Chapter 24
Valarie
“Did you hear!?” Sophia asked, bursting into the room.
I jumped, heart to my chest, shirt clutched there too. I’d been searching for one of her hair pins and hadn’t put a shirt on yet.
“Good lord, Soph, you scared me half to death. Did I hear what?”
She grinned at me and ran around the settee, flopping down on it. Not exactly princess-like.
“What have you even been getting up to, Val, if not collecting gossip? Your friend in the kitchens didn’t tell you about Daniele?”
I frowned, sitting on the edge of the settee, and ignoring the way she prodded at me with a toe.
“No… the Hickory Pack? They’re the least salacious pack out of all of us.”
Sophia sat up, blowing an unruly lock of hair out of her face.
“I thought so too,” she said. “But apparently she was caught in the stables last night with one of the huntresses.”
I sat perfectly still, staring off into the room. Sophia was grinning up at me, thrilled that she finally knew something I didn’t.
“What…?”
“Oh, yes. Apparently, that princess is playing for the other team.”
“So, is she out?” I asked, sliding down onto the couch with her. “Are they sending her back to Hickory, or…?”
“No. I think that would be too scandalous, even with what King Gabriel got up to the last few years. Instead, there have been a few higher betas walking around very loudly explaining that she is interested in both women AND men.”
My face screwed up.
“Really? That’s the best they can do?”
Sophia laughed, tumbling back again. “Apparently. But if you ask me, she does seem to enjoy sparring a little too much.”
I shook my head and stood, uncrumpling my shirt to put it on. It was impressive that rumors of her preferences had never made it out of the Hickory Pack, especially since she didn’t seem to be too concerned with being caught. What did Gabriel think of that…?
Knowing him, he probably got a kick out of it.
I rolled my eyes and Sophia leaned forward. “What was that for?” she asked in a teasing voice.
I tried to keep my face from flushing, not wanting to tell her I was thinking of the Alpha—her potential mate.
“Nothing. Just surprised Ana didn’t make her way up from the kitchens to find me. She likes to talk.”
“I have to say,” Sophia mused, standing, and making her way to her bedroom. “I am a little bit disappointed. I thought you’d have more of an ear out for things like that.”
I glanced at her, trying to gauge how serious she was. Over the last week or so, I’d seen more and more of the ruler in Sophia come out and while it was impressive, it was also unnerving.
“Sorry.” My eyes dropped to the ground as I scrambled for an excuse. “I just… it’s been a lot lately.” I wrinkled my nose and sighed, not wanting to go there but knowing I needed to. “When I went to pick up your dress a few days ago, the person to deliver it was John.”
Sophia gasped, stopping in her tracks, and turning to face me. I had her.
“What?”
The entire time John and I had been together, I’d been working for Sophia.
It was right after that transition from playmates to employee and employer became official.
We would run off a lot and tell each other things in confidence, so of course she knew everything—it was the beginning of our tentative conversations about sex, how badly we wanted it, how much it scared us.
She’d been cheering me on from day one with John, although she openly admitted he wasn’t her type. When he mated and married, she’d been angry for me as I’d fought back the sadness. So, I knew she was being genuine now, the shock, excitement, and slight anger on her face.
“You’re kidding me! Your mother gave him the gown to bring to the Kingdom?! Why?!”
“I have absolutely no idea,” I admitted truthfully. “But I saw him.”
“How did he… look?”
“I don’t know. Fine, I guess.” I groaned, sweeping a hand over my face. “Good. He looked good. Ugh.”
Sophia walked toward me, and I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Val. You really have been doing a great job of keeping me put together and keeping our reputation intact. No wonder you’ve seemed off lately!”
I felt myself blush, knowing that seeing John briefly wasn’t the reason I seemed ‘off.’ If only she knew what I daydreamed about…
“I’ll head down to the kitchens now,” I offered, slipping away from her and toward the door. “See if I can dredge anything else up. You’re just bathing?”
She nodded, smiling softly at me, and I realized this was the first time I was tired of seeing the pity in her eyes. I might have botched things up with John and lost him to someone else, but at least I had experienced the confusion of love and lust.
It took a good amount of time to get down to the kitchens, even using the servants’ hallways. It was close to lunch now and the area was bustling with people putting the finishing touches on meals ordered, rushing hot dishes to suites, and the lower omegas cleaning up after everyone.
Making sure to smile at the latter—I knew what it was like to be overlooked constantly—I slipped and dodged through the tight hallways until I was standing just inside the kitchen entrance.
Ana was ordering two young boys around as they brought in boxes and baskets of vegetables. Their faces were sour, but they did as they were told, glancing surreptitiously at a tray of pastries cooling nearby.
Ana’s face was stern, but it was obvious she was going to let them both leave with one.
“Hey,” I called lightly, giving her a slight wave.
She saw me and grinned, shooing the boys out of the way.
“Did you hear?” she asked excitedly.
“About Daniele?” I asked. “Yeah—Sophia just told me. No idea where she heard it, or how it reached her without reaching me.”
There was no blame in my voice; it wasn’t Ana’s job to keep me informed. But it was nice to have someone else on my side here, far away from home.
“She won’t be going home,” Ana snorted, turning back toward the tray and making a fuss as the boys each filched a pastry, but smiling as they ran. “The Queen is too kind. And Gabriel, of course he thinks the whole thing is ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes. “By the way—how did it go with him?”
I flushed, feeling guilty. I’d seen Ana a handful of times during and after my short tryst with the King, but hadn’t given her any tidbits of information, not entirely sure I could trust her.
“Good,” I ground out. It was obvious from the look on her face that she didn’t fully believe me. “I, uh, got that issue out of the way,” I said lamely. It was a half-truth. But her eyebrows raised as she set about cleaning off the huge stainless-steel table in the middle of the room.
“Really? Enjoyable, was it?” She grinned at me, and I tried to fight back the memories of my nights with him, knowing it would only cause me to blush more.
“We got it out of the way,” I said shortly, trying to ignore her laugh.
“Well, that’s good. You can go about your business now and not have to worry about avoiding him. Besides, you should focus on Sophia—word is she’s very close to the top of the list!”
That was good news, but my gut twisted upon hearing it.
More and more I grew to despise the thought of her winning him. Getting to be in his bed, seen with him in public, have him touching her. I glanced around and walked aimlessly.
“Anything I can help with?” I asked.
“Actually, yes.” Ana nodded toward a refrigerated area. “Can you go in there and find the big rack of ribs? You can’t miss it—it’s huge. I need to start marinating it to get it ready for dinner tonight.”
I unlocked the heavy door and stepped inside, careful to make sure it didn’t shut behind me. Ana’s humming and light singing was muffled out in the kitchen. Inside, the fresh smell of meat made my nostrils flare.
We were only a few days away from the blood moon and my wolf was itching to get out. Normally, back home, I’d have time to sneak out at night and run. But I’d had to keep her tightly caged inside me, and the stress and lack of freedom were getting to both me and the wolf.
Now though, I felt the happy growl begin low in my throat and shivered, feeling a thin layer of hair break through the skin at my spine. My ears were pulling back already, elongating just slightly, eyes heavy-lidded.
Suddenly, light spilled into the room as the door was opened further.
I spun, all of my senses heightened by the slight transformation. This time, the door did click shut behind the person and I growled out loud, circling to the left.
“It’s just me,” a voice said, low in the dark.
Gabriel.
Not again—not now, alone, stuck in a meat locker with him while my wolf was clawing to get out. I wasn’t sure I could keep her under control.
Gabriel mirrored my movements, stepping carefully around me, his arms raised.
“Are you okay?” he asked curiously. “I can smell…”
“I’m fine,” I bit out, shaking my head a bit to try and force my ears back into fully human form. The wolf let out a light whine and I cursed. Gabriel visibly responded to it—I could make him out now with my eyes transforming, the edges of him in the dark.
He perked and straightened up at the sound. Didn’t his wolf want to come out as well? How was he keeping it so tightly trapped inside?
“I just came to talk,” he said, but I heard the shudder in his voice and knew he was struggling too.
“Then, talk.” My shoulders were trembling from the effort of fighting back scents: the meat, Gabriel, the musk of his wolf.
He took two strides forward and I fought back a growl as he reached out, his hand finding mine and turning the palm upwards.
“What—?”
“This is for your family,” he said simply, stepping back quickly.
The heavy papers in my hand were lighter in the dark, a pale beacon.
“When they come, they should have no trouble at all. And if there is trouble, send them to me. The signature alone will get them through.”
I saw him shudder again and lean toward me, putting one foot forward. He flexed his hands before turning abruptly and busting through the door into the kitchen.
It swung shut slowly behind him.
I gave it a few moments before I, too, left, breathing deeply to calm the wolf.
That had been too close. It was too tempting. The things we had done… my wolf wanted to do them again. Wanted to bite him, tussle with him, and fight back until he dominated me.
I stepped slowly back into the kitchen. The papers were clutched in my left hand. Ana was waiting, both palms on the table as she stared at me.
“What was that?” she asked in a quiet voice, and I could hear the slight fear there. I blinked, knowing my eyes would be the last thing to go back to fully human form.
“I don’t know.”
This time, it was the whole truth.
“He just showed up and asked me where you were…” she trailed off, looking down at the papers.
I unfolded them quickly, noticing how thick and creamy the paper was, more like parchment. It was a handwritten letter and that seemed important somehow. My eyes ran down the length of it to find Gabriel’s sharp signature at the bottom, and then traveled up to the top to begin reading.
Taking it in, I stumbled backward until I hit a bench, and sat heavily.
Ana rushed over. I flipped the first page over and read the second quickly. The wording was much the same, only my brother’s name was in this one.
“What is it?” Ana asked anxiously.
My mouth was dry, and I swallowed heavily.
“He’s invited my dad and my brother to come join the unions.”
Ana’s eyes widened.
“The unions, that’s—”
“For betas only,” I finished, staring up at her, both of us wide-eyed.