Page 40 of Iris
Sophine clicks her tongue. “Humility is not one of your strong suits, I see. Neither is self-restraint.”
“But I’m not a liar. And there was this little girl, a little Omega,” I say, adding that fact to appeal to her good side. If one exists. “And she was lost.”
“Spare me,” she mutters under her breath.
“So I helped her find her home. Down in the Lower Side, and her poor parents were beside themselves. The little girl was so grateful that she tried to give me ice cream and spilled it on me. They let me borrow these clothes to come here since I couldn’t arrive in a ruined dress or naked.”
She gives me the once over again. Then sighs and sits. “You should work on your time management. And your swearing. But—” She crosses one leg over the other— “you have my attention now. Impress me. Why should you be my Luxe?”
I snort. “Me?”
“You,” she says. “Isn’t that why you’re here? To try and vie for my favor.”
“I’m here because I didn’t want to be rude by just not showing up. You invited me, so I came.”
Her head tilts to the side. “Oh?”
“I’m not like those other mate-hungry, obedient Omegas.”
She doesn’t say a word as Fredrick returns and crosses in front of me to set the drink down on her side table. He takes his place beside the chair.
“So you don’t want to be named Luxe this Season?” Sophine picks up her drink and takes a swallow.
“I’d rather have my eyelids nailed to my forehead.”
Fredrick gasps, nearly choking on air, but Sophine just looks amused.
Easy, Iris. That’s a littletoomuch like yourself. Best to rein it back in.
I clear my throat and try again. “It should be given to someone who likes this stuff. The parading around and finding a mate thing. It’s just not how I’d like to spend my summer.”
She puts down her glass, barely looking at me. “And how do you want to spend your summer then? Making more clothes to spill ice cream on?”
I think of Emmie, her adorable smile, and how she calls me Icy.
“Yes, actually. That sounds like a better waste of my time.”
“So then, tell me, Miss Gardener, what would you do if I did announce you as this Season’s Luxe Omega?” she asks.
I cross my arms. “I’d say no.”
“No one says no,” the Monarch says, her piercing gaze falling onto me once again. “No one.”
“I would.”
Her eyes narrow. “And what would your family say to that? Hm? Do they approve of your defiant lifestyle?”
My body tenses. It sounds a little too much like she’s threatening me, threatening my family, and I don’t like it. “They just…want the best for me,” I settle with, which I know is true.
Well, maybe not Heath, but I don’t count him.
“Rules are made for a reason,” she chides. “Otherwise there’d be chaos.”
“I severely doubt letting people choose their own mates, regardless of their affiliation, will lead to anarchy. It’s how it is on the mainland. Betas and Alphas, Omegas and Deltas—” Right then, I think about the way Killian licked my throat and the way Xavier kissed me, and I shiver—“or multiple mates. It shouldn’t matter.”
As soon as it leaves my mouth, I regret it. I’ve gone too far.
Sophine’s eyes widen in horror. “That’s unheard of.”
