Girl Talk
POV: Alexandra
Jess was at a loss for words after I asked her why she would act the way she did when Derek posed the question of going out on a date later during their run. It was clear that the other two ladies didn’t know what that meant either because they were looking at her with interest. I patted her hand, “Take your time but it seems to me that the question posed still flusters you. She nodded her head, “That’s because when lycans run together once they are of age, they start to mate. Once a lycan mates with another, it is for life. I don’t think he realized that, by asking me to run with him, that he essentially asked me to marry him. He probably wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” I sighed, “And why do you think that?” She looked me right in the eye, “I have seen how he looks at you. I don’t think he sees me the way he sees you.” I sighed wondering how a person so perceptive of other people’s feelings could be oblivious to Derek’s. She looked at me, “I only ever really am around him when you’re around so I only ever feel affection and admiration coming off him.” I snapped my fingers, “That’s it! You just have to read him when you’re on your date with him.” She shrugged, “I suppose you’re right. I’ve had a crush on him for so long but it took me so long to develop my skills that I cannot read him.” We all looked at her confused and she placed her hand over her mouth then blushed. She spoke, “I suppose I should tell you all but I need you to keep this a secret. My father believes that I shouldn’t make this known so that I am not ridiculed." We all nodded and agreed to keep it a secret.
She sighed, “My mother was part psyche so naturally I have some empathic abilities. They had to develop though since I was only part a small part psyche. I can feel the emotions coming off of others.” It all made sense now, that she could read people so well. I looked at her, “I don’t understand why you never told me. Do you not trust me?” She shrugged, “I was going to tell you eventually and I had planned on telling you tonight separately.” She side-eye glanced at the other two indicating that she had never intended to reveal this secret to them. I think I understood why she didn’t want Litha to know since we were of suspicious her ties with The Order. I didn’t know why she was hesitant to trust Alesha though. I had decided that it was time to change the subject. I smiled at all the girls, “We should chat about our dates.” Litha nodded, “I’d like to know how your date went Alesha and I’m guessing that Jess was curious about my date.” Alesha smiled, “I would love to know about your date, Alexandra.” I nodded then smiled at Jess, “I really am curious about your day Jess. I know we spoke about it a little earlier.” She shrugged, “We just had a chat about life. He told me that I should have been a counselor. I spoke to him about his feelings about this competition. He has a few thoughts about who he wanted to really win but since it is out of his hands, he cannot really affect the results. He set these dates up more for himself to get to know all of us. He will likely do that with the other four ladies too.” Litha shrugged, “I really don’t want to win. I know you all know this but I really like Blake but I suspect I have two other ladies to compete with on that front.” She looked at both me and Jess which means she knew at the very least that information that Blake leaked. This did not prove that she was part of her father’s scheme to take me out and place her as the crown princess.
Alesha cut in just then, “So I guess on that note, I should talk about my date with Blake then.” Litha’s face lit up and nodded, “Please, yes.” Alesha shrugged, “We were taught a little bit about the ancient art and then we sparred just a bit. I didn’t go very hard on him since he is injured. We had chat afterward about my interest in Meldon and his interest in Alexandra and Jess.” So he made it known to Alesha about his false interest in Jess, I had wondered if this was his way of gauging her. It could also be just as likely that he was doing that for the sake of consistency. Litha sighed and looked down, “Will I ever get him to look my way?” Alesha shrugged, “You could put your best foot forward on your date with him. He doesn’t strike me as the type to like clingy girls so maybe ease up a little. I would see if Alexandra can help you out with makeup and clothing.” Litha looked to me with a pleading look in her eyes, “Could you help me out, Alexandra?” I didn’t want to help her to get onto the crown princess throne since I was unsure if she was part of the plans to take me down. That being said I needed to keep up the illusion that I was a good friend to her so I simply nodded. She leaned over then hugged and thanked me.
Alesha cleared her throat, “So now that I’ve told you about my date, I think I’ve earned the right to hear about your date, Alexandra.” I nodded, “Well, we went down to the lake and set up a blanket under the tree that had the swing. We ate and had a chat about our best friends.” I looked over at Jess, “Meldon told me something very interesting about Derek’s true feelings towards you, Jess. If you’re curious, I can share.” She blushed and stammered, “Y-yes, I would.” I smiled at her, “He said that Derek admires you a great deal more than you would ever guess since he doesn’t show it.” Her eyes widened, “What?” I nodded at her, “I would imagine that is why he was so interested in having a date with you.” She smiled, “I guess that makes sense now but I think I might suggest that we don’t have our run as the date. I don’t think he’s really ready for that type of commitment. I want him to be sure.” All of us agreed with her knowing now what we know. Alesha spoke, “Was that all then?” I looked at her and nodded, “Yeah, the whole conversation was about Jess and Derek and some joking around about some of the nobles he doesn’t really like. He has some strong opinions on his sister and her friends.” Alesha giggled, “Sounds about right. I hope I don’t get chosen for Queen. While I don’t really like the idea of marrying into the Maigny family, I have loved him since I was a young girl so I’m willing to put up with anything to be with him.” She looked over at Litha, “But enough about me, I think we need to hear about your date.”
Litha shrugged, “I mean it was a lovely meal but we didn’t really have anything in common. We pretty much spoke about the Queen competition. He expressed hesitance about the selection. He told me there were two ladies that he didn’t want to be selected. I can only imagine now that he meant Alexandra and Jess. He asked me how I felt about all of it and I told him of my feelings about Blake. He did warn me that Blake was very much in love with Alexandra. I already knew that since he makes it no secret. I figure I have a shot with him since Alexandra won’t want him.” I could only think that she meant that he was available because of my curse but she didn’t really understand that it wasn’t up to me that he had that much affection for me. Even if I didn’t choose him, he would always still feel the same way. Alesha shook her head, “You can’t tell a man who he should love. Even if Alexandra is cursed, does that mean he is too? No. The only thing you can do is present yourself as a viable option for his affection.” Litha nodded and then gasped, “I’m sorry Alexandra. I didn’t realize just now that I might have hurt you by saying I had a shot due to your curse.” I shrugged, “I’m really not insulted. I know that I have a curse and I know I have no feelings like that towards any of the guys here. The only feeling I know for sure is that I have a really good friendship with Meldon.” We all finished our conversation and turned out the lights to fall asleep. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. In my dream, a man appeared there. He took my hand and led me to a place that looked like a castle but I felt my heart beating in my chest. I looked up at the man who had green eyes and green hair and when he smiled at me, I felt my heart beat harder. He brushed the hair behind my ear and leaned into me. He kissed me on my cheek and then whispered in my ear, “Alexandra, my love. You cannot get close to anyone but me.”
