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Breathing Underwater
Last Updated:
2023-02-23 11:08:23Related chapters
The Alpha King's Breeder Catching the Aquatic Gopher
*Maddox*“Where does this pipe go?”Bill Bixby is standing near me, staring at the pipe, wearing a robe over his pajamas, his hair disheveled, and is eyes barely focusing.“This is the drain pipe,” he says. “It lets the unusable water back out into the river.”I stare at him for a moment. “So this doesn’t reach the spring where the water that’s used for the bottling comes from?” I have to clarify.“No, no, no,” he says. “We can turn this pipe in reverse to make the water flow the other direction. We do that from time to time to bring in more water to run the machinery and keep it cool, but for the most part, this pipe flows into the river, not the other way around.”“Where does the water come into the plant?” I ask.“Over there.” He points into the distance where I can see a large pipe that actually goes into the ground. “The spring isn’t under the river. It’s under the ground there, and it flows into the location of the river through an underground tributary. So we catch the spring w
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder Waking In His Arms
*Isla*I fall back into a dreamless, restless sleep after Poppy assures me that she has spoken to Maddox and relayed the information I had given her.I don’t know why I am suddenly dreaming about what’s happening with other people, people I am not related to and have no connection to, but I am certain that what I saw was real, not just a regular dream spurred on by everything that has happened to me today.A few hours after my conversation with Poppy, I feel a shift in the bed and slit my eyes to see what is happening. Part of me wants to react with panicked fear that I am being attacked again, but I am too tired for that.Thankfully, that is not the case.It is Maddox.He is slipping into bed next to me, and while I am too tired, and it is too dark, for me to see exactly what he has on, when I rest my hand on his chest, it is bare.“I’m sorry I woke you, beautiful,” he whispers, his warm lips pressing against my forehead.“It’s okay,” I manage to get out before I roll onto his chest.
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder A New Plan of Attack
*Maddox*I should have told Isla I love her, too, but I didn’t.A million reasons why that isn’t a good idea flock my mind as I hold her in my arms, looking down at her beautiful face.I want her to know that I love her more than anything, that I will do whatever I can to protect her, but I know that she is in a dangerous position because she loves me. Clearly, that has been demonstrated in the past few days when Zabrina and her minions tried to kill her.Promising her that she is completely safe now would be foolish and dishonest of me. I want to do everything I can to protect her, and I will, but having just failed her, I find it impossible to know for certain I can do that.I couldn’t even protect Rebecca from herself.Isla isn’t sure how to respond to my statement, and I can’t blame her. I lean down and kiss the top of her head and then slide from the bed. “I need to go,” I tell her. I find my boxers and put them back on.“Are you going to look for Zabrina some more?” she asks me
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder Tracking Them Down
*Maddox*We arrive in the village less than twenty minutes after we left the castle. I see the dive shop I’ve been told about pretty quickly and ask Beta Seth to pull into a parking spot not far from the front door. It’s still fairly early in the morning, and most of the activity around the shops is centered around the coffeehouse and the bakery—not the dive shop, which doesn’t even look to be open.I will not let that deter me.Hopping out of the car, I make my way to the door and try it. I’m relieved that it is unlocked, despite the fact that the lights are not in, and there being no sign in the window that says, “Open.”In fairness, and in my defense, there’s no “Closed” sign either.When the chime above the door dings, I hear an aggravated sigh from the back of the shop and have to assume that whoever is working this morning would prefer not to have any customers.That makes me glad I’m not intending to give them any money.Despite the humor I would find in making Beta Seth dive d
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder Calling Home
*Isla*My head is a little fuzzy when I open my eyes later that morning after Maddox has left. I run a hand through my hair and stretch my other hand over to the bed where his body had been. It’s not even warm anymore.I sit up, slowly. I still don’t feel completely right after everything I went through yesterday, but I feel a little better than I did before I went back to sleep.I remember what he said about calling my parents. Should I even bother to do that? Alpha King Maddox has explained to me why he thinks it’s worth it, but I’m not sure he really understands how Willow pack works. If it’s true that Alpha Ernest is no longer in power, that doesn’t mean that he won’t find someone to let him out of prison. He’s a little worm, and he has people working for him that Maddox would’ve never suspected wouldn’t be loyal to him.I have to wonder, as I sit there pondering everything that’s happened recently, how many people truly are loyal to Maddox?It’s not something that’s ever crossed
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder More Surprises
*Maddox*I get out of the car in front of Alpha Bryant Logan of Hill Country packs mansion. It’s huge, though it’s no castle. Still, it looks a lot more modern than the place I live in, a lot homier.As I make my way up the long path to the door, I daydream about downsizing a bit but getting something where the electrical wires are actually in the walls instead of along them since my castle was built about four hundred years ago before electricity was even an idea.Beta Seth clears his throat behind me, and I know he’s nervous. He always does that when he’s uncomfortable. I turn and look at him, and he adjusts his tie like maybe it’s choking him a little.“It’s just Alpha Bryant,” I remind him. “He’s on our side.”Seth nods, but I know he doesn’t quite believe that. I don’t either, but we’re here. We may as well see what the fuck he wants.Besides, I have to think he’s not choosing to side with Maple pack over me. If he was, he never would’ve let me know what he’d found along the rive
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder Big Little Secrets
*Isla*I try to process what my mom is saying to me, but something about her words isn’t computing. I’m not sure why. What did I expect her to say? Yes, she did use to be the queen of an island kingdom called Maatua, and yes, I used to be a princess?I mean, it’s not as if I really expected what Mystica said to be true. What are the changes, really, that my family is from royalty? For most of my life, I’ve required safety pins to keep my socks up. That doesn’t exactly sound like the princess life.Still… there’s something about my mother’s tone that makes me think she’s not being completely straightforward with me. Her voice has that little quiver to it like it did when she told Ben that his cat went to live on a farm outside of the city. I had seen the cat’s body lying by the side of the road earlier that day, so I knew that Otis wasn’t going to live out a peaceful life chasing mice in a barn. Otis was dead.Mom wasn’t a good liar.“Oh, you’ve never heard of the place at all?” I ask
Last Updated : 2023-02-23The Alpha King's Breeder Just a Friend
*Maddox*I stare at the young woman in front of me for a long moment before I return my attention to Alpha Bryant. Rage washes over me as I figure out what is going on here. “Is this your niece?” I ask him.He shrugs. “Not by blood.”The young woman is sniffling, and I can’t help but think she has to be… seventeen? Maybe eighteen at most.“What the fuck?” I ask Bryant, turning on him. “What did you do to her?”“Hey, King Maddox,” he says, holding his hands up between us again. “I didn’t give her nothin’ she didn’t want. She’s a little tramp. I wasn’t even sure the baby was mine until I did a DNA test on the little bastard. Pretty much every guy in my pack has gotten some of her.”With that, the little girl starts crying even harder.I am furious. It looks like I’m about to have a second pack without an Alpha.But I have to be more careful with this one. I can’t just force Alpha Bryant out the way that I did Alpha Ernest because there are forces here that will fight back. Unlike Ernes
Last Updated : 2023-02-23
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RyanThree Days LaterTarsian is gone. That’s the only way to describe it. The cities, the packs… it’s nothing but endless, blood-stained desert now. Even the sea lapping against the shores of Serpentia is stained a dark red, but I watch it fade as I stand on what’s left of a deck overlooking the ocean. Behind me, the incessant chatter of the injured and healing overwhelm the sound of the waves. A few people walk along the sand–warriors of different ranks and alliances. A young man in tattered Arcane Umbra armor talks to a group of men in armor from the Roguelands, reunited with old friends. The curse is gone. The soldiers the Umbra Mortis turned into his puppets, his monsters, well… so far, they have no memory of the war, which is a blessing. The rest of us remember, though. How could we ever forget what happened here? How are we possibly going to move on? “Ryan?”I turn toward Kenna’s voice as she steps toward me, edging around a group of nurses from Moonrise here to help treat
The Alpha King's Breeder Not Quite Enough
ColeI choke myself awake. Smoke fills my lungs, smothering my senses for precious seconds I quickly realize I don’t have. Muffled voices fill my ears–a few shouts of pain, of surprise. People are calling out for friends and comrades.I’m not in the afterlife. I know that immediately. Pain echoes through my body like waves, driven by the tide of my heartbeat as my body claws back to life, my chest wounds knitting together in real time. But my hand is freezing. I squeeze the fingers tangled in mine and jolt back to reality, rolling with effort to curl my body around Misty. “No,” I breathe into her hair. “Come–Come back.” I can’t feel her anymore. My hand slides up to her neck, my fingers trembling as I feel for her pulse. It’s there, but barely. A weak thump that pauses for several heartbreaking seconds. “H-Help!” I try to shout the word into existence, but my voice cracks painfully, turning into a scream. “HELP!”Figures rush toward us in a blur. The battlefield erupts into view, sh
The Alpha King's Breeder The Ultimte Sacrifice
MistyI land on my feet in a sea of mist. Silver fog snakes around my ankles, around my glimmering armour made of pure light. For a moment, I think I’m… lost within the aether–in the misty, shadowed undercurrent that separates our realm from the Goddess’s kingdom. But wet grass squishes beneath my boots as I stumble forward, breathless, damn near in pieces. Rain pelts the top of my head as I grope for anything to grab onto before I careen toward the ground. I yelp as my body lands with a thud. Thunder booms, followed by its rolling echo as it bounces toward me. The rain fizzles to a gentle whisper as the mist begins to part. A great stone wall comes into view, and then two voices carry toward me, lifted in alarm. I sit up with great effort, kneeling as I gasp for breath that won’t fill my lungs. I slowly lift my head and see two women–one young and… stunning, with long, blonde hair and ocean blue eyes that seem to glow as she holds my gaze, her lips parted in surprise. The seco
The Alpha King's Breeder The Gate of the Gods
Cole“Undo it,” I tell him. “Take the curse back and reinstate order.”He purses his lips to a thin line, confused. “But, Cole, I can’t. It’s not something you can just… stop. Think about it. Use that big brain of yours. Do you see this place? Tarsian is so much bigger than the rest of Eastonia. Riches beyond belief lay below the sand. There used to be mines and forges here, mines that pulled silver and moonstone from the ground and forges that turned that into magic. Yet, in our time, the magic is hoarded by the royals–the Allied Kings.” He sweeps his hand toward the battle. “But not anymore. Once I open the gate, it’s over. This world will be no more. You can come with me, Cole. Be a god instead of a king.”“You can’t, Richard. You failed. Misty is safe, with her family. You needed her to do this.”He smiles a bit sadly, but his eyes flare with mischief. “Yes, she is. Such a shame, really. It would have been easier to do it with her help. Quicker, less leg work for me.” He opens the
The Alpha King's Breeder Coated in Armor
Misty“Forgive me, please,” I say to Mom as we walk side by side to the war room, which is really just a massive training area at the very base of the castle. “I know I just got back…hours ago….”“Bring them back for me,” she replies sadly, her hand ghosting down my back. She stops at the staircase leading to the furthest depths of the castle. I turn to face her, and she tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I’m okay here. I’ll keep the kids happy and comfortable.”That’s my mom’s power. Being the leader of this family. She has a knack for bringing everyone together, keeping everyone loved and… whole. I pull her into a hug and squeeze. “I’ll come home again, I promise. I’ll be bringing my mate home with me in time for Solstice, I promise.”Her tears fall into my hair. I reluctantly let her go and turn for the stairs, refusing to look back. I have to look forward–only forward–if I’m going to get through this. Ella’s already in the armory, sorting weapons, her eyes locked on her tas
The Alpha King's Breeder I Choose You
MistyEverything else is a blur. Aviva’s screamed words. Ella’s rushed explanations. Grandma taking me by the shoulders and leading me away, tucking me in a sitting room somewhere in the depths of the castle. I barely feel her arm on my shoulder. I barely register sitting down in a chair, holding the bloody pages in my lap and watching the firelight dance over the untidy scrawl I know so well. I sit there for what could be hours. Eventually, I’m joined by Sarah and Kenna… and then Aviva. Still, I haven’t read the letter. I’ve read my name, addressed at the top of the first page, over and over again. This is his final goodbye, and I’m not ready to accept that. “What are we supposed to do?” Kenna grinds out. “The reports coming out of Tarsian are–”“I don’t fucking care what they are!” Sarah’s voice pitches with fury. “The father of my sons is fighting for his fucking life right now, Kenna.”“My mate, too!” Kenna shouts. “But we’ve been told to stay, to be prepared to defend Moonrise
The Alpha King's Breeder Over Our Heads
MistyI wait in the hallway for Luke, not believing he’s actually here, in Moonrise, in the same place I currently am. Eventually, he’s escorted around a corner by two of Ella’s royal guards. His eyes go wide when he sees me, his cheeks flushing. “Misty–”“Luke,” I whisper, trying to smile at him, but my heart is skittering out of my chest. He glances at the guards before taking several swift steps ahead of them to reach my side. I pull him across the hallway to a set of windows and benches overlooking the city of Moonrise, now bathed in afternoon light. “You got out,” he says in disbelief. “I heard that you had, but I didn’t believe it–”“Is Georgia safe?” “Yes, she’s with her family. Her father’s fighting, but she and her mother went to Crescent Falls–”“What did Cole have you working on in the castle?” I rush out. “I was supposed to help you with it but never got the chance.”He pulls a small, oval object out of his jacket pocket and hands it to me. “It’s a cryptex. He said it wa
The Alpha King's Breeder Convincing the Queen
MistyBefore my body even catches up to itself, Mom has her arms around me, pulling me into the tightest hug possible as Sarah’s powers shudder away, falling like ash that covers the ornate red carpet in one of the upper wings of Aunt Ella’s palace in Moonrise. Golden finishes blur my vision. My senses go haywire for a fraction of a second before familiar scents and voices bring me back to reality. I slowly fold my arms around Mom’s back and squeeze. Neither of us says anything for a long, long time. I stand on my tiptoes and rest my chin on her shoulder, closing my eyes and breathing in her sweet, floral scent. She’s been wearing the same perfume for decades. She always smells the same–the smell of my childhood. “Mama,” I whisper into her strawberry scented hair. She trembles with silent sobs, cupping the back of my head as she pulls away. Her big, dark blue eyes–eyes she shares with Sydney and Ryan–sweep over my face, over the new lines of exhaustion and heartbreak. I feel a p
The Alpha King's Breeder No Girls Allowed
MistyIt’s morning. Early morning–still too early for the sun to breach the mountains and send light spilling over the village of Silverhide. I roll over on the couch, wrapped in a thick blanket, and stare at the dying embers in the stone fireplace across the room. I haven’t slept. Pain echoes through my body, settling deep in my bones. It’s not a sharp, bright pain. It’s the kind that aches and throbs–a dull thrum of noise that makes it impossible to focus, let alone close my eyes and rest. I feel empty. Empty, and alone. ‘Why did you do this to me?’ I ask through the sliver of bond I still share with Cole… I hope. I hung on so tight when he rejected me, refusing to let him do it. But his voice is no longer in my head. My eyes are dry and rimmed red as I watch the embers flicker like stars against a sea of darkness. I have no tears left to cry. I used them up. They’re gone. Ryan and Aviva’s bedroom door opens nearby, a shadowed figure ducking as Ryan steps out of his room and
