I'm No Cinderella

Chapter 19

    He caught me staring, one corner of his mouth tilting up in a smirk in time with the scorching heat spreading across my cheeks. His brow raised just the slightest bit, "Is there something on your mind, little mate?"

    Little mate.

    He said the word so casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. To me, it was anything but.

    I dragged my gaze from his, looking out at the dark treeline across the small field to our right. My lip fell between teeth, still unsure of how to proceed, or if he would even be willing to answer my questions.

After a while, he sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets as I felt his gaze leave the side of my face, "Whatever it is, you know where to find me, should you change your mind about telling me." He paused a moment, as if thinking through his words with care before adding, voice a touch softer, almost wistful, "I hope you'll find that you can trust me, someday."

    I made the mistake of looking back up at him, immediately finding myself ensnared by that all-consuming pull. The words slipped out without my conscious permission, "I've been reading," I hesitated, swallowing down the lump in my throat, "about your kind."

    "Is that so?" His smirk returned.

    I nodded, face reddening further.

    "Alright," he said, tone hinting at his amusement, "well, I assume you have questions, then?"

    "I do," I hesitated once again, "but to be honest, I'm not sure where to begin."

    He hummed deep in his chest, "Take your time."

    "Well," I started, "all of the books seem to agree that 'the mate bond is unforgiving'," I stressed the words, "or some variation of that phrase. What is that supposed to mean?" The phrase had been on my mind, eating away at me since I first saw it.

    He drew out a long breath, "No one knows why it happens, it's as much a mystery to us as the mate bond itself. But, the saying is alluding to the fact that every little bit of yourself that you give to the bond, no matter how small, cannot be taken back. The bond will only grow stronger and harder to resist."

    He allowed me to mull that over. "Did accepting your first invitations for a dinner or walk together count as giving to the mate bond?"

    He didn't answer my question directly, "Did the pull grow stronger for you after that?"

    "I– I–," I paused, taking a moment to think it over, "I'm not sure."

    He nodded, and I was envious of his collected demeanor. "Does that make you regret accepting my invitation tonight?"

    My mouth opened and closed like a fish. "No," I finally managed, looking up at him reluctantly, "I have more questions."

    He chuckled, his eyes shining like the twilight sky above us, "Then, by all means, ask away."

    "Alright then," I was going to make him regret that invitation by the time I sated my curiosity, "tell me about accepting mates. The books said that the bond is initiated at first contact, but can be detected earlier through scent. They also said that acceptance is what completes the bond."

    "That is correct," he agreed. "Was there a question?"

    I looked down at the stone pathway beneath our feet, "I suppose my question is, what is acceptance? And how does it work?"

    "That's a bit complicated as well, but it's quite literally when both parties have accepted one another. That intense, insatiable need will taper off to a more comfortable level, to allow them to settle into their new lives together." He paused to allow two servants to bustle past us on the path, then resumed, "How it happens is another story entirely, it varies between each couple. It could snap into place after a first kiss, first proclamation of love, first night together, anything at all."

    I took a deep breath, reeling from the influx of information. "And what exactly is 'the gift'?"

    He gave me a warm smile, "You really did do your research."

    I tilted my chin up like Signora Flori taught me, "I like to be thorough."

    His eyes studied the action, trailing as always, down to my bare neck, "I might have known that. I've been told you're receiving excellent marks in your etiquette lessons. Signora Flori says you work very hard in her class."

    My face flushed. The cranky old woman had said such nice things to him about me? Then, another thought occurred to me. Were the etiquette lessons some kind of test to see if I would be fit to fill the role of queen? I wasn't sure if I should be angry, or flattered that I seemed to be passing their pointless test.

    Instead, I prompted, "So, 'the gift'?"

    "The gift," he sighed, "is a term usually used to refer to the Goddess's third gift to our people. After granting us the ability to change form at will, and giving us soul mates to live our lives with, she gave us a third gift. It is a sort of change that happens hand-in-hand with acceptance. A sort of awakening, if you will."

    My lips pursed, "What kind of awakening?"

    "Mates each contain half of one soul. Together, they are complete. The gift is an awakening of untapped power within yourself that you couldn't access before. Strength that you didn't even know you had. Even human mates experience changes from the gift, that is the power of our Goddess."

    I tried to hide my repulsion, "Changes, how?"

    He shrugged, "Some experience minor increases in strength, and speed. Others, a bit of accelerated healing."

    I gulped, "Just minor though, nothing compared to that changes a shifter might experience."

    "That is correct."

    I nodded, faking a smile to hide my growing discomfort.

    The prince needed me, to attain the gift and reach his full potential. The kind of strength that his father had used to brutalize each and every one of his opponents in The Trials.

    The realization hit me like a blow to the gut.

Despite the alpha's kind words and gestures, he had absolutely no intention of letting me go at the end of the year.

~*~*~

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