Page 14 of Her True Alpha
“You directed us to choose husbands we didn’t want!” Phee shouted.
“I never did any such thing. I let you make your own choices. How dare you say I forced you like some sort of provincial?” Mother’s face flushed with outrage.
“You did. You paraded us about at banquets and meetings, and you picked which alpha approached us. You did that. You introduced me to Swift and several others. You told me which men were too rough, and you made sure I avoided them. You did that. You told me I wanted a mate with a quiet, undemanding way about him. Not all alphas are alike, you said.”
“I had to protect you from the wrong sort of male. You could have ended up a guard’s wife!”
“You said that a heat was dirty. That it would rob me of all dignity if I didn’t fight it. That a lady would fight against crude behavior. A proper omega would resist her hormones and her passions. That a good omega did not succumb to her low-born animal passions. You said you were better than that and your daughters should be too. And I listened to you. I didn’t want to be dirty. I didn’t want to lose anyone’s respect.”
“You were such a good girl. I don’t know what happened to us Phee. What happened? What is wrong with you? What did I do wrong?” Mother’s question was a plea.
“You slept with everyone but my sire! I could have ended up bonded and happy with a mate who didn’t stray.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I think I do, Mother. You’re so sure they all take a beta woman. You told me and I was sure, but Swift didn’t even look at another until I told him I would never give him my bite. I think you knew he would take a mistress, and that you expected I would take my revenge and sleep with other alphas. Do you and your friends trade? Schedule nights?”
Her mother gasped in outrage at the question, but her cheeks were stained a telling pink.
“Are all my brothers my brothers? Does Father know? How could you be so ridiculously fertile, yet my womb has dried up inside my body? Why? Why did you do this? Don’t bond, you told us, because it is messy. Isn’tthismessy? Isn’t this family messy and none of us knew it?”
“You need to calm down, Phee.” Mother looked past her, down the hall, as if worried they might be overheard. Phee didn’t care anymore. She was going to say everything. Get it all out.
“Swift wanted my bond,” Phee continued. “But I picked a weak alpha. He could get a beta and drone to follow him, but he’d never climb very high, and I could not bring myself to bond him, to trust him. Without my cycle, I don’t think I would have been able to stand his touch. But he isn’t bad, he just isn’t mine. And you picked him out. Did you sleep with his father too?”
Mother gasped. “Shut your mouth.”
“How about I tell Naya that you slept with her kidnapper? Was it a plan? Were you in on it? Did you let him in here and help him kidnap her?”
Mother stood up, the busy work in her hands falling on the floor. “No. No, I did not. That is my daughter you are talking about, Phee. Why would I do that?”
“Then what was it?”
“Corre was an attractive male. That is all.”
“That is all.” Phee repeated the words. It wasn’t all. It wasn’t. Phee’s life had imitated this woman’s. Phee had never considered cheating on her contract, but that didn’t mean she would not have. Things with Swift were so bad that she was lonely for companionship. She’d done everything right, but something was missing the entire time.
Mother threw back her shoulders. “That is all it was. And that is all I am going to say.”
“Is it?” Phee pressed. “And will that be all you say when I tell Naya? When I tell her mate? You know he’s a bloodthirsty beast—the brother of the king. The king who kills men for breaking the breeder laws. The king who hunted down every person he thought might have dishonored his wife. Shall I go on? What about what the other brothers have done? What about Rhineholth himself? That is not a family that tolerates excuses.”
“You won’t say anything.” Mother whispered.
But Mother didn’t know. She wasn’t sure. At the corner of her eye, breaking through her calm mask, a muscle twitched.
Phee said, “I have nothing at all to lose, Mother. And I want to know what you did. Did you plot with Corre to dangle Crispin in front of her?”
“Crispin is a sweet young man. He was much help in finding Naya in Sector 2. He cares for her.”
“With as much passion as a brother. They were almost twins, sitting here. They could have been…”
Mother hissed. “You are disgusting. No, I didn’t know Corre then. And of course, then his wife-mate died. She was always sickly.”
They way Mother said it raised the hair on the back of Phee’s neck. “You knew her.”
“The 12 Sectors are large, but omegas are few. Of course I knew her.”
“And how many omegas have you betrayed by sleeping with their mates?” Phee pressed.
