Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder
Chapter 557 - 60 : Succession of the White Queen

Chapter 557: Chapter 60 : Succession of the White Queen

*Lena*

“Lena?” Viv said, her voice a little shaken as I approached.

I bobbed my head, bending my knees into a shallow curtsy, an act that startled them both.

“I’ll be damned,” Heather whispered in disbelief. “You weren’t lying.”

“I’m sorry,” I began, but Viv burst out in a laugh, shaking her head as she gripped Heather’s upper arm to steady herself.

“Are you kidding? This is the coolest thing to ever happen to us,” Viv panted, wiping a tear from her eye.

Heather, on the other hand, looked more shocked than anything.

“I should have been honest from the beginning,” I exclaimed to Heather in particular.

Heather tilted her head, eyeing me with interest, taking in my clothes and jewels. I felt completely exposed to her gaze, especially when it gently lingered on the faded mark about the neckline of my dress.

“I see you patched things up with Xander,” she said tartly.

Viv made a face at her, then glanced at me.

“I didn’t. He showed up here two days ago, and he’s... well, he’s not just a college student.”

“What do you mean?” Viv asked, her dark eyes going wide.

“He’s an Alpha King of some... far off land, somewhere that’s accessible now that the southern pass is open for travel,” I lied, unsure how, or if, I should explain where Egoren was.

“You’re kidding,” Heather said, looking incredibly suspicious as she looked around the crowd toward the entrance of the ballroom.

“I swear,” I replied, following her gaze.

Xander was nowhere to be seen, swallowed up by the crowd.

Before I could say anything further, a squeal pierced the air, and a flash of red hair enveloped our group as Abigail bounded into us, pulling all three of us into a tight embrace.

“Can you believe our luck?” she exclaimed. “Our quiet, somewhat stuck-up Lena is a f*cking PRINCESS.”

For the next hour, I gave the group a brief history of my life, evading the tidbits about my powers and those belonging to my family members. They listened intently, Viv and Abigail more thrilled about it than Heather, whose stone-cold expression alluded to the fact that she was pissed about my elaborate plot to hide my true identity from them for three years. Her face softened when I explained why I had to do it that way, telling them it was out of safety, and most importantly, at least to me, my ability to prove myself outside of my rank.

I should have sat with my family at the front of the ballroom, where their tables flanked the heavily decorated table set aside for the bride, groom, and their wedding party, but I chose to sit with my friends instead, and together we enjoyed a fine meal.

For a moment, it felt as though we were back in the cafe on campus, gossiping about the royals instead of attending a royal wedding.

But then, Abigail brought up Oliver.

“Have you seen him today?” I asked.

She shook her head, washing down her food with a glass of iced tea. “Not at all. But I wasn’t at the ceremony. I was setting up the last of the floral decorations.”

“Hmm...” I swirled my second glass of champagne, looking toward the table my family had taken over.

Everyone was there–my great aunts and uncles, my numerous cousins, including second and third cousins. The Beta of Poldesse and his family were seated with Maeve and Troy, their young children flanking them as they ate from plates piled high with sweets.

No sign of Oliver. Or Charlie.

Or Xander, for that matter.

I dropped my napkin on the table and rose.

“I’ll be back in a little while. Let me know if anyone makes a regretful speech. I can tell half of the groomsmen are drunk already,” I winked, then pushed my chair in and made my way across the ballroom.

I stopped at my family’s table, leaning down between my parents.

“Have you guys seen Oliver?” I whispered so I wasn’t overheard, but there were numerous conversations going on.

“I haven’t seen him all day. He missed the ceremony,” Dad said, glancing down the table before leaning back in his chair to continue, “Troy has already been out looking for him.”

“I don’t blame him in the least bit,” Mom replied, her voice heavy as she brought a glass of water to her lips.

“I’m going to go find him–”

“Lena, my dear! Look at you–” I turned to see my great aunts Georgia and Vicky near the head of the table, seated with my grandparents.

Dad patted my hand before I could rise to my full height, leaning to whisper to me, “Say you’re running to fetch something for me so you don’t get trapped by your aunts, honey. I had to pretend I was having a heart attack to get away from them earlier.”

“Dad!” I laughed, but he shrugged, and was then swatted firmly on the arm by Mom.

I walked away from my parents, coming up behind my great aunts and giving them each a hug. They both kissed and squeezed my cheeks like I was an infant, but I blushed with pride nonetheless.

“This dress is heaven on you, darling,” Aunt Georgia cooed, making me do a little twirl. “Don’t you think, Rosalie?”

“Red suits her,” my grandma smiled, and I smiled back at her, noticing the warmth in her eyes.

“Hi Grandma,” I grinned. “I’m on an errand for Dad, but I’ll be back in a moment.”

I looked at Grandpa, who was fixing me with a suspicious eye. I narrowed my eyes playfully and held his gaze as I walked away, not breaking from it until I saw a twitch of a smile touch his wide month.

He was always so tough–at least he thought so.

Dad was right about mentioning an errand. The group quickly moved on in their conversation after a moment of gushing over my outfit and how “grown up” I was now.

I smirked to myself as I walked briskly through the foyer and through the door to the back gardens. It was late evening now, and the sun was beginning to set as I walked along the stone path that led to the narrow stairs that led down the beach. I hesitated for a moment, remembering I was wearing heels, and expensive ones too. I took off my shoes and tucked them in a bush before lifting my skirts and descending the stairs.

The beach was private, tucked in a gentle cover and surrounded by sea cliffs that hung with rich green vegetation. It was a beautiful place. The water was a bright, clear turquoise and the sand was white, but glistened a fiery orange as the “golden hour” took hold and cast the entire area in a blanket of yellow, magenta, and violet light. I could see three men clearly as I carefully maneuvered down the stairs.

I was not dressed for the beach, that was for sure. The laundress was going to be pissed when she saw the sand grit stuck in the hem of my gown, but I brushed the thought away for a moment. Xander turned to look at me as I approached. He’d shed his tuxedo jacket and undone the first three buttons of his shirt, the skin of his chest glinting gold in the sun.

Charlie had shed his tuxedo jacket as well, and the two of them were barefoot with their pants rolled up over their ankles, standing just within the gentle path of the waves lapping the shore. Oliver, however, was passed out on the beach like a starfish, one leg propped up and a piece of driftwood.

“Is he okay?” I exclaimed, rushing over as fast as I could with my skirts hiked up and the back of my dress dragging in the sand.

“He’s extremely drunk,” Charlie chuckled, tipping his bottle of beer in Oliver’s direction.

“Why did you let that happen?” I pressed as I stood over Oliver’s body, peering down at him. He was breathing, snoring. I kicked at his sandaled foot with my toes and he twitched.

“F*ck off,” he murmured, then went right back to sleep.

“Me?” Charlie laughed. “I’m not my brother’s keeper–”

“He looks awful, Charlie. The whole family is upstairs–”

“So are every Alpha and Luna in the pack lands, here to witness what he thought was the love of his life marrying his brother.”

“Cut him some slack, Lena,” Xander added, but my eyes shot to him, narrowed into slits against the burst of sunset casting Xander and Charlie in a golden shadow.

“You don’t get an opinion on the matter, because you don’t know us–”

“He got to know us pretty well at the dinner you missed last night,” Charlie argued, looking smug behind the lip of his beer bottle.

I scoffed, letting my skirts drop over my ankles as I stepped toward them.

“How are we supposed to get him back up to the palace?” I asked with urgency, but Xander and Charlie only looked at each other and laughed.

“We? He’s above the tideline. No rain in the forecast–” Charlie began.

“You’re going to leave him down here? Charlie–”

“We’ve all slept on the beach plenty of times. He’ll get pinched by a crab and wake up with a righteous hangover and itchy skin, that’s it.”

I swallowed, stealing a glance at Oliver before I let the tension leave my shoulder and resigned myself to leaving my cousin on the beach to sleep it off. Xander and Charlie stared at me, waiting for me to continue the argument.

“I have nothing else to say,” I said after a moment.

“That’s a first,” Charlie and Xander said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.

“I hate you both,” I sneered, then turned on my heel to go back to the reception.

“Come on, Lena. We’re just messing with you. Stay, okay? We brought a few beers down. It’s going to be more fun than the reception, I guarantee it.” Charlie reached into a cooler I hadn’t noticed was there and offered me one of the frosted amber bottles. He popped it open using only the palm of his hand and wiggled in front of me.

“Fine,” I said, snatching it from him and taking a sip. It wasn’t strong, likely some of the floral beer Avondale was famous for that barely gave you a buzz after drinking several of them, but it was refreshing and bitter after the single glass of heavy, sweet champagne Hollis preferred. “What are you guys doing down here, anyway?”

“Talking,” Charlie said with a shrug. “Hanging out.”

“We were talking about Charlie’s next assignment,” Xander corrected, giving Charlie an arch of his brow, “through the southern pass.”

“Really?” I said, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

“It’s not a naval assignment.” Charlie smiled. “But I’m taking grandma and grandpa to see New Dianny this spring, once you’re settled in Winter Forest.”

A prickle of unease raced over my skin. That couldn’t be right. Grandma was going to be training me in Winter Forest. Why would she be leaving on a long trip in the middle of that?

“Mom never wanted the title. She has her books, you know. She wrote that one about when my parents were younger–”

“What did you just say?” I snapped, having missed the first part of the new conversation.

Charlie gave me a funny look. Xander’s face changed, his eyes widening as he slowly raised his hand to stop Charlie from speaking, but it was too late.

“That Mom stepped down from the line of succession for White Queen,” Charlie said, looking a little confused as all the color drained from my face. “Didn’t you know that?”

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