Rejected by the Alpha of Fire

Silver and Flames

Cindra’s POV

For once, the tedious chores I didn’t get paid to do and seemed unbefitting a princess were welcome. Queen Bridget’s lifelong crusade to make sure I knew I was only technically a princess was doing me a favor. This way, I wouldn’t accidentally run into Knox, Helio, or anyone else I didn’t want to see.

I looked across the mountain of washed silverware that had been used for the ball and sighed again. Picking up another piece, I began to polish, letting my mind wander.

Even the most tedious labor couldn’t keep my mind off of what had happened. Every time I caught sight of the fire behind me in the reflection of a polished spoon, I thought of the way the flames lit Helio’s face and body in my dream.

I shuddered and reached for another fork. The soft clinking of silver echoed through the storage room as I polished away and tried to do anything but think.

Scarlett slipped into the room, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You’re actually polishing like it matters. Next thing I know, you’ll actually be dusting those stupid paintings that no one ever sees.”

She took a seat beside me. Her dark eyes were narrowed, looking at me as if she could read my thoughts. “So, what’s going on?” Scarlett asked and c****d an eyebrow at me. “And try to make it a good lie if you’re going to.”

Caught off guard, I bit my lip. My face heated.

“Must be absolutely juicy. Come on. Fess up. Call me your keeper of secrets, and give me some secrets to keep.”

I almost laughed, letting the amusement push down my shame. I couldn’t tell her that I had a s*x dream about Helio, and she’d know if I tried to brush it off. “A dream,” I said. “That’s all.”

“A spicy dream?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Well, yes. It was about Knox.”

“Well,” she purred. “He is a handsome mountain of a man. More my type than Prince Flame.” That was her nickname for Helio. Not just because he was hot but also because he was always flaming mad. “What? Did he toss you down in the forest and rip your skirts?”

“Scarlett?”

“Too much?” She chuckled and grabbed a cloth and a piece of silverware. A slow, devious smile lit her face. “Not enough? Princess has some naughty fantasies, hm? On a table? Maybe up against the painting of that old man who looks like he had a stick up his—”

“Scarlett, please,” I sputtered, caught between laughing and mortification. “That man is my great, great uncle.”

“He looks like a great, great asshole,” she said and tossed a handful into the polished box before grabbing another. “Back to this dream. It was sexy, yes?”

I closed my eyes. “Yes.”

“Good sexy?” she asked.

“I don’t even know him.”

“And he still got to pound you into your dream mattress. Make the man work a little, hm?”

I threw a cloth at her, blushing and embarrassed.

She laughed. “Though I guess knowing what we were like before this pile of stone was built makes sense. You would have met, been chased, and ravished in the woods somewhere.”

She set it aside. “I’m excited for you to get out of this hellhole and get on to being a queen in your own right. You deserve it for putting up with all their s**t for so long. I bet they’ll all have something different to say when you’re standing next to a man who can topple this f*****g place with a thought.”

Her words hit me like so many strikes of lightning at once that I couldn’t think straight. My chest felt tight and my eyes stung, yet beneath all the hurt and confusion, there was still this bit of hope that I knew would be stomped down and torn apart soon enough.

I longed to escape the cruelty of my family, of living like a burden and secret. I wanted to really live, but as the image of me standing at some event beside Prince Knox, draped in Erupting Eclipse colors, I hated it. His features changed. The sharp edges of his jaw and eyes, the bulk and height of him, changed and softened until it was Helio there. The colors of my gown and jewelry shifted to match Helio’s clothing, and I couldn’t breathe around how much I wanted that.

“Why are you crying, Cindra?” Scarlett’s voice softened with concern.

I shuddered, unable to answer out of shame and guilt. The confusion twisted and turned almost venomous as the image in my mind faded and I blinked back tears.

“I’d miss you too much if I left.” I shuddered. “You’re the only one who has always been on my side.”

She smiled. “You think I’d let you go traipsing off to Erupting Eclipse without me? I hear they pay their staff way more, and everything is much cheaper there. I’m already packed.”

I laughed. “Your mother would never let you go, let alone the king.”

“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes. “You think she’ll put up a fuss for me to be lady-in-waiting to the next Luna Queen of Erupting Eclipse? It’ll be a fight to keep her from packing, too.”

“Who’s going to watch your brother?”

“Her. She can finally be a real parent.”

I laughed again, wiping my face and shaking my head. “While all that’s nice, it’s not going to happen.”

“Why? You’re mates.”

“He’s probably going to reject me.”

She went still. Her jaw clenched as she stared at me. All amusement disappeared. A heavy silence filled the air. “You really think so?”

“He mentioned it at the ball.”

She said nothing for a while. I wished she would. After a moment, she reached up and tugged on the front of my hair.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m visualizing bangs,” she said with a thoughtful pursing of her lips. “I think you could pull it off.”

I chuckled a little.

“But I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Rejection seems unlikely. I mean, you nobles, with all your rules about who is worthy and who is not, why would he? You’re royal. He’s royal. So what, you need a little spit polish? What’s he going to do? Be alone for the rest of his life?”

“I don’t think he would be,” I said. “There’s a line of royal and noble women who could be his next mate.”

“And if they find their mates? Then what? Mate bond trumps all. The Moon Goddess’s word is sacred and all that. It will be fine.”

I tried to smile, but I shook my head. “He practically said it. At the ball. So I won’t be going anywhere, except maybe the dungeons.”

“You lost me two turns back.”

“The king already hates me. If I shame the family by getting rejected, he’ll be furious.”

Scarlet winced as the gravity of the situation sank in. She threw her hands up. “This is such bullshit. They set you up to fail and get pissed when you do. To hell with it, I’ll break you out. We’ll go live anywhere but here. I’m sure one of the other packs is sensible. How do you feel about the mountains?”

I laughed, touched. I knew she was serious. I also knew that nothing would ever be that simple.

I didn’t have a choice but to wait, see, and avoid Knox as much as possible, but at least Scarlett was focused on angrily polishing the mountain of silverware with me and not my looming, uncertain future.