Sould As The Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 16: Don’t Say My Name

Maeve

“He just left? Just got up and left?” Gemma picked at her fingernails, looking over at me from perch on the couch. We were in the atrium, a towering four-story high addition to the backside of the castle where the windows stretched to the ceiling and almost microscopic hoses ran along the beams, showering hundreds of plants in a steady flow of mist. It was what I imagined a jungle would look and feel like.

I fingered one of the leaves of a massive Monstera vine, marveling at the size of a leaf before turning to Gemma and taking a seat at on a wicker lounge chair across from her, folding my hands in my lap. “I don’t think he even, uh, finished?”

Seriously?” She sat up a little straighter, her eyes wide.

“I mean, I don’t know…”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“No! Nothing. He just left. I haven’t even seen him since last night. Maybe it wasn’t… good? Good enough for him?”

Gemma rolled her eyes, “Maeve, come on. Ask any man what constitutes good sex and they will say sex in general!”

I blushed, pressing my hands between my thighs. “I must have done something wrong.”

I definitely felt like I had done something wrong. I knew I had been difficult; he had made that very clear. We had ended up in a tangle of sheets on the floor, and not in a sexy way. Oh, yeah, it was my fault. He was expecting me to be submissive, unyielding. I had failed.

“It’s not your fault,” Gemma said gently, her eyes piercing mine as she willed me to believe her. “Something’s up with that guy.”

“What do you mean?”

“He is not what I thought he’d be. Nothing like the Aaron I met when his family visited Winter Forest.”

“Come on, Gem! I told you it’s been ten years since-”

“He looks nothing like he should, Maeve! He was a blond! Kind of a weakling!”

“Who says hair color can’t change? Rowan’s hair was nearly as light as mine until he reached his twenties. Now it’s as dark as Dad’s!”

“His eyes, Maeve? Don’t you think we both would’ve remembered those eyes? How often do you meet someone with eyes of two different colors, hmm?”

“Well, do you remember what his eyes looked like, Gemma? I don’t! He told me they got more pronounced as he got older-”

“Oh please, how is that even possible?”

paused, biting my lip.

“It’s not possible!”

“What are you saying, Gemma? Do you think he’s not that he’s not Aaron? Who else could he be?”

“I don’t know! I’m only saying he rubs me the wrong way, okay? Like he’s hiding something.”

“I think you’re the one hiding something!” I exclaimed, narrowing my eyes at her.

She arched her brow, leaning forward in her chair. I was being defensive, trying to cover my own shame and suspicion by bringing up the one thing I currently had against her. It was a dance we’d done since my childhood, really. Gemma would try to talk some sense into me, and I would clam up, my only option being to accept defeat or throw it back at her. I never accepted defeat.

“Why are you defending Aaron when he—”

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Chapter 16: Don’t Say My Name

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“Why was your sweater in Ernest’s office?”

She blanched, the color draining from her cheeks as she abruptly looked away from me, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “What did he say about it?”

“He looked guilty and embarrassed,” I said, trying to remain heated, but my mouth was twitching into a smile, a laugh choking me.

waving her hand in dismissal, but I could see the same look of embarrassment lingering behind her

I shouldn’t have brought it

I guess Aaron is your business too,

“I’m sorry, too.”

each other for a moment, silence

me what’s really going on between you and Aaron,” she said, her tone serious and

of putting my feelings into words.

you want me to go

began pacing back and forth in front of me, looking down at the ground. She came to

“Gemma?”

“He’s my mate, Maeve.”

“Who? Ernest?!”

pinking again,

guys are

“No. No, we’re not.”

waiting to feel the

doesn’t feel

the second I laid eyes on him, the very second I walked through the doors of the castle.

what did he

liked it.

killing me. Gemma was the queen of

I was sure we were mates. He didn’t say anything. He just sat

having anything to say?

sound like him at

He told me it’s not safe to be around him. I couldn’t believe it, you

is kind

keep him off my mind, but the pull-oh, Goddess, the mate bond is so strong. I couldn’t even dance with that guy I met at social without feeling like I was

“So, you’re sure?”

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Don’t

Lv.1

I could tell by

find out what

can’t. It

it matters a

mates, Maeve? What then? What would be the reasoning for you even being here, needing a breeder to give Ernest an heir? Don’t see you? I can’t act on this even

hands shaking slightly.

know that’s not

Gemma was Ernest’s mate, then they could have the heir. There’d be no need for me to be here. I would have no need of a breeder. I could walk out of this

my skin as I tried to pull away. “Don’t, Maeve. I know what you’re thinking. This isn’t going to solve your

“What problems with Aaron?”

feelings away. She opened her mouth to speak, but we were suddenly interrupted by the glass door of the atrium sliding open, humid air rushing out into the corridor in a burst of mist as Ernest himself stepped into the room, followed

arms over my

“Did we… summon them?”

was replaced with his

are you two doing in here?” Ernest asked, gripping the back of one of the wicker chairs. He glanced over at Gemma, a soft smile on his lips, and she blushed, her eyes slowly leaving her feet to

out of the atrium and into his office to demand

as he leaned down

a chance to do that before you ran out of my room last night like

seated, Gemma sitting on the couch across from him, the two of them leaning into

at me, a sly smile on his face. “I don’t

of course, and he put his hands on the glass to

said in a harsh whisper as the door slid open. I stepped into the corridor and began to walk toward the stairwell, taking

me by the collar of my T-shirt and damn near tossing me into

filled with the sharp

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16: Don’t Say My

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