Sould As The Alpha King's Breeder

Rosalie

“Well, I wanted to name him Talon, of course. I was desperately in love with Talon back then, you know,” Georgia said with a little laugh, giving Talon a teasing glance.

“I told you what would happen if you did,” Talon cut in, bringing his glass of whiskey to his lips and smiling knowingly at his wife.

“I hate to admit that Talon was right,” she laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “But he was right. Every time I said Talon, they both looked right at me. It was rather confusing for both of them, honestly. We even tried calling him TJ for a while, for Talon Junior, but he refused to acknowledge that, even though he was just a toddler.”

Ernest rolled his eyes, his arm draped over the back of Gemma’s chair as Georgia continued.

“Well, Talon had given our son the middle name of Ernest, a beloved dead uncle on his side of the family,” she paused, looking over at Talon to confirm this was correct. He shrugged, nodding. “Anyway, I started calling him Ernie, just thinking it was the cutest name I had ever heard, and it stuck.”

“And now we call him Ernest,” Talon finished, smiling softly at his son. Ernest pinkened at his father’s loving gaze, and turned his head to Gemma.

“I will let you choose the name,” he smiled down at her, his hand resting on her stomach, “As long as it’s not Ernest.”

“Oh, please,” Georgia laughed, waving her hand to dismiss his comment. “Ernest is a fine name. We could have named you Bartholomew-”

“Or Cornelius,” Ethan said with a wry smile.

“Or Richard,” Rowan said, leaning into the conversation.

“What’s wrong with the name Richard?” Kacidra cut in from the other end of the table.

“Well, it might have actually been a fine choice for you, Ernest. The nickname for it is Dick,” Rowan grunted as Ernest, who was seated directly across from him, kicked him in the shin.

“Nothing has changed,” Georgia murmured as she took a sip of her wine, giving me a sideways glance. I smiled, shaking my head as conversation erupted around me, the dining room feeling small, but warm, as we sat shoulder to shoulder around the modest-sized dining room table.

“Are Vicky and Paul coming?” Rowan asked, looking expectantly at Ethan. Ethan shrugged, but Talon shook his head, leaning forward to accept a bowl of green beans from Hanna.

“Vicky wants to be here, but Paul doesn’t want to risk it,” Talon said.

“I think that’s wise,” Ethan said soberly, giving me a look as ! settled back against my chair.

They were right; we didn’t know what was going to happen here in the North. Vicky and Paul had settled in Finaldi, starting a family of their own. They had three daughters, none of them yet sixteen. I didn’t blame them for not wanting to bring their children to what could soon be considered a war zone if Damian made any further moves. We were, essentially, waiting for

war.

“What did they name their daughters again? I can never remember.” Gemma was picking at her plate, slightly green around the gills.

I pursed my lips as I watched her struggle for a moment, looking as though she was going to throw up before she was able to regain her composure. Gemma had been sick her entire pregnancy so far with little to no relief.

“Well, there’s Caroline, the eldest. And then Katerina is the middle… or is she the youngest?” Georgia looked over at me for help.

I corrected.

about trying for a boy, if you can believe it,” Georgia said as she brought her wine glass to her lips, looking around

furrowed his brow. “Try again? Isn’t that how Katerina came about? She’s worse than Maeve

replied,

gingerly sipping from a glass of water, “How did you come up

one

turned to look at Ethan, who

he said simply, expecting that to be a good enough answer. “Why are you all still looking

to Gemma, turning my head to glare teasingly at

always wondered about her name. She’s the only Maeve I’ve ever met,”

at the thought of Maeve. I couldn’t bear it. I needed to

truthfully I haven’t given

smile, his eyes seeming to tell her she

Jennifer for a girl. I haven’t even thought of names for

to it,” Rowan said with

him

a dream a few weeks ago,” Gemma began. “I don’t really remember the dream, but I remember hearing someone say Tasia, and I thought

to her feet, shaking the table as she did so. She swallowed, looking around before nodding once and bolting for the door. Rowan and Kacidra both began to rise, but I motioned for them to sit, rising from my seat and grabbing my plate

on the counter as I hurried through the kitchen, the porcelain dish

and was moving quickly through the backyard, her dress billowing

out of his grasp, jumping down the steps leading out

sprinted across the grass, barely making it to Hanna before she reached the back gate leading into the woods. She stopped short of the gate, however, and I almost tackled her

away from me but stilled as Ethan came to my side.

said sharply, his tone biting enough to make me wince. “Whatever you’re seeing,

wrong,” she said, her

Hanna. We don’t understand.” I kept my voice as soft

spells. “What do you see? We know you’ve seen Maeve. We know you’re able to see things that are lost,

that,” she

the table so abruptly?” Ethan

“Everyone thinks I’m crazy,” she said,

deep-rooted frustration that plagued her. She didn’t want these powers. She had no way to control

had buried her near the Temple of the White Queens over a decade ago and planted white roses over her

it. But I always get stuck; someone always pulls me

face change at the mention of another world outside of our

when Rowan first came to Red Lakes. Usually, my dreams were meaningless. I couldn’t control or manipulate them like my mother could.

Dream Dancer?” I asked, hoping she would

realized I wasn’t completely alone. Maeve was in deep, deep water. She was dying. She wasn’t supposed to be there. I

said, but I

allowed me to close in on it. But it was loud and chaotic. Before… I thought the building was the