Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 28

“When are we going to meet this Lacy girl you just won’t shut up about, Anaya?” One of the Princess’s friends, Saylor asked. All five of them were in the Alpha King’s sister’s luxurious room, a large space that kind of had a penthouse vibe to it, with a large hall painted in neutral colors and floor to ceiling tainted windows giving a magnificent view of the gardens down below. There was also a small inbuilt library, a little office where the princess did all her writing, and sometimes her reading as well, a meditation sanctuary, and an ultra-modern bathroom with a hot tub to boot. It was really no wonder that her friends liked to hang out over at her’s instead, for she had basically everything one would need to be chilling while cozy.

Anaya had desperately itched to show Lacy her lodgings, particularly to show the human girl her collection of erotic novels and special edition books, but the girl had been confined to her room then. Imprisoned against her will because of her stubborn a*s of a brother. But now, when she had finally been released to move about as she pleased, she worked shifts at the Clan’s hospital as nurse, meaning that Anaya only got to see her in the evenings, when she was so tired, she could barely string sentences. And Anaya was all things, but selfish wasn’t one of them, so she had resorted to giving the girl a little space, only seeing her briefly and leaving her to rest.

Lacy had felt terrible about it, but she would have none of that. It was a truly admirable thing to see one so committed to making others feel better. Besides, Anaya had told her that the weekend would soon be here, and they could have as much fun as they wanted before she had to return to work on Monday.

Honestly speaking, Anaya didn’t know that her life was that meaningless until the dark-haired human came along, for her old friends only spoke about boys, and shopping and fashion, gossiping and throwing shade on other girls, and basically focusing only on entertaining and expensive stuff. And for a long time, Anaya had been okay with that, because that was what she had been born into, what she had grown up to see as okay. She had tried to be different at first, but the redhead had been so heavily criticized and ridiculed that no one had told her to just stick to what she knew.

“Anaya!”

The poor girl jumped up with a start at the mention of her name, shooting her chubby friend a pointed look, “What now, Saylor?”

“You didn’t answer the question.” Another friend, Nissi chipped in.

“She’s working at the hospital all week, hopefully you guys will meet her this weekend,” She smiled tightly, “Happy now?”

“Much.” Saylor stuck out her tongue childishly, “Though I don’t know why someone would deliberately choose to work at a hospital,” She visibly shivered in disgust for emphasis, and as much as Anaya didn’t want to, she found herself bursting out in laughter, for she couldn’t help but agree with her girls on this one. You see, the princess hated hospitals with a passion. She couldn’t really recall why, but she reckoned it had something to do with her mum’s passing, or something of that sort. She greatly admired people who worked there as a result, another reason why the little human was kind of like her idol in that moment.

“Speaking of hospitals,” Another friend, Viv, a short, orange ombre haired girl with a buxom figure said, “Did y’all see what Xavier Mendoza wore to the Salient Club show last weekend? I swear to the moon Goddess, that male-Lyken is just s*x on legs.”

Anaya felt heat rush into her cheeks even as her heart rate began to pick up.

How had they even gotten here exactly?

Because it seemed like just milliseconds ago when her friends had been talking about Lacy and when they were going to meet her, and now they were talking about the object of all her erotic fantasies. Dr. Xavier Mendoza.

In that moment, the beautiful princess just wished that the ground would open up and swallow her.

No one knew that she was desperately in love with the Healer Supreme.

Well, no one except Lacy that is, and honestly speaking, the Lyken princess would have it no other way, for she knew that her friends were blabbermouths, and she also knew that in the same length that they discussed other people’s issues in her presence, that was exactly how they were going to go elsewhere and air out all her secrets until it eventually reached the good doctor.

She couldn’t have that.

It was why she sat so still, barely taking in any breath, wishing to whichever god cared to listen that they’d quickly move on to other matters.

But alas, the fates apparently wanted her the object of scrutiny, for all of a sudden, all five girls had their attention on her, “Anaya, you don’t seem to have heard a thing we were saying, where’s your head today?” The fourth friend, Lola, retorted.

“We were asking if you saw Xavier that night,” Saylor chipped in,

“And if you agree that he’s probably the second handsome man in the entire clan,” Viv added, inspecting her nude acrylic nails.

“Of course, he cannot be compared to your brother,” The last girl, Kenya interjected, “But technically, that’s a bod you cannot even think of exploring, because you know… family.” She winked at that, “Though I’ll not fault you if you decide to go for it after all, I mean you guys are royalty, right? And if it worked for the Targaryens, who am I to judge you then?”

Ew.

You see what I was talking about?

Empty airheads with absolutely nothing to offer!

Anaya had just about had enough, and thankfully the disgust from Kenya’s last words had overshadowed her sudden breathiness and discomfort at the mention of Xavier’s name, and the princess quickly and actively took advantage of it, “First off,” She flicked her red hair, shooting Kenya a glare, “Ew. And second of all, I didn’t really notice Xavier like that,” She lied between her teeth, even though she knew very well that her eyes had started seeking him out almost as soon as she had gotten to the party, and that as soon as her gaze had locked in on him, she hadn’t looked away all night until she had been dizzy from inebriation and too much wishing that she was the one in his arms that night, and not some other she-Lyken.

But that was not exactly what they were talking about right?

And besides, she needed to do one more thing to completely throw them off her scent. Something that would completely get them off her back and keep her, and her dirty little secret safe. Something that would continue to leave them unsuspecting of her actual love interest.

And so, she said, “I was more focused on Shanice’s brother, Daquan. Weird, right?” She scrunched her perfect button nose for extra emphasis, noting with satisfaction how her five girls simultaneously let out huge gasps, tell-tale signs that they had completely swallowed her story hook, line and sinker.

The princess sighed in relief when they began to chipper in excitement about Shanice’s whoring ways, among other things, and she closed her eyes, tuning them out, her mind taking her to the soft, quiet, calm place only a good book could. She sighed deeply in contentment, knowing that this fix was only temporary… but in that moment, she didn’t even care. It was a temporary fix alright, but it was going to have to do.