Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 1482 - 81 : Returning

*Rhys*

"Rhys, Rhys, Rhys..."

Her voice was like heaven to my ears as she uttered my name over and over.

"I’m here," I assured her, trying to bring her impossibly closer to me. "I’m here."

Her body was shaking under my hands, making me nervous. I looked up at Eva. She seemed to read the concern in my eyes.

"She just endured a harrowing ordeal over the past month. Fighting for control of her body and freedom will against as strong of a spirit as the ancient dragon warrior Shylah for that long will have taken its toll on her," Eva said. "She is just emotionally and physically drained."

Saoirse nodded into my chest as if confirming the words herself.

"She just needs rest," the woman said, making my mind feel even more relieved.

"Would you like to go lay down?" I asked softly.

She nodded again. "Only if you stay with me."

"Trust me, I’m not going anywhere," I replied.

I started to walk away, just trying to get her somewhere more private and more quiet. It had been so long since I had held Saoirse, and I just wanted to savor the moment. Slowly, we left all of the people behind. I paused when I reached the edge of the cliff face, debating where to go.

"Where should I take you?" I asked, unsure of this new area.

"To your castle," she said.

My eyes snapped down to her in surprise. "No, I meant, where should I go here? Where is your room?"

"I know what you meant," Saoirse said calmly. "And I meant what I said."

I stared at her, looking for any signs of deception or hesitation.

"Saoirse," I said slowly. "You don’t have to do this for me. I will not push you to return. I know you are passionate about helping your people and the dragons."

"I’m not doing this for you," Saoirse said in a hushed tone as if afraid that someone might overhear us. "After what I just went through, do you really think I would want anything to do with the dragons? Or with my former pack? All of the complex political dynamics they forced me into is why everything has happened to me."

I stared at Saoirse and couldn’t detect even a hint of dishonesty. She meant what she said, and she was serious about it. Despite what I could see on her face now, I knew her and who she was deep down.

"You don’t have to rush anything," I told her. "I’m not forcing you to go back. You can take all the time you need before we make a decision one way or another. I will do whatever you want. All I need is you. I can’t lose you again."

Saoirse’s face softened. She reached up to place her shaking hand against my cheek.

"And you won’t. All I want now is the safety and privacy of the royal palace." Her hand dropped to her stomach. "It’s not only me I have to worry about now. I need to think about what’s best for our baby."

Our baby... The idea still made me excited and nervous all at the same time. Out of everything she had said, that was the concept I understood the best because all I wanted was for her and the baby to be alright.

I listened to her reasoning. While I could try and understand it from Saoirse’s perspective, I couldn’t put the words together with what I knew about Saoirse. Deep down, I realized that it was probably just the trauma talking and that she wanted to run from anything that scary again.

But selfishly, after witnessing firsthand the devastation she had endured, I wanted to shelter her from any further pain more than anything. Instead of arguing with her, I just nodded. Her answering smile made me glad that I had as well.

As heir to the Egoren Kingdom’s throne, I knew a future full of peace and safety was not possible, but I didn’t want to pop her bubble.

Saoirse might have been choosing to hide from complex emotional wounds rather than truly working through them toward inner peace. I was almost sure of it. Despite the palace’s luxuries, threats seemed to penetrate even its fortified walls.

Alexa was proof of that.

"So when do you want to return to the palace then?" I asked, giving in.

"Now." She didn’t even hesitate.

"Now?" I asked. "But Saoirse, you just went through a huge magical separation. You can’t even stand right now."

"Please." Her voice suddenly had a desperate, pleading tone to it. "Please, Rhys. I can’t be here anymore. I won’t be able to rest. I won’t be able to sleep. I don’t feel safe. I will be looking over my shoulder the entire time, just waiting for Shylah to reappear and take over my body. Or–"

I cut her off before her panic could continue to escalate. "Alright, I understand. We will gather your stuff and will leave now."

Saoirse took a deep breath. "Thank you."

"Is there anyone you need to say goodbye to?" I asked.

"No, I just want to leave." Her voice had turned back into the cold, unattached tone.

Her walls were going up, and she was trying to protect herself. Eva had said she was emotionally exhausted as well. Maybe that was what she meant by that. Perhaps it was better for her to compartmentalize everything until she was equipped to deal with it.

I shelved my worries for her for now and mind-linked Daxton.

“We are heading back to the castle,” I informed him. “Now.”

“Now?” Daxton’s voice came back through. “But what about everything going on in Hunters Glen? What about the dragon sanctuary? What about your cousin? What about the portal?”

The questions just kept coming and coming.

“Just let me worry about that,” I answered confidently, even though I didn’t hold many answers. “All I want you to worry about is getting us out of here and focusing everything on finding Alexa and bringing her in to answer for what she did to me. I don’t want her roaming about with Saoirse coming back.”

“Understood,” Daxton said, but then his business voice dropped for a moment, and a friendly concern broke through. “So you have Saoirse? And everything is alright?”

I looked down at the beautiful face of the woman I was holding.

“Everything is perfect.”

And it truly was as long as I had her. I vowed to myself then that I would do anything in my power to simply support Saoirse and be there for her. Even if I didn’t agree with what she was doing, all that mattered was that we were together.

Even I was surprised by Daxton’s capability as Saoirse and I found ourselves headed back to the capital within the hour. I had called my father and explained the situation, and he agreed that I should come back and bring Saoirse. He, like me, was a cautious person and would feel better if she was checked out by one of the physicians at the palace.

The entire time we were in motion, I wouldn’t let go of Saoirse or put her down, despite offers and suggestions from everyone. My fingers didn’t even want to move to let her go, and I wasn’t sure if I could force them to.

It was not like I was really trying.

Saoirse, on the other hand, remained very quiet during all of our preparations. She just lay against my chest, rubbing patterns over my shirt with her fingers and kissing my collarbone every so often.

She had been so quiet the whole time that it took me a few minutes to realize she had fallen asleep. Moving even more slowly, I got us set to leave. Once we were seated, I tried to move her to lay her down next to me. Even unconsciously, Saoirse didn’t want to leave my side either.

Saoirse’s hands clung to me, pulling the fabric tightly as she nestled in closer, curling in on herself. I couldn’t help but smile as I squeezed her tighter again, reassuring her even in sleep that she was safe in my arms.

I was so distracted by the gorgeous woman in my arms that I didn’t even realize the time that was passing or the distance we were traveling. My fingers combed through the fiery red hair that I missed so much. I leaned my head down so that the smell of sunshine and strawberries was all that came in each time I breathed.

Goddess, I loved her.

Before it had been obvious to me, but now I understood the depth of it. Never in my life had I felt about a woman the way I felt about Saoirse Strider. There was honestly no comparison.

And I wanted to celebrate that love.

I spent the rest of the trip home planning how I could surprise Saoirse and bring love and joy back to her life. She had forgiven me and joined me again, and I couldn’t help but think we needed to pick up where we left off.

I needed to make right what had gone wrong.

Then it hit me. I could plan a new wedding ceremony. It could be the same dream she had of a private ordeal underneath the flowering tree, where we could exchange new vows to dedicate our lives to.

The idea of re-planning the wedding was terrifying. It was not because I didn’t think that Saoirse would like it. I knew she would. Most of it was already her previous plans, and I knew her well enough to know what she liked.

The most terrifying part was that she could turn me down.

Even though she had forgiven me and said she loved me, there was no guarantee that she still wanted to marry me. And who could blame her? After how the last time ended, I wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to get married again.

But deep down, I knew that this was what she would want, especially with the baby, so I kept planning it out in my head. It would have to be a surprise, and the sooner the better.

The castle appeared in front of us. I felt myself start to relax as well. As much as I had questioned Saoirse and wanted to make sure of her intentions, I had to be honest that I felt more safe at the castle as well. And I felt more safe having her there with me.

We were going to make this work. We had to.

I easily carried Saoirse through the castle. Startled eyes kept appearing one after another. I began to hear whispers, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even bother with Saoirse’s room, which had been untouched since she left. I took her straight to mine.

This co-dependency could be an issue if I didn’t straighten it out soon. At least for one day, I would give in. I wouldn’t stop touching or let her go unless absolutely necessary.

When we got to my room, the guards remained outside. I shut the door and walked to my bed. I slowly climbed onto it, keeping Saoirse in my arms all the while. She stirred a little as I pulled the blanket up over us, but I soothed her quickly.

"Shh, don’t worry, you’re safe now," I whispered, softly stroking her back.

"We’re home."