The Alpha King’s Broken Mate

4. On One Condition

Naevia

The face that swam into my blurry vision was one I thought I had left in the past. I blinked, trying to clear the black spots from my eyes, but the face remained.

Alpha King Ambrose.

If I could, I would have laughed. Of all the people to find me, it had to be him. My past just had come back to haunt me at my worst. My mind reeled, struggling to connect the boy from my memory with the man standing before me.

I was five when my father went to war, and the Crescent pack seized the opportunity to invade our pack. To protect my brother and I, my mother had used herself as bait and drew the enemies away from our pack, and I never saw her again.

When my father returned, he was furious, almost going on a rampage. To prevent another war, the Crescent pack sent a hostage: their Alpha’s son, Ambrose. He was a sad, quiet boy of six.

We were about the same age and should have been playmates, but whenever I saw him I thought of my mother’s empty chair at dinner. So, I made him pay for it as much as my younger self was capable of.

When he was sixteen, the Crescent pack launched an attack on us again. In the chaos, Ambrose vanished. I heard later that he had returned to the Crescent pack, challenged and killed his own father to become Alpha. From there, he began a ruthless conquest, swallowing pack after pack until his territory was vast enough to earn him the title of Alpha King.

And now, he was here. The boy I once mocked and called “little runt” because he was shorter than me now towered over everyone. His presence felt so powerful that even with my Alpha blood I still felt the urge to submit to him

The man before me was completely different from the Ambrose in my memories. He had an ageless sort of beauty. His hair was jet black, thick, wavy and framing a face that was so rigidly handsome, it was an actual struggle to look away from him. He had defined cheekbones that sharpened his beauty and a strong jaw with a dusting of dark beards. His eyes were a cold, dark, piercing gray that pinned me in place.

“Long time no see,” Ambrose said, his voice a low rumble.

As I looked up at him, I remembered every mean thing I had ever said to him, every time I had pushed him or gotten him into trouble, and I quickly looked away as shame filled me.

He had to be enjoying this, seeing me helpless and dying. I wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction.

Using the last of my strength, I pushed myself up on my elbows and stared right at him, forcing my cracked lips into a sneer. “Long time no see, little runt.”

I waited for the anger to flash in his eyes, wanting confirmation that we were both still wounded by our pasts. But Ambrose’s expression remained blank, almost as if he didn’t even hear me speak.

Instead, he reached down, his large hand gently closing around my arm, and he pulled me to my feet.

I swayed, my head spinning, but he held onto me to stable me and keep me from falling. I was surprised to see that he was helping me. In my weakened state, he could easily kill me for all I had done to him.

I wanted to ask him questions, but before I could form the words, a searing pain shot through me. The agony was so blinding, that I felt the world around me dissolve into blackness as I collapsed.

***

My eyes fluttered open. The first thing I was aware of was a gentle pressure on my wrist. I looked down and saw a man with kind, graying eyes holding my arm, his fingers checking for my pulse. He wore the robes of a pack doctor. I was in a soft bed, in a room I didn't recognize.

I tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hit me and the man reached out a hand to stop me from moving.

"Easy now," the doctor said, his voice calm. "You’ll feel better if you remain on your back.Your injuries are healing at an extraordinary rate, l've never seen anything like it. But you’re still severely dehydrated and malnourished, so your body still needs plenty of rest."

My body was sore, but not nearly as sore as it should be and when I looked, I saw the cuts and bruises Elliot had given me were gone. But I still couldn’t feel Auren.

As the doctor continued to check my injuries, I became aware of something strange flowing beneath my skin. It wasn’t the wild, untamed energy of my wolf that I was used to, this was different. It felt like it was knitting my body back together from the inside out.

Just then, the door opened, and Ambrose walked in. His eyes found mine as he moved into the room, but he didn't say a word. Instead, he moved to the foot of the bed and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his massive chest as he watched the doctor take my vitals.

His presence filled the room, making it hard to breathe. I could hear the doctor keep talking, explaining something about the vials of medicine I had to take every couple of hours, but I couldn't concentrate.

All I could focus on was the Alpha King in the corner, his dark eyes fixed on me. Something about him made me so uncomfortable

“I’ll leave you to rest now,” the doctor finally said, pulling himself to his feet while gathering his bag of supplies beside him. “I’ll check on you in a couple of hours.” He said, before quietly exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Ambrose didn’t move from his spot, he only continued to watch me as I shifted uncomfortably. The silence stretched between us for what felt like hours. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.

“Why did you save me?” I asked, my voice raspy.

Ambrose moved to the window, his back to me as he spoke. “I heard about your brother and father’s death and I thought you would become the Alpha of the RedMoon pack.”

Everything I had lost in the last couple of weeks came rushing back all at once and I curled in on myself on the bed, pulling the quilt higher up my body.

My voice came out raw when I spoke. “My husband…” the words tasted like sand in my mouth, “murdered my father and my brother. He conspired with my sister-in-law, framed me for my brother’s death, and turned my entire pack against me. He took everything from me.”

My hands clenched into fists on the quilt. “There’s nothing I want more in this world than revenge. And it doesn’t matter how long it’ll take, one way or another, I’ll make him pay for everything he’s done. So, go ahead and taunt me all you want, it doesn’t change a thing.”

Ambrose hummed, but for a while he said nothing. I was just starting to think it was the end of the conversation, when he turned away from the window. “I can help you,” he said, and I frowned.

His words caught me completely off guard. I stared at him, my mind racing. Why would he help me? Shouldn’t he be planning my own death?

He took a step closer, his shadow falling over the bed. “I will help you get your revenge,” he continued, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous timber.

“On the condition that you become my slave.”