Rejected by the Alpha of Fire

Tasting Him

Cindra’s POV

My fingers throbbed, but all the silver was polished. Queen Bridget would have to find something else to complain about. I left the room, still in a daze. My hands ached as I wandered down the hall. My eyes still stung with the tears I was so tired of shedding.

Would it be so bad to leave here? If Scarlett came with me, or even if she didn’t, wouldn’t it be better? I could see myself in a little house, living day by day in something like peace, mateless for the rest of my life. Maybe the pain from Knox’s rejection would be there, but in either version of the vision, my chest clenched with an ache I was so very familiar with.

I heard footsteps in front of me and looked up too late. Meri and her entourage came down the hallway toward me. I froze, unsure what to do since there was no time to escape. If only I hadn’t been so distracted.

Meri closed in. “What did you do?”

I stared at her wide eyed. Meri’s temper was legendary, but she usually made sense. Still, I was lost.

“You did something to make him talk to me like that, I know it! You think you’re something just because he defended you? Think again, b***h!”

I didn’t know specifically what she was talking about, but it had have something to do with Helio. Nothing got her angrier than having Helio ignore her. The number of noblewomen of Ember Moon she’d harassed just for talking to him was well known, let alone the commoners.

But what did she mean that he had defended me? To her? When? Why would he do that? I still didn’t know why he defended me from his mother, but there was so much about Helio, about our relationship in general, that didn’t make sense.

Pain slammed into my face. The sound of the slap echoed down the hallway, jolting me out of my thoughts. I blinked and reached up to my cheek, stunned. I could see Meri’s snarling expression, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying or what any of her entourage spewed in my direction. Whether it was from anger or just shock, I didn’t know, but I felt something shift inside me.

I had put up with a lot from Meri, from my cousins, from everyone else in the palace. Deep inside of me, the urge to hit her back bloomed. But before I could even think to punch her, my gaze swept across the group. Four young noblewomen were with her.

I was outnumbered. The injustice of it made my chest tight. Hopelessness and resignation crashed down on me like a tidal wave. Even if I fought back, Drake would defend his daughter. She and her entourage would blame me, and I’d be lucky to get out of it all with just a beating.

I almost sighed as Meri reared back to smack me again, but it never came.

“Meri?”

“Your Majesty?” Her hand was frozen in mid-air

I looked up. Helio held Meri by her wrist, restraining her. He loomed over her. I didn’t know what to think or say. Was he defending me?

Again?

“Prince Helio, I—”

“Do you think you have the right to put your hands on another person, even if they barely meet the standard?”

I grimaced. The sting of his words was almost too much, yet the sting eased like it always did. The numbness settled in as he threw Meri’s hand away.

“If you ever lay your hands on another person in this castle, I’ll remove a finger—starting with the one you use to pick your bulbous nose.”

Meri went pale, staring up at him. Then, her eyes glossed over and narrowed as she looked up at him defiantly. “You wouldn’t dare,” she hissed.

“Don’t test the theory,” Helio said.

“What’s gotten into you that you’re defending this wretch? She’s nothing! She’s—”

“Meri,” Helio cut in. His voice was a low rumble in his chest. “Go find yourself something else to do.” He turned to the rest of her entourage. “That goes for the rest of you, too.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Get out of my face.” It was a command, and like the order of an Alpha, she couldn’t ignore it.

Meri huffed and led her friends away. Then, Helio turned his attention to me. His eyes flamed like torches. I braced myself for the absolute worst. I could feel his anger heating the air. My heart raced, and images from my dream, the warmth of the firelight on his skin, the heat of his body against mine, washed through my mind. I felt trapped between that vision and the reality that Helio hated me.

“Since when do you talk back, Cindra?” Helio’s voice, a low murmur, rattled me. “Antagonizing Meri of all people. Have you learned absolutely nothing?”

I stared at him. The unsettled feeling gave way to annoyance and confusion. It felt hard and cold, like ice in my chest, spreading through me and making me feel numb. “Since when do you defend me?” I asked. “Since when do you care who puts their hands on me?”

His eyes bulged, but I couldn’t stop.

“Are you going to take the same stance against your brothers when they shove me around? When Kalinda insults my intelligence? Or is it just when you feel like it? Why do it at all?” My gut churned, but the words were coming out faster than I could catch them. An avalanche had been triggered, and the whole snow-capped mountain of my emotions was coming down. I’d had enough. “How is me walking—existing in this castle—antagonizing anyone? I’ve never done anything to her.”

He snarled and drew closer, looming over me. “Since when do you talk back to me?”

“I should have started earlier,” I hissed. “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Damned if you think I should be.”

“Cindra—”

“No,” I growled. “I’m not going to just let you talk down to me anymore.”

“I’m the Crown Prince—”

“Hang me,” I snarled as he drew closer.

His eyes went molten and his breathing came in hot and heavy pants. He towered over me, steam practically pouring from his ears, his lips so close I could almost taste him now. Cinnamon and spice. “Cindra—”

“Throw me in the dungeon if you want to!”

“Listen, you have to stop!”

“If you’re going to hate me, then hate me! Stop changing sides!”

“Shut up!”

“No!” I screamed back at him. I identified the source of the spice on his breath, that liquor I’d dreamt of. Biting down on my bottom lip to keep from lunging for him, I stared up at him, waiting for him to pull away, waiting for him to scream some more.

Instead, he darted forward and pressed our lips together. All at once, my body glowed like the first ray of light after a long storm.

Finally, something in me said as he pulled me closer, licking into my mouth.

Cinnamon.

Spice.

Perfect.