Sould As The Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 41: Friend?

Maeve

“Mama?” i crept into the room, my feet silent on the wide plank floorboards bathed in violet twilight, “Daddy?”

Dad stirred, rolling over and leaning on his elbow as he watched me enter the room, his hair ruffled from sleep. He motioned for me to come to the bed, pulling down the covers as I climbed in between them and laid my head against the mattress, snuggled tightly between their two pillows.

“What’s the matter?” Mom asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she rolled over, tucking her body around mine.

“I had a bad dream,” I sniffled, resting my cheek against her arm. Dad reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear before he laid his head back, facing me.

“What did you dream about?” he asked, his blue eyes dark and focused in the dim light.

“I was swallowed up by water. Lots of it.”

“Well, did you swim?” he replied.

“No, the water was too big. I tried, but I was too little, and the waves were too high over my head.” I stretched one arm upwards towards the vaulted ceiling.

“Hmm…” Mom said dreamily, on the edge of sleep. “But you learned how to swim this summer, darling. In the lake”

“It wasn’t a lake, Mama. It was BIG water.”

Dad snorted, his mouth touched with a wry smile, “It was just a dream, kiddo.”

“There was someone else with me.”

“Who?” Mom asked, stroking my back with her fingers. Her touch relaxed me, making my eyes flutter.

“Was it Rowan?” Dad smiled, closing his eyes.

“No. But he was probably the one who threw me in,”

Dad laughed shortly, rolling over onto his back.

“It was a woman. She was a ghost, like she wasn’t really there.” I yawned hugely, sleep settling back into my bones.

“She was there to protect you, sweetie,” Mom said quietly, tucking me closer to her chest.I sniffled, closing my eyes, trying not to think of the dream where I had been struggling in empty, bleak darkness miles below the surface of an unforgiving sea.

“I’ll take you to the beach tomorrow, okay? Just me and you. We can put our toes in the water. You’ll feel better,” Dad was barely awake, his voice far away and dream-like.

“Do not sleep, my starling. Sleep, my doe…” Mom sang softly, her voice calming me and making my body submit to the slumber I had been rudely awoken from.

I closed my eyes.

***

I rolled onto my side, water sputtering from my mouth as my lungs contracted, desperate for air. I inhaled through my mouth, deeply, my throat burning and my mouth tasting strongly of salt.

sun. It was blinding, reflecting off the space around me. I sat up, shielding my eyes from the bright orb as I

was at low tide, seaweed lining the

Leaving me behind.

and I fell back onto my knees into the sand, the small particles biting

white shirt, the soaked fabric clinging to my skin. It clung to the thermals as I tried to

where the beach met

Troy. Where was he?

no!” I cried, but the words came out as a cracking, strained whisper. Where was everyone? Where was

to the skiff and sliced through the cables holding to skiff to the Persephone instead. He had

then I remembered

parents. I knew that for certain. I had seen them clear as day. Mom with her glossy, white hair falling around her face as she scooped me into her arms, Dad with his piercing blue gaze. But I couldn’t remember what exactly I had dreamt about. Was that even possible? To remember your dreams within a dream. And

away they were now. They

low hanging trees I couldn’t recognize or name. I walked along the sand, my

capped waves. This tangled web | found myself in,

And Troy.

sand and cried. Oh, how I wished I could take it all back. I would have been nicer to him. I would have told him how

That I loved him.

of despair and heartbreak dry and

the salty, undrinkable water rolling against the sand. The same water already filling my belly and

else had. Surely the

encouragement to make me rise to my feet and turn towards the trees, where the sparseness of the brush

in the sky now, casting an orange glow through the trees and thick, wide-leaf vines. Birdsong erupted around me as I walked and startled the creatures lurking on the forest floor around me. Lizards scurried up the trees as I

fell. My feet were bare and aching, the skin blistered and raw from sliding over wet tree roots. A chill swept through the jungle, making me shiver and hug my arms around my chest to try to warm myself. I had been walking all day, never once coming across a bubbling stream or freshwater pool. Even the large leaves of the vines held no water. The only water was in the air, a

clearing shadowed by a large, moss-covered rock. I leaned against it, sinking onto my bottom with

night sounds of the jungle erupted around me as my breathing slowed. The chirping of frogs, the scurrying of small critters in

I heard something else, something bigger, moving through the dense foliage. I opened my eyes wide, adrenaline prickling my fingertips and making the hair rise along my arms as the thing grew closer, and closer. Then it quieted. A sniffing sound. I paled, pressing my back against the

in color, its fur short and its body oddly elongated and desperately lean. Its legs were long, its back legs slightly longer than the front legs. A long neck and narrow face with a long, skinny snout and small ears. It was

This was not a small creature, or a fluffy one. It was tall and lean

my head at the intrusion. I could only mind-link with

again, nervously lowering its head. It

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9.

Chapter 41: Friend?

I said aloud, my voice dry from lack of use and severe dehydration. It straightened its neck, fear evident behind

mind-link, an odd feeling tightening my chest.

its tail wagging

you a

hands out, slowly reaching towards it, inviting it to

you.” I said aloud as it took one step forward, gingerly lowering its snout to sniff the ground around me. It was feet away, too

it said, baring

I

foot and then the tips of my fingers before taking a step backward and sitting

your name?’