The Heir's Breeder

3

I'm not sure what happened after I shut my eyes but when I wake up, I am turned around so my head is actually on a pillow. Even more so, I'm curled into something, warm and hard. It moves slightly and, in my slumber, I whisper "Please, just a little longer Julia?"

A groan came out then a different voice, "Fate, you can sleep in, but I need to get up." It was a male voice. Suddenly, flashes from yesterday came back to me: being sold, a palace and ballroom, Tristan.

My eyes shoot open and up; Tristan is staring down at me, still lying in bed. His bed. I am lying in a male's bed. Panic sets in and I am paralyzed, every feeling coursing through my body. Tristan quickly shifts, not away from me but towards, placing his hand on my arm, "It's ok." His words did nothing to soothe me. "You're not in trouble. We fell asleep around the same time."

I stay still, continually paralyzed by the fear coursing through me. A male—I slept with a male. He said that we fell asleep at the same time, but how did I end up in this position? Is he telling the truth? I have known him less than a day, yes, he has been nice, but he owns me, he can do what he wants with me.

Tristan moves closer, once again inhaling my scent. "Fate," he breathes it in again, "it takes so much to fight my wolf back right now." He wraps his arm around me and moves himself closer, his face going into my neck and smelling me again. Tristan quickly pulls away from me and sits up. I remain in the curled-up position I woke up in and move my head to look up at Tristan. He reaches down to move a piece of hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear, then brings his hand to my chin, raising it up slightly, "I am truly sorry Fate. I try so hard to hold back my wolf's instincts back, it's rather early and I'm not fully awake yet." He pauses for a moment, staring at me, "How did you sleep?"

I simply smile and shrug at him, trying to ignore the conflicting feelings I have about his hand on my face. "I want words, Fate," his voice is so quiet.

"Good."

"More words, Fate," he is smiling as he says that but his voice remains stern.

I take a deep breath before speaking, "I can't remember the last time I slept in a bed, sir."

"We have been through this Fate, please call me Tristan," I look down, ashamed. Tristan pulls my chin back up then moves his hand to rub his thumb on my cheek and smiles before pulling away, "What has it been like for you?" I open to answer but he continues, "Not just sleep, but everything. How were you treated?"

"I lived in a barn with my sisters. It was cold often and there was not much. We would lie together on the ground to sleep, sometimes a few would shift so the rest of us could have more warmth." My life has always been the bare minimum. When I first arrived, I had not even shifted yet and when I had, it was painful and none of my sisters wanted me to have to go through that pain before sleeping so I was never the one to shift.

Tristan's eyes grow wide and something compels me to continue, "Actually, this is the first time I have slept in clothes since my arrival there. My first time wearing anything really. They are so scratchy and heavy, how do you deal with it?"

Tristan opens and closes his mouth multiple times before he finally speaks, "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to deal with that," he looks around the room, "I need to get up, but you can sleep as long as you like, someone will be in to check on and help you."

With that he gets up and walks into the bathroom; I lie back down, sleep pulling at me. Tristan must have been quiet when leaving because a heavy slumber overcomes me.

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The morning was strange. When I finally woke up again, a woman named Rose entered the room to help me through the day. She is Tristan's maid but he had asked her to help me. Rose was chatty as ever as she drew me a bath and practically forced me into the water. Between scrubbing, which was much gentler than the woman back at the compound, and dunking me under the water, she spoke about her years in the palace. She is five years older than me and has been here working since she was fifteen. She became Tristan's maid when he had moved out here six years ago, as a designated regent for the Northern Crescent, whatever that meant.