My Alpha Mate Wants Me Back

There's a selection.

Alpha Kier hasn't found his mate and he has given up on finding her. I thought that meant I had a chance. I thought that meant one day, he'll notice me in my rags, hiding by the corner, watching him as always.

But no. He's having Alpha females over to pick a suitable woman to mate with and make his Luna.

And me? I'm right here, washing the plates the invited maidens will dine with.

Every glass plate clangs loudly as I dump them in the sink, visibly vibrating with indignation. I can't deal. I really can't deal with this. Why can't I be his bride? Because I don't have Alpha blood running through my veins? Because I haven't shifted yet? Because I'm not beautiful enough?

Mother used to say I have the most beautiful eyes; eyes that capture attention and hold it. Eyes that enchant and seduce. She said it could one day be helpful. I don't see how when Alpha Kier won't look at me.

"Do not make me whack you in the head, Jessamine! You break one more plate, you sleep in the stables!" The Chief Cook yells and I flinch at the vicious tone.

Someone laughs not too far from me. Amelie, probably. "Reality finally hit her hard. Maybe she'll stop hovering around the Alpha like a leech now. Stupid."

I bare my teeth at her and the others join in laughing. Everyone knows of my feelings except the actual person I harbor these feelings for. They call me stupid every day. They call me a fool. They call me insane for thinking I'll ever be noticed. There are women who flock around the castle just to get him to look at them. Beautiful women from powerful families and packs. They all want him.

He is the richest, most powerful Alpha in Neredia. It also doesn't help that he has looks that should belong to a god. Looks that would befit only the mate of the Goddess herself. But that is not why I fell in love with him.

"Hurry now! They're arriving!" I hear the Head Maid scream from outside, running in with her skirts raised with her hands. "Out with the dessert! Now! Jessamine, move from there! We need all the hands we can get!"

I wipe a tear from my cheek as I abandon the dirty dishes, leaving my partner, Layana, with it. She gives me the evil eye, muttering something about how I'm a delusional idiot under her breath.

I'm handed two trays and I find myself shoved in the line of maids headed towards the Grand Hall where the most important events are hosted. The air is leaving my lungs and my breaths are harsh and fast. Another tear drops from my eyes and I force my feet to move forward.

I am shoved and pushed around until we reach the hall. It becomes even more difficult to breathe. The women are all so painstakingly beautiful, moving with a grace I will never dream of having. Their voices lilt and they giggle like gargoyles-if gargoyles ever giggle. They exude power, sophistication and. . .

I want to stab something.

I can't have waited all twenty one years of my life for the Alpha to notice me, only to have him stolen away from me by one of these vain seductresses.

Alpha Kier is mine. He just doesn't know it yet. Call me delusional or sick in the head, but being an Omega doesn't make me weak-minded. I can have dreams and desires. I can fight for what I love. I can be the woman I want to be.

And the woman I want to be is the Alpha's woman.

My eyes scan the overly crowded hall, taking note of the seating arrangements of all the maidens on display with their full bosoms and waists cinched by corsets. I notice Beta Randale ticking names off the list and monitoring the new arrivals.

I have a plan.

Get used to those. My head is always full of crazy things that always end up putting me into trouble.

My fingers slip on one of the saucers and tea spills on one of the contenders. She's up on her feet immediately, tossing her fan in my face. It hits me smack in the forehead as she screams, "Stupid, do you have any idea how much the stones on this dress costs?!"

"Sorry, I wasn't-"

"Randale?" She calls out, bright eyes sizing me up with unhidden disgust. Beta Randale instantly appears by her side. "Do you teach your servants to speak back and insult your guests?"

My brows furrow. "But I didn't even-"

Beta Randale narrows his eyes at me and I know better than to keep talking. "Apologize to Lady Moira."

How about I empty the entire teapot on her glossy dark hair instead?

Against my better judgement, and because I need to set my plan into motion before Alpha Kier and his mother arrive, I bow my head low in subservience. "I apologize for my shortcomings, Lady Moira. If there's anything I can do to-"

The infuriating woman huffs a breath and brushes me aside, walking away from me in the middle of my apology. I raise my head a little and find Beta Randale's scrutinizing gaze on me. I smile. He doesn't return my smile. Just gives me a sharp look and says, "Not today, Jessamine. Behave."

He walks away, but my eyes are on the scroll in his hands. The scroll containing the list of eligible contenders for the position of Luna. I need to get my name on that list.

"Don't do it, Jess," I hear Lovette say beside me as we set down the trays onto new tables. Lovette is my only friend in this place, and half the time she's either chiding me or warning me about my intrusive thoughts.

I blink innocently. "What do you mean?"

Her brown eyes narrow at me and she wipes sweat off her chin. "You've got that look in your eyes again."

I smile sheepishly. "What look?"

"The one that says you're about to do something insane. I beg you in the name of the Goddess, please, not today," she says, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the hall behind her.

I yank my hand from hers once we're outside. "I'm not going to do anything." I pout. "Nothing out of the usual at least."

She scoffs. "That's what you said before you sneaked in through the Alpha's window and got yourself locked in his bathroom. If I hadn't been cleaning that day, you'd be rotting in the dungeons!"

I slap my hand over her mouth. "What if someone hears you?!" She bites my head and I let go when we start getting funny looks from the maids and sentries passing by.

Gripping her shoulders, I say in a hushed tone, "Just. . .cover for me. For five minutes after Alpha Kier arrives."

"Why?" Her eyes drift to the hall behind me and the preparations going on, as well as the maidens flitting about in voluminous dresses. "Hell no, Jessamine! Have you lost your mind? You mean to join the selection? You're a freakin' Omega. The first requirement was having Alpha blood!"

I nibble on my lower lip nervously. "This is the best chance I'll ever have at getting him to notice me and acknowledge me as something. He'll look at me today, Lovette. He'll really look at me and see me!"

A small sound escapes Lovette's lips. "Heavens, she's finally gone mad."

I ignore her comment. "I literally have nothing to lose. He'll either reject me or accept me-"

"Oh, he's definitely going to reject you. What is wrong with you? This is no joke. If this goes wrong-which it will-you will get thrown out of the pack."

I hear her, but you can't advice a woman who's in love and has her mind made up. "Alpha Kier is worth the risk. Promise me you'll help me. Please."

Lovette sighs. "I better not get in trouble for this, Jess."

Stealing the scroll turned out to be rather easily. All I had to do was instigate a fight between another contender and Layana, and Beta Randale came running, slipping the scroll in the back of his pocket. Grinning like a fool, I had taken it and squeezed in my name at the bottom corner of the page, right before Alpha Kier's official stamp.

Then I'd caressed the paper before returning it where I'd found it.

I am lowering another tray of desert before another male-an Alpha in his mid-thirties who keeps looking at me like I'm his meal-when I feel it. The aura change in the room. The electricity cackling in the air. The hair rises on my neck and skin.

I don't know how, but I always know when Alpha Kier is near. His presence is as fundamental to my being as the air I breathe. I feel it my soul and body, jolts and crippling warmth. My heart beat speeds up to a point where it stops beating-if you understand what I mean.

There's his scent too. He smells like snow, musk and something woody. When he passes by me and I sniff him, my insides melt completely. Thrice, I've snuck into the Alpha's room to steal his clothes. He has too many to notice when one goes missing. Or three. I wrap them around my pillow and fall asleep to his scent in my nose.

I am unapologetically in love with him and I am not ashamed to scream it to the ends of Neradia.

"Move your legs! The Alpha is here! Exit the hall!" Head Maid Leah says, ushering the lot of us out through the back door. Shooting a quick look in Lovette's direction, I slip behind a pillar, trusting its wide structure to keep me hidden.

I stay perfectly still until the gigantic double doors are shut and the Alpha's presence is announced.

I peek around the pillar and let out a wistful sigh. Seated on the podium with his head propped on his fist is the love of my life. The only man in my dreams. His flaming red hair tumbles down his shoulders and his luscious lips tilt into a hard smile as his mother whispers something to him. Cunning hazel eyes do a sweep across the room, as if searching for something, someone. His beauty is the kind that dumbfounds you. Every curve and structure of his face is crafted to perfection. You look at Alpha Kier and you want. You need. You desire and crave. He takes your breath away and leaves you gasping for air.

Clad in a regal jacket and pants bearing the colors of the pack-black and gold-he looks so good.

Beta Randale climbs the daiz and whispers something into Alpha Kier's ear that has him nodding curtly.

The Beta turns to the crowd and addresses us. "Welcome. . ."

I don't hear a single word of his address. I'm too busy staring at the Alpha. As if sensing me, his head turns in my direction and I duck behind the pillar, heart jumping. When I peer out again, it is time for the maidens to introduce themselves formally to him.

My heart skips as one by one, they all head before him and answer the questions asked by the former Luna, his mother.

My feet grows colder by the second, and when Beta Randale pauses, staring at the list with confusion, I know it's my turn.

"What is it, Beta?" the Alpha's mother asks.

Beta Randale pauses. "There's a name. . .There must be a mistake. . ."

Alpha Kier looks bored. "Call it, Randale. Don't waste my time."

Beta Randale pauses, then shakes his head with disbelief as he says, "Jessamine Everhart of the Sunfire pack."

My heart is beating so fast, it feels like it will burst out of my chest. This is it, Jess. Go get your Alpha.

Back straight as ramrod and head held up in the air, I leave my hiding spot, walking through several rows of elegantly dressed women, their clothes a great contrast from my old, torn uniform. I ignore the gasps that fill the air and the common question they're all asking.

A maid?

I come to a halt in from of the daiz, keeping my gaze fixed on Alpha Kier.

My knees have gone weak. He's looking at me. I am the object of his interest and he is staring at me right now. I could die happy like this.

"Surely, this is a joke," his mother says. She turns to Beta Randale. "You were tasked with crosschecking the names on the list. How did an Omega's name get there?"

When Beta Randale doesn't respond, she turns to me, cold green eyes piercing mine. "You must know this is a mistake. You have no place here. A maid and an Omega cannot be considered for the position of Luna."

I don't look at her. I keep my eyes fixed on Alpha Kier who's watching me with feline amusement, and I say the only thing that comes to heart. "It might be a mistake, but my feelings for the Alpha are not. I, Jessamine Everhart, an Omega with nothing to her name seeks your hand in marriage, Alpha. I want to be your Luna. I love you."

Okay. Maybe I should have phrased that a better way.

My fingers tremble as Alpha Kier rises from his seat of power, towering several heights above me. I have to tip my head all the way back to look at him, and as I do, I can't help but think he's the most beautiful man that exists.

"What did you say?" His voice goes all the way to my stomach and the butterflies in it disperse quickly.

"I said-" My voice comes out as a squeak. I swallow and start again. "I said, I wish to be your Luna, Alpha."

His gaze pierces through me, seemingly searching into the depths of my very soul. "No, the last part. What was that?"

The entire hall is so silent, you can hear the birds chirping outside, as well as the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside the hall. I can even hear my own heartbeat. It's so loud, I'm sure the entire hall can hear it too. My lips part, but my tongue feels too heavy to repeat those words, confess what I feel to him.

It shouldn't be this hard. I have dreamt of this moment every day; the moment when the Alpha looks me in the eye and I tell him how I've waited for him all my life and kept myself chaste for him.

"I love you," I whisper, even if the entire hall can hear it.

Alpha Kier watches me for a moment, dark brows lifting as he assesses me. My heart keeps jumping around in my chest as I await his response. I'm really not sure what I expected. That's the problem with having too many dreams. You stop being able to tell them apart from reality. What if Lovette was right and I have truly lost my mind?

Well, that's not new. Everyone knows Jessamine Everhart. I've always been a nutjob. Well, everyone except the Alpha and his mother. They're much too busy tending to the pack and rogue attacks than bother with me.

Alpha Kier takes a step back and only then do I notice how much heat rolls off him. And then, he starts to laugh. It is a sharp sound, and soon, everyone in the hall joins in.

Heat creeps up my cheeks in embarrassment, but I refuse to let my head hang in shame.

He falls back in his seat, waving his hand in Beta Randale's direction. "When I asked for entertainment, I didn't mean this, Beta." To me he says, "Off you go. I've had a good laugh."

I pause, confusion creasing my features. He thinks I'm joking around?

Beta Randale begins to advance in my direction, anger tightening his features, but I'm not so easily dismissed. I take a step forward before he can reach me and I blurt, "You consider me a joke because I'm an Omega?" My voice carries well over the hall and gasps replace the sound of laughter. Pointing behind me, I continue, "Can I not be your Luna because I do not have the luxury that they do? You pride in being a just Alpha, a man who looks at all the members of his pack as equals, but I guess you must be all talk to disregard me just because I am a maid and not the daughter of some powerful Alpha!"

Mother used to say I was born wrong. I have too much fire to be an Omega. It's on days like this that I believe her, because no Omega can stand up to an Alpha. It's an anomaly. I'm an anomaly. I shouldn't be able to stand before him and yell at him. I shouldn't even be able to stand in a room like this, with the powerful auras from different Alphas nearly suffocating me.

Alpha Kier's jaw tightens and anger flickers in his eyes. "Be very careful what you say, Jessamine Everhart."

Mentally, my jaw drops. Goddess, he knows my name and he said it too. My insides melt and I have to keep a hold on myself to prevent my brain from running out the window.

"I'm not wrong," I tell him, standing my ground.

Alpha Kier straightens in his chair and his eyes have become so cold, I shiver. "Get her out of my sight," he says to no one in particular.

Tears prick my eyes as the sentries close in on me. He hates me. I disgust him that much? Should I have approached this a different way? Did I do it wrong? Should I not have said that? How could I have ruined this so quickly? I need to fix this or I'll lose the chance to truly appear before him again.

I fall forward, crumpling to my knees and bowing my head low until my forehead touches the ground. "I have overstepped, and I apologize for it, but I do not apologize for feeling the things that I do. Can love ever truly be wrong? I cannot help that my heart beats for you. It always has, and it always will."

*She's lost her mind,* I hear people say behind me.

*What a crazy woman. Notice the rags she is wearing? How could the Alpha not notice a mad woman roaming his castle?*

*Utterly shameless. A worthless thing like her dares to even think of being with Alpha Kier?*

* This is what happens when you give peasants a yardstick.*

The words keep coming and they might as well be throwing stones at me. The foot of a guard brushes against my hand and just as I feel arms pulling me up, Alpha Kier holds up a hand. "Leave her."

My eyes widen as strong hands release me. His mother turns to him. "We have important matters to attend, Kier. A conniving maid's words cannot halt this event."

Ignoring her, he rises from his chair, walking over to where I kneel on the ground. He crouches low, grabbing my chin so he can peer in my face. He tips me head left, right and up, eyes tracing every line and contour of my face. "The fire in your eyes will not be enough to make you Luna. Rid yourself of the delusion that I, Alpha King Kier, will ever stoop to mating with a lowly maid. You and your feelings mean nothing to me, and they never will."

My heart feels like it's been ripped apart. The pain, the raw searing pain, surges through me as I stare in his eyes that are as cold and indifferent as his words that still echo in my ears. I know I am of low birth but this maid has seen more of him than anyone else in this castle has.

I've always watched him from afar. I know what he looks like when he's angry, sad, grieving and happy. I have pulled off his boots at night when he fell asleep drunk, and I have tucked him in at night. And I know he doesn't know that I'm his stalker, but it doesn't stop me from feeling betrayed and angry.

Jeez, Jessamine, you've made a complete fool of yourself.

My face burns with humiliation at the face of my rejection, and breathing becomes a tedious affair. Everything blurs as I keep my tears from spilling.

I'm not crazy. I truly love him, with every beat of my heart, every fiber of my being. . .and he rejected me. Why? Because I am not what he wants or desires. I am not like the women behind me. I have nothing and am no one.

That makes me angry, and my brain doesn't function well when I'm angry.

They laughed at my confession and named it madness. They say I can't be Luna. They say I am crazy. But somehow, their actions and words do not hurt me as much as Alpha Kier's.

He says I am a lowly maid and I am nothing to him.

I'll make him eat his words. I'll make him fall madly in love with me. I'll make him obsessed with me.

I suck in a sharp breath, holding his gaze with a different kind of fire burning within me. I smile coolly. "Then it shouldn't be a problem to let me partake in the selection."

His hand falls away from my face, though I catch a fleeting spark of surprise in his eyes. "It is not your place-"

"You have nothing to fear, Alpha," I cut in sharply. "Unless you're worried that there's a possibility that I win your heart."

Alpha Kier's jaw tightens and I know I have tickled the predator in him that likes to be challenged. His head snaps to Beta Randale. "Jessamine Everhart will be a contender." To me, he adds, "You lose and you will be banished from this pack, and every other."

That would instill fear in any one else, but I don't plan to lose.