Knotting His Rejected Breeder

Dawn bled through the heavy morning mist, painting the estate in damp shades of gray. The silence of the night was broken by the sharp crunch of gravel beneath heavy leather boots and the rhythmic clinking of garden tools as the groundskeepers prepared the courtyard.

Destiny pushed open the heavy oak doors of the main house.

The morning air stung her cheeks. She paused on the steps for a moment, pulling her coat tighter around herself before looking across the courtyard.

Near the edge of the fountain stood Dane, Henrick, and Helena.

Beside Helena stood a woman who could only be her mother.

The resemblance was obvious. The same liquid brown eyes. The same high, sharp cheekbones. The same dark hair, though Ivy wore hers loose over the shoulders of a black silk dress.

Wanting to bridge the gap after everything she had heard about their family, Destiny walked over and offered a small, sympathetic smile.

"You must be Ivy. I’m—"

Ivy didn’t wait for the name.

She turned her shoulder away and brushed imaginary lint from the sleeve of her dark coat.

Destiny stopped.

For a second, she wasn’t sure whether she had actually been dismissed or whether she had simply misread the gesture.

Helena broke the silence with a long breath, adjusting the bouquet of crimson roses cradled in her arm.

"So," she said, looking around at the others. "Not a single one of you thought to bring flowers?"

Nobody answered.

Helena’s eyebrows rose.

"To a funeral?"

Dane folded his arms, the corner of his mouth twitching with dark humor.

"It’s absurd, Helena. Carrying the exact same flowers to bury a corpse that you’d hand to a girl on a second date."

Helena gave him a flat look.

"It’s about respect, Dane."

"Respect apparently comes with a price tag."

"Can you be serious for five minutes?"

"I am serious."

"You’re impossible."

Dane shrugged.

Helena ignored him and shifted her attention to Destiny.

"So. Did you bring the stone?"

"No." Destiny kept her voice low. "It’s a beacon for the pursuers. Bringing it here puts everyone attending this burial in the crosshairs."

Helena’s fingers tightened slightly around the stems of the roses.

She looked toward the main gates, as though expecting someone to appear there.

Then she hummed, dissatisfied.

"If you left it behind, I hope to God you hid it somewhere they won’t stumble over it."

"I hid it."

"Where?"

Destiny gave her a look.

"Somewhere safe."

Helena studied her for another second before letting the matter drop.

Dane frowned.

"Why are you so obsessed with the damn stone anyway?"

Ivy didn’t look back as she answered for her sister.

"That’s our business, isn’t it?"

There was enough venom in her voice to make the question sound like a warning.

Destiny said nothing.

Across the driveway, two familiar figures caught her attention.

Her parents stood beside a black sedan, both of them dressed in dark clothes. Her father’s shoulders looked heavier than usual, while her mother’s face was drawn with exhaustion. They had the particular stillness of people who had spent too much time waiting for bad news and had finally received it.

Destiny’s expression softened.

Without another word, she turned on her heel and headed toward them.

"Hey. Hey, slow down."

Dane’s quick footsteps crunched against the gravel behind her.

He caught her gently by the elbow.

"What’s the problem?"

"Nothing."

She pulled her arm free.

Dane frowned.

"Destiny."

"I said nothing."

"I thought we were riding together."

"I want to speak with my parents during the ride."

She kept her gaze fixed on the sedan.

"I’ll see you at the graveyard."

Dane watched her for a moment.

Whatever he saw in her face made him stop arguing.

"Fine."

Destiny didn’t answer.

She walked toward her parents.

---

The churchyard smelled of damp earth and crushed grass.

Black umbrellas bloomed across the cemetery under the drizzle as the coffin was lowered into the pit. The ropes creaked softly. Mud clung to the shoes of the men standing closest to the grave, and rainwater gathered along the edges of the fresh-cut earth.

Destiny stood beside her parents, staring at the coffin until it disappeared below the level of the ground.

She barely heard the priest speaking.

Her father’s heavy hand settled on her shoulder.

"Leave it, Destiny," he whispered harshly under his breath.

She looked at him.

He didn’t look back.

"Not now. Don’t go over there."

Destiny knew exactly who he meant.

Across the graveyard, a small cluster of mourners had gathered around the headstone.

Erin’s mother stood in the center.

Destiny pulled away from her father’s hand.

"Destiny."

She didn’t stop.

She walked toward the group, her shoes sinking slightly into the wet grass with each step.

Erin’s mother looked smaller than Destiny remembered. A hollow husk of a woman wrapped in a black shawl, her face pale and her nose red from crying.

Destiny stopped a step away.

"Mrs. Vance..."

The woman looked up.

"I am so, so sorry for your loss. If there’s anything—"

Erin’s mother whipped around.

The tears were gone from her eyes now.

What remained was raw, suffocating hatred.

"You."

The word came out as a hiss.

She stepped directly into Destiny’s space, close enough that Destiny could smell stale liquor beneath the scent of rain and wet wool.

"You brought this blood to my door."

Destiny’s mouth opened.

"Mrs. Vance, I—"

"You brought those monsters to my boy."

"I didn’t—"

"Get your dirty hands off my grief!"

The woman screamed.

Several heads turned.

She jabbed a trembling, bony finger into Destiny’s chest.

"My son is in the dirt because he looked at you."

Her voice cracked, but she didn’t stop.

"Don’t you dare stand here with your fake tears and pretend you care."

Destiny stood frozen.

"You’re a curse, Destiny."

The woman’s breathing came hard and uneven.

"You rot everything you touch. Get away from his grave!"

A few onlookers turned fully toward them now.

Someone whispered.

Another voice murmured for the woman to calm down.

Destiny couldn’t make herself move.

The blood rushed in her ears. Her mouth went dry, and for a moment the entire cemetery seemed to shrink around the sound of the rain.

Erin’s mother lunged forward.

Before she could reach her, a broad arm slipped around Destiny’s waist.

Dane pulled her firmly backward.

He stepped between them.

"That’s enough."

His voice was low, controlled, and carried the kind of warning that didn’t need to be shouted.

Erin’s mother stared at him.

Dane didn’t give her the chance to say anything else.

He pivoted Destiny around and guided her away from the grave, one hand firm on her shoulder.

She resisted for the first few steps.

"Dane—"

"Not here."

"She lost her son."

"And she’s grieving."

He kept walking.

"That doesn’t mean you have to stand there and let her tear you apart."

Destiny didn’t answer.

By the time they reached the tree line at the edge of the cemetery, the crowd had begun to thin.

The last of the mourners gathered their umbrellas and moved toward the waiting cars. Empty folding chairs remained scattered across the wet grass, and crimson petals from the funeral flowers had stuck to the mud around the grave.

Dane stopped.

Destiny wrapped her arms tightly across her chest and stared toward the fresh mound of dirt in the distance.

Neither of them spoke.

After a moment, Dane glanced at her.

"You okay?"

"Yes."

He waited.

Destiny rubbed her palms against her sleeves.

"No," she admitted quietly.

Dane didn’t say anything.

He simply stood beside her.

A few minutes later, Hannah emerged from the path near the chapel, a worn leather purse slung tightly across her shoulder. She walked quickly, glancing over her shoulder twice before reaching them.

"Did you bring it?" Destiny asked as soon as she arrived.

"Yeah."

Hannah was breathing hard.

She unzipped the bag just enough to reveal a faint, unnatural shimmer beneath the cloth inside.

"It’s right here."

Destiny nodded.

"Good."

She reached out and took the strap from Hannah.

Hannah wiped her wet forehead with the back of her hand.

"Okay..."

She looked between Destiny and Dane.

"So we’re really just going to leave it in the open?"

Destiny said nothing.

"Abandon it?" Hannah pressed.

"And make them think we’ve sweetly surrendered."

Destiny looked toward the road.

The last of the funeral cars was already beginning to pull away.

Hannah’s expression tightened.

"I don’t like this."

"Neither do I."

Destiny looked down at the bag.

For several seconds, she simply stared at it.

Then her grip tightened around the strap.

"I’m having second thoughts about this."

Dane turned toward her.

"If I’m not lying there bleeding next to the stone when they find it, they’re never going to believe we just gave up."

Hannah’s face changed.

"That’s the point, isn’t it?"

Destiny nodded slowly.

"They need to believe we’re desperate enough to abandon it."

"And if they don’t?"

"Then they don’t come."

Dane looked back toward the road.

The last funeral car disappeared beyond the gates.

He was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"Half a bread is better than none."

Destiny gave him a sideways look.

"That’s your contribution?"

"It’s the truth."

His eyes remained on the empty road. "They’re greedy. That’s what we’re counting on."

He finally looked at Destiny. "I’m counting on them coming."

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