Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1459 - 58 : Heartbreak at Dusk

*Saoirse*

I sat in front of my vanity, touching up my makeup for what felt like the millionth time.

I took a deep breath in and let a deep breath out.

It was my wedding day. I shouldn’t have been worried about my fiancé’s whereabouts. I should have only been concerned about how I looked and if I was on time. I decided that was what I was going to do.

The minutes ticked by. They felt like hours. This was what it would be like to be queen. I would have to constantly put my life on pause for any emergency that popped up. In fact, it made me feel better realizing that this would be the norm. It wasn’t personal.

I wouldn’t let myself think about Alexa.

The attendants walked in, double-checking all their work and fixing the elaborate braids so they crowned my copper hair artfully. They fixed all the areas of makeup that I had tried to fix myself. Makeup had never been my strong suit. I should have just waited for them to get back anyway.

Then my dress came out. I felt my excitement return as the jaw-dropping lace gown dropped over my head. My fingers delicately brushed the beading that the queen had added, which complimented the lace pattern perfectly.

They buttoned me up as I admired myself in the mirror.

That woman’s comments the night before had been vile, but I had to admit they weren’t things I hadn’t already thought about myself. I was just a girl from the country with absolutely no experience with royalty or court life. I had lived a simple life and had none of the luxuries now presented at my feet. I didn’t know how to be politically correct or which fork to use with dinner.

However, looking at myself in my dress, that all seemed to fade away. I looked the part of royalty, and I also looked like me. I suddenly felt confident in my ability to handle this life I had agreed to. Before, I had settled for the title to be with Rhys, but now I was embracing it.

I would make a great queen, and I would have Rhys.

My heart started to beat harder, the excitement taking hold. For the first time since receiving Rhys’ note, my face broke out into a smile. The smile was the perfect addition to my reflection, and I seemed to glow with inner radiance from inside the mirror.

“It’s time to go,” my mother said softly, walking up to stand next to me.

“I’m ready,” I said, and I meant it.

My mother and I walked down the stairs and out of the palace, all while being cloaked and covered by the attendants. They wanted to make sure that nobody saw me on accident. Plus, they didn’t want anyone following me since the ceremony was to take place in a private location with just a few of us.

When we reached the location, the attendants headed off to their spots. I turned and looked toward the large tree in the distance. The sight of it excited me again. I grabbed my mother’s hand for stability as the two of us made our way toward it.

As we got closer, the scene appeared in front of us. Just like it had the day before, I felt the view take my breath away. Everything was officially ready now and more stunning than ever. It was even better than what I could have imagined for our special day.

My nerves gave way to joyful anticipation as I walked off to the side where they had set up a small tent for me. I pictured walking down the aisle to my beloved prince as he stood under the large, beautiful flowering trees.

It wouldn’t be long now.

As before, when I had been waiting in my room, the minutes seemed to drag by, feeling like hours. The sun began to set further, and I started to worry. Where was he? He was supposed to be here by now. The ceremony was supposed to take place at dusk.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be here,” my mother comforted me as I peeked out of the tent again.

The humiliation grew more as dusk passed and faded to night, but I still stood there, clinging to the fragile hope that he would still come and wouldn’t abandon me. The queen came to my tent, but I was too embarrassed to speak to her. My mother talked to her. I heard something about her not understanding what was going on, and then she was gone. She and the king were headed back up to the castle.

I wasn’t sure if they were going to try and find Rhys for me or if they had given up on him too. With every minute that ticked by, knots formed in my heart. I began to pace back and forth. The tent felt like it was closing in on me, yet there was still no Rhys.

Needing some fresh air, I burst through the flap and out into the trees. It was now completely dark outside. The moon rising full overhead stared at me mockingly, reminding me that my groom was not where he was supposed to be.

It had been hours since dusk, yet he still wasn’t there.

The attendants murmured around me, trying to be quiet enough that I didn’t hear. At long last, I heard the unthinkable.

“He’s in Alexa’s room.”

My heart all but stopped. Rhys had stood me up to be with Alexa.

Devastation finally crashed down upon me. The ticks in my heart formed one large fissure that I knew would never close. The emotion was so strong that it knocked the air from my lungs. I fell forward, bracing my hands on one of the trees in front of me. I barely managed to stay on my feet.

I don’t know how long I was standing out there before my mother found me, but it couldn’t have been very long. The moon still hung in the same teasing spot.

Numb, I allowed her and the attendants to guide me back inside the eerily empty palace. Previously, the time had seemed to drag by before, but now I had no sense of it. The walk to my room could have taken minutes or seconds, and I would be none the wiser.

I didn’t know what I was going to do now.

“You can go now,” my mother said in a dismissive tone to the rest of the attendants.

It was her Luna voice. She was taking charge. I focused long enough to look at her and see the fury blazing in her eyes. The calm she had carried all day was gone now.

If only I could bring myself to care.

“Saoirse–”

Before she could say anything else, my chamber doors burst open. My eyes barely had time to register the windblown Axureon and Saphira before I found myself engulfed in the ancient dragon’s powerful embrace.

Something about his tight hold slowly brought me out of my trance.

“Ax-Axureon?” I mumbled against him in confusion.

“What are you doing here?” I heard my mother ask.

“I felt Saoirse’s distress and rushed here immediately,” Axureon answered. He pulled back and looked down at me. “What do you need from me?”

Relief pulsed through my pain at the fact that he didn’t ask how I was doing, just what he could do for me. Now that I was out of my trance, I could feel the pain that threatened to engulf me. Axureon frowned as if he could feel it as well.

The humiliation and pain of rejection were too much for me to bear, especially while standing in a room provided to me by him. I couldn’t bear to think of his name. If I couldn’t even think of him, I wondered what I would do when I saw him.

“Saoirse,” Axureon said again, “just tell me what you need, and it shall be done.”

“Take me home,” I answered automatically, my voice betraying the breaking that was happening inside of me.

I hadn’t thought of it, but once I said it, I knew it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t stay in this place or be around... him.

Axureon didn’t hesitate either. “Done.”

I stepped out of his arms and walked over to my bed, grabbing the staff out from underneath it. I then made my way back to him.

“Lady Nora, I am assuming you will be joining us as well?” Axureon asked as he draped an arm protectively over me.

I felt guilty. I had assumed she would come with me and hadn’t asked myself, but my mind was busy trying to stay blank.

“If you are able, I would appreciate that,” my mother said with a small bow.

“Of course,” Axureon said. “Saphira, is that agreeable to you?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a nod.

“Thank you,” I said, hoping they all knew I meant to thank them all. I was too scared to use more words.

Axureon tucked me under his arm, closer to him, and we headed out of my room and to the castle grounds for easier takeoff. I kept my face buried in his chest, too afraid of running into someone or seeing the gossip happening around me. It had been hours since the reception was supposed to begin. By now, everyone in the capital would know what happened.

I fought back the emotions that threatened to surge forward again. I had to stay stronger for just a bit longer. I could break down when I was alone.

When we got to the grounds, Axureon and Saphira shifted in front of us. Despite my months of experience with them, I was still always stunned to see them in their impressive dragon forms. Now wasn’t the time to inspect them.

As I walked toward Axureon, I felt a chill from the night air. I looked down and realized that I was still wearing my wedding dress. A pang shot through my heart, and I thought about changing. There was no way I was ever setting foot inside that palace ever again, so I gritted my teeth and continued toward him.

I ended up having to hitch my dress up around my hips to mount myself on Axureon’s back. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, letting the warmth of him seep into me. Since my powers had awakened, I had never been uncomfortably cold, but the cold still bothered me.

Once my mother was situated with Saphira, Axureon spread his large wings and took off into the sky. I closed my eyes against the rush of wind and squeezed him tighter in an embrace of my own. For once, I was grateful for the weird connection I had with the ancient dragon because it had helped me that night.

I listened to the flapping of the wings, timing them as we flew, allowing myself to think of nothing else. Up... Down... Up... Down... Glide...

I could feel Axureon turn his head back from time to time to check on me, but I never answered his gaze. It was all I could do to keep my mind blank. He seemed to pick up the pace but not too fast because I could still hear Saphira’s flaps just behind us.

I was counting the wing flaps, so I was immediately aware when the wings quit, and we came to a stop. I sat up and stared around us, inspecting the new dragon sanctuary.

I could tell that we were still high up because the air seemed thinner. Instead of an open valley, I saw multiple cliff dwellings filled with light in the dark sky. It was obvious that it was still a work in progress. I couldn’t see many buildings and dragons curled up and sleeping on the stone floors. Dragons were flying above us, keeping watching over the cliff face.

A falling sensation suddenly overtook me as the dragon underneath me disappeared. Before I could hit the ground, Axureon’s human arms caught me with ease. I hadn’t even flinched.

“It’s not much,” Axureon said in a low voice, “but it’s home.”

I looked around at his words and nodded. I moved to get down, and the man set me gently on my feet. He left his arms extended as if worried that I might fall or was about to break.

Maybe he really could feel everything I was feeling.

I stepped forward and raised the staff above my head. I closed my eyes and focused, exerting all of my energy. A protective cloak descended over the sanctuary, perfectly covering the entire place with a magic blanket.

“There,” I whispered. “Now it’s home.”

It was somewhere I could feel safe.

I stumbled forward, ignorant of anyone and anything around me. Axureon seemed to have dropped us in a cliff dwelling meant to be a single-family living area. It was not spacious enough for anything else. When I saw his chest in the corner, I knew it must be where he was staying, but I still didn’t care.

My feet led me to a corner of the room. I lay down on the cold, hard ground, curling up as the tears started to fall.

And that’s where I lay for the rest of my wedding night, sobbing into my arms until sleep finally took me.