Page 1 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

Chapter 1

Alice

Getting yelled at as soon as I start my shift at Benny’s Diner is a little disconcerting. Especially when I’m not even the one who brought this table its lunch. My eyes land on the upset man’s companion, Willow Elvin, a beautiful, blonde woman with blue eyes that are sparkling in glee right now.

Like me, Willow is a wolf shifter. And so is her current date.

“Sir—” I try to begin, only to be cut off.

“It’s bad enough that your kind stench up the place!” Flint Barlow snarls at me. “But to bring my date cold food when she told you the exact temperature—”

“Sir, I wasn’t here when you placed the order,” I inform him, impatient now, trying not to let his first comment get to me.

My own pack members love reminding me that, unlike them, I don’t possess a wolf spirit. It’s really thoughtful of them, almost as if they’re worried I might forget I am not like them and don’t have the ability to shift.

I sneer secretly at Willow. If it weren’t for the fact that this is the fifth date she has brought to my place of work this month alone, just to insult me, I might think she simply has trashy taste in men. But now I’m starting to think it’s more personal than that.

“You weren’t here?” Flint splutters, his face growing red. “Are you talking back to me, girl?”

I give him a long look. “Flint, I just walked in through the front door. You saw me. I don’t understand why you would think Willow’s cold soup is my fault when I just started my shift. If you want, I can go get the server who took your order.”

Flint looks like he’s going to explode.

I glance down at Willow again. She’s enjoying the whole show, her eyes dancing in a mixture of malice and amusement. It’s no wonder Flint is raising his voice at the weakest member of the pack. A shifter like him, who has never had any female pay attention to him, must be desperate to impress his date. It’s a pity he doesn’t know Willow has a list of men just like him that she likes to bring here and wind up.

“Shut your mouth!” Flint snarls before picking up the bowl of soup and tossing it at me.

My eyes widen fractionally, and I try to duck out of the way, failing miserably. The scalding soup lands over half my face and neck, and I let out a quick, pained scream, stumbling back as I do.

“Oh, no! Alice!” Willow jumps to her feet, pretending to look dismayed. “Are you alright? Flint, how could you do that? I told you it didn’t matter if the soup was cold! Oh, dear! Alice, are you okay?”

I’m trying to rub the spices out of my eyes as my skin burns from the hot liquid. Willow is fussing over me, but I know her well enough not to buy her act. And sure enough, I hear her chuckle.

“That’s not a bad look for you, Firecrotch.” Her voice is low, a soft whisper that only I can catch.

If I could punch her, I would. But since she is the daughter of the Moonlight Pack’s beta, the consequences would be astronomical. I should know. I’ve suffered them once or twice. Or more.

“Alice!” A distressed voice reaches me just as an arm is thrown around my shoulder and a napkin is dabbed over my face. “Come on. I’ll take you to get washed up.”

Sam Olwin is one of the servers who works alongside me. Humans aren’t aware of the existence of wolf shifters among them, but Sam is different. He’s kind of like me in that he is unable to shift. The difference is that, unlike me, he was born to a human mother and a shifter father. Half-breeds like Sam are treated better than those with no wolf spirit, like me. Of course, those born with wolf spirits are accepted into the wolf pack, but those who never gain the ability to shift have to live as humans, shunned by the Wolf Kingdom.

“We’re not done here!” Flint snarls. “She ruined my date’s order. Willow ordered the ultra-hot pepper soup at a specific temperature, and this girl here—”

“This girl is called Alice Lane,” Sam snaps back. “And she’s a person whom you just assaulted.”

“Person?” Flint scoffs. “She’s nothing more than a—”

But Sam isn’t done. “And I was the one who took your order. The soup was hot when I brought it. And it was still so hot that it burned Alice! I’m going to call the police.”

I’m shaking right now. It feels like my skin is curdling. The spices in the soup are adding to this agony. I know for a fact that Willow doesn’t eat spicy food. I bite my tongue, focusing on my situation. I know I will heal in a few hours, but right now, my skin feels like it’s peeling off, and my eyes are on fire.

The mention of the police has Flint backpedaling. “She provoked me into—”

“I’m sure the police will be asking the other diners for their statements,” Sam says darkly.

That’s when Willow decides to step in. “I think this was all a misunderstanding. Right, Alice? Involving the police seems like a bit of an overreaction.”

Sam scowls at her. “I’m sorry? Do you not see how badly burned she is? You and your date are responsible for—”

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