Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder by Alice Knightsky
Chapter 181 The Letter Says It All
Ethan…
This was a name that carved into my bones. Someone I’d never forget, regardless whether I was in this world or not.
I took a deep breath and considered what she was asking me I’d had a chance to say goodbye to my son. I would tell Vicky and Georgia how much I loved them and appreciated their friendship.
What, if anything, did I wish to say to Ethan?
I managed to shake my head a bit. “No,” I said
Georgia’s eyes were wide open, as if she was heartbroken for her brother. However, seeing me fading, she didn’t press
I whispered, “I’ve already told him everything I needed to say.”
“You have?” she asked, kneeling down next to me now.
“Yes,” I told her. “Tell him… tell him if he’s not sure what to think… how to interpret my feelings for him… tell him to read the letter again.”
“The letter?” Vicky asked, clarifying. She knew which one I meant.
The last time I thought I’d never see Ethan again, I’d told him everything. At the time, he’d thought I was already dead. Now that I was dying… there was nothing I’d want to say differently.
Closing my eyes, I finally admitted to myself that till this day, I still loved him In fact, I had always loved him.
I came to understand that all of the fear, the anger, and the disappointment were because of the love I had for him. Therefore, every lie he told, regardless whether he meant it or not, hurt. Every wrong he had done to me, regardless of how small it was, I couldn’t bear.
However, now I was at the end of my life, all I could see closing my eyes was his gentle blue eyes on me. I could almost smell his scent. I longed for his arms around me.
“Yes The letter says it all.”
**Ethan’s POV**
“Alpha, our defense had been pushed back.”
“Alpha, the enemy’s reinforcements have arrived, Led by King Kai, and they are approaching!”
“Alpha, it’s urgent! They are starting to surround us!”
A large map was stretched out across the table in front of us, and as the different messengers came in to report the information about troop movements out on the battlefield, I placed markers wherever the enemy troops were located
“How many are there?” I asked one of the messengers, a tall, slender man with a pale face who looked terrified No wonder he wasn’t a warrior.
“On the right side, they have moved up at least twelve thousand warriors, sir,” he said, swallowing hard
I nodded “And the left?”
“Our reports show that there are at least ten thousand on the left, sir.” He blinked a few times, like he was trying to get the courage up to tell me the total number. “And… another ten thousand in the center.”
“King Kai is out there. And King James’s troops are moving here as well.”
I looked up to see that the voice was Commander Landon’s. He would know what Kai looked like.
He would also know why it was important to note the man’s arrival. Slowly, I nodded in understanding.
“How long?” I asked the messengers.
“Sir?” the tall one who had been reporting asked, clearly not understanding.
I didn’t have time to explain myself. “How long, dammit’” I shouted at him.
“Three days, I think,” he stammered. “Maybe… five? They are coming fast, but the forest is dense there. It depends on how long it lakes them to get through the underbrush.”
I did some quick calculations, including the numbers I already knew to be positioned in the three different sectors, and the number of troops amassed against us was staggering.
“We are outnumbered at least five to one,” I mumbled. I looked at the maps again, continuing to check the math in my head, but I was sure I was right.
And they were coming toward us quickly. At this rate, with these numbers, they could easily surround us, cut the palace off from the outside world, and lay siege to our city until we all starved to death or surrendered.
We would have to think of something major that we could do to stop them. Otherwise, all was lost.
All of sudden, my heart started to pound in fear.
I couldn’t think, I couldn’t feel, and I couldn’t breathe. It was as if part of me was dying.
‘Alpha,’ Talon looked at me worriedly. He asked through mindlink, ‘You all right?’
‘Talon, I need a moment. Take over the meeting.’
I stabilized myself and announced, “Commander Landon, my Beta will continue going through the detailed reports with everyone. I need some quiet time to sort through my thoughts.”
With that, I turned and walked out of the room.
Without any reason, I just knew I needed to see Rosalie, right then. Something was wrong but I was afraid to think of the possibility.
As I was rushing through the palace, I told myself that she would be fine. She said she’d be fine a couple of days ago. She said she just needed to rest and asked me to help her to lead her people while she was recovering.
However, deep in my soul, a terrifying feeling called out, urging me to move faster and faster. With every step that I took, the twisting motion within me became worse. No matter how much I tried to be positive, I felt like everything was hopeless.
As I stepped through the threshold of her room, I saw both Georgia and Vicky standing around her bed, tears filling their eyes My arrival shocked them.
I tried to get my head around the situation. My gaze fell upon Rosalie, who laid very still on the bed she was resting in. For a moment, my heart stopped.
The room was quiet, so I lowered my voice. I didn’t want to startle Rosalie… she still needed her rest to recover.
Yes, she must be just resting, I told myself.
However, I found myself calling her softly. “Rosalie…”
She didn’t move. Why didn’t she move? She looked a little pale, but she was still beautiful. I forced myself to look away from her stunning white hair… my instinct told me not to focus on that.
Georgia placed one hand on my shoulder. “Ethan…”
“Shhh!” I hushed her. “She’s resting. Can’t you see?”
My feet carried me closer to the bed, then I sat on its edge and stared at her.
Georgia’s face was wet from all the crying, and Vicky was sobbing. I scolded them in low voice, “What the f*ck are you doing?! She’s fine! Can’t you see the movement of her chest?”
The fury filled me. Why did they act like this? Rosalie wasn’t dying She couldn’t be… right??
No one said anything in the room. I held Rosalie’s hand in mine, but as the temperature of her hands began to fade, my heart started to freeze.
My wolf was whimpering. I looked up, hoping to find someone who could tell me this wasn’t real, but they were just crying and sobbing.
No…
Why did fate treat me like this? How could I accept that she was dying? She didn’t even give me a chance to apologize to her for everything I did when I imprisoned her.
I was so ashamed of myself.
I’d thought that it might take me months, years, or even decades to make it up to her, and it was all good because I’d thought I had lots of time to do so now that she’d saved me from my rogue fate.
If she didn’t want me to be her mate, I’d stay away as if I didn’t exist in her life I’d watch her, protect her, and love her from far away.
Whatever she needed, I’d give her.
From the moment I had set eyes on her, I’d wanted her, but through my own foolishness, I did nothing but cause her pain and push her away
A black void of darkness filled my heart, and as I looked upon her resting body, I wanted to die with her.
My mate – the love of my life – laid dying. Flashes of moments we spent together running through my mind.
From the moment I first laid eyes on her in the hospital bed, to when I saw her pregnant looking up at the moonlight. Everything led to this moment. I had watched her become the goddess and queen she was always destined to be. “There has to be something we can do….” I murmured with raw emotion in my voice.
My hand reached up to brush a strand of white hair from her beautiful, delicate face.
“Ethan-” Georgia sobbed, trying to hold back her tears.
“No!” I shouted, shaking my head in disbelief. “It can’t end this way.’’
I refused to let it end this way!
“Alpha Ethan.” Cerina’s voice rang from outside of the room. She walked in slowly, and couldn’t hide the sadness on her face.
She said calmly, “There isn’t anything we can do.”
“Why the f*ck didn’t anyone say said anything! You knew… didn’t you? You’re the priestess, you’d seen Rosalie’s mother die the same way!” I roared.
Cerina’s eyes were filled with grief. “Yes, I knew about the queen’s power and its toll all along, and I’d reminded Her Majesty… under the circumstances, however, Her Majesty chose to sacrifice herself to save everyone!”
“Why the f*ck you didn’t stop her?!” I yelled. However, I knew I was unreasonable. If there was anyone I should be angry at, it was myself.
Had I not turned rogue, we wouldn’t have gone to that temple, had I been strong enough to fight off Madalynn and Behar, Rosalie wouldn’t need to die.
“I wish I could die for her… It should be me who should die in the first place…” I said as I looked toward Cerina. “In all of the history of the White Queen, there was never an exception?”
Cerina’s sad eyes moved to Rosalie, and she hesitated.
“Wait,” Georgia jumped up. “I remember in one of the books I read when I first got here, it mentioned one of the queens who reigned many years after her hair turned white, what happened to her?”
Cerina frowned and shook her head. “That was just a legend from long ago…”
“Any clue helps!” Georgia urged. “Cerina, tell us about that queen, please. Maybe we can figure something out!”
She still shook her head. It seemed that she was concerned about something.
“Cerina! Please! Even if it’s only the slightest hope, we ll try!”
Cerina pointed out, “Queen Rosalie had specifically given us orders to let her go in peace. This was her choice and her fate. We should respect her wishes…”
“What’s wrong with you?! Just f*cking tell me!!” I roared, but my dead heartbeat had seemed to pick up again. Hope rose inside me.
She stared at me for a moment and sighed “Okay, I’ll tell you. Just so you know, even if it’s true, it won’t help in Your Majesty’s case.”
She took a deep breath and finally said, “Our pack was said to be descended from the Moon Goddess herself, and thus our leader had the ability to borrow the power from the Goddess, as you all have witnessed.” I nodded.
“However, the Goddess herself is just. Such power should never belong to the mortal world, and borrowing it comes with a price. Our queen would have to repay the Goddess with her life as a debt of gratitude to allow us to use her power. In return, the Moon Goddess would grant our queen a place in her eternal heaven Unless—”