The Alpha And His Rejected Fae Princess

Healing

The wolf was small, a cub, a baby. Sadie eyed it. Deidre sucked in a breath. "God's above" she whispered "It should never have been able to get past our magic," she said.

The wolf whined and Sadie saw the blood on its paw, the fact that it was bent at an odd angle. She felt pity for it. She got on her knees and slowly crawled towards it. It cocked its head at her. She reached out with trembling fingers.

"Don't do it" moaned Deidre "It will bite you" she whimpered, her hands going to her mouth as she trembled in fear.

But Sadie had no fear and she slowly touched its soft silken fur, as it tilted its ears. It gave a soft yelp as she reached its foot and she drew her hand back.

"Sadie, come back here" whispered Deidre, feeling like she had lost control of the situation. Besides what did Sadie think she was going to do anyway? She was much too young to be able to use magic and the power of healing was seen as a weak power, gifted to those who couldn't control the elements. She shuddered to think what the King would think if Sadie was both wingless and could only heal without any other powers. He'd have a coronary thought, Deidre.

Sadie looked into the wolf's dark eyes. "Hey" she whispered "I'm not going to hurt you," she said gently.

She touched the wolf's paw. Deidre's eyes widened. Was it her imagination or was Sadie's hand beginning to glow? She stared, awestruck, as white light poured from Sadie's hand into the wolf's leg. Blood slowly faded away and the leg began to straighten itself as the wolf whined, before placing its leg carefully onto the floor. Sadie pulled her hand away and her hand returned to normal. Deidre stood there in shock. She'd just healed a wolf. Sadie had the healing power. The King was going to be pissed. She hurried to Sadie's side. Sadie was patting the wolf who was nuzzling her hand.

"Sadie," she said urgently "how did you know you could do that?"

Sadie looked up innocently "What do you mean? I didn't know I could," she said sounding puzzled.

Deidre frowned. She felt like ripping out her blonde hair in frustration. The child had done it on instinct!

"Sadie, you can't let anyone know what happened today," Deidre said, grabbing her shoulders and making Sadie look at her "Do you understand me? You can't tell anyone you healed the wolf."

Deidre sounded mad, thought Sadie. Was she in trouble? She glanced at her new friend who was licking the fingers on her hand, making her giggle.

"Alright, Deidre" murmured Sadie a little sadly. She petted the wolf. "But we can't leave him here. We don't know how to get him across the boundary."

"I can open a portal and send him back," Deidre said but Sadie clutched the wolf to her.

"No," she said, "he's mine."

The wolf cub whined and licked her face. Deidre sighed and glanced over the boundary. There was a mother wolf in the distance and she was dead, likely killed by hunters. She positioned her body so that Sadie wouldn't see.

"Very well, but we must be going back" she urged Sadie, looking at the wolf cub anxiously "Your mother is no doubt waiting for us to get home."

Sadie beamed and picked up the wolf cub, holding it tightly to her chest as it licked her face. They walked out of the clearing, where no other fae had stepped foot in, thankfully, and back towards the castle. The guards looked taken aback as they saw the young fae girl holding a wolf but said nothing as Deidre led her inside and upstairs, noting instantly that there was chaos as servants darted to and fro, fetching things. Sadie stiffened as she heard the screams of her mother and before anyone could stop her, she shoved the wolf cub into Deidre's arms and bolted into her mother's bedroom at high speed.

Cassandra screamed, her voice hoarse as she felt the contractions hit. The pain was so bad, she feared she might pass out before she gave birth. The midwife was worried. She crouched between the Queen's legs, encouraging her to push. Sadie's father stood in the corner, his eyes narrowed as he stared at his wife with a fierce look of determination on his face.

"Come on Queen Cassandra, just another push or two," said the midwife, a forced smile on her face. She couldn't understand why King Dominic wasn't holding his wife's hand and encouraging her during her time of need.

Sadie scuttled forward but her father grabbed hold of her shoulder. "Where do you think you are going" he hissed.

"I want to see Mum" she cried.

He held her back. "Either stand here or get out. As you can see your mother is preoccupied" He grunted at her.

Sadie wanted to poke her tongue at him. Instead, her shoulder's slumped and she stared miserably at her mother as she let out another blood-curdling scream.

"The baby is crowning," the midwife said excitedly "One more push Your Highness, I know you are tired," she said.

Cassandra let out a small moan, beads of sweat dripping off her forehead. Her nightgown was plastered to her body. She had changed into it when she'd gone for a nap.

She screamed again. "Push" shouted the midwife "Push Queen Cassandra."

Queen Cassandra bore down with all her might, finally giving birth to her child. There was silence as the midwife clipped the umbilical cord and then carried the child away to clean it. King Dominic waited with anticipation. Would he finally have the son he had longed for?

Queen Cassandra flopped back against the pillows, tears spreading down her cheeks. She was exhausted and her husband hadn't even cared enough to come and squeeze her hand. She felt bitterness rise inside of her. Sadie came forward, climbing onto the bed and gently giving her mother a hug. Cassandra smiled. Sadie never failed to cheer her up. The midwife came back and there was tension in the air as they waited for the news. Cassandra prayed with all her might. If she failed him again, she would have to try again and she didn't have it in her. She couldn't bear to give birth again. Couldn't bear to be made to try again. She was getting older and it was becoming much more difficult to become pregnant, even if she was a fae.

"Queen Cassandra," said the midwife gravely "King Dominic" she paused, a beaming smile on her face as she held the child up, wrapped in a white blanket "I present to you, your son" she declared.

There was cheering. The baby began to cry. The midwife hastily passed him to his mother who put him to her breast as King Dominic looked at his wife pleased. "Finally" he muttered as everyone poured out of the room, except Sadie who was staring fascinated at her little brother "I have an heir worthy of taking over my kingdom."

Sadie frowned at that. Why couldn't she take over the kingdom? Her mother sighed and stroked Sadie's hair as her father came forward to peer at the baby. "His name is Stefan Frost," he told his wife.

Stefan mused Sadie.

Queen Cassandra nodded tiredly. Sadie looked up at her father and smiled at him, flinching when he shot daggers at her. "Get some rest," he told his stunned wife "Now that I have an heir, I require a spare, should something happen to him," he said snarkily.

Cassandra's mouth opened in shock. She couldn't speak. She blinked back tears as her husband stroked a curl of her hair and then turned and walked away whistling like he didn't have a care in the world.

Sadie stared at her mother worried. "Mummy what's wrong?" she asked.

Her mother took a shuddering breath. "Nothing sweetheart" she whispered, lying as her newborn son suckled at her breast "Mummy is just very tired."

There was a tentative knock on the door. Deidre opened it and entered, holding the wolf cub in her arms. It was wriggling frantically but stopped when it saw Sadie. Sadie rushed and grabbed it, putting it on the floor to pet it. Her mother's eyes widened.

"We found him in the woods" explained Deidre "and Sadie couldn't bring herself to leave the poor thing behind."

"But how did it get past our magic" exclaimed the Queen.

"No idea. But Sadie wants to keep it."

The Queen hesitated, but Sadie never asked for anything. She nodded. Her husband would not deny Sadie this, not with his demands of Cassandra. Sadie was looking up hopefully, her eyes shining. Her mother smiled at her.

"You may keep him," she told an ecstatic child as Deidre silently groaned "but you have to look after him and ensure he's fed. Now what are you going to call him?" she asked.

That halted Sadie in her tracks. Her mouth opened in a little round O as she tried to think of a suitable name. Deidre and Queen Cassandra tried not to laugh at the look of concentration on her face. Finally, it came to her.

"I'm going to call him Gray because he's Grey," she said smugly.

Queen Cassandra laughed, Deidre couldn't fault the child's logic. Sadie's baby brother blinked his dark brown eyes, as his mother stroked the dark brown strands of hair on his head. He would look like Dominic she thought with a sigh. Cassandra let out a yawn and burped the baby. Sadie looked up in interest but Deidre motioned toward her.

"Come on, let's give your mother a rest," she said as Cassandra nodded gratefully, "you'll get to see your baby brother another time. For now, let's go get Gray something to eat" she murmured.

They left the room, the wolf cub securely held in Sadie's hand and who would become her protector of sorts.