The Alpha's Unwanted Bride

Chapter 514: THE OFFER II

Cherry smiled very wickedly.

She clapped her hand at Amara’s words.

Words she hadn’t been expecting to hear.

Words that now told her Amara was a scheming and calculative young girl.

Just what she really wanted.

”That is a very important and good question Amara.” Cherry nodded. ”A lot of other girls would accept the offer without questions. What is the catch?”

Cherry sipped her tea and closed her eyes in delight.

”Candy this is wonderful tea.” Cherry remarked and then she turned to Coral. ”Isn’t it?”

Coral nodded. ”It actually is.”

”I have missed your tea dear.” Cherry said to Candy.

”I’ll send the dried herbs for you when you are going back.” Candy replied with a warm knowing smile.

”That can be done tomorrow.” Cherry stated.

”You’re spending the night?” Candy asked in surprise.

”Yes I am.” Cherry clicked her tongue. ”And that can give our friend here, the time to make her decision. Think it through.”

She gently put the tea back on the table and crossed her legs elegantly.

Cherry waved a hand over coral’s head and then it revealed it’s true color.

She had used magic to hide the vibrant red along with hers.

Coral felt the magic on her and then she touched her hair.

She gasped. ”You did something to my hair.”

”I had to hide the color.” Cherry stated. ”If anyone saw your red hair then they would know who we are. Had to hide mine to blonde.”

Amara’s lips dropped in shock.

”H.. her hair is red.” Amara stated.

”Yes.” Cherry smiled. ”And do you know what that means?”

”Yes.” Amara nodded as she swallowed hard.

Cherry rose a brow indicating that she was waiting for Amara to go ahead and tell her.

Amara swallowed.

”People don’t have red hair. Not wolves not witches or any other tribes.” Amara acknowledged. ”Except...”

She paused mid sentence.

”Except the royal family.” Amara noted.

”Very good.” Cherry said. ”Except the royal family. My niece here Coral is the daughter of the Queen.”

Amara’s face white at the sudden revelation.

She fidgeted with her arms.

She looked like she was going to flee from the table at any split second.

But Candy gave her a warning glare.

”Don’t worry we aren’t going to hurt you.” Cherry said and then added ”Well. I mean, not unless we have to.”

Amara’s face went pale.

”She is Queen Rose’s daughter.” Cherry repeated.

”Your niece.” Amara finally found her voice. ”That means you are her aunt. And royal family too?”

”Yes I am.” Cherry nodded.

”But why isn’t your hair red?” Amara asked curiously.

Cherry’s face immediately became a mask of thunder and looked ready to strike her dead.

But all of a sudden she calmed down and her face was back into a false pleasant smile.

”That’s a story that doesn’t concern you.” Cherry remarked as she flipped her staring jet black hair.

Amara shut her mouth.

”Our offer is for you to come and join us in the royal family. As one of us.” Cherry said.

”I don’t understand why? What do you mean?” She asked further.

Cherry leaned back in her chair, her lips curving in a sly smile as she studied the girl before her.

”What I mean, Amara,” she began softly, her voice carrying the dangerous purr of a predator about to close in on its prey, ”is that you have the chance of a lifetime. One that girls like you, servants, orphans, the forgotten, never get.”

Coral shifted beside her, though not in unease this time.

She was leaning into the scheme as fully as Cherry. Her eyes glittered with shared anticipation.

She tilted her chin, proud and assured, her fiery hair hidden but her royal arrogance shining through.

Amara hesitated. ”A chance...? To do what exactly?”

Cherry steepled her fingers together, her nails tapping lightly as though beating out the rhythm of a spell. ”To become someone greater than you are. To shed the rags of a servant and put on silks embroidered with gold. To eat feasts while others bow before you. To be admired, cherished, worshipped.”

Amara let out a small, shaky laugh, almost mocking. ”You speak of fantasies, my lady. Surely you jest.”

”Do I look like a woman who jests?” Cherry’s eyes sharpened. Her tone cut through the air like a blade.

The girl stilled. She dared not answer.

Candy leaned in, patting Amara’s hand almost maternally. ”My dear, you must listen. This woman has power. Real power. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

Cherry smiled thinly at her friend’s support, then turned back to Amara. ”It isn’t fantasy, child. It’s opportunity. I want you to become someone very important. Someone powerful enough to make even the Queen herself bend.”

Amara blinked, confusion darting across her face. ”But... how could I? I’m no one.”

”Not if you remain Amara,” Coral said at last, her voice smooth, conspiratorial. ”But if you were to become someone else...”

Cherry nodded, delighted at her niece’s perfect timing. ”Exactly. You would not be Amara anymore. You would be—” she leaned forward, her voice dropping to a whisper ”—the lost granddaughter of Queen Rose.”

Amara froze. For a moment she thought she had misheard, but the looks on both women’s faces confirmed it. Her mouth opened, then closed again. ”I—I beg your pardon? That’s impossible.”

”Is it?” Cherry countered smoothly. ”You already have the right look. The poise. You are clever, cunning enough to know that nothing comes free. You question, you weigh. That is what I need. And more importantly, you are young... the right age.”

”But... the Queen’s granddaughter?” Amara shook her head quickly. ”That cannot be true. If she had one, wouldn’t she know? Wouldn’t everyone know?”

Cherry laughed, a sound that was both cruel and musical. ”Oh, sweet girl. The Queen is looking for her granddaughter, even now. Desperate to find her. So desperate, in fact, that if the right girl came along... she would open her arms without question.”

”But I’m not—”

”No,” Cherry interrupted, her voice silken, commanding. ”You are not. That is the beauty of it. You will be what I make you to be. With a little... magic.”

Amara stared in stunned silence.

Candy sipped her tea, as though this conversation were no more strange than discussing the weather. Coral smirked, her eyes gleaming like twin flames.

Cherry leaned closer, her dark gaze piercing. ”You asked, what is the catch? Here it is. You will leave behind your old life completely. You will no longer be Amara. You will belong to me, and you will do as I say. In return, you will have everything you dreamed of and more. Riches. Power. The adoration of a Queen. And you will never again sleep in a bed that smells of dust and mold.”

Amara’s hands twisted in her lap. Her mind raced, her heart thudded loudly in her ears. The temptation was sharp, intoxicating. But equally sharp was the fear.

”And if I say no?” she whispered.

Cherry tilted her head, smiling without warmth. ”Then you will return to your chores. To scrubbing floors and arranging flowers for others to enjoy. After that you would join the whores I’m sure Candy already has plans for you.. You will live the rest of your life in shadows, always wondering what could have been.”

Amara swallowed hard. ”And... if I fail?”

This time, Coral leaned forward, her smile wickedly bright. ”Then you will not fail. We will make certain of that. With magic, with training, with guidance. My aunt does not gamble. She chooses winners.”

Cherry’s laugh was soft, but dangerous. ”Indeed. And I see a winner in you.” She placed her teacup down deliberately, the porcelain making the faintest click against the saucer. ”Think, Amara. Servitude or royalty. Obscurity or glory. It is not such a difficult choice, is it?”

Silence stretched over the balcony, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves outside and the distant voices of Candy’s girls in the courtyard.

At last, Amara found her voice. ”You would... truly make me a princess? The Queen’s granddaughter?”

”Yes,” Cherry purred. ”But not truly. You must remember that, always. It will be an act, a mask you will wear until it becomes second nature. You will be our blade hidden in silk. Our way of placing a leash upon Rose, and no one will ever suspect. Not even the Queen herself.”

Amara’s lips parted as though to speak, but no words came.

She looked between Cherry, Coral, and Candy, her eyes wide with shock and possibility.

Cherry rose smoothly to her feet, her presence filling the balcony like a stormcloud about to break. ”I do not need your answer now. In fact, I do not want it now. Decisions made too quickly are weak. I want you to think, Amara. Think of the hunger you feel every time you watch the wealthy dine while you serve them. Think of the envy you swallow when noble daughters wear gowns worth more than your life. Think of the way they look down on you as if you are dirt. And then imagine what it will feel like when those same people bow to you.”

Her voice dripped with venom and promise.

She placed a hand on Amara’s shoulder, her grip deceptively gentle. ”You have until tomorrow. Tonight, I want you to dream of what your life could be if you say yes. Dream well, my dear. For tomorrow, you must choose.”

Cherry stepped back, her smile curving into something wicked, victorious. Coral rose as well, her eyes blazing with the thrill of conspiracy. Candy chuckled low, already imagining the outcome.

Amara sat frozen in her chair, the untouched tea cooling in her hands, her heart pounding with a mixture of terror and temptation.

Cherry’s words lingered in the air, heavy and intoxicating, as the balcony doors swung shut behind them.

The choice was hers.

For now.