Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Chapter 119: There’s More Out There

Maeve-Four Months Later

Suntra was not what I was expecting.

Thad become accustomed to the seemingly endless white sand beaches of Avondale, where the sand

grit was so fine it felt like powdered sugar as you walked barefoot in the surf. Suntra’s sand was coarse

and golden and dappled with tide pools brimming with long strings of seaweed.

The island itself was small and mountainous, large rock formations jutting out of the shallow sea all

around the snug cove I found myself in. It was beautiful, and intimating, and nothing like I had imagined

Troy’s childhood home to be.

He was talking to Robbie in the distance, their heads bent against the stiff, warm breeze coming off the

water. It was spring, but the air was thick with tropical humidity, and had it been a clear day, I knew I

would have been roasting.

Troy and Keaton had returned from the tomb two months ago and traded the treasure for a sum of

money that was un fathomable to me. Most of it had gone toward repairing the neglected infrastructure

in Avondale and building a new port, which immediately allowed the residents of Avondale to take up

trade again. Things were already looking better than when

we first arrived in the Isles, but we still had a long way to go.

I turned away from Troy and Robbie, looking over my shoulder at the small village nestled in the safety

of the cove. The buildings were built on stilts high on the beach where a tropical forest grew in deep

green tangles of foliage behind it.

Children were running along the beach carrying buckets, stooping to inspect the tide pools for critters. I

smiled as | watched a young boy hold up a starfish, marveling at the crea ture for a moment before

gently setting it back into the water.

So many children lived here now. The entire village was buzzing with noise and laughter. My heart

squeezed as ! watched Alison, who was now heavily rounded out and in the final days of her

pregnancy, walking carefully along the tide pools, a group of young ones following her as she led the

group closer to where the sea was breaking against the beach.

Suntra was the new home of the survivors of Dianny, most of them children.

One of Troy’s first challenges as the new Alpha of Poldesse had been seeing to the welfare of the

children from Dianny. Not wanting to split them up, he called upon the few full-time residents of Suntra

to open their village to the refugees, which they did with open hearts and open arms. A new school had

been built, and Alison was the headmistress, helping assimilate the children to their new home while

also tending to the emotional wounds leftover from the fall of Di anny.

Suntra had been one of the only places, other than the smaller, less populated islands dotted around

the Isles, that had been truly welcoming to Troy as the Alpha.

Troy had taken his title back with no money to speak of, a castle to live in that was falling away into the

ocean, and sev eral enemies who had been loyal to Damian, or rather, had their fingers in Damian’s

pocketbook.

But Troy had Keaton, and that proved to be enough.

Keaton was a wolf in the body of a Pomeranian. He was flashy, wealthy, and could charm a room. But

he could also kill a man with his stare and had enough gems and other fineries to sway even the most

loyal of Damian’s old cronies. Thankful ly, many of those loyal to Damian, and Romero’s old regime,

thought it best to leave the Isles all together, and a new era united the east, the west, and the Isles had

been under the umbrella of peace and allyship.

All in all, the people of the Isles had accepted Troy as the Alpha of Poldesse, even if they weren’t ready

to consider him their Alpha quite yet.

But under Troy and I as Alpha and Luna new schools had been built, medical clinics were being

established on the more remote islands, and trade restrictions had been eased, which led to more

money flowing in the Isles. The people of the Isles could trade freely with the port of Breles and the port

of Valo ria without needing special, expensive permits like Damian had demanded, which used to keep

the routes locked in to those he favored.

Best of all, Troy was happy. He was at peace and at home.

But there was still much work to be done.

We were spending several weeks jumping from island to island, taking stock of the wellbeing of the

inhabitants, and making a list of what was needed. Most of the islands were in need of medicine,

infrastructure, and schools. But some vil lages carried the scars of the past regime, and held a grudge

against the pack they deemed responsible. We were, essen tially, on a public relations tour to try to

save face and prove we were good, honest rulers. Damian had been allowed to rule unchecked here

for far too long, and regardless of who was responsible for that, we were changing it now.

Suntra was more of a vacation, it seemed. We would spend a few nights here before boarding the

Persephone once again and heading to the next village.

Will, Charlie, and Oliver were in the village being doted on by Ingra, Cleo, and the elder women who

called Suntra home. Cleo had set up shop in Avondale of course, to be closer to Myla, but was training

two midwives for Suntra over the next several weeks while she waited for Alison to go into labor.

I was free, it seemed, left to my own devices to explore the beach for a moment while Troy spoke to

Robbie and the boys were being tended to.

But I found myself a little bored.

I thought of following Alison and joining the gaggle of pups she was leading across the beach, but

didn’t want to in terrupt. I resigned myself to sitting on a piece of driftwood, stretching my legs in front of

me and watching a trio of young boys chase a rather large crab along the shore.

They couldn’t have been more than ten years old.

Troy had lived here as a child when he wasn’t working on a boat somewhere. I wondered, with a pang

of sadness, if he’d ever had a chance to just be a little boy like the ones I was watching, and then felt

thankful the boys, and my own boys, would have a chance to just be kids.

“Do you remember me?” came a soft, somewhat nervous voice to my left. I turned, shielding my eyes

to the sun as a young girl approached, stopping short of my driftwood perch.

My entire body tightened at the sight of her. Of course, I remembered her. I would never forget her.

I just didn’t expect her to be alive.

Tasia’s youngest sibling took another step toward me, mo mentarily blocking the sun. I looked up at

her, seeing her quite the same as she had been in Dianny when she came to fetch us all down to the

lake for dinner. It felt like a lifetime ago.

The light was gone from her eyes, however, replaced by unspeakable sadness.

“I’m not like my sister,” she said hurriedly.

I nodded. “1-1 know. It’s alright,” I stammered, “I don’t… | don’t remember your name-”

“It was never said,” she said softly, tucking her hands in the pocket of her apron, “but my name is

Mara.”

“It’s really nice to see you again,” I said, rising to my feet. I towered over the girl, who was no more than

twelve. She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?”

I nodded, swallowing against the pain of it.

“She killed our whole family,” Mara breathed, breaking her gaze. “I’m happy to hear she is gone.”

“Oh-”

“She was very bad,” Mara nudged a piece of seaweed with her foot.

“Yes… she was. But that doesn’t make losing her…. She was your sister. I can’t imagine how you feel.

It’s okay to be hurt, and sad over her… over her death.”

“My mother wasn’t totally honest with you,” Mara said abruptly, looking up at me once more. I started,

slightly taken aback by her admission.

“How so?”

“I can see things. I saw what Tasia was planning to do, but no one would listen to me. That’s how I

lived, I knew when it was going to happen. And… something is going to happen, but not soon. It’ll be

when I’m older. I won’t be a little girl any more. And neither will she.”

“Who? What happens?”

“There’s so much more out there,” Mara said dreamily. “So, so much more.”