Alpha’s Thrice Rejectedd Mate By Ida Rowe

Chapter 170

**Margot

My paws hurt. I didn’t know how to change back. If I had known how to change back. I’d be more scared. I’ve finally gotten used to seeing. I didn’t know this area, though. It smelled funny. I was far from home. If I wasn’t a wolf, I wouldn’t know where I was going.

Not that I had any clue now. I wanted Mama. I wanted Daddy. I wanted to stop and sleep. The sun had already been down and up again, but I kept imagining I could hear voices behind me. I was too afraid to stop.

A twig cracked behind me, and I snapped my head around. It was a deer.

I didn’t have time to be relieved, though, because I tumbled headfirst into a

stream.

If I’d been a human girl again, I could have just stood up, and everything would have been fine. But I was a little wolf cub. And the stream carried me away. I paddled desperately. I could hardly keep my head above the water. I spun past rocks and fallen branches and finally managed to grab a branch with my teeth. Wet and cold, I dragged myself out of the stream and lay panting on the shore. Where were Mama and Daddy?

I sniffed the air, praying to the Moon Goddess to help me find them.

I didn’t smell Mama and Daddy, but I did smell something tasty. I struggled up onto my four legs and limped until I came across a path worn into the grass and leaves. I followed it, and it brought me to a little cottage.

The good smells were coming from inside.

Whimpering because I was so tired and cold, I pawed the door and gave a faint little bark.

Feet shuffled, and there was a thump-thump-thump from inside. It felt like but an old woman with a cane finally opened the door.

ages.

“Oh!” she said in a wizened but friendly voice. “I almost didn’t see you there.” She looked me up poor dear. How long have you been stuck this

and down. “You way?”

The old woman waved her hand in the air and made blue sparks, and then I was a little girl again.

At least, I was pretty sure I was. I was taller, and I couldn’t see. I rubbed my bare arms and decided that, yes, I was me again.

A soft cloth got draped around me. I felt it and decided it was a blanket. “Come in, sweet child. Oh, these tiresome werewolves and their st**id wars. It’s really the children who suffer.” I felt the old woman put her arm around me and

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carefully guide me inside.

We went at a slow pace, which was fine by me because I didn’t know her cottage and didn’t want to trip over anything. My knees knocked together after the first few steps, though. I was so tired, and my muscles hurt so much..

“Just sit here on the bed. There’s a good love. Oh, your hands and feet are just raw,” the old woman clucked.

“I’m hungry,” I said softly, glad my voice worked. “Is there food, please?”

“Of course. I’m just going to wrap your hands here so it won’t hurt so much to hold the bowl,” the old woman replied.

Something cool and tingly and a little bit wet brushed over my palms. Then a piece of cloth was wound tightly around each of my hands.

“I’m going to do the same for your feet in a minute, but let me get you some stew, child,” the old woman said.

There was some metallic clinking on the other side of the room, then a bowl and spoon were pushed into my hands.

“Let me know if you need me to feed you,” the old woman instructed. “It should be just about the right temperature for eating. Not too hot, not too cold.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I responded politely. Daddy was very strict about being polite.

“Madame Gloria, please,” the old woman chuckled. “And you are Princess Margot Moonrose.”

I couldn’t see, but I blinked just the same. “How did you know that?”

Madame Gloria patted my head. “Magic, my dear. Now, eat your stew.”

I tried, but Madame Gloria was right. I needed help.

“Poor thing.” I felt something warm, like sunlight on my skin, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. “Oh, dear. You are QUITE ill. Running more than a day! Yes, don’t worry, Madame Gloria will get you fed and tuck you right into bed. Now open up.”

I opened my mouth, and Madame Gloria gave me little spoonfuls of stew. It took a long time to feed me, but she didn’t complain. With my hands so raw, and me being so tired, this was the best way to do this.

Then she patted what sounded like a pillow next to me. “Down you get. You lay down, and I’ll just take care of those feet.”

“Madame Gloria? Can your magic call my parents here?” I asked. “Mama and Daddy are probably worried.”

“Unfortunately, Mama and Daddy have a lot bigger things to worry about right now,” Madame Gloria said sadly. “There’s a war, sweet girl. A big war. I can’t take you home until it’s over.”

“Oh,” I replied. “Do you think they’ll be okay?”

Alpha’s The Regered Mare

Madame Gloria patted my arm. “I don’t have the Sight, little one, but you do. Maybe a dream will grant you the answer. But for right now. I’m going to work on getting you healthy so you can go back to your parents without them having to worry when you get there. Does that sound alright?”

“Okay,” I said after thinking about it for a while. “How do we get me better?

“Well, we start by getting your feet bound up. Then, a good, long sleep is in

order.” Madame Gloria shuffled across the room again while I laid down, and then I felt the same tingly wet stuff being spread on my feet.

“Is it magic?” I asked.

“Hmm. yes and no. It’s medicine. I think medicinal plants all have their own unique magic. But, I didn’t have to put any of my magic into it, no, Madame Gloria said.

I nodded. It was a good enough answer. But it also just led to another question. “Madame Gloria? Where does your magic come from?”

“Why, the Moon Goddess, of course. Just like your Sight, Madame Gloria replied as she wrapped cloth around my feet.

Then I had another question. “Madame Gloria, have you ever met the Moon Goddess?

Madame Gloria chuckled and k*ssed me on the forehead just like Aunt Louisa,

hard question for

before tucking the blankets around me. “That would be a

me to answer, sweet one. But you just go to sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

“Time for-?”

I felt a finger press to my forehead and then a tingle there. I didn’t ask any more questions. For the first time in my life, I fell into a deep sleep without dreams.

I lost track of the number of days I was with Madame Gloria. I slept a lot, and she changed my bandages every day and found me a dress to wear. I had stews and soups and breads, and even some apples, and they all tasted better than anything I’d ever had at the castle. Madame Gloria said it was because they were “high in healing properties.”

Every day, I asked Madame Gloria if we could go find Mama and Daddy. She’d hum for a minute, then tell me it wasn’t time.

I was starting to get frustrated when she finally said, “Yes. Yes, I believe it is now

time.

With a smile, I scooted off the bed. I’d learned the layout of the cottage and wasn’t afraid of tripping anymore. “Will you come with me?” I asked.

“Of course. It will take a few days-these old bones are not as fast as they used to be-but I think Moonrose is safe now,” Madame Gloria replied.

I pulled on the shoes she’d given me, but she stopped me before I stood. I felt

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something soft with a delicate fragrance drop into my hands.

“Margot, this will bring back your vision,” Madame Gloria said quietly. “But it will make you lose your Sight. I suggest you use this trip home to decide what you

want.”

I cradled the flower to me, awed.

What… what DID I want?