So-Called Slave

**BLANCA**
I'm only halfway through the first chapter of a book called *'My Secret Mate'* when a soft knock sounds at the door.
I gasp, wondering if I should even answer it. I've already received my dinner, but maybe the omega that served me has returned for the tray.
With a soft sigh, I make my way to the front door and slowly unlock it. Opening it just an inch, I peek through the opening to find a smiling Cyrus on the other side.
"Cake?" Elder Cyrus smiles, holding out two plates of what looks like decadent chocolate goo.
"Cyrus!" I smile gleefully. "You came!"
I swing the door open and stand back so that he can enter, more than happy to see him and his cake. It's been years since I've even thought of cake and I can't believe he actually brought me some.
"I promised I would, did I not?" he asks, stepping beyond the threshold.
I quickly lock the door behind him and follow him to the dining table where he's placed both plates side by side.
"I hope you like chocolate," he says, as I hand him a fork I retrieved from the kitchen drawers.
"I don't know," I say honestly. "The only cake I've ever had was carrot cake and that was when I was four years old. Before my-er-um mother decided we were more trouble than we were worth and she threw us out. It was a birthday cake for Reanna. But I have *seen* chocolate cake before. Once on the Rim, some of the gammas brought some with their lunch. I remember thinking it looked terribly delicious."
"Ah, yes, the Rim," Cyrus comments softly. "Sadly, conditions in that place have only gotten worse since your imprisonment. The people there suffer greatly." He sighs, watching me carefully as I chew my lip nervously. "Well what are you waiting for? Hmm? Try it."
I grin, digging my fork through the deep dark frosting at the top then carrying a large bite to my mouth. Sweet ecstasy explodes onto my tongue and I moan with delight. It's so good. Never have I imagined food to taste like this. "Oh my Goddess," I exclaim, closing my eyes as I take another bite, then another.
"I'm glad to see it pleases you. You may have my piece as well," says Cyrus, patting my hand.
"I couldn't do that," I decline as graciously as I can without drooling over the offer.
"Nonsense, I insist. I already had a slice at dinner," Cyrus says.
"Well," I sigh thinking of Max, "I can save this slice for Max. For when he returns."
Cyrus' eyes twinkle. "A splendid idea. I don't believe he had dessert. Too eager to get to the fighting grounds after punishing Elder Douglas for speaking out of turn last night."
"Out of turn?" I gasp. "Elder Douglas? you mean the man that-"
"That ordered your branding," Cyrus nods. "Mmhmm, yes. That's the one. Max did not appreciate Douglas' underhanded attempt at seeing you executed."
My cheeks pink at his insinuation, though I know it to be false. "More likely Max didn't care for anyone else deciding my punishment. I doubt my execution had much to do with it."
"Oh, but you are wrong, girl!" Cyrus reaches over, squeezes my hand. "The moment I explained the effects silver has on the Shiftless, there was true fear in his eyes. He hides it well, but I can see it."
I don't know what to say to that, so I remain quiet.
Cyrus' eyes twinkle. "I know what you are, just as I know the true reason behind Max stopping the execution."
I glance at him, sadness falling over me when I see the hope in his eyes. "You seem to know quite a bit, yes. But I believe your heart may be almost as silly as mine has been if you are allowing yourself to think it is any more than it is. Max only seeks to punish me for his brother's death."
Cyrus chuckles, "That is what he tells himself, perhaps. That is certainly what he tells everyone else. But I have known Max since he was a babe. I've seen him throughout his youth, I've watched him date countless women, *court* Alpha's daughters, yet none has he ever looked upon the way he looks at you. *You* are his mate Blanca and *you* will be the change that this pack needs in the end."
Tears fill my eyes, but I will them not to fall. "He doesn't want me. He's said as much. He's planning to marry another and mark her as his chosen mate."
Cyrus growls, a strange sound coming from such an old and gentle soul. "That's what he *says* I'm sure. You have a room downstairs and yet, he deposits you here. He took you to his *family* home. A place he hardly ever frequents. A place he has *never* taken any other female. He's also forbidden *anyone* that isn't him from reprimanding you, despite that you are a so-called slave. And lastly, he has yet to reject you. He is holding on for something. I know it."
"Yeah," I snort. "He thinks he might need me to bear an heir for him. *That* is why he refuses to reject me."
Cyrus' eyes light up. "And would you give him one? If he married another? Did you agree to breed him an heir?"
I shake my head. "No. Absolutely not. I may be Shiftless, but I refuse to be treated like cattle."
He laughs. "Good girl! Make him reveal the truth to you, by any means necessary." Cyrus' eyebrows shoot up. "Perhaps if you told him the circumstances behind his brother's death. Maybe if you told him why you did it."
Again I'm surprised by how much Cyrus seems to know. Then, as I stare at him, I remember. Cyrus was there for my original interrogation. He was *there* when I told Alpha Robert what happened between Reanna and Drake. "You were there."
He nods gravely. "I was Robert's most trusted advisor and one of his best friends. I pleaded with him not to punish you too harshly. He knew Drake's mind had been poisoned by the tongue of his superior, Gamma Corlys, yet he chose to ignore it. I resigned as his advisor after that. Our friendship was never the same again."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I say honestly.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, child. Don't be ridiculous. Max is a much stronger Alpha than his father was. Unlike Drake and Robert, Max possesses the capacity for love. Robert and Drake lost theirs when our Luna died. The pair of them never truly healed from her loss. Max was younger and more resilient. He's got more of his mother in him than he knows. You *must* tell him of Drake's treachery."
I swallow the lump in my throat and try for a smile. "I did. He came to the prison on the night of my execution and asked me for my side of the story. He called me a liar." Cyrus flinches and I nod. "He's as loyal to his brother's memory as Alpha Robert was to his son's reputation."
Cyrus groans, "That's because Drake only ever showed Max one side of himself. But give it time. Once Max begins his inquiries as to what truly happened that day, he will be shown things about Drake's character that he never expected to see."
"Maybe," I say quietly. "But I can't see him looking into that. He's already made up his mind."
Cyrus chortles, "That's what *you* think. Just leave it to me girl. I will steer him toward the truth."
"So then, you *believed* what I said that day." I remark curiously.
He nods firmly. "Of course. Robert believed it too. He just didn't *want* to hear it. He knew as well as I did that Reanna was a wonderful girl. He *knew.*" Cyrus sighs, patting my hand once more. "There is some truth to what Max believes about his father. He's not *entirely* mistaken in his belief of him. On the day that Reanna came looking for a job, Alpha Robert *was* angry with your parents. He was going to have them vacate their home and banish them to the Rim with you, but Reanna is the one who pleaded for them. She argued it would only make them more hateful toward you both. And... she was right. Robert always respected her for that, as did I. However, the loss of his oldest son was more to blame on his part than anyone else's. He had turned a blind eye too long and knew it. Many years I have thought of you and your suffering in that place, but requests I made to go and look in on you were denied by Alpha Robert. He only died a couple months ago."
"I see." Once again, I can't find it in me to care. Alpha Robert may have been a good man once, but he wasn't by the time *I* met him.
Cyrus studies me carefully. "You know, Max has called your mother to the packhouse for interrogation. He has an appointment with her tomorrow to discuss her behavior during the execution. She will be punished, I assume."
I gasp, my hand closing over my chest. "What? But I-"
"Stop!" Cyrus scolds me. "Don't you dare go feeling sorry for that dreadful woman. What she did to you was outrageous! Disgusting really! She shouldn't be allowed to be a mother at all. In fact, she may lose her child because of it."
My entire body goes cold and I stare at him. "What do you mean? She gave her children up. Reanna and I were her only daughters."
Cyrus grants me a sad smile. "Not anymore, dear. She and your father had another child a year after you were sent to the Rim. You have another sister. Her name is Maggie and she is twelve years old."