- Reject His Advances
Kier
“Not now, Mother.”
“When then? She won the Hunt. How in the world does an Omega
win the Hunt?!”
I turn, jaw clenching tightly. “I don’t know, and I don’t fucking care, Mother! I have other things to ponder on, like the rogues that attacked. You have questions, ask the lady yourself!”
Tedious, all of this. I didn’t want the selection in the first place. Hell, I didn’t even want to get mated yet. Nobody seemed to care I was injured and still feverish with wolfsbane. Not when Jessamine held up the lock of hair they’d been asked to retrieve at the Hunt and Elder Bane had named her the winner, howbeit reluctantly.
She wins two more tasks and she’ll undeniably be the winner of the
selection.
It isn’t about the selection for me anymore. It’s about getting her in my bed and out of my skin and mind. I have to bed her. I need to. I’d visit the brothel again, but I know bedding the brothel owner will do nothing to quench my hunger.
“Have you heard the rumours, Kier? They say you’re her lapdog.”
I halt abruptly, turning to face my mother fully. “And you thought it wise to repeat this to me?”
Her hazel eyes darken. “Your actions raise questions. Questions that need answers. Kier, you cannot make her Luna.”
I cock my head, pondering on the desperation and bitterness that snake underneath her words. Perhaps, this goes far beyond her status as a maid. Perhaps, there’s something I don’t know. “And why is that?”
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“Why?” she echoes, baffled. “She wants the throne. She doesn’t care for the pack or the people–”
“Neither did you when father made you queen.”
She lashes out, gripping my sleeve. “Kier, I taught you better than this. You cannot break tradition. They were set in place for good reason. An Omega as Luna and Queen is not a good look on the pack, on the kingdom. It presents a weak front. You would leave us vulnerable to the enemy. Bed her if you must, discard her after, but do not make her Luna.”
I observe her for a moment. I have no plans of making her Luna, but Jessamine is an oddity. She’s the smartest woman I’ve come across, and unlike the rest of the contenders, she has a depth that is
bottomless. The wisdom in her eyes seem ageless, and her silence in itself is an answer.
Vulnerable? I think not, and I feel my resolve waning. With every day that passes, I have lesser reasons to not make her mine. She’s not lacking in any way, other than the fact that she’s an Omega, and I’m beginning to think even that is a lie.
“Kier, let me handle the rest of the selection. I’ll get rid of her.”
I stare at my mother wistfully. If only she knows that is the last thing I want. That in itself is a problem. “Apologize to Jessamine for whipping her wrongly, and you can have your place in court back.”
“Kier-”
“No excuses, Mother. You are Luna, and though the Sunfire pack doesn’t enforce the rules strongly as the King’s pack, I will not have you terrorizing those of lower standing. We are fair and just, and you were wrong.” I wave in dismissal, hiding my wince as pain spreads through my middle. “Return to me when you’ve righted your wrong.”
I slip into my study before she can respond, and the door clicks shut behind me. I groan, holding my side an I walk past desks and shelves, advancing towards the door that leads to my room. My vision blurs and two more unsure strides have me walking into the door
Goddess, I groan as I push the door and all but stumble into my bed. Gazing at the bare ceilings, I pant. Jessamine had burned the wound, but the fatigue remained. It didn’t make it a better that we had to
swim once more to get through to the other side.
The room is quiet, save for my heavy breathing.
Seven contenders dead. Four killed by the rogues, three by the other
contenders.
There will be grieving and wailing come morning. There will be meetings of Alphas demanding retribution. There will be outbursts and attacks between packs I rule over. Come morning, my patience and competence as King will be tested.
Yet, only one question burns in my heart. Does Jessamine like
flowers?
Jessamine
There’s a note on my dresser.
It wasn’t there three minutes ago when I went into the bathroom. I stare at the lock on my door. It is intact. My gaze sweeps to the open window and I cock my head frowning. Why would anyone go through the trouble of sneaking in?
I walk over to the bed stand, long night dress flowing behind me. The room is dimly lit with torches, the soft flickering light casting dancing shadows on the walls and my stomach turns over when I squint
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at the note and find a name in very elegant scrawling. Hunter.
I whip my head towards the window and race for it, looking beneath it. There’s no way anyone could have climbed this height. Not anyone that matters. I’ve only told Kier about this. Not even Lovette knows my
father’s last name.
Turning the note over, I see that there’s more. It’s a question. A riddle.
What is a queen without a crown?
What does that even mean? Is Alpha Kier trying to get back at me by messing with me? What’s a queen without her crown? A woman? A daughter? Whatever she is when she isn’t being queen? I don’t know, but what does this have to do with me? Why address me with my father’s name and ask me something so random?
A knock on the door sets my heart into a leap and agitation has the note falling from my hand. “W–who’s there?”
From the other side comes a muffled, “Kier.”
I frown, crouching low to grab the note off the floor. “Hold,” I murmur, walking over to my cupboard and I slip the note into it before answering
the door.
“You look better,” I say first. He is clad in formal clothes; a blue suede jacket and tailored pants that are tucked into knee–high boots. Why dress so formally in the early hours of the morning when he should be in bed?
“I feel better, thank you.” Alpha Kier’s eyes are silver–lined and the tip of his nose seems red, like he’s been crying or sneezing, or both. He flashes me a smile that makes my heart flutter, but I keep my expression blank. “May I come in?”
The room is suddenly filled with the earthy scent of roses, mingling with a hint of musk and it is all I can do not to lean in and sniff him. Eyeing
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him skeptically, I ask, “Why?”
He drops his head to the ground and I see the pointed tip of his ears redden as his eyes dart about, looking at everywhere but my face as he reveals a bouquet of flowers hiding behind his back. “I picked this personally from the gardens. To–to thank you for…for saving my life.”
He’s stuttering, and he doesn’t smell like the gardens. He’s lying. Why is he lying? Why is he here? To see if his note had gotten to me? Well, two can play the game. “I do not like roses, but I suppose I must accept your gift, just like I did the other,” I say, trying my very best to sound and look unimpressed as I take the flowers from him.
“What other gift?” he asks, ire flashing in his eyes that have taken on a warmer hue.
His anger tells me he didn’t send me the note. Worry tightens at my heart. Who did, and why? “A dress,” I lie, caressing the roses carefully.” It’s a pretty thing. I assumed it was from you. Perhaps, someone else admires me in court.” I glance up from the flowers and smile shyly. “If that will be all then…”
Alpha Kier pushes the door, inserting himself in the doorway and I stifle a shiver when he suddenly touches my cheek. “I’m here, like you always wanted, and you will not invite me in.”
His thumb traces a line down my temple, continuing along the arch of my neck and my fingers tighten around the flowers, causing a thorn to rip into my thumb. I do nothing but stare at him, even as my insides quiver with need.
He crowds my space and I have no choice but to back up one step. “Do you enjoy it? Taunting me? Pulling me by your strings?”
“What do you want?” My voice is strong and firm, the opposite of what I feel inside.
“You,” he simply says and closes the distance between us faster than I
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think possible, peering down at me with impossibly beautiful eyes. This is what you wanted, no? You are In my every thought, day and night. In my dreams, you haunt me; touch me; kiss me like I’ve never been kissed before. I do not recall a time in my life when I’ve wanted something as terribly and obsessively as I want you.”
I tip my head back to look in his eyes. “Did you say the same words to Moira when you tried to lure her to your bed?” ”
He blinks. Slowly. “What?”
I lean in closer, until all that separates us are the flowers and our clothes. Even then, the warmth of his skin seeps into mine. I lift my hand between us and place it against his rock–hard chest. “Your flattery may have worked on others, but not me. You have mistaken me for a woman easily swayed by sweet nonsenses. You want me, only to bed me and leave me the next morning. I don’t want that, Alpha. My desire runs deeper than the empty promises of one night. I yearn for your love, Kier. Can you give me that tonight? A love that consumes and transcends the physical limits of affection? Tell me you can give me your heart and your very soul, and I’ll let you bed me.”
For a long time, he stares at me. He knows better than to lie to me. I’ll see right through it.
I let my hand fall away from his chest and I push his flowers into his hands, inclining my head to the hallway behind him. “Get out.”
His face crumples. “What?”
“Get out of my room, Kier. It’s well past my bed time, and you’re preventing me from sleeping.”
“Such a thing doesn’t exist,” he says, taking his flowers from me. “That love you yearn for. Not even between mates does it exist.”
“Then you do not understand love.” I turn my back to him as I walk to my bathroom. “Shut the door behind you, and don’t darken my door
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- Reject His Advances
again.”
And as I shut the bathroom door behind me and lean against it, I think, What is a queen.without a crown?
No one.
