Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 606

Chapter 106 : Portal to Home

*Lena*®

This place, whatever it was, was a land of eternal sunshine. I wondered if I may have dreamt about it at some point during my childhood, and maybe that dream had spurred the creation of my own garden realm.

Everything was too beautiful and too good to be real, and as we gathered in the clearing under the gentle rays of a forgiving sun, I felt a pang of regret at the idea of leaving.

We'd only spent a day here at the most, enough time to rest and eat. Xander and Zeke spent much of the last several hours in quiet conversation, but their eyes told me they were plotting something grandiose, something... violent. I tried to stop myself from thinking of what would need to come next. Next was war, next was c*****e, and even in her seemingly infinite wisdom, Andromeda had little answers for us.

Xander was upset by this and accused her of purposefully talking in riddles. Oliver was too wrapped up in the mate bond he felt in this place to focus on anything, or anyone, who required his attention. But something changed in him as we prepared to leave, and Andromeda noticed the change, although she hadn't spoken a single word to him and left him to her acolytes instead. “They said there is no one by the name of Elaine here," Oliver said, his voice laced with hurt. Andromeda twisted one of his glossy, copper-blonde curls around her finger as she circled him, her wide mouth curving into a smile.

“She was here, but she left. You'll see her again.”

“I haven't seen her at all,” he said in a whisper, his cheeks coloring as he lowered his eyes. Xander watched him with a careful gaze, then glanced at me, those dark eyes heavy with emotion.

The only thing Oliver had ever wanted was his mate. I'd known that since we were just children. He'd thought that was Hollis, and maybe even for a moment, he'd thought that had been Abigail as well He'd followed that bond here, and it had dropped him right at the doorway to the place where Elaine had been, at least for a moment. Now, she was gone.

“People can just come and go?" Xander asked.

Andromeda shook her head, folding her arms over her lap as her acolytes scurried around behind her, readying the book for its journey. They were wrapping it in silk and tucking dried flowers within the folds of fabric.

"Your witch was seeking her friend, and through our seers was able to locate him-"

“She's looking for Henry,” Xander said beneath his breath, glancing at Oliver with a quick nod that said, “We'll talk about this in a moment," as he turned his attention to Zeke, leaning to whisper into the vampire's ear.

Penny was hovering beside me, her eyes fixed on Zeke as she wrung her hands. The two of them had been notably absent when the group of us sat down for a picnic a few hours earlier, and based on the glow of her skin and the sparkle in her eyes, I had a sneaking suspicion I knew exactly what they'd been up to.

I watched as Xander and Zeke nodded at each other, their plans finalized, and then he wrapped an arm around Oliver's shoulder and led him away to talk in private. My stomach was in knots, my throat tight and my mouth dry. My time spent in Crimson Creek felt so simple compared to this. The fate of my world was hanging in the balance, and I was at a loss as to how to stop it.

“It's imperative the book is given to your aunt as soon as possible,” Andromeda said as she glided in my direction.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat, tilting my chin upward as I looked into her eyes. “It's a long journey to Winter Forest from Crimson Creek"

“It's a single minute from this realm to Winter Forest,” Andromeda said with a girlish chuckle, waving her hand in dismissal. She removed one of the many rings she wore on her fingers, turning the ring over in her palm before handing it to me. It was ancient, the band glistened green with patina as I held it into the light. A smooth, rounded piece of jade was the other stone within its simple setting.

Jade, like the kind that could be found along the beach in Winter Forest, like the jade my father had made into wedding rings for himself and my mother. I met Andromeda’s eyes and she smiled. "Come, it's time to go," she beckoned, and I stepped forward, taking her outstretched hand. My free hand laid over the swell of my belly, which seemed to be doubling in size every day. I had a slight waddle to my gait now, and I could feel the baby moving sometimes, but not often. It was impossible to calculate how far along I was now, especially since so much time was passing in the pack lands in our absence.

We'd been in this place for two weeks, maybe less.

That could have been months back home.

What were we walking into once we breached the rift between our realms?

Xander came up behind me, Oliver by his side. I turned to look at Penny, who was standing hand in hand with Zeke. Zeke nodded at me in farewell.

"He's going to find Henry and Elaine, and bring them back here,” Xander said quickly as we left the clearing and began walking through a dense, overgrown forest.

Andromeda led the way, and we walked in silence, followed by the acolytes, one of which was carrying the book.

We stepped into a new clearing, dark and shadowed by a mix of trees that wouldn't normally grow together—willow trees with thick trunks and billowing branches that brushed the ground, mingled with towering spruce and birch trees with white, chalky bark.

I could smell the salt and wood stove smoke as we neared a temple made of ancient stone, grown over with moss.

“This is how Morrighan and I used to visit each other,” Andromeda said with a long, wistful sigh. She lost herself in a memory for a moment, a sadness blurring her features, but then she snapped back to reality and turned to me. “You look like her, you know-such fair, delicate features.”

"Were you friends?"

"Oh," Andromeda smiled sadly, tearing her gaze away from mine as she exhaled deeply with her eyes now fixed on the temple. “Yes, we were friends. I would say... if my kind had the blessing of a mate bond, we would have shared the bond, her and I. I loved her, so very much. But, we were of different realms, different peoples.”

Pain flashed behind her eyes for a split second before she blinked, then she turned back in the way she came, motioning for the acolytes to step forward with the book. They tried to hand the book to Xander, but Andromeda shook her head, pointing to Oliver instead.

“It's for him to give to her,” Andromeda said, nodding at Oliver, who looked a little stunned as he gathered the silk-wrapped book in his arms. Andromeda looked between Xander and me, then nodded in farewell before walking away.

I turned to Xander as the clearing went quiet. Oliver shifted his weight uncomfortably. We'd been dressed in fine clothing, with Oliver and Xander dressed in leather and dark fabrics, and myself in a pale blue dress that brushed my ankles as I walked. Andromeda had brushed my hair, her strokes causing it to lengthen until it was nearing my waist, and she twisted it into long braids that she wove into a glistening silver and moonstone crown.

She'd mentioned in passing that it had been a gift, and I realized as I reached up to touch the moonstones that it had been a gift to her from Morrighan. Who else could have worn silver without it burning their skin, but the daughter of the original Moon Goddess?

“Do we just... go in?" Oliver asked, his eyes shining like two different colored gems in the light filtering down through the canopy of trees.

“I guess so," I breathed.

Xander ran his knuckles down the back of my upper arm, then knitted his hand in mine. “Where does this lead?" he asked.

"Home," I said, and took a step forward, then another, and another, until I was standing at the threshold of the sanctuary that felt so familiar and yet like it had been plucked from a distant memory.

I opened the door, needing Xander's help to push it open, and all three of us stepped inside. Cobwebs covered every surface. The dust was thick, and the air was stale. Xander paused to look around, releasing my hand from his so I could walk forward

I ran my fingertips across the tops of the pews as I walked toward the altar. Oliver huffed a breath behind me, choking a bit on the dust. Moonlight poured in through the stained glass windows, drifting down in dusty rays of silver over a spray of white roses that sat at the base of the altar. “Where's the portal?” Xander asked. His voice echoed, but was absorbed into the sound of rushing waves, and muted voices. Xander stepped toward the window to look outside, and Oliver walked up behind me to peer at the roses over my shoulder.

I thought I heard my aunt Kacidra, of all people, chattering away. Then... was that aunt Maeve's voice laughing in return?

I turned around, my body going rigid as my mother appeared in the doorway of the temple, her body dusted with snow and her clothes soaking wet. The flashlight she held in her hand was shaking, her golden brown eyes wide and unblinking. Oliver turned to look at her, a sigh of relief leaving his lips.

But Mom looked as though she'd seen a ghost. She wasn't moving. Her breath was caught. "Mama?" I said, taking a step toward her. “Mama? Wake up!"

She blinked and brought her hand to her temple, her breath trembling as she closed her eyes and shook her head. She kept them closed for several seconds, then opened them again.

"Oh, my Goddess," she breathed, dropping the flashlight. Tears welled in my eyes as we began to rush toward each other. I threw my arms around her, and she pressed me into her chest in a tight embrace.

"You looked like you saw a ghost," Oliver quipped, and Mom choked on a laugh.

"You won't believe me,” she whispered, her cheek pressed against mine as she raised her head to look over my shoulder at Oliver. “I've seen this very moment before.”