Page 107 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

Darian

It’s hard to believe that this adorable little child is mine.

She’s bright, inquisitive, and so incredibly clever. I can’t help but follow her around helplessly. As Alice prepares dinner, Mira wants to show me everything. Her room has been done up in hues of purple, blue, and silver. There is a small bookshelf, a desk and chair, one of those large floor cushions with two boxes of toys, and a canopy bed with a princess theme. When I check out the books, I’m quite surprised. I didn’t think children her age could read at this level.

Mira sees me looking. “I haven’t read that one yet. I can’t understand the big words. This is the one I’m reading right now.” She pulls out a small adventure book. “Mom is busy all the time, but she reads to me at night. I don’t understand a lot of the words, but when Mary comes, she helps me look them up in the dictionary. I have one of those, too. Look!”

She points at a large, bulky dictionary sitting on her little desk. Next to it is a piece of paper with some words scrawled on it. She hasn’t quite mastered handwriting yet, but she has managed to write out some pretty big words.

“I wrote these down so Mary can help me look for them. Do you know how to play chess? Mom hates chess, but I really like it. Mary is helping me learn, but Mom said I should play easier things.”

I frown internally. Mary is part of almost every sentence the girl speaks. Mira is clearly quite close to the healer. Maybe punishing Mary for lying to me won’t sit well with my daughter.

“Maybe you get it from my side of the family,” I tell her, returning to the conversation with a smile. “I like chess, too. Do you want to play with me?”

Her eyes gleam with enthusiasm. “I can set up the board. I know how to do it.”

She hurries over to her toy boxes, and I look around some more, my hands in my pockets. Everything in this room is top quality. From the furniture to the clothes to the books, Alice has spared no expense when it comes to Mira. It’s obvious that she dotes on her. But something bothers me.

As I watch Mira set up the chessboard, I ask, “What did you mean when you said your mother thinks you should play easier games?”

Mira shrugs nonchalantly. “Mom said I shouldn’t be so smart. Other kids might not like it.”

I absorb this small bit of information and tuck it away for later use. I’m not in a position to make any decisions about Mira. Alice is skittish enough as it is; she was hesitant even to let me see our daughter. If Mira were my only goal, I could probably be a little more forceful, but if I want Alice back, too, then I have to play my cards right.

“I want to be black,” Mira announces, and I grin.

“Good, because I’m always white.” As we begin playing the game, I ask, “So, do you have many friends?”

She shrugs once again, moving her pawn forward one square. “I had a lot of friends, but I changed schools. I go to first grade now. My teacher said I was too smart to stay in kindergarten.”

“Did you want to change?”

Mira hesitates and then shakes her head. “No. But I like it. I made a friend. Her name is Janet. And I made another friend called Phil. But Phil is not very nice. He says I can’t play soccer with him because I’m a girl. I wanted to bite him, but Mom said I could hurt him.”

“Bite him?”

She looks up at me suddenly and smiles, holding a finger against her lips. “You can’t tell Mom I told you.”

I nod. She holds out her hand, and I see her claws extend out of her nails. My blood turns cold. “Are you able to shift your body parts?”

She nods. “Mom said I have to hide it from everyone.”

Alarm fills me. If Mira is able to shift her body parts, that means she’s on the verge of her first transformation. She should not be going to a human school. The shift could take place at any time. If her emotions are heightened, she won’t be able to control it.

“Does Mary know?”

Mira shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

Anger is my first reaction. If she’s still going to a human school, that means Mary does not know. Alice should have told me. She should have at least told Mary. As a healer, her friend would know what to do. There is a reason why wolf shifter children do not go to human schools. Not until they’re in high school, at least, and are able to control the transformations.

My anger soon dies, however, as it occurs to me that Alice may not know this. After all, young children who are on the verge of transformation are monitored by pack elders, mostly the grandparents or some other elder who has experience with guiding a child through their first transformation. Alice would never have been around a child going through this. And she never was one.

But six years old is too early. Usually when children go through their first transformation, they’re approaching their teenage years. Any earlier usually implies that the child is a very powerful shifter or comes from a strong bloodline. I’ve never heard of anyone from the royal family shifting at such a tender age, though. The earliest recorded was at eight years old.

I have to abandon this train of thought because Mira also has a lot of questions for me.

What do I do?

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