Sould As The Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 21: The Golden Generation

Rowan

I could’ve kissed the ground at the rocky, wind-swept beach when our boat finally reached the small port of Red Lakes. The journey had been the most difficult thing I had ever done, and I was sure I was going to die at least twice before we finally saw the rolling hills and snow-capped mountains of Red Lake’s territory in the distance.

The precious cargo, our solar panels, had made the journey unscathed. We hadn’t lost a single crewman, and our boat was in one piece. The forty-foot swells had tossed us mercilessly, but we had survived. The journey across the Ghilhanda Sea was doable. We had been successful.

And my success was met with a prize. My mate.

I felt her the second I set foot on the beach. I could smell her, her scent warm and comforting like honey and freshly baked bread. She smelled like home somehow, but a home I’d never known. A home, I realized shortly after Eugene introduced me to his daughters, that I would likely never know.

Because the beautiful Hanna, with her dark, lustrous hair and warm brown eyes, was betrothed to another man.

And I was meant to marry her older sister, Kacidra.

Red Lakes was everything I expected it to be. It was densely wooded and mountainous, the water of the vast, seemingly endless lake the village bordered was just that, red, its rocky beach dappled with strangled colored burnt orange and green rocks.

The trees here were the real prize, thick evergreens and redwoods with trunks so thick your hands wouldn’t touch if you wrapped your arms around them. These trees were older than the earth itself it seemed, ancient giants towering over man’s creation with their thick branches outstretched and full to create a never-ending canopy over the small, sleepy village the Alpha of Red Lakes and his family called home.

Eugene was a small man, standing nearly a foot shorter than myself but with a loud, outgoing personality to make up for it. He was vibrant and domineering, demanding and receiving respect from the three hundred or so pack members who accepted him as their leader. Eugene had forged a path for these people. He had accomplished what was seemingly impossible when he broke away from the packs of Finadli and traveled north with his flock, knowing full well the separation would be a dangerous endeavor. But they had survived, and thrived, in a place once thought inhospitable.

My parents respected him for it. I could see why my father trusted the man and why he considered him a friend.

And I was to marry his daughter.

There was no point in protesting. Kacidra had done that enough to cover the length of my stay during the first few hours on land. Kacidra was the eldest by two minutes, Aaron’s twin sister in fact, fair of skin and hair like her father but with an attitude to make even the most stoic man surrender.

Oh, Kacidra would have been a true match for Maeve, no doubt. They would’ve hated each other, at least until they realized how powerful they could be as allies. Kacidra and Maeve could rule the world together if given the chance.

And so, I spent two weeks in the torment of Kacidra and agony over her sister, who hadn’t said a single word to me and wouldn’t meet my eye, no matter how much I tried to accidentally find myself in her path. No, Hanna wouldn’t even look at me. She was

going to reject me. It was likely she had no choice.

I could already feel the pain of it.

I kept busy, however, setting up the rows upon rows of solar panels in a large open space on the outskirts of the village where the trees were sparse and the ground was dry and flat from constant, unrelenting sun. Sulfur springs bubbled incessantly in the background as I worked, my head always bent to my task.

But the third week, things changed. Kacidra had given up on making my life as miserable as possible, growing bored of pestering me. We found ourselves, surprisingly, enjoying each other’s company as we set up the panels and tested the lines, Kacidra pouring over the blueprints for the underground lines that would eventually bring power into the village.

budding between us taking

temporarily

think that’s upside down.” Kacidra was leaning against one of the solar panels, her blond hair tied back in a long braid over one shoulder as she watched me struggling with a shorted-out battery pack. I

pack several times with the palm of my hand. To my surprise, the little green light that indicated it was absorbing power from the solar panel came back on and began to blink. “See, I told you I knew what I

her eyes. “Dumb luck, Rowan. What am I supposed to do when one of these breaks again

it won’t be your problem, seeing as you’re coming back to Winter

not

breathed, fumbling with the breaker box on the back of the panel as I tried to slide

I asked, moving

village this summer.” She twirled the

a moment for her to continue as I pried open the next utility box, peering over

you really want

to you talk or enjoy the peaceful solitude

her braid behind her back and rolling a rock back and forth along the pad of her foot as she

head for a better view of the flush that ripped across

“Who?”

could barely put a sentence together. I was more shocked by the fact he knew where he was supposed to put it over the scandal of a baby born outside of a marriage. Nevertheless, the news sent a ripple of excitement through my core as I straightened up to my full height, the question I

from a neighboring pack to the

“Does that mean…”

head. “Well, Dad might not go through with the wedding

in the air before I could stop myself. Kacidra only rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched me dissolve

and I were mates. She had sensed it, somehow. Seeing me struggle with the pain of Hanna’s rejection had been the

in her jacket, watching me through narrowed eyes. “You and

“Yeah, so,”

spin for a while before we can even think of broaching the subject of dissolving

have Hanna marry that guy? After-after this?” I waved

21: The Golden

and Kacidra was obviously enjoying toying with

“Uh, yeah. It’s possible.”

“But why?”

with that

fought back the scoff that was tickling the back of my throat as she took a few steps forward, stopping to lean on another solar

know, able to hang on to their lands and birthrights after the war and all. My father will go down in history as the Alpha who brought the packs to the northwest to settle land once deemed uninhabitable. They even named

Finaldi. Eugene had cut through the dense forest himself, with the help of his pack of course, chopping down trees to clear their path to where they would eventually put down a claim on the land. Other smaller packs from Finaldi had followed, settling here and there along the four hundred mile stretch of road that took ten years to complete. Kacidra

dad would do anything to