Alpha's Secret Bride

The living chamber fell quiet.

Emma stared at Samuel, her arms slowly folding across her chest. She had expected resistance, perhaps questions about Brandon or the bond severance law, but she hadn’t expected him to ask her to help put the crown on his head. "Why does he have to ask for the throne?"

Samuel leaned back in his chair and rested one hand against the armrest. "The bond severance law has survived for generations because the elders refuse to touch it. Every proposal to change it has been buried before it ever reached the council."

"And taking the throne changes that?"

"Not directly." Samuel picked up his cup and took an unhurried sip before setting it back on the table. "The High Fang Regent has the elders’ respect, and Ashley stands beside the king. Since Eldric is gone, there will be a period of uncertainty while the kingdom decides who should take his place between you and Alexandra. That gives me a chance to build support before the council has time to close ranks."

Emma’s arms tightened slightly. "And once you become king?"

"I can put the proposal before the council myself."

She didn’t answer. Her eyes stayed on him as she weighed his words, then shifted briefly toward the untouched tea on the table.

Samuel opened his hands. "You came here because you knew I was your best chance."

"I came because you’re the only Alpha outside the royal household who has enough influence to challenge a law that has stood for generations."

"And that makes me useful."

She let out a slow breath and lowered her arms. "It makes you useful, but it doesn’t make you the heir apparent to the throne."

"I know," Samuel replied. "But with your support, I can become one."

"If I agree..." She paused, watching him closely. "...will you truly begin the process?"

He held her gaze for a moment before answering. "I’ll start immediately."

"And there won’t be any delays or excuses?"

"You have my word."

She lowered her eyes to the tea between them. For nearly three winters, she had waited. She had defended Brandon when others whispered that he had abandoned her, ignored every suggestion that she should move on, and buried herself in work. She had smiled for her pups even on the days when she barely recognized herself.

Now she was sitting in another Alpha’s estate, bargaining for a future she had never imagined.

She looked back at Samuel. "I won’t promise you anything today."

Samuel nodded. "I didn’t expect you to."

"But if I find out you’ve lied to me..."

"I won’t."

She reached for her handbag and slipped the strap over her shoulder. She walked toward the door and rested her hand on the handle.

"I’ll give you what you want after I see the first step."

She opened the door, then paused without looking back.

"I hope neither of us regrets this."

With that, she stepped out, and the door closed quietly behind her.

He remained where he was until Emma’s footsteps faded down the corridor. The polite smile disappeared from his face as he turned toward the window overlooking the front courtyard. Her car passed through the gates and continued down the winding road, the taillights growing smaller until they disappeared from view.

A shadow moved from behind one of the pillars. The spy stepped forward and lowered his head. "Alpha."

Samuel kept his eyes on the road. "Follow her."

"Discreetly?"

"She came here without informing the palace." Samuel clasped his hands behind his back. "I want to know whether she truly came alone or whether this was a trap."

"It will be done."

The spy turned and slipped back into the shadows.

Samuel remained at the window, his fingers tapping lightly against the sill as he watched the empty road. "If you’re telling the truth, Emma..." A slow smile touched his lips. "...then you’ve just opened the first door."

---

Moon Estate

The aroma of roasted meat drifted through the dining hall as Mrs Thompson arranged the last plate on the long table. She wiped her hands on her apron and glanced toward the staircase.

"My Queen Luna?"

There was no answer.

A few hours earlier, Emma had asked her to finish preparing dinner while she checked on the nursery. Mrs Thompson had prepared the meal herself, knowing Emma had been craving her cooking lately, even though the estate’s cooks were more than capable of preparing dinner. She set the last serving dish on the table and glanced toward the stairs again.

She waited another moment, then headed upstairs.

The nursery door stood open, but the chamber was empty. She checked the pups’ bedchambers, then walked to Emma’s bedchamber and knocked.

"My Queen Luna?"

No answer came.

She pushed the door open and looked inside. Everything was exactly where Emma had left it that moonfall. The bed was neatly made, a book rested on the bedside table, and her device charger remained plugged into the wall.

She went straight to Emily’s chamber and knocked before stepping inside.

"Emily, is Queen Luna with you?"

Emily glanced toward the empty doorway.

"She must still be downstairs."

She hurried back to the first floor and checked the sitting chamber, then the library. When she found neither Emma nor the pups there, she stepped outside and searched the garden.

Nothing.

The smile disappeared from her face.

"Queen Luna?"

Only silence answered.

A maid appeared in the hallway, carrying a folded stack of linens. Mrs Thompson turned toward her. "Have you seen the Queen?"

The maid shook her head. "I thought she was with you."

Mrs Thompson’s fingers tightened around the edge of her apron. Within minutes, Emily, servants and guards were searching every part of the estate, from the cookhouse and greenhouse to the training yard and lakeside path. They checked the chambers, called her name, and looked behind the buildings, but every search ended the same way.

No Emma.

Mrs Thompson hurried to the security post and pushed through the door. "Check the cameras."

One of the guards looked up from his station. "Did Queen Luna leave the estate?"

"No, she didn’t."

The guard reached for his communication device. "Seal the estate. Nobody enters or leaves until we find the Queen."

The order was relayed to the guards stationed around the property. Emily clasped her trembling hands together as she watched them move into position.

Something was wrong.

The security post fell quiet as a convoy of black SUVs pulled to a stop outside. Several armed guards stepped out first, spreading around the entrance and checking the surrounding grounds before opening the rear door of the lead vehicle. Ashley, the High Fang Regent, stepped out and was immediately surrounded by his security escort.

Emily hurried toward him, her eyes swollen from crying. Ashley said nothing as he entered the security post, with two guards following closely behind while the rest remained outside to secure the perimeter.

"Ashley..."

He stepped toward Emily and pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest as she broke down. One hand moved gently over her back while he waited for her breathing to settle.

After a moment, he eased back and looked at her tear-streaked face. "Tell me what happened. When did she leave the estate?"

"A few hours ago."

His gaze moved across the wall of monitors to the CCTV operator seated at the security console. "Start from the moment she left the sitting chamber."

He nodded and pulled up the recording. The screen showed Emma walking toward the main staircase after speaking with Emily.

"There," Mrs Thompson said quietly. "She told me she was going to check on the pups in the nursery."

Ashley folded his arms and kept his eyes on the screen. Emma disappeared from view as she reached the stairs.

A few minutes later, another camera showed a maid pushing a laundry cart through the servants’ corridor. The guard continued watching without stopping the footage, but Ashley leaned toward the monitor.

"Pause."

The footage froze.

He stepped closer to the screen. "Zoom in."

The maid kept her head lowered beneath a plain scarf, with a basket of folded linen resting on top of the cart. Emily leaned closer to the monitor and frowned.

"That’s one of the new maids."

Ashley said nothing.

"Play it."

The maid pushed the cart toward the staff entrance. A guard stationed by the door greeted her with a nod before opening the gate, and she wheeled the cart outside.

The screen switched to the camera overlooking the service road. The maid stopped beside a hedge and glanced around before pulling off the scarf.

Emily covered her mouth. "Oh..."

The basket of laundry was lifted from the cart and placed inside the trunk of a black sedan parked beneath the trees. She removed the plain apron, folded it, and tucked it into the empty cart before walking around to the driver’s side and getting behind the wheel.

A moment later, the sedan pulled away from the estate.

The security post went quiet.

Ashley let out a slow breath. "So she planned everything."

No one answered.

Mrs Thompson lowered her head. "I’m sorry."

Ashley turned toward her. "This wasn’t your fault."

He faced the monitors again. "Did anyone follow her?"

One of the guards checked another screen before shaking his head. "No, sir."

Ashley pulled out his device and called Emma. The call rang without an answer. He tried again, but the result was the same.

Emily clasped her hands tightly. "What if something happened to her?"

Ashley looked toward the window, his jaw tightening as he lowered the device.

"Nothing is going to happen to her."

His voice remained steady, but his grip tightened around the device.

"Emma wouldn’t disappear without a reason." Ashley slipped the device back into his pocket.

Just then, a horn sounded outside the estate, and every head in the security post turned toward the windows. One of the guards hurried over and looked through the glass.

"Sir..."

Ashley was already moving. By the time he reached the front entrance, Emma’s black sedan had rolled to a stop beneath the portico. The engine fell silent, and the driver’s door opened. She stepped out alone, closed the door behind her, and looked up just as Ashley came down the steps.

"Soft Fang..."

Before she could say anything else, Ashley pulled her into a tight embrace. His arms tightened around her, and for several seconds neither of them spoke. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

"I’m sorry."

Ashley finally pulled back and kept both hands on her shoulders. His eyes moved over her face before settling on hers. "Where were you?"

"I needed to take care of something."

"You disappeared without telling anyone."

"I know."

"Emily thought you’d been kidnapped."

She glanced toward the entrance, where Emily stood wiping tears from her cheeks. Her expression changed as she looked back at Ashley. "I didn’t mean to frighten anyone."

Ashley let out a breath and glanced toward the sedan. "You left the estate dressed as a maid."

Emma blinked. "You saw the cameras?"

"I had no choice."

She lowered her eyes. "I needed to leave without attracting attention."

Ashley shook his head. "You could have told your mother or Mrs Thompson."

"If I had..." She lifted her eyes to his. "...they wouldn’t have let me go."

Ashley opened his mouth, then closed it again. His hands slowly fell from her shoulders as he looked away, knowing she was right. If anyone in the estate or palace had known where Emma was going, they would have tried to stop her.

The truth was that the meeting had been Ashley’s idea from the beginning. He had encouraged Emma to meet Samuel in secret and find out what he was planning, trusting her to learn more than they could uncover from a distance. Now that she had returned, he had to keep up the appearance that he knew nothing about why she had left.

It was a secret shared only between a father and his daughter, and Ashley intended to keep it that way.

He drew a slow breath before pulling her into another hug. "Don’t ever do that again."

Emma rested her forehead against his shoulder. "I’ll try."

Ashley pulled back and gave her a firm look. "No."

His voice softened. "Promise me."

After a brief silence, Emma nodded. "I promise."

Emily hurried down the steps and wrapped an arm around Emma from the side. "Soft fang... don’t scare me like that again."

Emma gave her a faint smile and squeezed her hand. "I’m sorry mother."

Mrs. Thompson hurried toward her from the nursery, Charlotte Nadia crying in her arms.

"My Queen, what have I done to upset you?"

"You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m sorry. I just needed to take care of something."

Emma gently took Charlotte from her and pulled her close, rocking her as the little princess continued to cry.

The guards gradually returned to their posts as the tension around the entrance eased. Across the road, however, a man remained beside a newspaper stand, watching the estate without drawing attention to himself.

He lowered the newspaper just enough to watch Emma disappear into the mansion. A small communication device rested beneath his sleeve, and he pressed it once against his wrist. The call connected almost immediately.

"Alpha."

Samuel’s voice came through the earpiece, low and steady. "Report," he said.

"She came alone."

Samuel’s expression tightened. "No hidden escort?"

"None. I’ve been watching her since she arrived, and I haven’t seen anyone following her."

"No surveillance team?"

"None that I could see. I checked the surrounding area before she approached and found no one watching from the perimeter."

Samuel was silent for a moment. His fingers tightened around the earpiece. "Are you certain?"

"I watched her from the moment she left your estate until she returned home. She didn’t meet anyone along the way, and no one followed her."

The spy glanced toward the mansion. "She acted entirely on her own."

A slow smile spread across Samuel’s face. He leaned back in his chair and rested the device on the desk.

"So..." He reached for the drawer and pulled it open. "It wasn’t a trap after all."

He ended the call and took out a leather notebook. After flipping past several pages, he stopped at a blank one and wrote three words.

The game begins.

Samuel closed the notebook and left his hand resting on its cover, the faint smile still on his face as he looked toward the window.

Outside, moonfall settled over the estate.

Far away, Emma believed she had taken the first step toward reclaiming her freedom.

She had no idea another person had just taken the first step toward destroying it.