Menollie. Bold and fearless as you please, she came up beside them, avoiding eye contact with the alpha and gesturing toward her door. Something about the pitch in her voice made Phee think that the girl was holding her breath to keep from breathing the musky scent of the imposing male.
Phee took her hand like a lifeline. “Yes.”
“I saved some of that soft cheese you like, and the best cuttings, with gravy. And there are tarts too. Does your mother know that cook always eats up the extra desserts and blames your younger brother?”
With a gentle tug, Menollie pulled Phee toward her. She was stronger than she looked. Keeping her shoulder and back toward the male named Alreck, who Phee saw now wore the most delightful, puzzled expression, Menollie helped Phee escape.
#
The next day, Menollie delivered a note with information that Constantine Kane would arrive and Phee must present herself.
“When will he arrive? What time?” Phee asked.
“Your mother wants you now. She says she needs you immediately.”
“She doesn’t.” Phee had dressed carefully that morning in spring colors that complemented her skin, planning to face the day and their guests. But the minute she’d stepped into the hall, she’d smelled that alpha guard, Alreck as if he’d been pacing right outside her door. He’d left a rainstorm scented trail behind him wherever he went.
What was wrong with her?
Of all the males in the house, her mind kept returning to him and the way he watched her. Still, waiting and dangerous, like he would pounce on her the minute she came within reach. She lay in her bed, imagining how it would play out, how his arms would close around her body, a hand behind her head. She’d cry out, as he took her down to the floor, subduing her in a single move, covering her, taking her over, his eyes searching hers for permission.
Her mind was breaking. No one had told her what it would be like to be omega, yet not be omega. No one warned her how her instincts could respond to a male, even when her barren womb had nothing to offer.
She wanted to scream and weep. In her dreams, memories of desire crept through her skin until she hurt with them. She’d dreamt of her breasts aching and swelling and her woman’s core clenching with a need to be filled. Looking at herself in the mirror, however, she knew her womb was a barren cavern and the loss of her nature hit her doubly strong.
Menollie lifted her hand as if to touch Phee’s shoulder, to comfort her. Phee had once reprimanded the girl harshly once for such an action. Watching Menollie’s hand hover, then fall to her side, Phee regretted her past behavior. This human girl was the kindest, most understanding person in Phee’s life.
Menollie asked, “It’s all them single men, isn’t it? They’re a different lot. I don’t know whether to wet myself in fear or pull off my dress and beg one of them to use me.”
At some point, Menollie had decided she had permission to speak freely. Phee should say something, but it was so refreshingly honest an opinion in her mother’s restrained household that Phee didn’t have the heart to stop her. Instead Phee admitted, “I am barren, but not dead, it seems.”
“No. Not dead. And being used by one of them wouldn’t send you to the hospital, either. It’s an awful thing, you know. My body is not made for breed men, yet they are the most beautiful animals I have ever seen. Every part of them is perfect—such big muscles and confidence that I just want to get down on my knees and lick their toes.”
Menollie licked her lips with a grin before her face darkened with seriousness. “My sister worked in a household where the alpha ‘played’ with the servants. She adored him. When he gave her drugs to make the sex easier, she took them. That didn’t stop the hemorrhaging, but at least it didn’t hurt too bad for her in the end. Alphas are dangerous. I don’t know if she really loved him, or if he just made her think she did.”
Drones couldn’t resist breed commands, but Menollie’s truth made the fact real. “Has mother got you serving the meals? You don’t have to go around them if you don’t want to. After all, I still pay you. You still work for me.”
“That big guy has more control over his men than your mother has over the kitchens, and that is saying something. And besides, I want to meet the king, even if you don’t care to. My sister may have died, yes. But it wasn’t a man like that alpha king who seduced her. He’s another scary breed, but he is honorable. Did some good things for drones in other sectors. I just wanted to you to know that I understand what it’s like to want something that makes no sense.”
Phee looked at the girl and smiled. They went down to greet the king together, and thinking of Menollie, Phee waited for a chance to talk to her sister without her mate nearby.
That guard was there. Standing next to Naya’s mate and the king, he turned to look at her the minute she moved. His head tipped slightly, his hair brushing his shoulders, nostrils flaring. He was scenting her.
Her feet wanted to step in his direction again, carry her right to him, so she could lean in and tip her head to the side.
She bit her bottom lip, ruthlessly forcing herself not to chase after his pheromone smell. Nothing could happen there. Her body was stupid, its residual instinct mistaken. Like a drone caught up in the spell of an alpha, nothing good could come of this. She’d make a fool of herself. Of course, he would reject her just like Swift when he knew Phee was broken.
Phee went to Naya, sitting with her knitting, determined to say hello and offer congratulations. It was hard, and only half the conversation Phee needed to have with her sister. But at least she did it.
It was ridiculous, but words felt sharp and cutting, dangerously capable of slicing Phee’s composure to shreds. One of them could say any truth or ask a question at any moment, and she knew the answers would propel her helplessly into an emotional display.
Phee wanted to tell Naya everything she suspected Mother of doing, though all it would do was cause more pain. There was nothing good to be said on that subject, and Phee had no proof. Someday they would speak of it, but not while Naya was heavily pregnant and trying to figure out the transition from daughter to wife of a powerful male.
Hovering in the back of her mind, apologies for her past indifferent behavior also crowded forward. Phee wanted to admit everything, how wrong she was to think social status the most important part of life. She’d been as judgmental of Naya as their mother, if in a more amused manner. Phee wanted to take back the time she had lost with her sister and erase all the years living a lie.
Starting over with everything and everyone sounded like the only plausible way to approach life. The silly desire was as futile. Phee had no good place to start over from. She had nothing now.
Her younger sister glowed with happiness. When her alpha, Nothonal Darre, didn’t have Naya under his hand or in his lap, then two or three of the guards always stood nearby. As a result, breed male testosterone and beastly pheromones, along with all Phee’s glaring disappointments, flooded every space that Naya occupied.
