The Alpha’s Cursed Queen (Eternal Oath Saga #1)

Chapter 3

Alice

I hadn’t planned on buying the cupcake on my way home.

But I saw it in the bakery window, sitting all by itself, and couldn’t help myself.

At the orphanage, all the children got a cake on their birthday. But never me. I don’t know why I never got myself a birthday cake once I was on my own. Then, today, I was seized by the desire to celebrate my freedom.

I hike through the forest in the darkness, feeling like a massive weight is about to be lifted off my shoulders.

Finally, freedom!

Perhaps Mary dreams of finding her fated mate one day. Not me, though. This party is going to be a very special sort of hell for me, but I’ll just have to grin and bear it. And afterwards, I can be free of this place forever.

It may not be the most ideal of plans, and I will miss Mary, but the idea of never having to see Willow or Cyrus or anybody else makes me want to smile broadly. After our walk, Mary returned to the healing center, and I dropped by the local pack library to look up what it really means to come of age. I was right. I can leave this place.

That is exactly what I’m going to do. And I want to celebrate my soon-to-arrive freedom.

Shifters like to go for runs once the sun sets, but this part of the forest is usually not very busy. There’s a lake here, and rumors say the area around it was once the battleground for a fight between the white witches and the dark witches. The bodies from both sides were thrown into the lake. As a result, my kind tends to avoid it, being a superstitious bunch and all.

I find a log to sit on and lower my legs into the cold, glittering water. The reflection of the moon on the surface ripples as my feet kick back and forth in the lake.

This is one of my secret spots. I don’t believe in the dead witch burial story. There was a war long ago between the dark witches and the white witches, but the white witches wiped out the dark witches and allied themselves with the Wolf Kingdom. It is common knowledge that when a witch dies, their body has to be burned or else their souls can cause havoc.

But I have my doubts about that little tidbit, too. Of course, my information on witches is limited. I’ve never met one. The white witches’ coven only ever interacts with the royals. I doubt I’ll ever see a witch in my life.

I open the paper bag and take out the slightly smashed chocolate cupcake. In the bag, there’s also a candle and a matchbox. Carefully balancing the cupcake on my knee, I stick the candle in the center and then light one of the matches. Under the glow of the flame, the pink and blue stripes of the candle make me smile.

“Happy birthday to me,” I sing to myself softly. “Happy birthday to me. This will be your last birthday here, Alice. And then you can go and be whoever you want to be.” I blow out the candle, wishing aloud, “May the next year be filled with the most wonderful of journeys and my freedom.”

I remove the candle and am about to take a bite out of the cupcake when I hear rustling from the side. I’m not alarmed because there’s bound to be some creature or other roaming around at this time of night. However, to my surprise and utter shock, what emerges from the trees is not a deer or a bobcat, but a man. A man I recognize.

“You?!”

The second the exclamation leaves my mouth, I quickly slap my hand over it, recalling what Mary told me about this man. Could he really be a royal soldier?

Oh, crap! Did he track me down to kill me?

I quickly lift my hand, my palm facing outward. “I haven’t told anybody about you. You don’t have to kill me to silence me. What you do and where you go is your business. I don’t really care. There’s no reason to kill me over it.”

The man stares at me in confusion. “What?”

I’m still rambling, though. “I’m just about to come of age. I really don’t want to die tonight. And I don’t have a great memory as it is. I completely forgot about you till you showed up just now. If anybody asks, I’m not even going to remember you.”

His lips twitch, and I feel a little offended. Is he mocking me? He’s really going to make fun of me before he kills me? What kind of sadistic bastard—

“Bastard?” The man’s eyes widen, and I realize I was speaking out loud. My hands fly to my face to cover my mouth in horror.

“Did I say bastard? What I meant was—Just don’t kill me, alright? It’s my birthday. Nobody should die on their birthday. That’s just not okay. It’s bad luck. I heard if you kill somebody on their birthday, their ghost haunts you for eternity. Bad juju. You don’t want that.”

The man looks like he wants to laugh, an exasperated expression forming on his face. “You can breathe. I’m not here to kill you. I just came here to check out the lake.”

“You want to check out the lake?” I ask him doubtfully. “Why? Wait, does this mean the rumors are true? Are there really dead witches in there?”

I quickly pull my legs out of the water.

The man studies me, his hands in his pockets. “Well, yes. But that battle was centuries ago. The lake is fine. I need a flower that grows under the water here.”

I stare at him before looking down at the lake. “Okay. That makes sense. You’re here to pick flowers. That’s perfectly normal.”

He snickers.

When he doesn’t move, I glance up at him. “You’re not part of the Moonlight Pack, are you?”

A small, secretive smile blooms on his face. “No. Do you really not know who I am?”

I narrow my eyes in thought. “Should I?”

He chuckles. “I guess it’s not a bad thing that you don’t know. Are you celebrating your birthday all by yourself?”

He comes to sit beside me without an invitation, and my heart begins to beat like crazy. He smells so good. Like fresh leaves on a summer day.

“Technically, it’s tomorrow. But yes. I was celebrating my freedom,” I reveal. “I’m going to leave the Moonlight Pack now that I’ll be of age.”

“Really?” The man smiles at me. “Where do you plan on going? Traveling?”

I shrug. “Anywhere. I don’t care. As long as I can leave this hellhole.”

His smile disappears. “You don’t like your pack?” When I don’t reply, his eyes roam over my face. “Your injuries are better. Was it someone from your pack who hurt you?”

I break the cupcake in half and hold out one of the pieces to him. “Before I start spilling secrets, maybe you should tell me your name and who you are.”

The man is silent for a few seconds, as if contemplating my demand. Then, he accepts the piece of cake from my hand. “Darian. I”—he pauses before continuing—“work with the royal family.”

My eyes widen. “You are a royal soldier, then?”

Darian hesitates. “Not exactly. But I work in the palace. So, who hurt you?”

“You’re not in a position to get me in trouble, are you?” I study him cautiously. “Because if I tell you something and it gets back to my pack, I’m in for a world of hurt. Although, why I would tell you anything makes no sense to me. Let’s stop talking.”

He nudges me with his shoulder. “I can keep a secret. I keep plenty of them.”

I take a bite of my cupcake. “It’s fine. I just remembered that I’m talking to a stranger. Which is what you are. I can’t trust you.”

“To be fair, this is our second meeting,” Darian says playfully. “I think we’re beyond strangers now.”

When I glance at him, he’s grinning at me, and it lights up his entire face. What it does to my heart is a totally different matter. I put my hand over his face and shove him back lightly. “You’ve got no business being this good looking. Go away. You’re bad for my heart.”

His eyes go wide, and his entire face grows red.

“What?” he chokes out.

I shrug. “You need to sit farther away from me,” I reiterate. “You’re making me feel funny.”

A sly look enters his eyes, and he edges even closer to me. “Should you really be admitting that to me? I thought women were supposed to hide things like that and play coy.”

I glare at him. “I’m not flirting with you.”

“You just said I’m good looking,” he argues. “How am I supposed to take that?”

“Take it as a compliment, and then move a couple of feet away from me,” I suggest.

He makes a face. “I’ve been told I’m handsome before, but never like this. Do you think I have cooties or something? Why can’t I sit with you?”

“Because I’m just about to get my freedom,” I tell him severely. “I don’t want to have a heart attack and die before I’ve even enjoyed one minute of it. You’re making my heart beat funny. So, either you slide over or I get up and leave.”

“You’re not going to die of a heart attack just because you think I’m hot,” Darian scoffs, looking a little smug.

“I never said you were hot,” I point out. “What I said is that you’re good looking. You’re pretty.”

An outraged expression crosses face. “Pretty?!” He gets to his feet, indignant. “I am not pretty. I’m handsome. I’ll have you know that women are always admiring my looks. They’re not as blunt about it as you are, of course. Women are pretty. I’m dashing or handsome. Take your pick.”

A wicked smile forms on my lips. “I bet the flower you’re about to pluck from the bottom of the lake is as pretty as you are.”

This time, the flush of color on his face makes me want to laugh.

“You take that back. I am not pretty.”

“Pretty as a flower,” I muse, chewing on the chocolate cupcake.

“Take it back.”

“No,” I sneer at him. “What are you gonna do about it?”

His eyes tighten around the corners, and the worst I expect him to do is shove me in the lake. What I don’t anticipate is Darian grabbing me by the front of my shirt and pulling me to my feet, toward him. His mouth slams down on mine, and the uneaten cupcake tumbles to the ground as my hand falls limply to my side.

His mouth tastes of coffee. As his lips move against mine, I find it hard to breathe. My entire body is tingling. My nipples are turning hard. I can feel them ache.

Before I can stop myself, my hands dig into his shirt for support.

I have never been kissed before.

This is… Is this how it feels? I think to myself dimly, feeling his tongue move against mine. White-hot heat is building up inside me with nowhere to go. I want his hands on the most private parts of my body. I want him to touch me.

I want more.

My knees feel weak. I want to sink into his chest. Darian’s hand releases my shirt and comes to settle in my hair, gripping it tightly as he maneuvers my head for a better angle. I should be pushing him away.

I should be…

Finally, he releases me and takes a staggering step back, his eyes filled with shock. My face feels hot, and his is a bright red. My hand instantly goes to my lips. They feel swollen and tender.

“You—” My voice is raspy. “You kissed me. You weren’t supposed to kiss me!”

He looks equally taken aback as he scrambles to defend himself. “I was just trying to prove a point.”

I don’t know how to handle myself. I don’t know how to handle the situation. I quickly turn around to leave, but he grabs my hand to stop me. When he does, he loses his balance and pulls me along with him as we both go down into the cold, dark depths of the lake.

I don’t like water. Spluttering for air, I struggle in the lake. I’m not a good swimmer.

The lake is incredibly deep, and Darian has pulled us both far down into it. I try to swim toward the surface, but in my panic, I can’t get my arms and legs to move the way they should. Darian takes hold of my wrist and pulls me up with him. My head breaks the water’s surface, and I gulp in mouthfuls of air.

After making my way to the bank, I climb out on the wet, sliding mud, shivering and seething at the same time. “You absolute jerk! You threw me in dead witch water.”

Darian is right behind me. “It was an accident!”

I glare at him over my shoulder. “Three words. Dead. Witch. Water.” My clothes are soaked. Shuddering, I rub my hands over my arms. “Now I’m going to have to go home and shower.”

“Those witches have been dead for centuries!” Darian argues. “And I didn’t mean to pull you in with me.”

“You shouldn’t have kissed me, either!” If I weren’t so cold, I would probably be red in the face. The mere memory of the kiss is still doing a number on me. I don’t want to think about it.

“I was trying to prove a point. And you liked it.”

I open my mouth and snap it shut. Looking down at my ruined pastry on the ground, I grind my teeth. “I was just here to celebrate my birthday. Then you came and ruined everything!”

Darian looks guilt-ridden, but he tries to brush it off. “It was only a cupcake.”

I make a strangled sound. “It was the first time I’ve ever had a cake for my birthday! The first time, and you just couldn’t let me have it, could you?! Jerk! I take everything back. You’re not good looking. But you are a jerk. A big, fat jerk!”

I storm away from him, and he calls out after me, sounding angry, “Is that the only word you know?!”

“No!” I shout back at him. “But I’m not going to waste my vocabulary on you!”

It’s late, fortunately, and there are not many people on the street as I make my way back home, dripping wet.

After entering my apartment building, I climb the steps to my floor, leaving a trail of damp carpet behind me. I’ve just inserted the key in my lock, still shaking from the cold, when Mary’s door opens; her apartment is right across from mine.

She stares at me. “What happened to you?”

“I went for a swim,” I snap.

She leans against the door frame, crossing her arms over her chest quizzically. “Now, why don’t I buy that? Did somebody push in the lake?”

“Yes,” I mutter, annoyed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Too late.” She closes her door behind her just as I open my own door. Following me inside, she says, “I want to hear this. I was waiting for you to come home so we could order pizza.”

“I really don’t want company right now, Mary,” I complain, but my friend just picks up my drenched bag and studies it.

“I’ll set this out to dry while you take a hot shower. What do you want on your pizza?”

I’m clearly not going to win here. Plus, pizza is starting to sound really nice. “Pepperoni and sausage.”

And now that I think about it, a hot shower also sounds heavenly.

My apartment isn’t huge. It has a small living room, a kitchen, and a bedroom with an attached bathroom. It is in a pack-owned building, and the rent is cheap. I applied to several other buildings in better locations, but this is the one I was assigned.

The hot shower makes me feel like a new woman. Wrapping a towel around my long, red hair, I study myself in the full-length mirror in my bedroom. My fingers linger around my lips as I finally allow myself to recall that kiss.

I read romance novels. I know all the ins and outs of sex and love and all that lovey-dovey stuff. But I never thought I would be at the receiving end of any of it.

Darian said he kissed me to prove a point. What point?

Women in books always describe the act of kissing as fireworks exploding in the background, but that’s not how it felt to me. When Darian touched me, I felt a restless energy within me, a desire growing, an ache that I couldn’t quite grasp. It made me feel helpless and anxious. It made me want to cross a line. And that scared me. I didn’t feel like I was in control.

I always have to be in control.

Darian made me feel strange. He made me act differently. Or maybe I simply relaxed around him for some reason.

I grip my head, groaning quietly.

Why does it matter that I’m so confused? It’s not like I’m ever going to see him again.

Pulling on my pajamas, I head out to the smell of cheese and bread. I must’ve taken longer than I thought in the shower because the pizza has already arrived. Mary has set out plates and is pouring water into two glasses.

She looks up at me. “Feeling better?”

“Loads.”

It’s over the course of the meal that I tell her about my second meeting with Darian. There’s no reason to lie to Mary. She chuckles at my concern about acting strange around him.

“You weren’t acting strangely. That’s how you are, Alice. You’re blunt, and you’re sweet, and you’re funny. Once we became friends, you relaxed around me and let me see who you really are. It seems you did the same with Darian.”

“I had no reason to. I barely know him.” I take a bite of the pizza, savoring the taste.

“He seems to like you, though,” Mary laughs. “He kissed you, after all.”

I look down at my plate and murmur, “He doesn’t know what I am, Mary. If he did, he wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot pole.”

Mary doesn’t look very convinced. “That’s what you think. You’re so convinced everybody hates you because of your lack of a wolf spirit that you keep forgetting there are people like you who have gone on to mate with other shifters. It’s not a life sentence. You can still be happy. Maybe Darian will understand.”

I wet my lips, giving her a small, humorless smile. “Do you think I should make myself vulnerable in front of him? A man I just met twice? Why? So that when he says something nasty to me, I can face rejection like a champ? I don’t have it in me to be constantly rejected by everyone, Mary. I am a person. I want to be loved, just like everybody else. I know I never will be, but a part of me wants that. A stupid, delusional part of me. I won’t put myself in a situation where somebody can break my heart. I can’t. And everyone does hate me. I’m not imagining the insults that are thrown at me, or the beatings I face when I’m ambushed at random times. Those bruises are not in my head.”

Mary falls silent, and she lowers her gaze.

I don’t expect her to understand. How could she? She has only seen the abuse doled out on me. She has never suffered it. And Mary is ever the optimist.

But I can sense that perhaps my words were a little harsh for the gentle-hearted healer. I force a smile on my face. “As I already told you, Darian is linked to the royal family, which means I can never take the risk of telling him what I am. I don’t know how he’ll react. Besides, one kiss doesn’t mean I’m now bound to tell him everything. I pissed him off, and he kissed me to prove some imaginary point. Story over.” I take a deep breath before continuing. “The truth is, Mary, I’m planning to leave the pack now that I’m going to be of age. I want to go live in a human city. I just want a peaceful life where I don’t have to worry about being attacked or insulted every day. I’ll never see Darian again. So, rather than him, I’d rather focus on getting away from here.”

My friends shoulder’s droop. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I also know that staying in this place would be harmful to you. You deserve a better life, Alice. When do you plan to go?”

I sigh. “After the mating gathering. I looked into how I can leave the pack. It’s a clear process. I don’t have to do much, just go to the registry to strike off my name. The administrative department of the pack will handle the rest. It has to be approved by the royal family, I guess, but they won’t care, especially since I don’t have a wolf spirit. I read at the library today that if you don’t have a wolf spirit, the royal family doesn’t stop you from leaving the kingdom.”

“What about me? Will I be able to see you?”

“All the time.” I walk around the table to embrace her. “You can see me whenever you want.”

As Mary hugs me back, I sigh quietly. Mary has always been a romantic at heart. Of course she’s going to read more into my meeting with Darian than what is really there. All this fuss over a forced kiss. The man may be attractive, but that doesn’t mean I’ve fallen head over heels for him. It would be better if he stayed as far away from me as physically possible.

*****

I never do anything for my birthday, but Mary has the day off, too, and she still wants to go shopping for a dress and shoes. I’m not discouraging her because I do need a dress if I have to attend the mating gathering. I already have a handicap; the last thing I need to do is add to it.

I get to our meeting spot early, and after checking my watch, I decide I have time to stop by the pack library. I’ve always played off the superstitions about the lake, but now that Darian has confirmed the story, I want to check it for myself.

The pack library does not carry a lot of information about witches, but I do find some basics that all of us are aware of. There were once dark witches and white witches. Centuries ago, the white witches discovered that their dark counterparts had been planning something against the royal family. Nowhere does it say what the dark witches had in mind, but it was bad enough for the white witches to launch an all-out war. Like their names suggest, the dark witches were considered to be linked to darkness and evil and the white witches with goodness and purity. It didn’t help that the white witches were gifted with only healing magic, whereas the dark witches had battle magic.

The war was waged in different parts of the world, and when the shifters allied themselves with the white witches, the dark witches began to be wiped out. One of the battles was located at the lake. And while there is no mention of whether the resulting corpses were burned or not, there is no doubt that combat did take place there.

I know my kind avoids the lake, but I’ve always felt drawn to it. I go there a lot, and it always feels peaceful to me. I have a sense of belonging there. It sounds silly now that I know there really may be bodies of dark witches in that water.

One thing about witches that my kind finds very unnerving is that their bodies don’t decompose. That is another reason why witches are burned, not buried. Imagine a poor human digging a hole and coming across a dead witch who looks like she’s sleeping!

Morbid curiosity takes hold of me. If there are truly witches under the lake’s surface, their bodies should still be intact.

Common sense tells me not to, but I really want to see if this myth is true. Do the bodies of dead witches decompose or stay as they were?

I decide to check it out in the afternoon while it’s still light out. It’ll feel less terrifying that way. Or maybe I could be smart and not go stirring the waters.

I laugh quietly at my own joke.

Checking the time, I head out to meet Mary. Let’s get this dress shopping done.

*****

I always shop at thrift stores. Nice clothes and cheap as dirt.

Mary comes from a loaded family. She moved into my apartment building after a fight with her parents about her independence, but she still gets an allowance from her parents. She’s used to shopping at fancy places that cater to the wealthier class.

Unlike me, Mary also enjoys the process of shopping. My feet are throbbing by the time we’ve finalized the purchase of my new shoes.

“Let’s get a purse to match!” my friend says excitedly.

I turn around to face her, putting my hand on her shoulder, my expression grim. “Mary, you know I love you, don’t you?”

She nods happily.

“Then, know I say this with all the love in my heart, and more: if I have to go to another store with you, I’m going to kill myself.”

Mary stares at me. “You don’t like shopping.”

“I hate it. I like spending time with you, but I truly hate shopping.”

“But we have to get—”

“Why don’t you choose the purse?” I suggest. “I trust your judgment. You found me such a beautiful dress and such lovely shoes, how can I not?”

Mary flushes, pleased. “I get it. Besides, you’re on your feet all day for your job anyway. You probably want to rest on your day off. Let’s meet up this evening. I want to take you out to dinner.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m taking you to dinner. I saved up for it and already made reservations. It’s a really nice Italian place, downtown. You’ll love it.”

“But it’s your birthday!” Mary protests.

“And you’re my friend.” I shut her down. “You’ve done a lot for me today. Let me do this for you, Mary. Please.”

She sighs heavily. “Alright. You win. Text me the details, and I’ll meet you there. I have to go see my parents in an hour, as well.”

We part ways, and I head toward the woods.

As I reach the lake and sit on the bank, lowering my legs into the water, I wonder what it is that I’m doing. This is stupidity personified, but the curiosity within me is growing by the second. Just last night, I had found the idea of dead witch bodies in the lake disturbing. Today, I want to jump in and swim to the bottom looking for them.

I seem to have no sense of self-preservation at the moment.

“This is not a good idea,” I say out loud. “You could drown. And for what? To confirm something that has nothing to do with you?”

If I thought saying the words aloud would change my mind, I was wrong. It does nothing.

I pull off my shirt and roll my shoulders. “Who cares if I drown? It’s not like anybody will look for me. It’s the first time I’m doing something so reckless. I should enjoy it.”

The pep talk does nothing, either.

Taking a deep breath, I jump into the lake.

I only ever come here in the evenings. In the daytime, the lake is crystal clear. However, the bottom of the lake is so deep that I can’t see it.

Since nobody pulled me in this time, I’m not panicking. I’m able to control my movements. Determination fuels me, and I swim even deeper. Wolf shifters can hold their breath for long periods of time. At least, longer than a human can.

At first, I see no sign of the bottom, and disappointment starts to creep in. Then, I start making out shapes. As I swim closer, my vision grows clearer. My heart begins to beat loudly in my chest. It’s true! The dark witches are buried here in the lake!

I should feel fear, but I don’t.

I shouldn’t stay down here. I should go back up to the surface.

However, I’m suddenly overcome with a sense of urgency, and I swim even closer to the bodies lying on the lake bottom. They look like they’re sleeping. Even the wildlife has not touched them.

I reach out with my hand.

What are you doing? The voice in my head is screaming at me, but I can’t stop myself.

Then, out of nowhere, the dead woman closest to me seizes my wrist. Her eyes fly open. They’re white.

I open my mouth to scream, and water rushes in.

Her grip is so tight that I can’t pull free.

Panic fills me as I see her lips moving.

And then, the whole world goes dark.