Page 26 of Bound to Four Alphas

She accepted a box of glittering jewels, searching through them absent-mindedly. “What about Malek? He’s a king too, isn’t he?”

She could not help the tightness in her voice. During her heat, Malek had simply been one of her alphas, no threat to her at all. But now, the familiar fear had crept back, and no matter how much she reassured herself that he had not hurt her when she was at her most vulnerable, she couldn’t stop the wariness.

“Malek was not crowned,” Rania said, her voice hard. A surprising wave of outrage hit Selena at the aggression, the venom with which she spoke.

Rania must have seen the look on her face, as her voice softened. “I am sorry. I do not mean any disrespect. Malek is the oldest of the beings that came from the dark places after the Forest God left. He is the very embodiment of my God’s absence. Plus, the nightmares are not friendly. Most of them are mindless, raging beasts who would tear you limb from limb. Malek is one of the rare ones. He is sentient, somewhat reasonable. But make no mistake, Selena, he is deadly.”

Selena swallowed, her affront melting away to nervousness. She had suspected as much. But still, the rage she had felt when Rania had spoken harshly about Malek wasentirely unexpected. Could it be that she was starting to care for them?

She shook her head. No. It was the heat, nothing more. She knew nothing about them, they barely knew her. This arrangement was the magic. That was it. She was playing her part and in return would be kept safe. She would be a fool to think that they would ever actually care for her.

But still, it would be useful to learn all she could about them.

“Elian isn’t a king, or the leader of his people. How is he as powerful as the others?”

It was a question that had played on her mind for a while, but she hadn’t asked for fear of offending him in front of the other alphas. They were all leaders of their people, all but Elian. And yet he commanded the same respect as they did.

“The Fae are different to the shifter clans,” said Rania after a while. “For one, we live much, much longer. Fathers sit thrones for a millennia while their sons reap glory after glory. Power, respect, all of these things can be accrued without leading. If Elian wanted to rule, he would. Phaendar the Blight is mighty indeed, but he is not as strong as his son. Whatever reasons Elian has, they are his own. You are better placed to ask him.”

Selena nodded, making a note to corner her slippery mate at some point during this ball. As gown after gown was presented to her, trunk after trunk of beautiful jewelry, she realized she was entirely out of her depth.

“You’ve got a lot of gorgeous clothes,” she said, picking up a sage green gown and holding it against herself. “Do you host a lot of balls?”

Rania gave her a strange look. “These aren’t ours,” she said. “What possible use would we have for them?”

“But, where else would they come from?”

Rania sighed, casting her eyes upward. “Child, you really do have a lot to learn. These are from Kaelen. He commissioned you an entire wardrobe while you were in heat. These all belong to you now.”

Selena gaped at the hordes of treasure before her, her mind going blank. This. All of this had come from Kaelen? All of it was hers? She had never owned more than three dresses at all back home, all plain and in various states of disrepair. Something clenched inside her, tense and uncomfortable at Kaelen’s presumption. What, just because she was a poor little human omega, he had to provide her with everything down to the clothes on her back?

Another voice, her omega, primped and preened at the thought of him looking after her, bathing her in jewels, but she shoved it down. She was more than just her omega, and right now her pride was smarting.

“So what, they don’t think I’m capable of even dressing myself?”

“Do you have any clothes that would be suitable for a ball?”

“Well, no, but—”

“And do you have any means of getting a ballgown suitable for tonight?”

“That’s not what I—”

“It’s really very simple, Selena,” Rania said, adopting the now-familiar tone that betrayed just how old she really was. “Your alphas recognize the responsibility that has been put onyou. You have been driven out of your home, taken against your will, and given the impossible choice to bond tofouralphas who you only met a few days ago. You have to balance them, balance their magic, learn a huge deal about them and their world, and live up to this prophecy. It would be an enormous undertaking for anyone. Kaelen is doing whatever he can to make life as easy as possible for you so you can focus on the things that really matter. That is his job.”

Shame welled deep in her stomach, and she bit her lip, picking up another dress. “I … I didn’t think about it that way.”

“In future you might consider that your alphas are not trying to insult you by looking after you. I’m sure they’re very well aware that you can take care of yourself. But just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should have to. Are we clear?”

“Yes,” replied Selena meekly.

“Excellent. Now, choose which dress you would like to wear tonight, and we’ll begin getting you ready.”

What followed was hours of preparation, the likes of which left Selena slightly dizzy. After carefully selecting which dress she wanted to wear, Rania showed her a selection of jewels that might complement it nicely. Blues and pinks and greens and golds whirled together in a sparkling miasma of beauty, until her eyes were blurring.

Then, every inch of her was scrubbed and she was sat down, her long dark hair wrapped around heated rods of metal until it hung in beautiful curls down her back. Her face was painted with red ochre and black kohl, her fingernails buffed into a perfect shine.

When night had fallen and the sounds of laughter and music began drifting up through the window, Selena was finallyready. As the priestesses fluttered around her, cooing in delight, there was a firm knock at the door.

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