Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 982: Chapter 39 : Maturity

*Sasha*

I sat alone in the dark for what felt like hours, though it was probably less than fifteen minutes. Then the light came on in the bedroom and Phoebe popped her head in, wearing lingerie probably meant for Brady's eyes only.

But then I was sitting under the covers completely naked, so I wasn't one to say anything. “Is everything okay?" I asked softly.

Phoebe shook her head and motioned for me to follow her.

My blood ran cold. Had something happened to Lucas? I rolled out of bed and pulled on Lucas's shirt, then quickly followed Phoebe.

We tiptoed down the stairs, where Lucas, in wolf form, was pacing and growling on the front landing.

Brady had a splash of blood on his chin, his fangs still elongated. He was sporting a pair of boxers, thankfully.

“They got away," Brady said as Phoebe went to stand next to him.

“But they're gone?" Phoebe asked in a small voice.

“Yes." Brady put an arm around her and kissed her temple. “They're gone."

“Who? Who's gone?" I asked. “Did they take the orb?"

“They didn't get that far," Brady said. “By the look of things, they didn't even know exactly what they were looking for."

There were popping sounds, and then Lucas was standing there, naked, once more. He grabbed an overturned throw pillow for modesty, holding it in front of him.

“It couldn't have been the priestess if they didn't know what they were looking for," I mused. “And she already told me she was quite happy with what I was doing, so there would have been no reason–"

“f**k that orb. I swear to the Goddess...." Lucas snarled. “What is this, a youth hostel? We've got people coming and going at all hours."

“We're heading to the docks in a couple of hours," Brady reminded him. “We're leaving Egoren. When we get to New Dianny, we'll be a lot safer."

Phoebe looked at the door, then looked again. “What is this…?"

A scrap of paper was caught in the hinge of the door.

Lucas walked over and snatched it. “Fuck."

I went over to him, touching his arm. “Lucas?"

With an angry huff, he showed us the paper.

'Tell the dream dancer she has something that doesn't belong to her, and we are going to get it back.'

***

*Lucas*

The wind whipped through Brady's hair, blowing the longish locks into his face and mouth. He grimaced, pulling hair out of his mouth for the hundredth time since we'd boarded the ship.

“You could just cut it shorter," I said, gesturing to my own hair, cut short at the sides and longer on top, but still not nearly long enough for the waves to get in my mouth.

“Phoebe likes it," Brady grumbled, but he smiled slightly when he said her name.

The man was completely lost… or found, depending on how you looked at the situation.

“Sasha still have you locked out of the state room?" Brady asked as we leaned on the railing, watching the water rise and fall against the wood of the ship.

I grunted. “I merely SUGGESTED we toss the orb in the sea. SUGGESTED."

“Well, between that, outside threats, emotional confusion, and the fact you're treating her like a two- year-old with a dangerous toy… I think I'd probably need my space, too," Brady said.

“I'm not treating her like a two-year-old," I protested.

“You're treating her like a two-year-old," Brady repeated. “You know you're treating her like a two-year-

old. That's why you're standing here with me and not banging down the stateroom door to have rocking make-up sex."

I groaned. “I just want her to be safe. That orb is not safe."

“And it's her choice whether she wants to work with it or not," Brady said. “You know that."

“I don't know that. I don't think she's being smart," I replied.

“You can tell her that, but you have to stop acting like her father and forbidding her to do things," Brady told me.

I frowned at the sea. “I don't know what else to do."

“You love her. I understand," Brady said. “I'd be the same way about Phoebe. Probably. But I also don't want to have to sleep with one eye open, and I don't want her tossing me overboard, either."

“Phoebe would never toss you overboard," I scoffed.

“I'm surprised Sasha hasn't tossed you," Brady chuckled.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Fine. Fair. True."

“And I notice you didn't say anything about me saying you love her, so I'm assuming you've stopped fighting that, too," Brady said.

“What's there to fight? She's either my mate or she's not," I murmured.

“And?" Brady prodded.

“And what?" I asked.

“Why are you so glum about it? She's your mate for sure," Brady said. “A blind man could see that."

I picked at a splinter on the ship's railing. “I don't know that she loves me back. She was… well… a virgin. She might just be enjoying the new experiences."

That turd Brady punched me so hard in the arm I stumbled sideways. “Goddess, you're an i***t," he snorted.

“What?" I asked peevishly, rubbing my arm. “She hasn't said anything...."

“When's she supposed to say something? You're always crawling down her throat with some new command or forbidding her to do stuff," Brady said. “You interrupt her all the time. Yes, I've noticed. Okay, Phoebe noticed, but then I noticed, too. She just wants to tell you what she thinks, but you aren't listening. So why would she tell you how she feels?"

“You've definitely been talking to Phoebe. I'm about five seconds away from tearing up your man card," I muttered.

Brady gave me a toothy grin. “You can try. But, seriously, you've got to get your head out of your ass, or no matter how much she likes you, no matter how much she loves you, she's not going to accept you as her mate. Sasha Wentley is too independent to put up with your s**t for all eternity." Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I thought of Sasha rejecting me when she turned twenty-one and the idea made me sick. And panicky. “Maybe I should go talk to her."

“Talk WITH her. WITH. You've been doing a lot of talking TO her," Brady corrected me.

“Talk WITH her," I agreed with a grunt. I gave Brady a powerful punch in the arm before stepping out of range.

“Ow! What was that for?!" Brady complained, rubbing his own arm.

“Payback." I strode off quickly before we got into a punching war. Fun as that would have been, I had a Sasha Wentley to… deal with.

The door to the stateroom was still closed when I got there, and I sighed, wondering if I was going to have to sleep on the galley floor as a wolf again. I knocked, and there was no answer.

“Sasha?" I asked. I tried the knob and was surprised how easily the lock broke in my hand. I was going to have to talk to the captain about safety, but just this once, it was a gift from the Goddess.

The room was dim as I stepped inside, the windows covered with curtains and the room lit by a single candle. My eyes adjusted quickly, but I almost immediately wished they hadn't.

Sasha was on the bed… with the orb.

I bit back a snarl of anger. How had she even found it? I thought I'd hidden it VERY well.

Obviously not well enough.

“Sasha," I sighed, going over to the bed. Her eyes were unfocused and she was clearly “elsewhere," using the power of the orb to see something I could not.

She didn't seem to be in any distress, so I simply sat beside her, looking at the glowing, pulsing, now- pink pain in my ass.

“Look," I said, pretty sure Sasha couldn't hear me. “I'm sorry for treating you like a child, and for being an overbearing asshole. But you're scaring me to death. I love you, Sasha. I love you and I don't want you to get hurt. And I don't want to live a day without you–not even one day. I can't deal with a world where you don't exist."

Of course, Sasha didn't answer, and I sighed, dropping my chin on her shoulder.

“You're the bravest person I know, Sasha Wentley. I would be blessed and honored if you are my mate. I feel a pull to you I've never felt before, and I'm almost certain you must be my mate. But even if you're not, I will love you until the day I die," I murmured in her ear.

Since Sasha didn't answer, fixated on her connection to the orb, I saw no harm in continuing.

“Brady says I want two-and-a-half pups and a white picket fence with you," I said. “That's not entirely true. I want as many pups as you'd see fit to give me and the Goddess blesses us with, and I'm rather fond of the wrought iron I've got around the property now. Safer, though it hasn't kept intruders out like it's supposed to." I scowled at the memories of the old hag and the new unknown stalker breaking into my home… our home.

“I think maybe I'll build a stone wall around the property," I mused. “High one with decorative spikes."

I could just see it now. Though I'd love to see Sasha's designs and ideas for it as well. Just because it was defensive architecture didn't mean it couldn't be pretty.

“I'll give you everything you could ever want and more, Sasha sweety. You'll probably say I'm being too extravagant, but I won't be able to help myself. I feel… so much around you, so good, so right." I touched the emerald around Sasha's neck, and when she didn't so much as flinch, I twiddled it between my fingers. “I want to put a rock on you they can see from space. I want to mark you and make you mine. But I also don't… I don't want to deny you the opportunity to find your true mate if we… aren't destined." I swallowed bile that rose in my throat at the very idea Sasha might not be mine.

Sasha's eyes continued to have a faraway look in them. I chuckled sadly and let the emerald dangle against her sternum once more. Then I fixed the chain so the clasp was in the back, fretting over her like a mother hen.

“I'll let you use the orb. No, that's not right. I'll support you using the orb," I said quietly, patting her knee. “Just please don't scare me by going away."

We fell into silence, or rather I went silent while Sasha still stared into space, for a few hours, my stomach tightening with worry every passing minute Sasha did not come out of her trance.

There was a knock on the stateroom door, and I got up to answer it.

“Everything okay?" Brady asked. “You missed lunch, and dinner's being served–sweet mercies of the White Queens, when did you give her the orb?"

“She found it on her own," I sighed. I raked a hand over my hair, looking from Sasha, to Brady, and

back again. “Hey, would you mind so much bringing two plates of food here? I'll see if I can get her to come out of… whatever this is… long enough to eat."

“The cook's going to have a fit," Brady said. But then he shrugged. “Sure thing."

“Thanks."

Brady craned his neck to see Sasha better. “How long has she been this way?"

“Since before we stopped talking on the deck earlier," I replied.

Brady frowned. “Is there a… safe amount of time for her to be doing that? I mean, I know I told you not to treat her like a child, but we also don't want her getting sick."

“I'm going to try to call her back soon," I said. “Missing two meals is long enough, and it's unhealthy."

“But no barking orders," Brady admonished me.

“No barking orders," I agreed.

Brady nodded. “I'll be back with some grub. See if you can't get her back to reality for a little bit."

“Trust me, I will. And… um… can you just leave dinner outside?" I asked.

That made Brady laugh. “You going to pounce her the moment she's back?"

“I don't know," I responded honestly. “Every time she scares the crap out of me, though, we seem to

have a pattern of it. And right now, I'm more than a little nervous."

“I get it. I get it, man. Two outdoor dinners it is," Brady said. He stepped out the door and started down the hall to the galley.

I closed the door and sat beside Sasha once more. “I don't know if this is going to work...."

With a swallow, I placed my own hand over the orb.

It was a mistake. The stupid thing zapped me with a lightning bolt of angry red, throwing me off the bed and against the door. I nearly splintered the heavy door off its hinges.

“f**k!" I yelled, clutching my throbbing head after I hit the floor. “Okay, so, that was a definite 'f**k you, and f**k off' from that asshole thing."