Revenge of the Alpha Princess

Not Told, Commanded

**Mia's POV**

Anais stayed true to her word. She came back around six at night again the next night, knocked three times and waited. The knocks were what finally woke me from my seemingly eternal slumber, leaving me groggy and out of place despite my body groaning as it attempted to fix what overexertion had taken from me. The old radio clock in the room showed the date, otherwise I wouldn't have known how long I'd been out for.

The clothes she'd given me were built for someone tall and slender like she was, the shirt tight on my chest and raised a bit because of my bust size and the pants having to be rolled up from my own lack of height. Even for a wolf, I was short, but Anais was tall even for a human. Still, something told me these weren't Anais' clothes she'd put me in, but I wasn't about to question her kindness.

I let the woman into the room and carefully locked it behind her. It was sticky hot outside even still, but it was quickly cooling off as the night began. The sound of the rattling AC unit served as background to the silence between us.

I didn't even notice that she'd brought another large bag with her until I watched her set it down and start pulling dozens of small items out of it. A full bottle of shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash, even a loofah. She'd thought of everything. There was a hesitance when she turned around that I only realized the cause of when she offered up not one but two different foundations.

"I just knew you'd be too light for these, but I hope they can help some. I brought a few more days worth of clothes, and don't worry you none about the cost per night I'm gonna cover it. My husband owns the hotel and he's in the dog house anyway, he ain't gon' know no different." She used two fingers to tilt my chin up towards the light, looking down at me as she dabbed concealer and color corrector and whatever else on the fading bruise. I tried my best not to move, or wince.

"You're lucky, ya know. It's already faded so much in just a day, but it don't serve no good to look at that when you see yourself in a mirror. Nah, you oughta really see yourself when you look at you, so until it goes away we can use these to keep it covered. And lookie there, once I blended it down your neck it don't look too bad or far off from your real skin, just got a light tan that's all, it ain't orange or nothin'."

By this point, it was safe to assume she was more talking to herself than she was to me, but a part of my chest hurt as she went about her work. The last time someone had done this, it had been my own mother, just before the fitting. She'd talked about responsibility, and how excited she was to watch me rule with the integrity she'd raised me with. I wondered if she'd be disappointed if she could see me now, but I knew in my heart she'd understand. She was, after all, the one who had told me to run. No, not told, commanded.

I was silent as Anais just kept talking, a noise I was pretty grateful for. Having someone be loud against the terrible thoughts in my head helped, and some part of me felt that Anais understood that.

"Now I figured you were about a size five, so hopefully these'll fit. The seven's I gave you is a bit big, but you look now like you might be a three but ah well, at least they'll work better than nothin'. Just put your dishes and clothes on the cart each day and I'll clean it up, alright? Maybe throw away those old blood rags, too. Put ‘em on the cart today and I’ll burn ‘em for ya."

It's that sentence that really caught my attention, eyes flickering to her instantly but she didn't even look, steady doing my makeup full face now. A scattering of soft blush, which she blew on my cheeks to dust off.

"Yeah, I saw the blood, honey. Don't be alarmed, I've been there. Like I told you before, 'fore my husband found me, I had an old boyfriend who wasn't very nice. In fact, I looked a lot like you when I first came here. My husband was working the desk that night, and he did for me what I've been doing for you. You ain't the first, and I'm too honest to think you'll be the last. The hope's you'll just pay it forward like I have, ya hear me? We girl's gotta look out for each other."

A repeated sad story, and even still the weight in her words caught me by surprise again. She thought I was running from an abusive boyfriend I'd finally gotten away from... And in a way she was right, wasn't she? I wasn’t taking advantage of her kindness, was I? The rest of it was a lot more prevalent, but she didn't need to know that. Knowing would just put her in danger.

"I know you're a wolf, too. I can feel it on you. That's the drawback to being a witch like me, we can just tell sometimes." I reactively drew back as if she was going to hurt me and she stayed still, shaking her head. "Now what you go and do that for? Almost made me mess up with this mascara, and then we'd have to start all over. Now come on back and hold still."

It was a momentary pause, but I listened even if I was confused. Given my rank, I should have been able to tell she was a witch. The different species just had a radar for that sort of thing, minus the humans of course. Witches, lycans, wolves, and vampires could all feel one another. It was like different currents coursed through each skin, and our own wavelengths were tuned in enough to sort through them. But with her...

"I hide it pretty well, old trade secret my mama taught me, and I've been doing the same thing on this room every day since you got here. Anyone sniffing after you, they won't smell you for five miles, might send up the wrong way at least a little bit. Give you some time to figure out where you're gonna go from here."

Ah, a hedge witch. That at least explained it. Only hedge witches knew the off limits magics like that. As Queen, my mother had voted against making any magic off-limits to the witches, always saying it was up to them to decide for themselves but the lycans, vampires, and humans voted against it. They called that meeting the coalition, and the North American Coalition consisted of the rulers from each of the species. The Supreme of the witches had always been kind to my mother after that, even if they were out voted. And my mother? Well, she didn't prosecute or report hedge witches she noticed, choosing instead to play oblivious, and she'd taught me to do the same.

"There! Now, don't you look so pretty? I can hardly believe all this beauty was under all that grime. A world of wonder a decent shower can do for a lady, ain't it?" I looked in the dirty bathroom mirror at my face, and at the very least I was somewhat recognizable now. She'd pinned the long strands of hair away from my face and it made me look both a bit older and a lot more commonplace, which I was grateful for.

"So, Jane. Was your boyfriend big? He gonna come back lookin' for ya?" There were a lot of questions in that, and my eyes met Anais' in the mirror for a moment. She sighed and shook her head. "I know I said no questions, but honey there's been a lot of commotion in the wolf circles, and you look an awful lot like..." Her voice trailed off as she met my eyes and watched them go from blue, to grey, to gold involuntarily. It was panic that caused it, and given how I had been raised and trained I should have been better than that, but… Anais just nodded.

"At least I know I gotta amp up that spell. I'll get a few friends to help me, see if we can't get it to a ten mile radius. And don't worry you none, sugar. We won't report nothin' to the royals 'round here, not now that our good queen's fallen." As soon as the words left her mouth, I took a sharp breath, eyes involuntarily closing as I turned my head against those words and the pain they brought with them.

I felt Anais' hands wrap around me, holding me upright when I felt my knees might buckle under the weight of it. My mother's death was already announced. Her voice was a little lower as she spoke again, her face so near to my ear as she leaned my head on her shoulder.

"They're saying the king and princess died with her, said that Duke Donovan will be crowned in three days. Ain't much time."

She was smart, too smart. She knew what it meant, that I needed to be very far away in only three days. And she knew I still needed to recover from the days before. The silence after that felt like a brick on my chest, and I can't tell you how long she stood there, hugging me. I can just say that even when she pulled away and wheeled out the cart with dirty dishes and clothes to be burned, a part of me didn't want her to go.