Chapter 12

Sasha stopped in her tracks. “He did what?”
“He wanted to know if you were trying to play a game or if you would really deny the beta.”
Sasha rolled her eyes. “I don’t lie.”
“I know you don’t, but he doesn’t know you. I think he is as into you as you are into him.”
“I am not into him,” she snapped.
“It’s just us, Aja. You can be honest.”
“I do not want the king,” she snapped. “Drop it!”
Kalani pulled away from her and fisted her hands. “YOU ARE LYING!,” she screamed.
“I AM NOT!,” Sasha yelled back.
“THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE A HICKEY THAT WASN’T THERE WHEN WE WALKED IN?!”
Sasha blinked and her hand went to her throat. “Do I?”
“Yes!” Kalani touched Sasha’s throat where the king had lavished little bites and his rough tongue on her skin. “Right there.”
“OK, so we kissed,” she mumbled.
“Don’t lie to me, Aja. You never did before we came here. Don’t start now. It’s okay to like him. I have no interest in sleeping with him. He is all yours. Now, we should probably tell the chefs what we want for lunch.”
“I should hunt,” Sasha said softly.
Kalani took her hands. “Aja, you don’t have to provide for us, anymore,” she said, full of anguish. “We don’t have to hunt to eat. We can eat three meals a day here and King Aiden said he would have the cooks make us food whenever we wanted. You don’t have to be my mom anymore. You can just be my sister.”
She shifted her weight. “If I don’t have you, I don’t know what to do with my time.”
She smiled widely. “The king said they have a library. I figured after a stop at the kitchens we could go there. I know you can get lost in books for hours. It’s time you feed that little evil beast inside of you that craves weird facts.”
Sasha slid her arm around her sister’s waist. “Did you know that dolphins are one of the only other animals that have sex for fun?”
“Weirdo.” She looked over her shoulder. “So, Gamma Gregory, why are you here with us?”
“To protect you,” he said gruffly.
“From what?”
“Everything.”
“Alrighty, then. Can you show us the way to the kitchen?”
“Left at the corner. Left at the one after that. Third door on the right is the kitchen.”
They quickly made their way to the kitchen. They stepped in and one of the women approached them with aprons in her hand. She shoved them into the girls hands who stared down at the aprons in confusion. The woman pointed to a barrel of potatoes.
“You can start there, peeling the potatoes, breeders. Chop, chop.”
Kalani looked up at Sasha in fear. Sasha immediately began to put the apron on when an angry roar sent pots and pans clanging to the floor. The offending piece of fabric was gently lifted off of her neck and thrown into the woman’s face.
“How dare you assume that because they were sent here to be breeders, that you can just treat them anyway you wish?” The king stepped around them. “Clarissa, bow!”
The woman immediately sank to her knees in front of them. “I do sincerely apologize, sire. I didn’t know.”
The king turned to them, his eyes lingering on Sasha's neck. He smiled softly.
“Do you ladies know what you would like for lunch?”
Sasha nudged Kalani. “It’s whatever you want. You’re His Highness’ partner.”
Kalani eyed her. “Your venison was always delicious.”
Sasha flushed. “My venison was plain.”
“Posh! Your venison was amazing.”
Sasha shook her head. “Can we cook?”
Kalani glared at her. “What?!”
“Can we cook?”
“Aja, I don’t want to cook,” she said stubbornly.
“Lani, stop whining. It’s not cute.”
She stomped her foot. “Aja-”
"KALANI RAE! If you don’t want to cook you can go, but I am staying. I want to cook if that’s, okay, sire?”
He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “If you want.”
Kalani sighed and grabbed a clean apron off the hook beside the door, before tossing it to Sasha, who let it fly past her to smack the king in his chest. Kalani cursed as she hurried back to her. The king’s arms wrapped around her to tie the apron around her waist, before dragging the top up to tie it around her neck. His fingers brushed her hickey and she shivered. He stared down at her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“My pleasure,” he murmured.
She dropped into a curtsey. “Your Highness.”
He stepped back and looked around the kitchen. “Anything she asks you to do, you are to do it without question. If you don’t, she will tell me and you will be punished. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He turned to look at the gamma. “You are charged with making sure they are not bothered or disrespected.”
He bowed to Aiden. “As you wish, sire.”
“We’ll speak later, Kal. If anybody gives you problems, I want to know.”
She bowed to him. “Yes, Aiden.”
He patted her cheek. “Good girl. Have a good day.”
He walked out of the room as anger beat at Sasha. She turned to her sister who immediately held her hand up, sensing her sister's fury.
“How many people are eating lunch?”
“It will be about five of the king’s men and there are 4 girls left here, so 9.”
Sasha frowned. “Which girls are here?”
“You two, Tiffany and Carla.”
“Where are the others?”
“They were sent home with the men that chose them.”
“Will they be coming back?”
“No, they usually don't. They are usually kept at the men’s homes.”
“Do you have some rabbit meat?”
“Yes.”
“Good, go get it. I will need two and then I will need these ingredients. Carrots, onions, celery, potatoes and mushrooms.”
They hurried to do her bidding and when they came back, Sasha took one look at the still fully intact rabbits, before turning to her sister.
"You're skinning and fileting."
Kalani's mouth dropped open. "You know I don't know how to do that."
"Better learn fast!"
"Okay, ‘Tiffany’," she sneered, air quoting Tiffany.
"What did you just call me?"
"I called you Tiffany!"
Sasha took an angry step towards her. "I suggest you watch how you talk to me!"
"And I suggest you check your attitude! I did nothing wrong!"
"Ask the gamma to help you! I'm sure he would love to, Kal!," she spat.
Her mouth dropped open. "Is that what this is about?"
Sasha turned away. "Just do the rabbits, Kalani!"
She was tackled from behind with legs going around her torso and arms being hooked around her throat. She tried to break free, but Kalani's legs tightened around her, preventing her from escaping.
"Let me go!"
"Apologize! I did nothing wrong!"
"You have to the count of three! One!" Her legs tightened more as Sasha's hands wiggled between her sister's arm and her throat. "Two!" Her grip squeezed her throat.
"Aja, please! Calm down!"
"THREE!"
Sasha pushed her sister's arm off and flung her legs over her head to land her knee on Kalani's throat. Kalani's hands immediately began to push on her leg.
"Aja, please…" She reached up to put her hand on Sasha's chest. "You're my forever and I'm yours."
Sasha's anger faltered and she climbed off of her sister. She pulled her up into her arms and rocked her as tears coursed down both of their faces.
"I'm so sorry, Lani. I don't know what's wrong with me."
Kalani rubbed her back as she murmured softly to her.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I promise you we are okay.”
Sasha sniffled as she clung to her. “I’m so sorry,” she continued to repeat.
“You know, I think I could do the rabbit for you. It’s about time I prove to you I can function as a grown up if I am to have my milkshake soon.”
Sasha pulled back to stare at her. “Are you seriously making jokes right now? I almost killed you.”
She grinned and touched Sasha’s chest again, letting her heart beat pound nervously against her hand.
“But you didn’t.”
Sasha traced the small bruise already forming on her sister’s neck. “I’m-”
“I won’t be fully white for long if everything works out the correct way, Aja,” she smirked, at her own joke.
Sasha’s mouth dropped open for a second, before she got to her feet. She reached down to pull her little sister up. Kalani pulled her hair back in a ponytail and tied her apron around her waist. She clapped her hands together and reached for a steak knife. The gamma groaned as he walked to the sink to clean a dagger he had pulled out of his waistband. He walked back over to her and gently took the knife from her. He showed her how to hold the dagger, before placing the first rabbit in front of her. He showed her how to skin and filet it. While she worked on the second one, he moved her hair and began to lick on her neck. Her hand faltered and she leaned back against him. When the bruise was gone, he leaned his chin on her shoulder and put his hands around hers to help her finish preparing the rabbit. Sasha began to chop the potatoes, mushrooms, onions, celery and carrots.
“Aja, how do you want this meat cut?”
“Like we always did it.”
The kitchen was silent for a few minutes as a few of the kitchen staff quickly took the cutting vegetable task off the checklist. Sasha watched the gamma with her little sister. He had his hands flat on the counter on both sides of her, keeping her caged between him and their workspace. His mouth was next to her ear and he was whispering into her ear. She had a big smile on her face and was completely relaxed back against him. Sasha asked to go to the spice cabinet and took her time opening each bottle to sniff the spice inside. Once she was satisfied with her spice choices, she walked back into the main kitchen where the gamma and her sister were sitting close, heads bowed and were holding a quiet conversation.
Sasha smiled to herself and set about putting the rabbit stew together. She hummed to herself softly as she dumped seasoning into the pot. She picked up a fresh onion and began to methodically form a piece into a heart. She pinned it before spooning some broth into a separate pot to soften the onion. She glanced at Kalani and happiness exploded in her chest when her sister’s giggle reached her ears. While the stew simmered on the stove, Sasha asked for someone to take her to the library. Gregory got to his feet and Kalani jumped up, too.
“Lani, can you watch the stew, please?”
“Sure,” she mumbled.
The gamma led her out of the room and down a hall. He stopped in front of a door and immediately pushed it open for her. She entered without hesitation and drew up short when she saw Aiden sitting behind a desk. She drew in a breath.
“Gamma Gregory, I do not believe this is the library. I don’t smell books.” The door shut softly behind her and she turned around. “Gamma Gregory?”
She hated having to pretend she was blind. She was trying desperately to not let her arousal fly out of control.
“Sasha?”