THE ALPHA'S SECRET BABY

CHAPTER FIVE:The kings Bargain.

*Aria’s POV*

“Mommy? Are we gonna die?”

Kade’s voice cracked the last piece of my spine.

Kieran’s hand was still out. Bloody. Steady. The hand that just snapped Roman Volkov’s neck for touching our son. The hand that rejected me under a willow tree five years ago.

Two dead bodies in my apartment. Kai with Roman’s blood on his Spider-Man pajamas. Kade sobbing in the closet.

And the Lycan King of North America on his knees, begging me to choose him.

“I hate you,” I said. My voice didn’t shake. Five years of ER trauma made sure of that.

“I know.” His ice-blue eyes didn’t blink. “Hate me after. Say yes now.”

“Kai,” I called, not looking away from Kieran. “Kade. Backpacks. Meds. Mr. Woof. Two minutes.”

“But Mom—”

“_Now_.”

They scrambled. They knew that tone. Hospital tone. _Emergency_ tone.

Kieran exhaled. Like he hadn’t breathed since Roman came through the window. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t say yes to you,” I snapped, grabbing my go-bag from the hall. Passports. Birth certificates. Cash. Always ready. “I said yes to keeping them alive. Don’t confuse it.”

He stood. And for the first time, I saw it. Not the King. Not the Alpha. The exhaustion. Five years of crown, war, and regret carved into his face. The scar through his eyebrow was new. So were the ones on his knuckles.

“Car’s downstairs,” he said. “We have twelve minutes before Volkov’s second wave hits. Council enforcers will be twenty.”

I shoved Kai’s inhaler and Kade’s EpiPen into my bag. “They’re human. Mostly. They get sick, Kieran. They need—”

“I know.” He cut me off, but gently. “I had your files pulled three years ago. I know about Kade’s asthma. Kai’s allergy to silver. I know everything, Aria. I just didn’t have a _right_ to any of it.”

That stopped me. He’d been watching. From afar. For _three years_.

“Mommy, done!” Kai appeared, backpack on, holding Kade’s hand. Kade had Mr. Woof tucked under his arm, face still blotchy from crying.

Both of them stopped when they saw Kieran standing in our ruined living room, blood on his shirt, crown tattoo visible at his collar.

Kade hid behind Kai. But Kai… Kai stepped _forward_.

“Are you gonna make Mommy cry again?” he asked Kieran.

The King of North America looked at his five-year-old son and dropped to one knee. Again.

“Never again,” he said. Voice gravel. “Not if I live a thousand years. I swear it on my wolf, Kai.”

Wolf’s Oaths were unbreakable. Even pups knew that.

Kai studied him. Then nodded once. Sharp. _Alpha_. “Okay. Then we go.”

Just like that. My son, who trusted no one, chose him.

It should’ve made me feel better. It made it worse.

*Kieran’s POV*

She didn’t say yes. She didn’t have to.

She picked up Kade, took Kai’s hand, and walked past me to the door. That was yes enough.

The SUV was black, armored, reeking of Beta magic. My men had the block locked down. Humans would remember a gas leak. Nothing else.

I got Aria in the back with the boys. I took shotgun. My Beta, Ryker, drove. Didn’t speak. Didn’t look back. He knew.

“What’s gonna happen on the jet?” Aria asked. First words since the apartment. Clinical. Distant. Doctor Voice.

“They’ll scan us,” I said. “Council law. Any unregistered heirs have to be verified by blood before we land in Wyoming. If you’re not marked by then…”

“We die,” she finished.

“The boys die,” I corrected. “I die first. You…” I couldn’t say it. _Sold to the highest Alpha bidder. Unmarked omegas with royal blood are commodities._ “You don’t.”

She went still. “So that’s your plan? Mark me on a plane so your Council doesn’t murder my children?”

“No.” I turned around. Kai was asleep on her lap already, exhausted from the manifestation. Kade was awake, watching me with those eyes. _My_ eyes. “My plan is to mark you so I can _kill_ anyone who tries.”

She flinched. Good. She should be scared of me.

At Teterboro, the jet was waiting. No logo. No flight plan. Lycan Kings don’t do commercial.

The stairs were steep. Kade stumbled. I caught him before Aria could.

He froze in my arms. Tiny. Bird bones. Smelling like baby shampoo and _me_.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Hi,” he whispered back. Then: “You’re really big.”

A laugh punched out of me. First one in five years. “Yeah, pup. I am.”

I set him down. He immediately grabbed Aria’s leg again. But he didn’t cry. Progress.

Inside, the jet was all black leather and silver. My scent was everywhere. Territory marking, even here.

A man in a white coat stood waiting. Council Medic. Neutral party. Supposedly.

“Kieran,” he nodded. Then bowed. “My King.”

“Garrick.” I didn’t bow back. “Make it fast.”

He looked at the boys. At Aria. His eyes widened. “Twins. And she’s… _omega_. Fated mate readings don’t lie, but—”

“They’re mine,” I snarled. The sound made the windows vibrate. Garrick paled.

“Blood first. Then we talk.” He pulled out a kit. “Standard procedure. Three samples. Then the mother.”

Aria stepped forward before I could stop her. Held out her arm. No fear. Just _done_.

Garrick took her blood. Then Kai’s — he didn’t even whimper. Then Kade’s. Kade cried, but silent. Aria’s training.

Garrick ran it through a handheld scanner. Three beeps.

He went white.

“By the Moon,” he whispered. “99.8% match. Both of them. Pure Alpha line. And…” He looked at Aria. “Lycan-compatible omega. First one in two centuries.”

The air left the cabin.

Even I hadn’t known that last part.

“Meaning?” Aria asked. Flat.

“Meaning you can survive my mark,” I said. “Most omegas can’t. The King’s bite kills them. You’re… you were made for me.”

Her laugh was broken glass. “How romantic. Made to die for you.”

“No.” I stepped into her space. “Made to _rule_ with me. If you let me.”

Garrick cleared his throat. “Your Majesty. The Council is convening in one hour. Emergency session. Volkov’s father is demanding blood price for Roman’s death. If she’s unmarked when we land…”

“We won’t land unmarked,” I said. I looked at Aria. Not a King. Just a man asking. “One hour, Aria. That’s all I’m asking. Give me one hour to save them. You can hate me for the rest of our lives after.”

Kai woke up at that. Rubbed his eyes. Looked at me. At Aria. At the blood sample machine.

“Are you gonna bite Mommy?” he asked. Sleepy. Blunt.

The whole cabin stopped.

Kieran looked at his son. Then at me.

“That’s up to your mom, Kai,” he said. Voice raw. “But if she says yes… yeah. I’m gonna bite her. And then no one will ever hurt you again.”

Kade tugged Aria’s sleeve. “Mommy? Does it hurt? When Daddy bites?”

Aria looked at me. Five years of hate, fear, and exhaustion. Then she looked at Kade. At Kai.

“What happens if I say no?” she asked me.

“War,” I said. Honest. “Council war. They’ll take the boys. They’ll kill me. And they’ll breed you until you give them another Alpha.”

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them, they were hard. Doctor eyes. _Surgeon_ eyes.

“Do it on the jet,” she said. “Before we land. But not because I forgive you. Because I don’t lose patients.”

She looked down at Kai and Kade.

“And they’re not patients, Kieran. They’re _mine_.”

She held out her wrist. Not her neck. Not yet. _Wrist_.

“Blood oath first,” she said. “Lycan law. You drink from me, I drink from you. Equal. If you want a Luna, you take an _equal_.”

Garrick gasped. “No King has—”

“Get the blade,” I told him. I was already rolling up my sleeve.

I looked at Aria. Really looked. For the first time since the willow tree.

“Equal,” I agreed. And meant it.

I held out my wrist to her.

“Cut me, Doctor."

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