The Royal Outcast Alpha’s Mate

The crystal shattered the moment Aurora Evans brushed against it. A loud echo of shattering crystal seemed to echo throughout the entire throne room and a moment of stunned silence met the sound.

Aurora stood, staring at the broken remains of the crystal resting on the marble floor and, more surprisingly, her hand in midair. A moment later, several voices murmured behind her, "She has no power."

"She doesn't?" demanded another.

"That can't be."

"She's eighteen! How could she have nothing?"

Aurora barely registered the murmurs as she turned her eyes upward to meet her father's. "Father?"

King Marcus Evans' posture tensed perceptibly as the young woman spoke and, if Aurora wasn't mistaken, there was something else in her father's dark eyes besides shock.

"I can try again," said Aurora carefully. "Let me try again!"

The old Channeling Master hesitated for something like a full minute before replying.

"Princess, the crystal has already responded."

"Then let me try with another one!" she pleaded. "Please, I need to know! Please let me try!"

The old man shot a quick glance toward the young king, and the elder of the two men, but Marcus only shook his head emphatically and the disappointment in his voice was evident, "No."

"Father!" Aurora's voice broke through the murmuring court and she turned toward the man who was once more her closest friend. "But that's not right!"

"You've embarrassed yourself enough," he said, and Aurora's cheeks burned at his words.

Aurora looked around the throne room, suddenly realizing how many eyes were on her judging her. She met the eyes of her stepsister, Malory. Malory's eyes locked onto Aurora's before the young woman looked away. A strange feeling of hopelessness swelled within Aurora's chest as she turned her gaze back toward her father, "I just don't understand."

Marcus came down from the dais of the throne room and looked around at the anxious faces. "You were supposed to Channel today weren't you?" he said, his gaze falling upon his daughter, "Every Evans has always been able to Channel."

Aurora's mouth opened slightly in astonishment, "I'm an Evans!"

Marcus paused directly in front of her and something unreadable flickered across his face before he turned away, "Are you?"

"What are you saying?" Aurora asked, her heart pounding against her ribs.

It was Michelle who answered, her voice gentle, "Your Majesty is upset. Perhaps everyone should give him some time."

Aurora turned sharply on her stepmother, "You're enjoying this."

Michelle's eyes widened in surprise, "I beg your pardon?"You" Aurora’s voice shook. "you've always wanted this."

"Enough!" snarled Marcus, rounding on her, "Come with me."

Aurora followed, her pulse hammering madly in her ears, but for the first time in eighteen years, Aurora was afraid of what her father might say in private.

"Did you really expect me to Channel?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You were supposed to!"

"Yes, I know."

"You had one responsibility!" Aurora's heart pounded in her ears, "I tried!"

"I don't care if you tried, you had one responsibility!"

"I'm sorry!" she cried, tears welling up behind her eyes as Marcus roamed the chamber, his knuckles white with the force of his grip. "Father, maybe my power hasn't awakened yet. Maybe mine is different!"

"Different?" The king's eyes burned with fury, "What kind of royal doesn't have a power!"

Aurora looked into her father's eyes, her breath shallow and ragged. "Your daughter."

That shut him up. The doors to the chamber opened and Michelle entered.

Aurora's heart fell to her knees. She knew instinctively that this was no coincidence. Michelle advanced slowly toward the three of them, casting a brief glance first at the king, then at Aurora before fixing her gaze upon the monarch.

"Marcus," she said.

"What?"

"There is something I think you need to consider."

Aurora shook her head, "No."

Michelle frowned, "It's not that I've said anything."

"It doesn't matter."

Marcus looked between the two women, "Say it."

Michelle paused for a brief second, "Every Evans has a power. I know, and Aurora does not."

Aurora stepped forward, "So?"

Michelle's gaze softened into something almost like pity, "I'm just saying, maybe there is an alternate explanation. Your wife has been dead for eighteen years, Marcus. There is no one who can tell us what happened before Aurora was born."

Aurora felt her blood run cold, "Don't say that about my mother!"

Michelle ignored the younger woman entirely, her attention fixed on the king. "I'm not saying you did anything wrong. I'm asking you to reconsider the possibility that we may have been wrong all this time. Perhaps Aurora's lack of power is actually a good thing."

Aurora's eyes welled with tears, "Father, please."

Marcus did not take his gaze off of the young woman, but Michelle stepped closer to the king, her voice dipping to something almost conspiratorial, "You've spent eighteen years raising her as your daughter. I'm not asking you to stop."

Aurora's heart was breaking as she listened to the woman, "Then what are you asking?"

Michelle turned cool eyes on the teenager, "For the truth. Whether you are really an Evans."

Aurora turned her wide eyes toward her father, "Father?"

The king said nothing, still looking away.

Aurora stepped closer, "You know I'm your daughter."

His gaze flicked upward to meet her eyes, and in them, for the first time in eight years, she saw doubt.

"No," she whispered, her tears spilling unbidden down her cheeks, "you believe her. I'm your daughter. That whole ceremony doesn't change anything! I grew up here. You took care of me when I was sick. You were the one who taught me how to ride a horse. You were there when I lost my first tooth! You told me I looked just like Mama! You said I was your little girl! How can one ceremony convince you otherwise?"

Marcus turned his gaze upon her again, his expression shadowing into something close to fury, "Because the day that ceremony took place was the day you proved to me that you had no royal power!"

Aurora fell to her knees, her gown slipping around her waist. "Then give me time!" she cried, "Please, I can go away for a while. I can go somewhere until this power of mine awakens. Just don't send me away!"

"You have embarrassed me enough," said Marcus, turning toward the two guards posted at the entrance. "Take her."

Aurora scrambled to her feet, "No! Father!"

The soldiers grabbed hold of the young woman's arms, and with a grunt of effort, picked her up.

"Pleas__" Aurora's muffled plea was cut off as the large doors slammed shut behind her and the sound of her sobbing echoed through the chamber, but no one went to comfort her. No one stopped the guards as they carried Aurora out the great doors and into the forest.

By the time the carriage came to a stop at the edge of the northern woods, the sky was tinged with the color of the setting sun. Aurora looked out the cracked window at the towering forest surrounding the small clearing.

"Where are we?" she asked, turning to the guard who opened her door.

"Get out," he said, and he didn't say anything else. He pulled her free and, with a shove, Aurora landed on her knees in the grass.

"Hey!" she cried, as the carriage door slammed shut behind her and the vehicle turned and vanished back the way it had come.

Aurora stood, brushing the grass from her skirt, her crown still resting where it had been and her royal gown still wrapped lovingly around her shoulders, but there was no longer a kingdom behind her. Only the trees.

Something rustled in the distance and as Aurora looked toward the sound, two yellow eyes peered curiously through the trees. A deep, rolling growl vibrated through the forest.