THE ALPHA KING’S FORBIDDEN BRIDE

RUNNING BESIDE THE ALPHA KING

“Lydia!”

Damien’s voice thundered through the passage, cutting through the pounding of my heart as I stood frozen beneath the arrow buried in the wall.

For one terrible moment, I could neither move nor breathe. The message trembled between my fingers, its words burning into my mind with every passing second. The king cannot protect you forever.

Whoever had fired the arrow knew where we were going. They knew about the hidden passage, and they had arrived before we could reach the forest.

Someone had anticipated our escape.

“Lydia, get away from that wall!”

I turned at the sound of Damien’s voice just as he emerged from the darkness behind us, his sword in one hand and blood running down the side of his face. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, and his breathing was heavier than I had ever heard it, but his eyes were sharp as they swept over me.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.” I held up the parchment. “Someone left this for me.”

He snatched it from my hand and read the message. The muscles in his jaw tightened, and for a moment, the passage seemed to grow colder beneath the force of his anger.

“Did you see who fired the arrow?”

“No. I heard the whistle, and the guard pushed me out of the way.” I glanced toward the darkness ahead. “But someone is waiting for us.”

Damien turned to the guard. “Take the eastern passage and check the exit. If anyone is there, do not engage unless you have no other choice. Send word before you move.”

The guard nodded and disappeared into the darkness.

I looked at Damien’s bloodied shoulder. “You’re injured.”

“It isn’t serious.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“And you’re standing in a passage while soldiers are trying to kill us. We can discuss my shoulder when we’re somewhere safer.”

I should have been annoyed by his tone, but the sight of blood on his shirt made it difficult to think clearly. He had faced armed men, protected his household, and risked his position without hesitation. Now he was standing in front of me as though the only injury that mattered was one I might suffer.

I reached toward his shoulder.

He caught my wrist gently before my fingers could touch the wound.

“Don’t,” he murmured.

“Why?”

“Because if you look at me like that, I’ll start thinking you’re worried about me.”

“I am worried about you.”

The words escaped before I could stop them.

For a brief moment, his expression softened, and the hard line of his mouth relaxed. Then the sounds of fighting reached us again, reminding us that the danger had not passed.

His fingers slipped from my wrist, but he did not immediately step away.

“Stay beside me,” he said. “Whatever happens, do not run ahead or fall behind.”

“I can manage that.”

“Lydia, I need you to understand something. These passages were built for emergencies, but the people hunting us may know more about this property than we do. If I tell you to move, you move. If I tell you to hide, you hide.”

I lifted my chin. “And if I notice something you don’t?”

He stared at me for a second before a faint, unwilling smile touched his lips.

“Then you tell me.”

It was not quite an agreement to trust me, but it was enough to make me follow him without another argument.

We moved deeper into the passage, leaving the arrow and its threatening message behind. The narrow corridor twisted beneath the lodge, its stone walls damp and uneven beneath my fingertips. Old lantern brackets had been fixed at regular intervals, though most were empty, and the few remaining lamps cast long shadows across the floor.

“Who built this place?” I asked, trying to keep my thoughts away from the soldiers behind us.

“My great-grandfather ordered the passages constructed after an attempted coup nearly destroyed his household.”

I glanced at him. “Your family has always had enemies, then?”

“Every ruler has enemies. The foolish ones are those who believe power makes them untouchable.”

His answer stayed with me as we continued walking. I had once believed that being loved by someone powerful would make me safe, but Ethan’s rejection had taught me how easily affection could become worthless when reputation and ambition were at stake. Damien had power too, yet he was risking everything for a woman who could offer him neither a crown nor a political alliance.

I did not understand him.

Perhaps that frightened me more than the soldiers did.

The passage narrowed, forcing us to walk single file. My injured leg began to ache with every step, and I tried to hide the growing stiffness in my movements. I did not want Damien to notice. I had spent too many years being treated as though weakness was the only thing people needed to know about me.

Unfortunately, Damien noticed everything.

He slowed when my foot caught against a raised stone.

“Your leg is getting worse.”

“It’s fine.”

“You’re limping.”

“I have been limping since the forest, if you haven’t noticed.”

“I noticed. I was hoping you would stop pretending it doesn’t hurt.”

I tightened my grip on the wall. “If I stop every time something hurts, I’ll never get anywhere.”

He turned fully toward me, and the lantern light caught the concern in his eyes.

“You don’t have to prove your strength by suffering in silence.”

“Maybe not, but I need to know that I can keep going without someone carrying me every time I struggle.”

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he nodded once.

“Very well. We walk at your pace, but if your leg gives out, you tell me before you fall.”

It was such a small concession, yet it mattered more than I expected. He had not dismissed my determination or turned it into another reason to command me. He had listened.

We continued until a faint silver light appeared ahead, revealing a narrow wooden door concealed behind a curtain of hanging roots.

Damien pushed it open carefully and peered outside before stepping into the night. I followed him into the forest, where the cold air struck my face and filled my lungs with the sharp scent of wet leaves and pine.

For several seconds, I stood beneath the trees and breathed.

We were out.

The lodge lay somewhere behind us, its windows glowing through the darkness, while the sounds of the battle had faded into distant shouts. I should have felt relieved, but the message on the wall had destroyed any hope that escaping the building would mean escaping our pursuers.

Damien examined the surrounding trees.

“We need to reach the eastern ridge before they realize we’ve left the passage.”

I followed his gaze, trying to recognize the landscape. The moon hung low above the forest, and the trees stood so close together that the narrow paths between them looked almost identical.

We had taken only a few steps when I noticed movement between the trees ahead.

I caught Damien’s arm.

“Wait.”

He stopped immediately, turning toward me with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

“What is it?”

I pointed toward a gap between two large trees. “Someone is there.”

He narrowed his eyes, studying the darkness.

“I don’t see anyone.”

“Look near the rocks.”

A torch flickered briefly in the distance before disappearing behind a tree. Then another light appeared farther to the left.

My stomach tightened.

“They’re soldiers.”

Damien moved closer to the tree beside us, drawing me into its shadow. We watched as several armed men crossed the narrow path ahead, their movements too organized to belong to ordinary hunters. One of them carried a bow, while another held a lantern and examined the ground as though searching for tracks.

“They’re waiting for us,” I whispered.

Damien’s expression darkened. “They may have guessed our route.”

“No.” I watched the soldiers move into position, remembering the arrow that had struck the passage wall. “They knew we would come this way.”

He looked at me sharply.

I pointed toward the ground. “Those men aren’t searching the forest. They’re guarding the path. Someone told them where to wait.”

Damien remained silent, studying the soldiers with renewed attention.

“We cannot take them head-on,” he said. “There may be more beyond the ridge.”

“Then we shouldn’t go to the ridge.”

“Do you have another route in mind?”

I hesitated, uncertain whether he would believe me. Then a memory surfaced: the narrow stream I had crossed during my desperate escape from Ashbourne, its water winding between the rocks before disappearing beneath a thick canopy of trees.

“I remember a stream,” I said. “When I ran from Ashbourne, I crossed it farther south. The water passes between two steep banks, and there is a narrow trail beside it. We could follow the stream instead of taking the main path.”

Damien looked at me for a long moment.

“How far away?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I remember the sound of the water. If we can find it, we can follow it through the trees.”

“And you’re certain it leads somewhere useful?”

“No. But I am certain those soldiers are waiting for us where you planned to go.”

His gaze returned to the patrol.

I held my breath, afraid that he would dismiss my suggestion and insist on following his original route. Instead, he turned toward the darker stretch of forest behind us.

“Show me.”

Relief loosened something in my chest.

We moved south, keeping away from the torchlight and using the thick undergrowth to conceal our tracks. Damien followed without questioning every direction I chose, although I could feel his attention on me whenever the path became difficult.

After several minutes, I heard it.

Water.

The faint sound grew clearer as we descended between the trees, until we reached a narrow stream running over dark stones. Moonlight shimmered across its surface, and the cold air carried the damp scent of moss and earth.

“There,” I whispered.

Damien crouched beside the bank and examined the ground. He found the marks of recent boots near the water, but the tracks continued downstream rather than toward the path we had avoided.

He looked back at me.

“You were right.”

The simple admission warmed me more than it should have.

“I only remembered the stream.”

“You remembered something useful when both of us were being hunted. Don’t diminish that.”

I lowered my eyes, uncertain what to do with the quiet pride rising inside me. I had spent my entire life being told that my instincts were wrong, that my existence brought misfortune, and that I was too weak to be trusted with anything important. Yet Damien had listened when I warned him of danger, and my decision had kept us from walking directly into an ambush.

Perhaps I was not as useless as I had been taught to believe.

We followed the stream until the trees opened around a small clearing. An old hunting cabin stood at its edge, half-hidden beneath climbing vines, its roof weathered by years of rain. Damien approached cautiously, inspecting the windows and the narrow space beneath the door before drawing his sword.

“This was built as a temporary shelter for royal patrols,” he explained. “It hasn’t been used in years, but it should give us somewhere to rest until we can determine how many men are searching the forest.”

I glanced at the cabin. “Is it safe?”

“It will be safer than standing outside.”

He opened the door slowly.

The interior was dark, but the room appeared undisturbed at first glance. A wooden table stood near the window, with two chairs pushed beneath it. Dust covered the shelves, and a cold fireplace occupied the far wall.

Damien entered first, his sword raised as he checked the corners. I followed, relieved to be out of the cold, although the silence inside the cabin made my skin prickle.

Then Damien stopped.

His entire body became still.

“What is it?” I asked.

He did not answer.

His gaze had settled on the table.

I moved closer, and the sight waiting there stole the breath from my lungs.

A royal insignia lay in the center of the wood, its familiar silver markings smeared with fresh blood.

Damien approached it without touching the stain. The expression on his face had changed completely, and for the first time since I had met him, I saw something in his eyes that looked dangerously close to fear.

“Damien?” I whispered.

He stared at the bloody symbol.

“This cabin was supposed to be abandoned.”

“Then who came here?”

He finally looked at me, and the answer in his eyes frightened me more than the blood.

“Someone who knew we would come.”

Outside, a branch snapped.

Damien turned toward the door, raising his sword as a shadow moved across the window.

Then a voice emerged from the darkness.

“Your Majesty, you’ve brought the girl exactly where we wanted her.”