library with our legs crossed. She’d led us through several positions that might help me feel more comfortable while I was in labor, almost all of them assisted by Xander in some way. We’d giggled and joked through it, and I’d been happy, enjoying Xander’s company and enthusiasm.

But right now I didn’t want to be touched. I didn’t want to be looked at, and I didn’t want to be talked to.

I was grateful that Xander could sense this. He was lingering a few feet away from me, peering down at the creek as we both waited for the contraction to pass.

lowered myself to the ground, then

blurted before Xander could

soft smile, walking toward me cautiously before sitting down in the grass a few feet away, stretching

more comfortable?” he asked, then

I reached out to pick at the grass, my face tilting toward the sun. Clouds were moving overhead,

you could just talk to

“About what?”

little controlling, and sometimes incredibly irritating. I felt a wave of undying love and appreciation wash over me, but it was quickly replaced by another round of tight, unending pain and pressure. The smile I’d

“you can tell me what I’m in for

I noticed how his jaw was clenched, and how the tension in his muscles made the veins that roped around his arms stand out as he tried not to look at me, keeping his eyes

“I’m sorry, Xander–”

understand,” he said quickly, glancing at me beneath his lashes. “I don’t like to be

next to me if

I didn’t have time to finish speaking before he was sitting next to me, his hand hovering over my thigh. I nodded my head, and he let his hand rest on my skin, a sigh

contraction lessened, and I let out the breath

you want to know about me?” he asked

and he met my

not much to

as a kid? Maybe I’ll know what

me,” he retorted, then shook his head. He sighed deeply, laying back against the grass. His fingers played over my lower back as I turned my head to look at him, noticing the melancholy behind

be honest, I don’t have many memories

“Your uncle, right?”

and Ava, and they’re like sisters to me, much younger but it didn’t matter. They were all I had. Theo

“Seventeen?” I exclaimed. “Why–”

was ready to step down. I don’t

nose, understanding that

want to be the

a moment, watching clouds move overhead. He turned to me, giving me a weak

do, still. I’m

“So… what about chemistry–”

chuckled, turning back to the

faith based. I studied there for a time, but wasn’t interested in theology or literature. I studied the sciences with a private tutor. I did get straight A’s my entire year

though you were only there to find a

smirked, closing his

was successful, wasn’t

married yet, so don’t think you have it in the

smiled playfully as he shook his

are impossible–hard headed