Sould As The Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 104: The White Wolf

“Look, this line, right here-” Mom and I were standing be hind Troy, leaning over his shoulders to peer down at the neat, faded scrawl just above his finger.”

“What does it say? I can barely see the ink!” I narrowed my eyes, wishing the rectory had more than archaic candles to light the dim room.

O

“King Hector-his name is right here. He was the king men tioned by Charles in his journal. Look, he did in fact marry Alouette… and they had a son.”

Mom was silent as she scanned the page, her brow fur

rowed in confusion.

“That means there was a break in White Queen line at some point, right? Can that… can that happen?”

“Your family believes it can,” Mom broke in, looking con fused, like she was thinking of some long-forgotten memory or conversation. “He told me once that if Rowan had a daugh ter, she would be in line to my throne. It was a discussion we had before you were born, Maeve. Before we knew you were a

irl”

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“But would… say a female cousin of a White Queen hold the same powers as the White Queen herself? There’s no men tion of Onya, the White Queen in Charles’s journal, having any other children.” Troy turned to face Mom.

“Perhaps, but I’m not totally certain. There are no texts on this, you know. All there was… was the names of the queens etched into the temple in Winter Forest. That wall was de stroyed. We might never know who the Queen after Onya was, whether Aloutette became the Queen after her mother, or if it was someone else. There is the library in the castle in Winter Forest, but I’ve never seen any text in there that discussed this.”

O

“So if I don’t have a daughter, Rowan could? And she could rule?” A strange glimmer of hope tightening around my heart. How close I had come to death for my sons… I knew in my heart I could not sacrifice myself just so the pack lands could have another White Queen.

Suddenly Troy jumped up, nearly knocking both me and Mom to the ground. He was pale, frozen in place for a moment before he turned to us, fear etched into every curve, every line of his face.

“Oh, Goddess,” he breathed, the words meant for no one but himself. He slowly looked at me, sheer pain flashing be hind his eyes.

“Troy, what is wrong? Are you hurt?” Mom had her hands on his arms, trying to get him to look her in the eyes, but he

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couldn’t.

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“Rosalie,” he said, looking past the both of us at the far wall. “Please don’t take offense to what I am about to say. But I must know. I have to know if Rowan and Hanna have been in timate. Have they-is there any way at all that Hanna could be pregnant?”

I gaped at him, then at Mom, who looked just as shocked as I was.

“I assume so, Troy. They’re mates for Goddesses sake!”

O

“We need to go to them, right now. Hanna she-oh, how did I not realize this before?!”

near ready to smack him to get him to snap back to reality be fore his gaze finally left the far wall and settled

were inscriptions… carvings everywhere. I didn’t think… I could read it. I had seen it before. On the map, I was sure. But I

was shaking her head, anxiety creeping into her

About Hanna. The moonstones, they weren’t-we

She will be

at a loss for rational thought, “what does that have to do

thought nothing. But… the expedition the king sent out to retrieve the moonstone in order for Onya to allow Alouette to marry King Hector came back without it… which means he

caused a break in the White Queen

Troy breathed, running his fingers through

hair.

softy, sitting down. “He said Rowan could rule over Winter Forest in the future if he had a daughter. I argued that wasn’t how it works, that the

couldn’t figure this out?” I

not ever know. I

Troy said firmly, closing the book and walking away from the dusty desk, tapping his finger on his lip

the stones and kill Hanna. That’s what

Troy

standing on the terrace outside of the atrium, overlooking the fields of long, brittle yellow grass. Hanna and Maeve were standing in

the grass. The sky was gray, thick with mois ture, and smelled like

Talon, Georgia, Vicky, and Paul, were holding a conference with Eugene of Red Lakes. It was likely Ethan was telling him exactly what was going on, and how his family was connected. I felt my stomach tighten, knowing how close we were to battle. But I

heavily guarded by warriors.

through the fog along the perimeter of the castle’s grounds,

gaze settled back on Hanna and

pregnant?” I

a dirty look, then settled,

It

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grunted, leaning on

twice.”

old woman from Lycenna said, do you? That Hanna is going to the mother of the Moon

circle, his tongue lolling. Pete and Kacidra had arrived only an

at Maeve, who threw a stick far into the field, and he took

first. But I-I

long silence flooded the

Tasia could move

was just

Do you hear me?” Rowan shouted in a fatherly tone,

away from us to make a face at Hanna,

like the idea of them out there, just the two of them.

 Rowan said hastily, pursing his

Dad is going to want us to come to talk to the family soon, fill us in on

moment, then

walked toward them, crunching through the grass. “I don’t want your help

without another word, shaking out his coat and sending a sprinkle of

my shoulders at Maeve, who looked more ner vous than upset, and shifted myself. Her eyes went wide, and I realized the only time she had seen me

tomb over me.

in her ear.