Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 19 They Don't Matter

Landry

POV

Landry looks up from his conversation about painting the palace walls just in time to see Bernice take a deep inhale of the most dangerous flower ever.

"Shit!" He shouts, racing over. His eyes scan the area, looking for detoxifying berries. This flower is known as an intense aphrodisiac, sending whoever smells it into deep and sometimes incurable lust.

Not only would that hurt a normal person, Bernice is already ill, and Landry doesn't even want to think about how that could hurt her.

"No!" he shouts, pushing the flower from her hand. Her eyes are already glazed and she reaches out for him. He steps away just enough to grab the berries he'd spotted but she catches up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.

Landry can't help but kiss back, he's always been powerless against Bernice's kisses. Even under the influence of the dangerous flower, her lips are addictive, and her kisses are intense. Their tongues clash, and Bernice moans as Landry deepens the kiss, sliding a hand up her thigh.

"Landry?"

The call of his name by Jessie snaps Landry out of it. He'd run so fast from her she must be confused. He doesn't want her to see Bernice like this, but Bernice is still trying desperately to kiss Landry so he pops the berries in his mouth and feeds them to her as he kisses her.

He knows they work when she faints into his arms, even with her increased desire due to the plant. Landry pauses for a moment and considers: if the berries can cause Bernice to fall asleep even when under the influence of the aphrodisiac, could they help her when her illness causes her pain?

Deciding he could offer them to the witch-doctor for advice, Landry picks some to take back to the palace.

Jessie POV

Little did Landry know, Jessie had seen the intimate, intense kiss. It was shocking - she did not want to see her brother in that compromising position, but she had to admit it was nice to see her brother so happy.

He had never before shown interest in a woman. As far as Jessie knew, her younger brother had never even kissed a woman, she was starting to worry about his sexuality. She was worried he was gay, and so, was delighted when he brought home Denise.

And yet, Jessie wonders. She watches the intense kiss between them. There's passion in every line of her brother's body, adoration and almost love, even, but when she looks at Denise, she is worried.

It almost looks as though Denise has no feelings whatsoever, like Denise is a blank slate. She kisses Landry with intensity, true, but the love seems lacking. Jessie worries deeply for a moment, but tries to shake it off.

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course she loves him! She kisses him, they have sex for goodness sake!" Jessie shakes her head, ashamed of herself. "Besides, Denise is such a kind and innocent girl, of course she doesn't have bad intentions..." One thing Jessie knows for sure is that she does NOT want her brother to know she saw their kiss, so she looks away and pretends to be confused as to where he went, calling his name.

Bernice POV

A few days after Jessie, Landry and I went to the orchard, and I was stupid enough to smell a strange plant, it is Jessie's birthday.

My initial response is to ignore it. Who cares about birthdays? That is how I was raised. Besides, those kinds of things were for the Omega to take care of, not the Alpha.

Then I realized: I am the Omega again. This isn't like before. I don't have to pretend to not like those traditional Omega things.

So, I decide to bake Jessie a birthday cake.

I do not expect Landry to be confused.

"I just didn't expect you to be into...baking," he confesses, and I smirk. He's staring around the palace kitchen, which is covered in bowls, dishes, and other baking supplies. The cake is in the oven and I am cleaning up as I wait. "Because I'm a big, tough Alpha?" I guess, and he nods, bemused.

"Exactly."

"This will surprise you, but before the medication and before I became the Alpha, I liked baking," I tell him. Then, I grow quiet. "I liked a lot of things I wasn't allowed to like ever again." Landry is quiet. For a moment, he's so quiet I think he's left, but then he gently takes one of my hands, surprising me. I look up to meet his eyes, and they're soft, caring.

"Tell me," he encourages. I hesitate - part of me insists it doesn't really matter. It's in the past, and I'm dying, so why should I? But then I look deeper into his handsome eyes, and I see that he genuinely cares, and something inside me breaks. "Before I was twelve, I liked the traditional Omega she-wolf things," I tell him. "Baking, cooking, dresses, skirts. I embraced them, owned them. All things cute and sweet, like a proper Omega."

Landry nods, to show he understands. I take a deep breath, steeling myself. I've never talked of my childhood before, and since Landry took me in, I've shared more about it than I ever expected. And I share more every day.

"Once my stepmother gave me the medication, it was all taken away," I say, and my heart hurts just remembering younger me, so sad and confused as my dresses and skirts were burned in the fire pit, as my hands were slapped when I reached for sweets. "I never had a birthday cake again."

There's a long moment of silence after I speak. I worry I've said too much, that Landry will be disgusted or worse, that he'll go seek revenge, and I don't want revenge.

I'm too tired.

And it's not worth it, anyway. I'm not worth it.

Suddenly, Landry pulls me close, into his arms, holding me tight. My breath catches in surprise as he tenderly cradles me close. I squeeze my eyes shut - whatever vulnerability I show, I still refuse to cry. I will not cry!

"Oh, Bernice," Landry says, and his voice is so tender it aches. "Never again. I will call for the finest tailors in the werewolf world, they will makes you all the dresses and skirts your heart desires. You don't have to give up what makes you happy, not anymore."

"No," I protest. "I couldn't ask that."

Landry hushes me.

"You are not asking. I am telling you that that is what I will do."

I shake my head.

"It is impossible. I cannot leave the palace, not in my condition."

"Do not worry about it, I will pay them to stay here. Trust me, Bernice. I am the Alpha King, they will do as I ask."

"Landry," I whisper helplessly, and Landry tilts my head back and kisses me softly. "People will talk."

"Let them talk," he says dismissively. "They don't matter to me. Not like you."

He kisses me again before I can protest and his words whirl in my head like a cyclone.

They don't matter. Not like you.