her. And what she’d seen for herself correlated. But if she was supposed to be mated to the heir, why did she feel nothing but disgust for him?
“One last question,” Lilah said quickly. “Is the mating call ever wrong when matching couples?”
“Never.”
Chapter Fourteen
Shinni’s high-pitch squeal drew her attention. Iridia joined the gardeners. The seedling they had planted a bit ago had grown tall with green bean-like things hanging from the stalk. Lilah had little doubt that the mountain men were going to have more variety in their menu.
Shinni saw Lilah watching and joined her. Lilah wasn’t much into growing things. All the plants she’d ever had died from drowning. She was always afraid the flower wasn’t getting enough water. But she should spend time learning all she could if she were to help these women.
When Lilah came to stand next to Shinni, the fae bowed her head to Lilah, then waved over the red fae in the garden group. The happy fae introduced her to the women, Lilah running their names and faces through her mind to memorize both. When they bowed their heads and said We are honored—Lilah stopped them right there.
Shinni had been in the holding room when Lilah said she didn’t want any royal treatment. She meant it. But her red friend pulled her away from the group.
“Alpha,” Shinni said, and Lilah opened her mouth to set her straight, but the woman continued, “if you please, you should reconsider your thoughts about not being treated as you should be.”
“But I’m nothing special—”
“No, you are special, Alpha. Look where we are, what we are doing. Do you think any of us could accomplish this? We haven’t in hundreds of peaks, and we wouldn’t in a hundred more.”
“What’s a peak exactly?” She didn’t mean to change the subject. Wait, yes, she did.
Shinni frowned at her. Guess she wasn’t being subtle enough.
“A peak is when the sun rises directly in line with the highest peak on our mountain range. We gauge age and the passage of time that way.”
Oh, that made sense. “Like the solstices where I come from.”
“So, Alpha mate…” Damn, the diversion didn’t work. “let us once again have a royal female to look up to. Someone we can go to with problems or just to talk. We haven’t had that in such a long time.”
“What happened to your queen?” Lilah had wondered why she had seen only the king.
Shinni dropped her chin to her chest. “Our beloved queen died of a mysterious illness. Complications were sudden and unexpected.”
Her heart broke for the woman. Apparently, they truly cared for their rulers and didn’t see them as tyrants. Well, except for the current king. Lilah opened her arms and hugged the fae. She felt a bond form between her and Shinni, a shift in her soul that connected with the fae. Lilah could sense her fae’s sadness and the growing feeling of hope.
How could that be? She’d hugged people for years and had never felt this way. Maybe it was because, in her heart, she’d accepted being the woman they needed. She would be their alpha female.
“All right. You win,” Lilah replied. “I’ll be the person to go to when things go wrong. If that means y’all have to bend forward when seeing me, so be it.” She pulled away and saw Shinni’s smile. “That’s what I like to see.”
Tears shined in the red-tinted eyes. “You will make a wonderful alpha mate.” The frown returned. “As long as the king doesn’t kill you for being a mate. We must keep you a secret from him.”
And the prince. She blew out a breath. “That’s a problem.”
“But that’s why we’re here, right? For the men to understand, we aren’t “just females.” That we do a lot for our people and deserve respect. We’re not something they can use as they wish. You’re doing the right thing, Alpha.”
Lilah almost cried from the belief and trust this fae gave her. The magnitude of what she was doing hit her again. But she felt comforted that at least one person thought she was on track with her actions.
The other three women with Shinni stared at her with reverence. “Alpha, we want you to know that we are thankful for your help. This will be good for all the women.”
“You’re welcome. Hopefully, it will be good for the boys too.”
“What boys?” Shinni asked.
“Those in the mines who breathe in the dust all day. All that has to be stopped.”
Shinni replied, “The dust is from mountain