Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 152 : More Than I Could Have Imagined

*Oliver*

Mirage, Five Years After Lena's Wedding

Sunlight poured through the kitchen windows. All of Elaine's flowers were in bloom. Early spring roses trembled

against the glass in the soft breeze. From the windows, I could see Old Town rising out of the blinding sunlight

reflecting in a shimmer against the moisture from last night's thunderstorm. The kids had slept terribly, which

meant I had also slept like absolute s**t.

Thankfully, Elaine was due home in a few hours. She'd spent the weekend away, enjoying some time with her twin

sister at some spa near the port of Valoria while Abigail was visiting from Egoren. I'd been the one pushing for my

wife to spend some time away, to take a break from the kids. I told her I could handle it, that everything would be

fine.

I'd just lifted my coffee to my lips when a crash rang out from upstairs. I waited for a moment, my coffee barely

touching my mouth as muffled voices drifted down the staircase. Then, a squirmish. Then, Lucy's high-pitched

screech of pure fury sent a tremor through the stone walls of the house.

“Isaac!" I called out, taking a quick sip of coffee as I stalked out of the kitchen and into the foyer. I nearly tripped

over a pile of toys at the bottom of the stairs then gingerly made my way up the staircase while stepping over more

discarded toys, construction paper, and a variety of children's clothing.

Lucy continued to screech, her voice a high-pitched squeal of frustration as I finally reached the top of the staircase

and struggled with the baby gate while my kids battled it out just out of sight. I beelined it for the back bedroom

that Elaine and I had turned into a playroom. The door was slightly ajar, so I pushed it open, more toys blocking the

door's progress.

“Isaac, what–"

“Daddy, help!" Isaac, our four-year-old son, whimpered as Lucy tangled her tiny fingers in his shaggy blond hair, her

legs crossed around his neck.

“Lucy!" I grumbled as I knelt and untwined her fingers from his hair.

I'd have sworn she hissed at me, baring her teeth as I tried to pry her loose from her angry grasp on her brother.

Lucy was almost two and so far had proven to have a mean streak if provoked. She pointed and babbled something

terse and incoherent at Isaac, who paled as he reached up to rub his head. “What's going on up here?"

“Lucy took one of my trains, and I took it back," he pouted, his lower lip trembling. “She bit me!" He held up his

arm, where a red mark was puffed up against his suntanned skin. “So I pushed her, and then she knocked over my

train set–"

Lucy cut in with more incoherent words of her own, her eyes narrowed on her brother. I sighed heavily, reaching

out with one hand to run my hand through Isaac's hair, Lucy perched on my other arm. “Everybody's okay–"

“Mama!" Lucy cried, her fingers clutching my shirt.

Isaac looked up at me, his blue eyes misting with tears.

“She's coming home today, okay? We're gonna walk down to the train station to pick her up in a few hours… after

lunch, and after your naps–"

“NO NAP!" Lucy screamed into my ear.

I winced, trying not to grind my teeth as I pressed her against my chest and gave Isaac a sympathetic look. A nap

was exactly what she needed at the moment. I was sure it was hard being two, and even harder after spending a

night woken repeatedly by a thunderstorm and without a mother's touch to comfort her. I couldn't blame her for

her attitude. I also wanted her mama back.

Desperately.

“I was going to make a snack, maybe some popcorn. Do you want some?" I asked Isaac as I turned to walk out of

the playroom.

Lucy's eyes were already growing heavy as she laid her head against my shoulder, her glossy red ringlets tickling

my jaw as she stuck her thumb in her mouth. Isaac perked up at the mention of his favorite snack and nodded his

head enthusiastically, following me into Lucy's bedroom. I laid her in her bed, and she surrendered, her arms

splayed on the mattress and eyes open to only slits as I motioned for Isaac to back quietly out of the room.

I gathered all of the toys off the stairs on my way down, tossing them into the toy box in the front hallway. Isaac

skipped ahead of me into the kitchen. He knew how to make popcorn. He was pretty independent now, which was

an exciting change, but it also broke my heart. He was born exactly nine months after I had met my mate at Lena's

wedding.

I smiled to myself at the thought, shaking my head a bit as I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee. Elaine and I hadn't

waited to get to know each first at all, really. We'd gotten married only a few days after Lena's wedding. We bought

this house and spent over a year renovating it. Both Isaac and Lucy had been born in this house, and neither Elaine

nor I had plans to move into something larger or more regal. It was home–the Alpha of Drogomor's home.

Yeah, about that. Uncle Rowan had bestowed the title of Alpha of Drogomor onto me shortly after Lena departed

for Egoren. The Drogomor pack was small and laid claim to the territory called Old Town on the outskirts of Mirage.

It hadn't always been this way. I thought often of the days when my grandpa Ethan and great uncle Talon ruled as

Alpha and Beta… how different things were then, for everyone. How much harder things were for them than they

were for us.

I attended pack meetings every week, conferred with the neighboring territories, and saw to the welfare of my

pack on a daily basis, Elaine by my side as my Luna through all of it. But I still had the time to walk Isaac to school,

to take the kids to the park in the evenings, and to spend my nights cuddled in bed with my wife. I hadn't had to

face off with another Alpha, or wage war–at least not yet.

Maybe not ever.

I never pictured myself as an Alpha, but maybe my notion of Alphas was skewed because of my privileged

upbringing. Drogomor was humble and cozy, and the house of its Alpha had creaky pipes and a washing machine

that sounded like it was trying to up and walk out the door every time I ran a load of blankets. The walls weren't

dripping in gold and finery, or cloaked in dismal dark and secrets.

My pack… my home. It was peaceful. I was at peace.

Finally.

“We need to clean up the house before Mama gets home," I said as I poured popcorn into a large steel bowl and

slid it across the kitchen island, where Isaac was waiting with open arms.

“What about the vase?" he quipped, jabbing his thumb to the counter behind him where the remnants of my

desperate attempts to glue Elaine's antique vase that she put her roses in back together. I pursed my lips, giving

Isaac a defeated look. Roughhousing with the kids had taken a turn for the worst, I was afraid.

***

I let out the breath I'd been holding all weekend as Elaine stepped onto the platform, her arms outstretched to

catch Isaac and Lucy as they ran to her, squealing with delight. I gave her a short wave, meeting her eye as she

looked me over as though to confirm I'd survived the weekend alone with our little monsters in one piece.

Isaac ran back over to me, jabbering about the dead squirrel he found at the park yesterday while Lucy clung to

Elaine for dear life, refusing to be put back down.

“Hey," Elaine grinned, kissing my firmly on the lips. I felt myself melt into her touch. This was the longest we'd been

apart since, well, since the day I finally found her. “You look like hell!"

“I'm going with you next time," I whispered into her ear as I wrapped her in an embrace, squishing Lucy between

us. Lucy giggled and reached up to run her fingers along the stubble along my jaw as I kissed Elaine a second time.

“Hanna and Rowan will take the kids."

“Oh, will they?" Elaine laughed. I grabbed her suitcase, and the four of us walked off the platform and headed back

to the house, Isaac leading the way and waving at everyone we passed. “We'd better book a weekend away soon if

they're going to watch the kids. They're going to have to go to Egoren soon–"

“But they were just there." I gave Elaine a suspicious glance, and the color to her cheeks and the smile she was

trying to hide gave away the answer. Lena was pregnant–again. “What is this? Their fourth?"

I gathered all of the toys off the stairs on my way down, tossing them into the toy box in the front hallway. Isaac

skipped ahead of me into the kitchen. He knew how to make popcorn. He was pretty independent now, which was

an exciting change, but it also broke my heart. He was born exactly nine months after I had met my mate at Lena's

wedding.

“Yep. Another girl–"

“Another girl?" Four girls in a row–I'd met Alexis of course, and Jaqueline. Their third daughter couldn't be more

than a few months old judging by the date of Lena's parents' last trip to Egoren.

“Abigail said they were trying for a boy–"

“What are they going to do with four girls?" I laughed, glancing over at Lucy. I only had brothers, and Isaac coming

into our lives had been a seamless transition. I knew what to expect from him. Boys were easy. But Lucy? She

scared the hell out of me every day. Thinking about her future made me nearly crippled with anxiety, and we lived

in the Realm of Light, for Goddess's sake. Egoren wasn't nearly as progressive.

“Abigail is pregnant, too," Elaine grinned, then kissed Lucy on the cheek. “You're going to have another cousin!"

“Abi's pregnant?" I felt a weight lift from my shoulders at the news.

Abigail and Adrian had been trying for several years now. Elaine caught the emotion in my voice and smiled up at

me, her eyes misting.

“It's still early, but I said I'd go to Egoren for the birth. We'd all go, actually. Isaac and Lucy haven't been yet."

“We'll plan on it," I breathed, reaching down to take her hand in mine. Isaac ran ahead of us into the front garden

of the property, his golden locks gleaming against the deep greens and reds of Elaine's rose bushes.

Two hours later, the kids were fed, bathed, and tucked into their beds. A calm quiet I hadn't felt in days descended

over the house, broken only by the crackling of the fire I'd started in the living room fireplace. I set two mugs of tea

down on the coffee table as Elaine came downstairs, her hair still damp from her shower. She looked rested and

absolutely radiant.

“I missed you," I said before I could stop myself.

She paused in the doorway, her eyes alight and shoulders slackening as she took me in. “I missed you, too–a lot. I

know it was only three days–"

“Three days was long enough," I said with a little laugh as she sat next to me on the couch. She laid her legs over

my lap, and I draped a blanket over the both of us. I could feel her gaze on me as I reached for our tea, her eyes

boring into the side of my face so intensely I felt a chill run down the length of my spine.

“You're having nightmares again–"

“Only one," I said softly, meeting her eyes as I handed her the tea, holding my gaze. “And I was fine afterward."

“What did you dream about?"

I ran my tongue along the inside of my lower lip, shaking my head. I'd never been able to answer that question. The

war felt like a lifetime ago now. The scars of it were still evident if one traveled west to Findali, but mostly they were

carried in the minds of those who had fought. I'd seen things I never imagined could happen. I'd done things I'd

regretted. I'd lost everything for a time, and then found her, alive and well.

Something pulled me back to the pack lands shortly before Lena and Xander's wedding. I'd been in New Dianny,

preparing to travel as far south through the southern jungle as I could, exploring what could have possibly been the

last piece of uncharted space in our realm. I'd let the idea of being alone, mateless, consume me.

But something nagged at me every time I set out on that journey. Maybe it was guilt for ignoring the fact that Lena

was getting married. Maybe it was regret because I was essentially abandoning my family, forever.

I looked over at Elaine, watching the light from the fire dance over her beautiful face.

Everything I'd ever done had led me here, to this moment. To this life, a life that was so much more than anything I

could have ever imagined.

A moment of silence passed between us, both relaxing further into the couch. Not a peep came from upstairs, both

kids blissfully sleeping, hopefully through the night.

“So," Elaine said, lifting her tea to her lips and giving me a teasing grin. “Which one of our monsters broke my

vase?"