The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 4

The sun begins to set, and Alpha Tophet has yet to return. I sit at the table in the lone tent as I wait for him. My lines have already been decided upon and rehearsed with Tabitha; something quick that was supposed to get us home before nightfall, but it is no longer afternoon, and it is much too late to travel.

My birthday is tomorrow — I was born in the early morning, before the birds and the sun and the dew. My mother told me that I was supposed to be born the day before, but I refused to come out. She was in labor for far longer than expected, far longer than any woman would agree to be.

Stubborn — she called me. A princess who disapproved of the world and who was content waiting until it improved for her to join it. She pushed, however. She forced me out. So I was born an hour past midnight and cried and cried until the sun finally rose and shone its rays through the window panes of the keep.

I was terrified — sleepless.

I sat against the wooden tub all night, holding myself. I bled from my ears, nose, eyes, and from between my legs, and I left myself drain away like my mother did when she died.

But I didn't die. The Goddess' heavens did not open for me.

I hear Alpha Tophet part the flaps of the tent. My back is to him, but I know he is studying me once again; I feel the heat of his gaze.

"I'm returning home," I say then turn in my chair to look at him. "I know we haven't come to an agreement, but I don't believe one is possible. I thought I would do the honorable thing and tell you rather than disappear. Maybe a negotiation can be attempted again in the future, but for now, I'm done."

He watches me in a spell of silence. I cast my own eyes downward with nowhere else to fixate, finding it strange to look at him for too long. "Then our war continues," he says, his tone only confusing me with its plainness.

"I suppose so. My men and I will stay for the night and leave in the morning."

I lift from the chair and head for the exit, curving around him but not stepping out into the approaching night until I say, "Goodbye, Alpha Tophet."

This is the last time I will see him, but I have yet to smile like I thought I would.

Tabitha and two guards wait outside for me, and we walk back to our camp together. The snow has begun to stick and build and soon enough we will be unable to step through it so thoughtlessly; it will continue to pile as the season reaches its peak that is still a month away.

"I assumed we would be back to celebrate your birthday," Tabitha says.

"We can still celebrate tomorrow when we do get home. It'll still be my birthday."

"Yes, but I like it when we do it the second you were born. It makes it extra special. The universe wants it that way."

"You'll have to ask the universe for an exception."

She sighs. "Very well. Though, the universe is getting a little tired of my requests."

A smile tugs on my blueish lips. "It is, is it?"

Heaven didn't want me; Hell had already consumed me, but I believe the day of my death will be the day I return to the goddess. The God's ties only bind me in this world for the next will be all mine.

We eat our small dinner then settle in our tent. Tabitha falls asleep swiftly, so I sit upright on my sleeping mat in the dark.

My skin pimples against the fabric of my nightgown.

"Underneath."

The nail of my middle finger scrapes against the face of my thumb.

"Into his chest."