The alpha's chosen mate

Chapter five

A Forced Alliance

The voice echoed through the ancient oaks like a winter chill, cold and entirely lacking in human warmth.

“Naya,” it repeated, closer now. “You kept us waiting.”

Soina’s heart hammered against her ribs, her breath catching in her throat. Before she could make a sound, Adams moved with terrifying speed. His hand clamped around her waist, pulling her backward through the dense brush, keeping them both hidden behind the broad trunk of a hundred-year-old oak.

Through the tangled briars, Soina watched in horror as her grandmother stepped out into the clearing. Mama Naya stood alone, her shoulders rigid, holding her leather handbag tightly against her chest.

Opposite her, three men emerged from the shadows of the deeper woods. They were dressed in tailored dark coats that looked completely out of place against the mud and moss of the parish forest. The man leading them was pale, with slicked-back grey hair and sharp, predatory eyes.

“You brought what was promised?” the pale man asked, his voice dripping with smooth arrogance.

“I brought nothing for you, Vane,” Mama Naya replied, her voice remarkably steady despite her trembling hands. “The pact was broken the moment your men crossed into this parish.”

Vane took a slow step forward, a cruel smile touching his lips. “The girl belongs to the Order, Naya. You cannot hide her in this miserable backwater forever. Hand over the crest, or we take her by force.”

Soina gasped silently behind the oak tree. The crest. The silver pendant in the wooden box. And she was the one they were after.

Mama Naya stood her ground, her chin raised. “You will never touch her.”

“Search her,” Vane commanded casually, nodding to the two heavy-set men beside him.

The two men stepped forward, reaching for her grandmother.

Soina couldn't stay still any longer. Instinct took over, and she tried to surge forward to protect her grandmother. “No!”

Adams caught her instantly, his grip iron-clad around her shoulders. “Stay back,” he growled under his breath.

Before the henchmen could lay a hand on Mama Naya, Adams moved. He didn't just step out—he launched himself into the clearing with explosive force. In a fraction of a second, he closed the distance between them, slamming his shoulder into the first henchman and sending the man crashing onto the damp earth.

The second man lunged, but Adams dodged smoothly, delivering a brutal elbow strike to his ribs that dropped him to his knees.

Mama Naya gasped in utter shock, stumbling back. “Adams? What are you—”

“We are leaving! Now!” Adams shouted, grabbing Mama Naya’s arm and shoving her back toward the hidden path.

Vane’s eyes widened with sudden fury as he recognized Adams. “You! The Guard!” He reached into his coat, pulling out a heavy iron blade. “Kill him!”

The first henchman scrambled to his feet, pulling a sharp hunting knife from his belt.

Adams didn't wait for them to recover. He turned back toward the trees, snatching Soina’s hand as she burst out from behind the oak. “Run!”

Soina didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her grandmother’s arm, and together the three of them sprinted down the narrow deer trail, briars tearing at their coats as the sound of heavy footsteps crashed through the undergrowth behind them.

“This way!” Adams called out, veering off the main trail toward a dense thicker of holly bushes and steep ravine paths.

Mama Naya was panting heavily, her face pale as her boots skidded on the wet leaves. Soina wrapped a firm arm around her grandmother’s waist, keeping the older woman upright as they hurdled over fallen logs and slippery roots.

Behind them, shouts echoed through the trees, but Adams knew the terrain better. He led them through a narrow gap in an ancient stone wall, doubling back down a dry creek bed that masked their tracks.

After ten agonizing minutes of flat-out sprinting, the sounds of pursuit finally faded into the distance.

Adams brought them to a halt under the overhang of a ruined stone keeper’s cottage near the edge of the parish boundary. He leaned against the stone wall, his chest heaving slightly, his sharp grey eyes scanning the treeline behind them.

Soina collapsed against a stone bench, holding her grandmother close as Mama Naya caught her breath.

Once the immediate danger passed, Mama Naya straightened up, her eyes blazing with sudden, sharp fury as she glared at Adams.

“What have you done?” Mama Naya demanded, her voice trembling with anger. “I told you to stay away from her! You brought them right to our doorstep!”

Adams turned around, his expression hardening as he faced the old woman. “They were already in the parish, Naya! Vane was tracking her before I even crossed the border. If I hadn't been watching, they would have taken her from your cottage while you slept!”

“You exposed her!” Mama Naya spat, stepping forward. “She was safe until you showed up bleeding in the woods!”

“I was wounded protecting her perimeter!” Adams shot back, stepping closer. “She isn't a child anymore, Naya. You cannot hide the truth from her when men with blades are hunting her down!”

“Enough!” Soina shouted, her voice ringing out in the quiet ruins.

Both of them snapped their heads toward her.

Soina stood up, her hands shaking with a mixture of fear, adrenaline, and pure frustration. She looked from her grandmother to the mysterious stranger, her chest rising and falling heavily.

“Stop talking about me as if I’m not standing right here!” Soina yelled, her eyes flashing. “Who was that man in the woods? What order was he talking about? And why did he say I belong to them?!”

Mama Naya closed her eyes, looking suddenly fragile and exhausted. She reached out, resting a trembling hand against the stone wall.

Adams looked at Soina, his posture softening slightly, though his jaw remained set. “Tell her, Naya,” he said quietly. “Or I will.”

Mama Naya let out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to age her ten years in a single second. She looked at Soina, her dark eyes filled with a painful mixture of love and regret.

“We cannot stay here,” Mama Naya whispered, looking toward the village streets in the distance. “The cottage is no longer safe. We must go home first, gather what we need, and leave the parish before nightfall.”

Soina stared at her grandmother, a cold knot forming in her throat. “Leave? Leave our home?”

“If Vane is here, the barrier is broken,” Mama Naya said grimly. She looked at Adams, giving him a curt, reluctant nod. “You will come with us. We will need your blade if we are to reach the high road.”

Adams nodded once. “Agreed.”

Soina looked between the two of them—the grandmother who had lied to her for years, and the strange, dangerous man who had just saved their lives. The quiet, predictable life she had known in the village was officially over.

“Fine,” Soina said, setting her jaw as she looked her grandmother in the eye. “We will go back to the cottage. But the second we cross that door, you are going to tell me everything.”