Page 13 of Coveted

Motion beyond the window drew her attention, a pair of lyrbids pausing to quarrel midair before flying on. Unable to resist, Alana moved closer, looking out at the view she’d seen each day of her life. Something she’d taken for granted, and only just realized she may never see again.

It was a bright spring day, the sky a clear, pale green. One of Libeqor’s two suns sat just above the horizon as the other shone down from above. Alana had seen pictures of Earth’s star, and while theirs were much smaller, together they offered plenty of light.

Tipping her gaze to the ground below, a splash of color called to her, offering a change from the monotony. She turned on her heel, heading for the door without another thought. There was nothing to hold her inside, no reason why she couldn’t go enjoy the weather in the garden, so that’s what she was going to do.

Libeqor was an agricultural planet, settled for the large amount of arable land available. While there was nothing particularly special about what they produced, they grew enough to ship their extras off-world, and it was what allowed them to join the Federation.

Even though she’d never been expected to contribute, Alana had still been required to learn about their industry. As a child she’d helped in the garden behind her home, until she’d been deemed too old to follow the servants around performing chores they’d been hired to do. She’d been kept too busy to take more than a cursory glance at the garden in a long time, and when she stepped outside, she was sad to notice how neglected the plants had become.

The once full, thriving garden had withered away. The grounds were still kept neat and clean, but the overflowing beds she remembered now only held a few carefully groomed plants, the wildness tamed. There was still color, but only where it was allowed.

A part of her felt the same. She’d been plucked and pruned to perfection, and in the process, lost something beautiful.

She walked along the path between the flowers, more saddened than she’d been before. Most people would still find the garden appealing, but like the rest of her home, it was a minimalist beauty.

Controlled.

Alana was overcome with the urge to scream. To rage and ruin the quiet perfection. To find seeds and fling them far and wide, and wait to see what happened.

Hands clenched in her dress, she quivered with the violence rolling through her mind.

It didn’t end with the garden. She wanted to run through the halls with buckets of paint and fling it on everything. Every color and shade, splashed and layered, until her world was no longer plain, monotonous torture.

“Darling, what are you doing out here?”

Alana whirled at the soft voice behind her, her mother’s eyes widening when she caught her gaze. Alana’s chest heaved, her limbs trembling with the need to lash out.

She felt stifled.

Smothered.

Her mother raised a hand to her chest, perfectly manicured fingers pressed beneath her collarbone as if she was scandalized. Part of Alana writhed in satisfaction.

Let her be. She’s part of the problem.

“Are you alright dear?”

Shaking her head, Alana ignored the insidious whisper. Something was obviously wrong, but Alana couldn’t say what it was. Maybe it was the stress of change looming on the horizon making her unsettled, or maybe she was finally removing the blinders her father had kept in place for so long, allowing her to see what her life had become.

Either way, she wasn’t capable of maintaining the façade required from her.

“I’ll be fine.”

It was all she could manage, and with that she spun around, racing for the door that led inside. She didn’t slow her pace through the halls, glad she was wearing flats instead of heels, until the door to her rooms shut behind her.

Heart racing, she braced her back against the smooth wood, sucking in deep breaths.

Then she laughed.

It was the first real laugh she’d let out in so long she couldn’t remember, and while it devolved into a bit of a hysterical giggle before she could swallow it, it still left her with a smile on her face that she couldn’t explain.

Perhaps she was going crazy. She’d been holding back and suppressing everything for so long, she figured she was due for a good reality break. Maybe it was brought on by the fact that she was finally going to escape her father’s home and rule, or maybe the timing was just coincidental, but the nerves she’d felt about Suri’s call had evaporated. No matter what news she had, what alpha Alana was being sent to, at least it would be something different.

Something new.

And that meant she could become something new, too.

Grin still in place, Alana stepped away from the door, striding through to her dressing room. She’d never traveled much, but she had a set of luggage in the back, and she wasn’t going to sit around and wait until someone else packed what they thought she needed to take with her. Whether Suri was calling to say she was leaving immediately, or at some point in the future, Alana was going to be ready.

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