The Alphas & The Heiress

Incandis

I don’t bother knocking on her door today, I know she’s not in there. She’s been getting up earlier and earlier every day this week, usually waking me up too and dragging me straight to the gym where all I can do is watch her exorcise whichever demons are plaguing her that day.

If we were home she could burn it off, or spar with Xander, but her options are limited here and they’re not enough to release the pressure of the energy raging inside of her.

Nothing I say will placate her, she’s riddled with anxiety and stress over finding our family. She’s taken the lack of success in finding them personally, every day they’re not found is another failure in her eyes, her failure.

There’s not a soul back home that believes this, they love our young queen, they respect and worship her. But she won’t believe me. She’s too stubborn, too proud.

I remember the day she was born, I was the age she is now. The colony rejoiced and an energy unlike any I’ve ever felt thrummed through the entire grove. Our next queen was born. That’s what she’s always been to us, our next queen. The honor and responsibility of maintaining her safety and wellbeing is magnified since she’s also my sister.

Those two identities are constantly at war with one another, like when she wants to run off on an adventure or asks me to train with her. The brother in me wants to enable her mischief, fuel the fire of her wanderlust, be the person she can confide in. But the guardian in me, in my blood, compels me to protect her, even if that means protecting her from herself.

Watching her now, attacking the steel-enforced bag, beating her hands bloody, I know she’s at the end of her rope and it’s only a matter of time before she burns or turns to me – and refusing her will almost certainly end in fire.

Her wings slowly unfold from behind her. It’s more than just a threat, it’s a promise.

“Ohh no you don’t, no. Don’t even think —.” Shit. She flies towards me in a blur, I’m barely able to dodge her. Gods she’s fucking fast.

Before I can turn around to talk her down she’s on my back with my head in a choke hold. “Ma—” I choke out but her grip on my neck only tightens.

“Finish that sentence and I’ll snap your neck.” Fuck, she’s really angry. I thought I could reach her if I spoke to her as her and not whatever persona she assumes when traveling. I don’t want her to lose sight of the fact that I’m still here, still fighting with her not against her.

“Syble, I can’t fight with you.”

“Can’t, or won’t?” Her grip tightens yet again.

“Both. You know why.” Mags please, you know my gift is too much even for you. I silently implore her to reconsider. The thought of hurting our queen, my little sister, is nauseating.

A vivid memory of one of the first times we trained together comes unbidden to the forefront of my mind. It was over a century ago, she teamed up with Xander to take me on. I never would have hit her with my full force, but she got caught in the crossfire… a hit that wasn’t meant for her. I’ll never forget the sound of her bones shattering as my fist connected with the left side of her face.

After that incident mom forbade me from training with them. She couldn’t stop Mags from training but she could stop me from being anywhere near her when that happened. She didn’t blame me, she knew it was an accident, but I’ve carried that guilt and that fear of seriously hurting her ever since.

My job was to protect her, fight for her, not against her, and I failed. She was my little sister. I should have told her no. I failed her as her guardian, I failed her as her brother. I’ve been trying to make it up to her ever since.

She lets go of me and I turn around to face her, ready to reassure her that everything will be ok, that here she doesn’t have to be the strong one.

She looks up at me and derails me with two words.

“Queen’s orders.”

Every hair on my body stands at attention, my eyes widen in horror, please Mags, don’t do this. But she’s resolved.

“And don’t you fucking hold back on me.”

The air is sucked from my lungs, her words have always hit harder than her fists. Why is she doing this? I can’t believe she’d force my hand like this, she knows I can’t refuse her command.

Maybe if I just stay on the defensive I won’t actually have to hit her.

I extend my wings out slowly giving her the opportunity to change her mind, but she won’t, she never backs down. All I can do now is brace for impact.