Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 19

“Look, Anaya… if this makes you uncomfortable, I can always turn down the offer and ask for something else—”

“No, no Lacy. You will do no such thing.” The princess was quick to disagree. “I—There’s no way you’re giving up your free time to do something meaningful over here on my account.” She decided.

“But—”

No buts, Lace.” The she-Lyken was firm. “I mean, am I bummed out a little bit about my lack of progress with Xavier? Sure… but it’s certainly not towards you, I can assure you. I partly blame my beast of a brother for being overprotective, but I guess nothing at all will change Xavier and I’s situation, you know? Best I start getting it into my thick skull.”

Lacy’s heart went out to her friend. If she dare say so, she was practically in the same predicament herself, and though the Alpha King did admit his attraction to her, it was not in a way that was worthy, it was not in the way she wanted to be noticed.

The attraction he felt for her was degrading.

And it most certainly had no future, for all he saw her as was as an object to be desired… used to satisfy his every whim and urge. Her wants and needs were certainly not going to be considered, and she did not have free will in any way at all.

That was no relationship?

Not one that anyone deserved anyways.

Lacy only took solace in one fact…

That it was all going to be over very soon.

The Alpha King had told her that she only had to slave herself to him for three months… just three months, and then she could go back home to her human family. Lacy knew that it was quite slow in coming, but that day was still going to come eventually, wasn’t it? That was just the thing about time… a second, a minute, an hour, two… one day, one night… then bye and bye, it all ran out. And so Lacy knew she could rest well assured that she would soon leave and put this life behind her.

“Come on Lacy,” Anaya nudged her, snapping the human girl out of her thoughts. “Why are we sitting out here wasting your four hours on being gloomy spoilsports?” Lacy chuckled in amusement, even as her friend smiled cheerily, standing up. “Come, we need to celebrate your little win, praying that there be more to come.” Lacy allowed the Princess to pull her to her feet, grateful that the girl was wise enough not to be weird about what had just transpired. “Are you taking me to meet your friends?” She asked, intrigued, wondering what the red haired princess had in store for her, but Anaya only chuckled. “I wish. But unfortunately, His Eminence has forbidden any other interactions with the members of the Clan, and while going against him for a second time in the day would be something I would love more than anything, I would not want to put you in any trouble and make you lose your fresh privileges as a result.”

Lacy joined in on the laughter, “Oh believe me, Anaya, if I had to give all my privileges up, I would do so in a heartbeat just to see that livid look on his face should he get to know I did something fun that he did not approve of.” They snickered some more, and then Anaya suddenly turned serious, “You’re honestly the bravest woman I know, Lace,” She admitted, pride shining in her light green eyes. “You’re strong willed, determined, unafraid in the face of danger, and the amazing part is… you do not even have a wolf to protect you should it come down to it, I really wonder how you do it sometimes,”

Aww.

Lacy was touched. It was the first time someone was admiring her never give up attitude in a positive connotation, and she was liking the young she-Lyken more and more each day as a result of that and her overall amazing sunny persona and kind spirit. “I think that you’re an amazing person too.”

“Gods,” Anaya chuckled as they walked, suddenly stopping in her tracks. “I think we’ve been sappy enough, don’t you think? Let’s do something adventurous.”

“Well, what do you have in mind, your Eminence? I can call you that too, right?”

“Nerrhh, the Alpha King is the only person eminent enough, I’m afraid.” Anaya clarified, “But I actually wanted you to meet my beastly half, Due.”

Lacy’s head whipped to her friend so fast that she almost gave herself whiplash. She swallowed deeply, “I—I think I’ll pass on this adventure, Princess. What I’m actually dying to know is why your beastly halves as you call it have different names and are not just primal extensions of yourselves.”

“Okay I’ll answer that.” Anaya conceded begrudgingly, “Our wolf forms are completely separate entities, Lacy. They have a conscience, are capable of reason and have their own wants and needs, unlike the Werewolves who are half man, half wolf. They hear us, we hear them, they hear other wolves too, even other species like your kind. But we must not forget that they are beasts as well, so I guess being primal is a part of their nature. The good thing is that, theirs is more controlled. This is another thing that makes us a lot different from werewolves.” The Princess’s bone straight, upper back length hair seemed to get in her way all of a sudden, for she paused her explanation to tie it up in a messy bun, thinking things through to see if she had forgotten something important. “Well, that’s about it I guess.”

“I see,” Lacy muttered letting it all sink in, even as her mind cast her back to when Xavier had barged in to save her life. Damien. That was what the Alpha King had called him. Lacy saw now that the two wolves had been addressing each other, and not their human others. Everything made sense then.

“Come on Lacy, don’t be a p***y,” The redhead nudged her friend again, trying to get her to change her mind. “It’ll be fun, plus Due has been dying to meet you. She likes you, you know?”

But Lacy’s mind was quite made up on the matter, “My first two encounters with your specie did not exactly leave much desire to want to meet any of you again, so I’m afraid I’ll pass again,”

“Two encounters?” The princess repeated, a perfectly plucked eye brow c*****g up in confusion. “But I thought you only met Reed’s wolf once,” She asked, confused.

Oh s**t.

In the fear of the moment, Lacy had forgotten that she had been told not to repeat the second encounter to anyone, and she had faltered so much that Anaya certainly knew that something was up, and she didn’t exactly have any lie in mind to use as a cover up story.

“What aren’t you telling me, Lace?” The bone-straight ginger haired girl had seen that look countless times on her brother, the Alpha King’s face to know that Lacy was hiding something. She watched her friend take a deep breath and clear her throat nervously, “Promise me you won’t tell anyone about this,”

“O—okay,” The princess gave her word carefully, wiping sweat off her brow with a fancy peach colored handkerchief.

“The second time you heard I was back in the dungeons… it was because I had slapped his Eminence, and not because I tried to escape.” Lacy told the tale. To say Anaya was shocked was an understatement. The she-Lyken was downright freaked out and taken aback. “Lacy! Why the f**k would you do that?! H—how are you not dead already? Because I know my brother, and I know his wolf, Ace… you are not supposed to be alive telling me this incredible story.”

“Xavier saved me.” Lacy admitted shamefacedly.

“Oh.” Anaya said. “Oh.” She kept repeating. She took a few steps forward, and then turned back, almost frantic, “Wait, so the hospital wasn’t the first time you met him?”

“Yes.” That answer was simple, certainly not a lie, certainly not revealing that she had seen him more than once actually… that he had come into her chambers and she had enjoyed his company. That answer was perfect, because it stopped Lacy from hurting her friend any further. “I see.” That was all the Lyken princess said, and then she continued to walk off, apparently deep in thought. Lacy chased after her, “Anaya, please don’t me mad,” She begged. “I’m not,” The princess assured her, “Just hurt that you couldn’t tell me about it, but I can see why Reed wouldn’t allow you to, I guess. Let’s just forget about it, the most important part is that you’re okay.” She smiled, reaching for her friend’s arm once more. “So you really don’t want to see Due?” Anaya tried again, an adorable puppy look on her face. “Ugh, how can I say no to that?” Lacy g*****d loudly, collapsing onto the lush, well-trimmed, vibrant green grass, not really bothered that she’d stain her black baggy t-shirt and shorts. “Alright fine, let’s meet her.”

Anaya squealed in delight and then got into a dramatic stance, “Uh… you’re doing it right now, right here?” Lacy raised an eyebrow,

“Why, I shouldn’t?” Anaya mirrored her action, “No, I mean don’t we need to go somewhere you can take off your clothes or something?” Lacy clarified.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” The princess flicked a hand, “I took a pill, so I’m good,”

Lacy was confused, and the scrunched look on her face was evidence enough, “What does popping a pill have to do with you not having to ruin your clothes?” She mused out loud, her concentration leaving her friend for a bit to gently get a huge red sugar ant off her calf.

“A lot, actually.”

The voice was different.

Much deeper, sultry sounding. That was in no way the princess?

“The pill ensures that Anaya is still clothed when I hand back control.” Lacy’s fear was obvious as she slowly lifted her head in the direction of the new voice. She saw two large paws first, each covered with five toes that were connected to long legs covered in brilliant white fur, and then up and up her gaze went, to the shoulders, to a blend of white and coffee on the chest area and the thick mane of the huge wolf, and then it was back to the brilliant white fur again on its face again. The wolf was facing her, sitting on its hunches (Or should I say her hunches), so that was just about the only view Lacy had of her. Her huge head c****d to the side curiously as she checked the human out from head to toe, her sparkling blue eyes alight with mischief. “Hello, Lacy…”

“H—Hi.” Lacy tentatively tried to make it to her feet, but the huge beast tackled her to the ground, causing Lacy to let out a series of loud terrified screams as she shut her eyes in fear. But instead of bites, she felt something warm and wet on her face. Licks.

The beast was familiarizing herself with her!

The screams quickly turned into squeals of delight that echoed across the huge garden, but Lacy didn’t care, she hadn’t been this ecstatic in a long while, it honestly felt very good.

There was a creaking sound from the upper part of the castle, human and wolf turning to see what that sound was. Lacy’s gaze met with the Alpha King’s startling blue ones, an unreadable look on his face as he looked down at them from the open window, bare chested. So that was where the creaking sound had come from.

But their heated stare down was quickly cut off, for a woman appeared beside him… a woman in a blonde pixie cut, naked as the day she was born, her small, perky mounds on display to everyone who could see her from up there… but she did not seem to be in the least bit bothered. The woman smirked slightly at them, and that was the last thing Lacy saw before the windows went back to their closed state.