Alpha's Secret Bride

Emma was still lost in thought when she heard Charlotte’s cheerful voice from the hallway.

"Father, let’s go and see Mother."

"Alright." Brandon’s voice came closer. "Where is Mother?"

"She’s in the living chamber."

"Then let’s go and see her."

Emma’s heart jumped.

She quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and glanced toward the door. Her eyes were still red, and there was no way Brandon would miss it if he saw her like this. She hurried to her chamber, closed the door behind her, and turned the lock just as she heard Charlotte’s small footsteps approaching.

A moment later, there was a soft knock.

"Mother?" Charlotte called through the door. "Are you inside?"

Emma pressed her hand over her mouth and held her breath, trying to steady herself before answering.

Another knock followed, this time from Brandon.

"Emma?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the concern in his voice, and that only made her chest tighten. She stayed silent, afraid that if she answered, he would hear the emotion in her voice and immediately know that something was wrong.

Brandon waited for a few seconds before knocking again.

"Are you sleeping?"

She swallowed and remained quiet.

After another moment, Charlotte’s voice came softly through the door. "Mother is sleeping?"

Brandon was quiet for a moment before answering.

"Maybe she is."

She heard their footsteps slowly move away from the door. She waited until the hallway fell silent before finally lowering her hand from her mouth.

She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes, the letter still clutched tightly against her chest.

She wasn’t ready to face him yet.

Brandon stayed until moonfall. He didn’t want to leave without seeing Emma, but he also didn’t want to make his presence feel like pressure. After helping put the pups to bed, he quietly returned to the hallway and stopped outside Emma’s chamber.

He hesitated for a moment before placing a small folded note on her reading desk. He didn’t knock or wait for her to answer. He simply left it there and walked away.

When Emma later returned to her desk, she found the note waiting for her.

She unfolded it carefully.

I’ll take my leave now. See you tomorrow at breakfast.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the paper as she read the words again.

She barely slept that moonfall. Whenever she closed her eyes, Brandon’s letter came back to her, every sentence and every word settling deeper into her mind. She had read it so many times that she no longer needed the pages in front of her. She could hear his voice in every line, as clear as if he were standing beside her.

"If hatred is what keeps you alive... then hate me."

"I can bear your anger."

"I cannot bear the thought of losing you."

The words stayed with her through the early hours of moonrise. By the time the first light appeared over Moon Estate, Emma was already standing on the balcony outside her chamber with a warm cup of tea between her hands. She hadn’t taken a single sip. Her eyes remained fixed on the estate gates, and every few moments, her fingers tightened around the cup.

She wasn’t waiting for him.

At least, that was what she kept telling herself.

Moments later, the familiar rumble of engines carried across the quiet estate. Emma’s fingers tightened around the cup as a black convoy came into view and rolled through the gates.

Her heart skipped.

The convoy arrived at almost the same time it had every moonrise for months. Right on time. Just as promised.

She closed her eyes for a moment and lowered her gaze to the untouched tea in her hands. Even after everything that had happened, Brandon had never broken a single promise since returning.

By the time the lead vehicle came to a complete stop in the courtyard, Bryan was already hurrying across the grounds toward it.

"Father!"

Brandon stepped out and barely had time to straighten before Bryan reached him. He bent down and caught his prince in a tight embrace, lifting him briefly off the ground.

"Moonrise, Your Highness."

"You came!"

"I told you I would."

Charlotte hurried after him, holding both arms out as she called for him.

"Father!"

He laughed softly and bent to lift her into his arms.

"My little princess."

"I miss you."

"I missed you too."

Emma remained on the balcony, her hands slowly lowering to her sides as she watched them. She watched Brandon hold Charlotte against his chest while Bryan stayed close beside him, talking excitedly about whatever had happened while his father was away.

For the first time, she couldn’t look at him as the man who had abandoned his family.

She saw him as the man who had walked away carrying a burden she had never known about, returned whenever he promised he would, and kept loving his family even when she had given him every reason to believe she wanted nothing to do with him.

Her fingers tightened around the cup again.

She looked away, but the tears had already gathered in her eyes.

The difference broke her heart.

He entered the villa carrying Charlotte while Bryan walked proudly beside him, talking excitedly about a school project he wanted to show his father. He was halfway through explaining something when Brandon looked up and stopped at the sight of Emma coming down the staircase.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Brandon gave her the same polite smile he had given her countless times before.

"Moonrise."

Emma’s throat tightened.

How many times had he greeted her like this?

How many times had she answered with nothing more than a cold nod or a few distant words?

She swallowed and slowly returned his smile.

"Moonrise, Brandon."

His eyebrows lifted almost imperceptibly.

She saw the brief surprise in his eyes. It was the first time she had smiled at him since his return, and for a moment, neither of them seemed to know what to do with it.

Before he could say anything, Emma stepped closer and leaned toward the little girl in his arms. She gently kissed Charlotte’s forehead, letting her fingers brush a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"Moonrise, Your Highness."

Charlotte grinned and wrapped one arm around her father’s neck.

"Father came."

"I know." Emma’s eyes lifted to Brandon, and the smile remained on her lips. "I saw."

Their eyes met again.

This time, Brandon held her gaze a second longer than he intended. His expression remained calm, but something shifted in his eyes before he finally looked away.

He couldn’t quite place it. Emma had been distant with him for so long that even a simple smile felt unfamiliar.

Breakfast passed much as it always did, but she found herself paying attention to things she had once ignored.

Bryan enthusiastically described the model he wanted to build for his school project, using his hands to demonstrate how he planned to put it together. Brandon listened patiently, occasionally asking a question and nodding along as though the project were the most important thing he had heard all moonrise.

Charlotte sat beside him and proudly counted to ten, pausing halfway through as she tried to remember the next number.

This time, she remembered six.

Brandon lifted both hands and applauded dramatically.

"Six! You remembered six."

Charlotte burst into giggles, covering her mouth with both hands.

Emma watched them from across the table, and this time, she didn’t look away when Brandon caught her watching.

Her eyes lingered on him instead.

She noticed the faint scar near his jaw, one she couldn’t remember seeing before. There were shadows beneath his eyes that his usual calm expression couldn’t quite hide. When he served the pups, he placed their plates in front of them before reaching for his own, and when Charlotte’s cup tipped toward the edge of the table, his hand moved automatically to steady it before a single drop could spill.

He didn’t seem to notice any of it. He simply continued listening to Bryan while cutting Charlotte’s food into smaller pieces.

Emma lowered her eyes to her plate.

She had spent so long looking at the things she believed he had done wrong that she had stopped seeing everything he continued to do right in front of her.

Brandon had returned months ago, yet he had never once asked her to forgive him. He had never demanded an explanation for her distance or asked when she would finally come home. He had never tried to force his way back into the place he had once held in her life.

He had simply stayed.

He loved the pups, kept his promises, and showed up every day without asking her for anything in return.

Emma swallowed hard and tightened her fingers around her fork as a lump formed in her throat.

After breakfast, Bryan tugged Brandon toward the gardens, eager to continue working on his science project. Emma remained on the veranda, watching them from a distance as Brandon sat beside Bryan at the worktable and helped him measure the wooden pieces for his small bridge.

Bryan held the ruler against one of the pieces, his tongue poking slightly between his lips as he concentrated. When the ruler slipped from his fingers and landed on the grass, Brandon leaned down, picked it up, and handed it back without making a fuss. A few minutes later, Bryan squeezed the glue bottle too hard, sending a small puddle across the table. He froze and looked at his father, but Brandon simply reached for a cloth and wiped it away before he could start worrying about it.

When Bryan finally fitted the last piece into place, he sat back and stared at his finished bridge. Brandon’s face broke into a wide smile, and he applauded loudly enough to make Bryan laugh.

"You built it yourself."

Bryan’s face lit up with pride. "I did."

Emma smiled from the veranda, but her eyes burned. She quickly blinked the tears away and watched as Brandon leaned closer to inspect the little bridge, listening while Bryan excitedly explained every part of it.

She had spent so long remembering the man she thought had abandoned them that she had forgotten the man standing in front of her now.

This was Brandon.

The same man who celebrated every little victory with their pups, who kept every promise he made, and who had quietly put his family before himself even when no one was there to see it.

---

Later that day, Charlotte wandered into the flower garden, chasing a bright blue butterfly as it fluttered from one patch of flowers to another. Her little shoes hurried across the path while she laughed and reached out with both hands, completely focused on catching it.

Her foot caught against a loose stone.

She stumbled forward.

"Charlotte!"

Emma had barely taken a step when Brandon, who had been nearby, moved faster. He reached her just before she could hit the ground and caught her against his chest.

Charlotte blinked in surprise before wrapping both arms around his neck.

"You’ve got me," Brandon murmured, holding her securely.

"I know," Charlotte said, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

Emma stopped a few feet away.

Her hand slowly rose to her mouth as tears gathered in her eyes again. She watched Brandon carry Charlotte back toward the path, one hand resting protectively against the little girl’s back.

Ashley had been right.

Brandon had sacrificed everything to keep all of them safe.

Even if it meant she kept believing he had left her.

As moonfall approached, Brandon prepared to leave, just as he had every day since his return. Before heading outside, he knelt in front of Bryan and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I’ll see you tomorrow."

Bryan grinned and nodded. "I know."

He smiled, then rose and turned toward Emma.

"I’ll take my leave."

For months, Emma had answered those words with little more than a nod, barely looking up as he walked away. Today, she found herself following him.

She walked beside him all the way to the front door.

Brandon glanced at her once, then again, as though he still couldn’t quite believe she was there. Neither of them said anything. The quiet between them felt different now, no longer as cold as it had been before.

When they reached the waiting convoy, Emma stopped a few steps from the vehicle.

"Safe journey."

Brandon gave her a faint smile. "Thank you."

He turned and started toward the vehicle.

"Brandon."

He stopped.

Slowly, he turned around.

Emma stood where she was, her hands loosely clasped in front of her as the breeze lifted a few strands of hair around her face. She looked at him for a long moment, but the words she had been holding onto all day refused to come.

Finally, she lowered her eyes and spoke so softly that he almost had to lean forward to hear her.

"...Thank you."

Brandon frowned slightly.

"For what?"

She looked back at him, her eyes glistening. For a brief moment, she almost told him everything. She almost told him that she had read the letter, that she finally knew why he had left, and that she had been wrong about him.

Instead, she gave the smallest shake of her head.

"For coming."

Brandon held her gaze for a moment, then his expression softened.

"There was never anywhere else I wanted to be."

He climbed into the vehicle before she could find another word to say.

She remained in the driveway, watching through the windshield as the convoy pulled away. She didn’t move until the vehicles disappeared beyond the gates and the sound of the engines faded into the distance.

Only then did she slowly raise a hand to her chest.

Hidden beneath her blouse, resting close to her heart, was Brandon’s letter.

Her fingers curled around it as she closed her eyes.

"Tomorrow..." she whispered into the empty driveway.

"I’ll tell you the truth."

Not the truth Ashley had revealed.

Her truth.

The truth she had carried for months, buried beneath anger, doubt, and everything she had tried to convince herself to believe.

Her fingers tightened over the letter.

She had never stopped trusting him.

She had never stopped loving him.