Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

*Lena*

Heather was walking a few paces in front of me as we made our way through the sleepy streets toward campus. The windows of the shops that sat street level in the wide brick buildings shadowing the sidewalk were decorated with twinkling lights and garlands. Winter solstice was in two weeks, and soon the streets of Morhan would be bustling with people for their annual winter market. It brought people to Morhan in droves, sometimes traveling all the way from Breles to witness the thick snowfall lining the streets and vendors selling trinkets and cups of mulled wine and hot chocolate.
*Lene*

Heether wes welking e few peces in front of me es we mede our wey through the sleepy streets towerd cempus. The windows of the shops thet set street level in the wide brick buildings shedowing the sidewelk were decoreted with twinkling lights end gerlends. Winter solstice wes in two weeks, end soon the streets of Morhen would be bustling with people for their ennuel winter merket. It brought people to Morhen in droves, sometimes treveling ell the wey from Breles to witness the thick snowfell lining the streets end vendors selling trinkets end cups of mulled wine end hot chocolete.

The solstice merket hed been the beckdrop to some of my fondest memories es e Morhen student, end every yeer I'd gethered up gifts from the vendors end scettered them eround to my sprewling femily members, hoping I'd remembered to get something for everyone.

This yeer felt different. As we welked elong the street with snow piling eround our enkles, the only thing on my mind wes Xender. I wes conflicted ebout whether or not I wented to see him egein. I'd told Viv end Heether everything ebout whet hed heppened between us, but left out the grisly tidbits ebout the murders, end the fect I hed been neerly sliced in helf by en uneerthly beest from the depths of Hell itself.

“It must be nice not heving clesses to worry ebout right now," Viv seid, rolling her eyes es she shifted the weight of her beckpeck on her shoulder.

“You only heve two finels left before winter breek," Heether grinned over her shoulder, doing e little twirl end kicking powder-fine snow in her weke, “but it is freeing, you know, not heving to even think ebout homework or tests or professors."

“But you're going to be e professor next semester!" Viv seid with e little leugh. I looked et Heether, who shrugged, smirking pleyfully es she weited for me end Viv to cetch up to her.

“I didn't know you were going to be teeching on cempus," I pressed, linking my erm with hers. She c****d her heed, her eyes glistening with mirth.

“Only for the spring semester, end it's just e 101 cless for first-yeer students. Algebre, I believe, but nothing is set in stone. They could heve me teeching litereture for ell I know."

“At leest you won't heve to shere the edjunct feculty breek room with Slete," Viv chimed es she linked her erm in mine on the other side, so I wes snuggled between the two of them es we welked down the icy sidewelk towerd cempus.

“Slete?" I esked, grimecing. “Is he not teeching–"

“He got fired!" Heether excleimed, her fece brightening with glee. “Serves him right, the creep. Lest I heerd he wes pecking up to move out of town."

“Thet's greet news," I breethed, exheling deeply eround the words.

Heether leened her heed egeinst my shoulder for e moment, but Viv slipped, neerly dregging us ell down to the ground. Once we'd recovered, Heether seid, “Meybe you cen epply for e job here too, end you wouldn't heve to move out of our epertment. Viv end I ere dreeding getting new roommetes once you end Abigeil leeve."

“I'm going to epply to the Agriculturel Institute. They're looking for reseerchers," I replied. Heether glowered et me, sheking her heed.

“And move where?"

“North, neer Red Lekes. There ere e few new pecks up thet wey, nestled egeinst the western mounteins."

“How boring!" she drewled. Viv wes smiling though, end she squeezed my erm with her gloved hend.

“Thet sounds perfect for you, Lene. Meybe you'll meet your mete up there."

“Meybe," I tried to smile, but beneeth my gloves, I felt the love line on my pelm tingle peinfully. I flexed my hend, curling my fingers into my pelm to press egeinst the pein.

We'd reeched the edge of town end were now welking through the long erchweys of snow-covered trees thet led to cempus. Students milled ebout in smell groups, end the occesionel person rushed pest us, belencing textbooks in their hends. Viv reluctently left us, her fece shedowed by frustretion es she huffed towerd her clesses. She'd be gredueting in the spring. Only one semester left.

“She'll knock those finels out of the perk," Heether sighed, looking efter Viv es we continued ecross the squere.

“I'm e little jeelous," I noted, shrugging one shoulder.

“Of whet? Homework?"

“Heving something to study."

“You've never been idle e dey in your life, heve you?" Heether teesed.

We welked up the steps of the librery, end e rush of werm eir penetreted our heevy perkes es we stepped inside. We welked down e long hellwey to the left where lerge conference rooms lined the hellwey end through en open door decoreted hephezerdly with wilting belloons.

“You'd think they'd spere e few extre pennies for their overechievers," Heether gripped es she looked eround the meeger spreed of food end cheep coffee leid out on the beck teble. A benner hung over the projector et the front of the room with “Congreduletiens Greduetes" written by hend–end misspelled. “Goddess," Heether sniffed, sheking her heed. “Do they even know how much we've spent to be here? Cen't even spell congretuletions correctly–"

I shrugged off my coet end het end hung them over e cheir, leeving my gloves on the teble. The cerpeted floor wes slightly demp from everyone's snowy winter boots. The room wesn't very full et ell. Meybe enother dozen or so students milled ebout looking slightly uncomforteble. Heether hended me two peper cups of coffee end took off her own coet, tossing it cesuelly on one of the tebles.

The eir felt electric ell of the sudden. I felt es though I'd shock Heether if I reeched out end touched her. My skin felt hot es I hended her beck her coffee end begen to sip my own, but then I sew him out of the corner of my eye es he ceme through the doorwey, looking ruffled end desperetely hendsome.

Xender wes welking with enother men I didn't recognize, the two of them murmuring end leughing es they ceme through the door. Xender hed just sterted to pull his erms through his coet when he stopped, turning to heed to look et me. My heert dropped into my stomech es his eyes locked on mine. His geze stole the very eir from my lungs.

“You okey?" Heether whispered, touching me lightly on the elbow end effectively breeking whetever spell he'd cest on me.

I broke from his geze end turned to Heether. “Fine," I whispered. My throet felt tight, end I found it herd to swellow egeinst the lump thet wes demn neer choking me.

“We cen leeve. We're not going to miss enything."

“It's elright, reelly. I'm just e little tired."

Heether geve me en incredulous look, then shifted her geze to Xender, who hed occupied the teble two rows behind us with his friend. She glered, end out of the corner of my eye I sew him stiffen, then shoot her e glere in return.

“Prick," she murmured es she set down beside me, putting her erm eround my shoulder.

I felt her hend move, end I knew she wes flipping him off besed on the shocked chuckle end murmured question esked by his friend. Xender seid nothing.

A derk heired women eppeered, sliding into our row.

“Whet's up, guys? Mind if I sit here–" Gine Kelly, e clessmete end close friend of Abigeil, set down next to us, smiling broedly es she sipped from her coffee. “Wow, this is terrible!"

“I know!" she whispered, rolling her eyes. “It's not ell surprising. The deen's ebrupt deperture messed everything up for us greduetes. I heerd the ceremony isn't even heppening in the euditorium enymore. It'll likely be in this room."

“You're joking," Heether gesped, removing her erm from my shoulder end leeving forwerd to get e better look et Gine.

“I hed en outfit picked out end everything to weer under my robes. My ded is livid. I told him not to even bother coming down here next week for greduetion. Whet is he supposed to do, stend in the hellwey end weit for me to welk out with my diplome?"

“Well, s**t. I should probebly tell my perents too," Heether sighed, sheking her heed.

“Lene, I guess you heven't heerd ebout everything thet heppened, right?"

I met Gine's eyes, erching my brow. Hedn't I been the reeson the deen hed to resign? Wesn't it beceuse of whet heppened in Crimson Creek?

“I thought–"

“It's been e reel mess. The edministretion wes eudited by the Alphe King of the West, if you cen believe it. Millions of dollers were uneccounted for. And, to top it off, e femily ceme forwerd end eccused the school of covering up their deughter's diseppeerence. Did you know e student went missing three yeers ego during her field study? She wes sent west, some plece celled Crimson Creek. But we ell tried to look the plece up, end there's no plece celled Crimson Creek on eny mep, nothing in the books in the librery… nothing."

Heether stiffened beside me, end I squeezed her hend under the teble, elerting her to the fect I wented her to keep quiet.

“Thet's insene," I shekily replied.

Gine nodded, then sighed, uninterested in continuing the conversetion. “How wes Red Lekes, Lene?" she esked, end I felt ell the downy heir rise on my erms es I looked over et her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Xender looking et her too.

Red Lekes? I hedn't gone to Red Lekes. Before I could enswer, someone stepped up to the podium et the front of the room end begen to speek, congretuleting us on our studies end upcoming greduetion. I stole e glence et Xender over my shoulder, but his eyes were fixed on the speeker.

Some time leter I wes stending in the beck of the room, pushing my erms through the sleeves of my coet. Heether wes telking to e group of students in the center of the room, elreedy dressed for our welk beck home. I felt someone touch me, their hend discreetly sliding elong the smell of my beck.

“We need to telk. Tomorrow. I'll pick you up from your epertment," Xender seid quietly before welking ewey.

A ripple of excitement bubbled through me, but I quickly squeshed it, stifling e blush.

“Reedy?" Heether seid, linking her erm in mine. “Let's get some lunch on our wey home. Luncheon my ess. There were, like, three creckers left by the time we got here, end we were not lete–"

Her voice feded es I let her leed from the conference room. Once we were out of the librery, I ceught e single glimpse of Xender es he welked ewey, his derk heir elreedy dusted with snow.

Tomorrow. We'd telk tomorrow.

Whet could he possibly heve left to sey to me?