I'm No Cinderella

Chapter 24

Still, I felt a sort of giddy anticipation dance through my veins as I descended the stairs without a guard. I felt like one of the rebellious teenagers that I had read about in books when I was younger, sneaking out to do the things that Ash and I were never able to do. When nobody paid me any mind on the main floor, my pace quickened, giddy with the feeling of victory.

It was a small thing, to walk to the garden in the castle unbothered by anyone, but to me it was huge. Only months ago, I would never have done it for fear of what could happen. I was still afraid, but it was not the crutch that it once was.

The frigid air nearly had me turning tail and running back up to my room, but I persevered, marveling at the winter wonderland forming before me. The snow was drifting lazily down from the sky, creating a dazzling scene and settling into my hair.

When the garden came into view, it was all I could do to refrain from running to it. I wasn't sure where my sudden good mood had come from other than that, quite simply, I had always loved the first snow of the season.

Nothing else compared.

Once I passed through the arches into the enchanted garden, my pace slowed. There were flowers of every kind here, most of which I had no name for. Flowers the size of a grain of rice, flowers with big fanning petals, others with spiked leaves. I trailed along the pathway, crossing under arch after arch as I perused the extensive collection, stopping occasionally to smell the pretty blooms.

All of them had one thing in common. They were thriving, despite the freezing temperature.

I spied a bench across from the rose bushes, and dropped down onto it, my eyes drifting closed. I brought the scarf up over my nose and mouth, savoring the feel of the snowflakes melting against my skin.

I wasn't sure how long I remained like that, savoring the winter afternoon, listening to the breeze rustle the plants around me with my eyes shut.

Until I felt a strange tension fill the air.

My eyes snapped open, and I jumped in my seat as I spotted a figure from the corner of my eye. The tension fell away though, when I realized that it was only Gianluca. His gaze was trained on me, his expression unreadable. "You scared me," I breathed out, pressing a hand to my chest to calm my rapid heartbeat.

He made no move to respond, just continued to stand there, in the middle of the path, staring at me with a blank face. "How did you know I was here?" I asked awkwardly.

A muscle ticked in his jaw, before he responded, voice neutral, nothing like the warm tone he usually used with me. "Shifters have stronger senses than humans do," he said, as if that answer was quite simple, "that, and you left a trail of footprints, though any longer and the snow would have covered them up."

It was then that I noticed the gold burning in his eyes, and the chill that ran through my veins then had nothing to do with the snowflakes melting in my hair. I had read that a change in eye color meant that a shifter was struggling with some strong emotion, but his face was still blank, giving no sign of what it could be. His head tilted to the side as if he could hear the way my heart had panicked up speed.

"I followed it because when I found your room empty, I thought something might have happened to you."

As he finished his statement, his odd behavior began to make sense. He was worried about me, I realized, and likely quite angry as well. He had told me that he wanted me to be escorted by a guard for now, and I had blatantly disregarded his wishes.

Him. The alpha. The prince who had been raised in a castle and was not accustomed to being disobeyed.

I knew his anger was a possibility, but I had chosen to come to the garden anyway. In hindsight, it seemed childish. After all, I had risked my life for what– to feel the crunch of snow beneath my boots? Even the snow continuing to drift down from the sky seemed to lose some of its splendor before my very eyes.