Chapter 242

I ran to the cafe to grab a breakfast sandwich and a coffee, then made my way to the table where the girls were already gathered. “Hey.” I took the last bite of my sandwich and slid into a seat, only to nearly choke to death when Hanna and Micca both yelled.

“Amy!” The food hit the back of my throat when I inhaled, and I started to cough. The two of them came over, bouncing, while I tried to swallow the food that was currently trying to kill me.

I finally swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yeah?” I coughed more, and they at least looked apologetic.

“Sorry.” Hanna patted my back, but Micca just pushed her way.

“Look at your hair!” Micca pulled on my newly shortened strands.

“Does it look bad?” I grabbed a curl, tucking it behind my ear.

“No!” She fluffed up my hair some. “I think it looks amazing on you. Your curls seem to have more life, more bounce. It looks fantastic. Who did it?” Micca looked around. “I’ve needed a haircut for a long time.”

I pointed to Toya. “She did.”

“Oh my goddess, Toya, why didn’t you tell us you can cut hair?”

“I honestly can’t, but that one got her hair caught in something and had to hack it off. I did my best to save it, but the curls are doing most of the work.” Toya laughed. “You should've seen it last night. It was horrible.”

Micca pouted for a minute. “Damn, and here I was, hoping to get a new look.” Toya laughed.

“Are you open yet?” The woman in the front of the growing crowd bounced impatiently.

I gave her a soft smile. “Let me check on the tablets and make sure the program is fully functional, and then we will be good to go.”

“Thank you.” She was so polite, but I could tell she was excited.

“No worries.”

But she shook her head. “I don’t think you understand. I tried to apply at home because I didn’t make it here last night. But once you enter your name and try to submit it, the council redirects you.”

Hanna came over. “To where?”

“Another form to fill out, and then it checks something. I don’t even know what it was checking. What I do know is that after about ten minutes, it rejected my application.” She looked frustrated. “So this is the only way for me to even get a chance.” There were a few others nodding.

“I tried too.”

“Me too. I was denied in under one minute. What are they even checking?”

“Obviously they are checking if you’re even remotely worthy of being the queen.” Nina’s nasally voice came from somewhere, and I swear I wanted to roll my eyes.

I watched as the few women in front of me deflated. “Ladies. Every one of you deserves the chance to be considered. Whether or not the king selects you is really his choice, and we have to be ready for that. But there is nothing in this world that makes you less than someone else.”

Nina laughed as she weaved her way through the waiting crowd. “You are giving unranked hope. And that isn’t fair.”

I glared at her. “I can say with certainty that any of these unranked wolves would make a better queen than you would, Nina.” I smiled at her as her face reddened. “At least they know how to speak to others politely. And when to see themselves out of a conversation that wasn’t theirs to have?” I turned to the women in front of me. “Don’t listen to her. She is a very weak alpha who feels the need to make everyone feel less than so that she can feel better about herself.” A few of the girls snickered. “And as I was saying, I won’t discriminate against anyone from applying. Everyone deserves a shot.” I turned to the girls. “Hand me the tablets, please.”

The others all handed over their tablets, and I double-checked the programming. Everything looked good, and I handed them back one by one. “The cords are all ready.” Wendy smiled as she poked her head out from under the table. She waved her hand for the first tablet, and Hanna laughed as she handed it over. One by one, Wendy plugged in the tablets. “We are all set here.”

I turned back to the crowd of women. “Then we are all set to start the second day of applications.”

“Wait a moment, if you would.” A male voice cut over the crowd, and Nina’s smile had my stomach clench.

Why are you worried? Nix’s voice was amused. Even the King can’t command us to do anything without trying. No one here can do it. Which means you can protect everyone here from any command.

Megan, who was currently watching over the candle, chuffed out a laugh. But they don’t know that yet.

Nix slunk out of my forest with a menacing glint in her eyes. But they will find out today.