Page 33 of The Alpha's Cursed Queen

My father’s health has begun to decline in the past decade. My mother died during childbirth, and while my father has not been the most affectionate of parents, he hasn’t been completely neglectful. I see him watching Alice, a wistful look in his eyes.

“What is it?”

He’s silent, as if thinking something over, and when he speaks, his voice is tired and filled with a heavy grief. “She reminds me of Freya.”

“My mother?” I look at Alice, surprised.

I’ve never seen any pictures of my mother. After her death, my father destroyed all her portraits, not only in the palace but in the entire Wolf Kingdom. The loss of his fated mate was too much for him to bear. But he never resented me for it. Any mention of Queen Freya was banned within the Wolf Kingdom. It’s almost as if she ceased to exist, even in memory, after her death. So, to hear my father mention her is nothing short of a jolt to me.

He seems to realize the slip of his tongue and clears his throat. “You’re not going to introduce your fated mate to your father?”

I get to my feet, unable to hide my smile. “Of course.”

Since the main event is now over and everybody is mingling, I make my way toward where Alice is standing with her friend, still looking shell-shocked. As soon as our eyes meet, hers turn wide as saucers, and she turns around and walks away.

I sigh.

Of course. Why does this not surprise me?

The ballroom opens up to multiple terraces where couples can step away to get some privacy. It’s in one of these spaces where I find Alice. She’s standing in a corner, her face pale.

“Room for one more?” I ask, closing the terrace doors behind me.

She doesn’t say anything, just stares at me.

“You know, you can talk to me.” I sit down on the bench in front of Alice, gazing up at her. “I don’t bite. At least, not yet.” She presses her lips together, and I continue. “You can get mad at me. I know you want to.”

“I wouldn’t want to offend His Highness.” Her words are sharp, and I try to hide my smile.

She’s angry, alright.

“I would have told you,” I begin, struggling to hide my amusement, “but you wouldn’t have gone out with me if I had.”

“That’s not tr—”

“Oh, you know it is.” I cross my arms over my chest. “You were planning to hide out in the human world, away from wolf society. I would have ruined your plans.”

“You did ruin my plans.” She makes a face, rubbing her arms.

“Alice.” I get to my feet as the music starts to play inside. Taking her hand in mine, I pull her gently toward me. “Let’s dance.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Well, I want to dance with my mate,” I inform her, sweeping her off her feet, into the air, and twirling her around. Her startled gasp fills me with delight. Lowering her back down till her feet touch the marble floor of the terrace, I breathe, “From the moment I laid eyes on you, I felt something, and that something just kept growing with each meeting. The more you tried to push me away, the more certain I was of this feeling. I wasn’tsurprised by our fated bond. In fact, you could almost say that I have been expecting it.”

I feel a surge of happiness when her eyes sparkle with emotion. She looks away as if overwhelmed. “You have far more faith in me than I do. I didn’t even know it was possible for me to have a fated mate.”

“Why not?” I ask, puzzled. “Every wolf shifter has a fated mate out there. Why should you be any different?”

“Because—” She pauses, searching my eyes. Suddenly, she pulls away from me in an abrupt movement, realization forming in her expression. Her voice is shaking as she whispers, “You didn’t check, did you?”

I hadn’t expected her to figure it out so late. To be honest, I never had any intention of doing research on her. I found her address by following her scent. It wasn’t hard.

I try to move toward her but she recoils, horror in her eyes. “You never looked me up. All this time, I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?” I demand, feeling frustrated now. “What is so horrible that it could matter at this point? We are fated mates, Alice! What is it?”

“I—”

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