The Alpha King's Breeder

The Next Luna

Isla

“Good morning, dear,” Poppy says, pulling the curtains in front of the window open. I squint at the bright light and try to wake myself up. It took me forever to fall asleep last night, and now that I am awake, I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. My head is throbbing, and all I can think about is the dirty dreams I had about the king last night.

I mutter, “Good morning,” and manage to get my eyes to open as I sit up.

“Your breakfast is on the way. Would you like to take a shower while we are waiting? I will get your outfit ready for the day. I’m not sure what the king’s plans are, but we have permission to go outside. I can show you the gardens.” Poppy smiles at me in an encouraging manner, and I find myself growing a little excited to get outside of this room.

“I think that would be lovely,” I tell her.

“Good,” she says. “I’ll go warm the shower.”

Before I can protest, she is off and in the other room turning on the water. I can manage. I’ve never had anyone do anything like this for me before, and I’m not sure what to think about it now.

But I can’t stop her from doing her job. We all have a job around here, apparently. I would love to change jobs with her. She has already told me that she would like to be the king’s breeder.

I certainly don’t want this job.

But it’s mine, and there’s nothing I can do about it now.

I make my way into the bathroom, and as Poppy hums a song out in the bedroom, I go about taking a shower, making sure to wash better than I ever have before. I also inspect my body for any unsightly hairs. I have no idea exactly what the king might expect of me, but I don’t want to be embarrassed if he should see me naked.

The idea of the king seeing me naked has my face flushing. I wonder if I will get a chance to tell him I’ve never been with a man before, or if he will even care. Perhaps he won’t treat me any differently than he has any of the other women he’s been with, and he will hurt me in the process.

I try not to worry about it. I suppose that it’s just part of the job, and nothing he does to me will last forever.

When I’m done with my shower, I get out and dry off, getting as much water out of my hair as possible. I stare at myself in the mirror. There are all kinds of cosmetics and lotions, perfumes and powders on the dresser. I don’t usually wear much makeup, and I’m not even sure that I’m skilled enough to put it on, but I feel like I need to do something. I can’t let the king see me with nothing on my face again.

“Are you all right?” Poppy shouts through the closed door to me.

“Yes,” I tell her. “I am just trying to decide how to do my makeup.”

“Can I come in?” she asks me.

“Of course,” I tell her.

She comes in and says, “I can help with that, if you want.”

My ears perk up. “Really?” I ask her. “I’m not very good at it.”

“Sure!” she says, coming over to me. “No problem.” She directs me to sit down on a stool, and then she starts working on my face, talking as she goes. “With your coloring, you should wear brown eye shadow. It’ll make your blue eyes pop. And red lipstick will look lovely with your coloring, especially with your light hair.” I sit still and let her do her thing, and when I look at myself in the mirror, I can hardly believe I’m looking at myself.

“Wow….” I mumble.

She laughs. “Pretty good, huh? Of course, you’re already beautiful. I just made your eyes pop.”

“Thank you so much, Poppy!” I tell her. I think about hugging her, but I don’t know her that well yet.

“No problem!” she declares. “Now, let’s get you dressed.”

She’s laid out a blue dress for me, and while I don’t need her help putting my clothes on, when she volunteers to style my hair and pick out my shoes and jewelry, I let her. When she’s done, I hardly recognize myself.

Half of my hair is pulled up on top of my head in a silver clip that matches my earrings, necklace, and bangle bracelets. The rest is falling down my back in loose curls. My shoes are silver sandals that match the rest of my accessories perfectly.

I am beginning to feel like a princess!

But then, I remember, I’m just the Alpha King’s breeder. Not his romantic interest. No matter how beautiful I may look or feel, I am still just little ol’ Isla Moon from Willow pack. No one important….

“Let’s go outside and get some fresh air,” Poppy suggests. I nod and force myself out of the stupor I’ve fallen into.

We walk down the winding halls, me following behind Poppy because I have no idea where we are going, and eventually, we make it to a door that leads outside. I’m glad I didn’t bump into anything along the way this time. Not that Poppy would hit me.

Guards stand at the door, but they don’t blink as we approach, and Poppy pulls the barrier open. We step outside into fresh air and sunshine.

Immediately, I feel better. I’m so glad that the rain from the day before has passed.

“The garden is this way,” she tells me, and I follow along behind her as we make our way over to a huge section of velvety green grass with little walking trails that are lined by thousands and thousands of flowers of every color and variety. The scent is magnificent, and I can’t help but stop to smell each kind, from red roses to orange marigolds.

We walk along, taking in the beautiful scenery and smelling the flowers, chatting about how lovely everything is, including the fountains and statues we find around every bend. I can’t help but smile. It’s such a beautiful day with birds chirping in the trees and hardly a cloud in the sky.

And then… we realize we are not alone.

“Who are you?” a female voice snarls at me from behind a large oleander bush.

I arch an eyebrow at her, not sure who she may be either, but it seems clear she’s someone important. She is dressed in a long red gown, her light hair pulled up on top of her head. A thousand jewels adorn her neck and ears. Her arms tinkle when they move, she’s wearing so many bracelets.

On either side of her stand two beautiful dark-haired women with the same evil glare in their eyes as the three of them take measure of me and Poppy.

“I… I’m no one,” I stammer, looking down at the ground. I don’t want to offend her, since clearly she is a guest of the king or lives here.

“You must be someone,” she says, her hand on her hip as she steps around the bush. “Only a few important people have access to the king’s garden.”

“I… I…”

“She’s Isla,” Poppy says. “She’s a very important guest of the king.”

“Are you speaking to me, servant girl?” the woman barks back. “I don’t need to hear an explanation from the likes of you!”

I don’t know who this woman is, but I don’t appreciate the way she’s speaking to Poppy. “She’s simply answering your question,” I say, finally meeting her gaze. “I am Isla. And I am a guest of the king. That’s really all there is to it.”

“A guest? From where?” she asks me. “Are you an Alpha’s daughter?”

I almost laugh. “No,” I tell her. “I’m not. I’m from Willow pack. I arrived yesterday. May I ask who you are?”

“No, you may not!” she says, taking a few hasty steps toward me until she’s right in front of me, nearly toe to toe. Her two friends come along. “Just know that I am the most special guest of the king of all of his guests, and one day, you will be calling me Luna!” With that, she tugs on her skirt and flips around, the dress flying up like a cape. The other two women glare at me for a moment before they all three turn and leave.

I stand there staring after her for a long moment, wondering who in the world she was and what she meant about becoming the Luna.

Is Alpha King Maddox engaged?

“What a b***h!” Poppy exclaims. “I hate that woman already!”

I can’t say the same because I don’t know her at all, and while she wasn’t nice to me, I don’t usually just people so quickly. “Who is she? Do you know?” I ask.

“I do,” Poppy says, folding her arms and narrowing her gaze in the direction the three women left. “That was Zabrina from Elm pack,” she tells me. “Her father is Alpha Jordan. They also arrived yesterday. They’re allegedly here for some meetings with the king about the threats of war, but it seems to me that perhaps Alpha Jordan has something else in mind.”

I shake my head. I can’t bear to think about Alpha Maddox marrying someone like Zabrina. I may not be head over heels in love with the idea of being his breeder, but I can’t allow myself to think about him being with that woman either.

Or any other woman, for that matter.

After the dreams I had about him the night before, the thought of him so much as kissing another woman makes my heart drop to my stomach.

“Well,” Poppy says, “I guess she’s in for a rude awakening.”

“Why is that?” I ask. “She’s beautiful. Maybe he’ll fall in love with her.”

Poppy scoffs. “Nope. It won’t happen. King Maddox will never marry her, no matter how beautiful she is.”

“How do you know?” I ask, finally turning to look at my companion.

“Simple,” she says with a shrug. “After Luna Rebecca died, he said he’d never marry anyone again. So that means he can’t marry her.”

I stare at her for a moment before I nod and look away.

I’m glad that he won’t be marrying Zabrina. But I can’t help but think, if he’s never going to marry anyone again, that also means he won’t be marrying me.

While it is a farfetched dream for me to even consider Alpha King Maddox might fall in love with the likes of me, it was a dream I had considered.

Until that moment.

Now, I knew for sure, all I would ever be was his breeder.

And nothing more.