Alpha's Secret Bride

The underground bunker fell quiet after Raven left. A few moments later, Nelson stepped through the steel door and gave Raven a brief wave as they passed each other. Inside, the man stood before the wall-sized map, studying the photographs, names, and red strings connecting the people they had been tracking. Several of the enemies had already been captured, while others remained hidden, waiting for a chance to disappear completely.

Yul and Wyatt stood near the entrance, speaking quietly until Nelson’s gaze settled on the man at the map. He walked closer, his expression tightening as he studied him for a moment.

"You knew Rivena was alive this whole time."

The man didn’t turn around. "I did."

Nelson stared at him. "You let me believe she was dead."

"I had to."

The man finally turned, meeting Nelson’s eyes. "If the enemies found out Rivena survived, they would’ve hunted her down before she had a chance to tell anyone what she knew. Keeping her alive meant making sure they believed she was dead."

Nelson looked toward the floor, then slowly shook his head. "So the funeral..."

"Wasn’t real."

The man returned his attention to the map while Nelson stood there, taking in what he had just learned.

"The body buried under her name belonged to an unidentified rogue she-wolf who had no surviving relatives. One of my men handled the arrangements and made sure there was nothing that could lead back to Rivena."

Nelson let out a slow breath and rubbed a hand over his face. "All this time, I thought I was helping the people who wanted me and my sister dead."

The man watched him for a moment before speaking. "You were. But Rivena’s identity still has to remain hidden. The fewer people who know she’s alive, the safer she is."

He crossed the chamber to a steel cabinet and placed his hand against the biometric scanner. The lock clicked open, and he removed a thin folder before walking back to Nelson.

"Read it."

Nelson opened the folder and slowly turned through the pages. Medical reports, photographs, surgical records, and security reports filled it. There were photographs of Rivena learning to walk again, records from her surgeries, and rehabilitation reports documenting the months she spent recovering from her injuries.

His fingers tightened around the edge of the folder.

"She went through all of this?"

The man’s voice softened. "She nearly died three times. The people who were supposed to protect her were the ones who left her fighting for her life."

Nelson closed the folder and swallowed. "Can I see her?"

The man studied him for a long moment before giving a small nod. "That’s why I brought you here. It’s finally time."

The man waited until Yul and Wyatt had left the chamber. The steel door slid shut behind them. Only then did he turn back to Nelson.

"There’s something else you need to keep to yourself."

Nelson looked at him. "What?"

"Raven cannot know Rivena is alive."

Nelson’s expression tightened. "You haven’t told him?"

"No."

"He has spent all this time believing his fiancée is dead."

"I know."

Nelson stared at him for a moment. Raven and Rivena had been engaged before Damon deceived her and tore their lives apart. "Then why keep it from him? He deserves to know."

"He does," the man said. "But not yet."

Nelson frowned. "You know how much she means to him. She wasn’t just a woman he loved. She was supposed to be his mate."

"That’s exactly why I’m keeping this from him."

Nelson folded his arms. "You think she’ll distract him."

"I know Raven. The moment he learns Rivena is alive, everything else will become secondary. He’ll want to see her, find out what happened to her, and make sure she’s safe. After believing she was dead for so long, you can’t expect him to hear she’s alive and simply go back to work."

"You don’t think he can handle it?"

"I think Raven is strong enough to handle it. That’s not the point." The man picked up Rivena’s file from the table and closed it. "We’re too close to the people we’re hunting to allow anything to slow us down. We’ve spent winters getting this far, and I won’t risk the operation because Raven suddenly has something personal pulling at him."

Nelson studied him. "And when we’re finished?"

"Then I’ll tell him myself." The man held his gaze. "He’ll be the first person I bring to her."

Nelson slowly nodded, though he still looked uneasy. "What if he finds out we knew?"

"I’ll take responsibility for that."

The man turned back toward the wall of photographs and maps, his eyes settling on the names connected by red lines.

"Until we’re finished, Rivena stays dead as far as Raven is concerned. Nothing gets in the way of the work. Not fear, not anger, and not even love."

Nelson remained quiet for a moment, then gave a slow nod. "All right. I understand."

The man watched him. "You do?"

"If Raven finds out now, he’ll go after the people responsible before we’re ready. And if he starts asking questions about Rivena, the wolves are bound to notice she’s still alive."

The man said nothing.

Nelson glanced toward the table where Rivena’s file rested. "I don’t like keeping this from him, but I won’t be the one who puts her at risk either."

"Then we agreed."

"Not quite."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"When this is over, Raven hears the truth from us. No matter what happens, we don’t keep him in the dark any longer than necessary."

The man held his gaze for a moment before nodding. "Agreed."

Nelson extended his hand. "Then we have a deal."

The man took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"We have a deal."

Nelson released his hand and glanced toward the steel door. "He better be worth all this trouble."

A faint smile crossed the man’s face. "He will be."

Nelson shook his head with a quiet laugh. "You’d better be right."

He picked up a secure device from the table and pressed a single button.

"Bring her in."

Less than a minute later, the heavy steel door slid open. A woman stepped inside with two attendants walking a few paces behind her.

Nelson’s hand fell to his side.

Rivena looked thinner than he remembered, and she paused just inside the doorway as her eyes met his.

A pale scar stretched from Rivena’s neck toward her collarbone, while another disappeared beneath the sleeve of her coat. Nelson’s eyes moved over her face, stopping on the eyes he had known all his life. Even after everything that had changed, he would have recognized them anywhere.

"Rivena..."

His voice broke, and tears filled his eyes. Rivena’s lips trembled before she managed a small smile of her own.

"Nelson."

He crossed the chamber in seconds and pulled her into his arms. Rivena held on just as tightly, burying her face against his shoulder as the tears finally came. Neither of them tried to speak. They simply stood there, holding each other while the winters they had spent apart settled between them.

"They made it seem like they were protecting us," Rivena whispered against his shoulder.

Nelson closed his eyes and held her tighter. "I know."

The man quietly stepped aside, giving them the space they needed. When they finally pulled apart, Nelson kept both hands on Rivena’s shoulders, looking over her face as if he still needed to convince himself she was really standing in front of him.

"I thought I’d lost you."

Rivena wiped beneath her eyes and gave him a faint smile. "I almost didn’t make it."

Nelson’s expression tightened.

Rivena glanced toward the man standing nearby, then took a slow breath. "There are things you both need to know."

The man’s expression grew serious as he stepped closer. "We’re listening."

Rivena looked directly at him.

"The attack on us wasn’t random."

"I overheard the traitors talking about that moonfall before they tried to kill me."

Everyone in the chamber went still. Nelson’s hand tightened around the edge of the table while the mysterious man watched Rivena without saying a word.

"They weren’t working alone," she continued. "There was an alpha giving them orders from inside the palace."

The man’s eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"I don’t know his name."

Rivena reached inside her coat and pulled out a small flash drive. She placed it carefully on the table between them.

"But I stole this before I escaped. I copied everything I could before they realized what I was doing. There are recordings, names, payments, and details about meetings."

The man picked up the drive and handed it to the man at the computer. "Get the files onto the secure system. Don’t connect it to anything else."

He inserted the drive into the isolated computer and waited as the screen flickered to life. A password prompt appeared, followed by several encrypted folders. One by one, the files opened, revealing recordings, payment records, photographs, and lists of names.

Nelson leaned closer to the screen as Yul stepped behind him. Wyatt’s jaw tightened when he recognized several names in the documents.

Then one file opened.

A single name appeared at the top of the screen.

The mysterious man’s expression changed instantly. He stared at the name without moving, as if he needed another moment to make sense of what he was seeing.

"...Impossible."

No one spoke.

Rivena looked from the screen to him.

"This is unbelievable."