The alpha's chosen mate

Chapter four

The One Who Was Watching

Soina woke the following morning with a heavy, persistent thought weighing on her mind: Mama Naya was guarding a dangerous secret. After the mysterious phone call, the silver pendant, and her grandmother’s terrifying warning that someone else was searching for her, sleep had proven nearly impossible.

She sat at the kitchen table, picking listlessly at her toast, watching her grandmother move quietly around the cottage. Mama Naya’s usual warmth was entirely absent. She packed a small leather handbag, checked its contents with meticulous care, and slipped a dark telephone directory into her coat pocket.

“I am stepping out for a short while,” Mama Naya announced, smoothing down her woolen coat.

Soina looked up from her tea. “Where are you heading?”

“Just an errand in the parish,” her grandmother replied smoothly, her tone leaving no room for further enquiry.

Without another word, she turned the brass latch and stepped out into the crisp morning air. Soina watched through the lace curtains as her grandmother crossed the cobbled lane. Suspicion gnawed at her chest. Mama Naya rarely went into the village without explaining her errands—and after the revelations of the previous evening, Soina knew better than to simply turn a blind eye.

She waited three minutes, snatched her heavy trench coat from the hall peg, and slipped quietly out the front door.

Keeping a cautious distance of fifty paces, Soina trailed her grandmother past the village high street. But instead of turning toward the market square or the apothecary, Mama Naya veered off onto the quiet bridleway leading directly toward the ancient oak forest.

Soina’s steps slowed. The timberland again. Why on earth would her grandmother venture back into those woods alone after warning her so sternly to stay away?

Stepping onto the damp, mossy ground beneath the vast green canopy, Soina darted from trunk to trunk, her heart hammering against her ribs. Mama Naya walked with purpose, navigating the dense terrain as though she knew every root and stone by heart. At one point, the older woman paused, looking back over her shoulder. Soina flattened herself against the broad trunk of an old sycamore, holding her breath until she heard the rustle of dry leaves resuming.

After ten minutes of silent tracking, Mama Naya turned down a narrow deer trail veiled by thick brambles—a path Soina had never noticed before.

She crept closer, straining her ears. Distant voices drifted through the rustling leaves. Her grandmother wasn't alone; someone was awaiting her arrival further down the clearing.

Soina edged forward, desperate for a glimpse of the stranger. Just one more step, she thought, leaning past a low-hanging branch.

Suddenly, a broad, firm hand clamped securely over her mouth.

Soina gasped in panic, her eyes widening as she was hauled backward into the deep shadows of a holly bush. She thrashed against the grip, raising her heel to strike her captor's shin.

“Hush,” a voice commanded softly near her ear. The tone was low, rich, and unmistakably distinct.

Soina froze.

The hand slowly lifted from her lips, allowing her to spin around. Standing inches from her in the mottled sunlight was the wounded stranger from the woods—the very same man she had brought to the doctor's surgery, who had vanished so abruptly the night before.

“You!” she hissed under her breath.

A faint, infuriating smirk touched his lips. “A pleasure to see you as well.”

Soina glared at him, adjusting her coat. “You nearly startled me out of my skin!”

“I gathered as much.”

“What on earth are you doing here?” she demanded in a harsh whisper.

He tilted his head, his grey eyes gleaming with amusement. “What are you doing here?”

Soina opened her mouth to shoot back a sharp reply, but caught herself.

He raised a dark eyebrow. “Precisely.”

“For your information, I was tracking her quite silently,” she huffed, crossing her arms defensively.

“You stepped on three dry twigs and a pinecone,” he noted casually. “A deaf fox could have heard you coming.”

Soina glanced down at the forest floor. “That hardly counts.”

A quiet, low chuckle escaped his chest. Despite her irritation, Soina found her annoyance wavering. She looked him over properly; the change in him was astonishing. The previous evening, he had been pale, bloodied, and barely capable of remaining upright. Now, he stood tall, imposing, and completely composed.

“You look considerably better,” she remarked.

“I am recovering nicely, thank you.”

“The village doctor said you absconded before he could even finish dressing your side.”

“I had urgent business elsewhere.”

“Or because staying at the surgery was dangerous?” Soina probed, watching his face intently.

His playful demeanor shifted slightly, a subtle guard dropping into place. “It was unwise to linger.”

Soina stepped closer, her voice hushed. “You knew someone was hunting for you.”

He didn't answer directly. Instead, his gaze drifted past her shoulder toward the hidden trail where Mama Naya had vanished. “And you knew your grandmother was hiding something when she took that phone call last night.”

Soina’s breath caught in her throat. “How could you possibly know about that?”

He offered a enigmatic little smile. “I make it my business to know things.”

“That isn't a proper answer.”

“No,” he conceded smoothly. “It isn't. But you ought to turn back, Soina. Whatever your grandmother is arranging in these woods, it isn't a affair you wish to be entangled in.”

Soina squared her shoulders. “Then explain to me what she is doing out here.”

“I cannot.”

“Cannot, or simply will not?”

His smirk returned, warm and maddening. “You truly are relentless, aren't you?”

“And you are remarkably frustrating.”

“I have been called far worse by far better,” he replied effortlessly, leaning back against the rough bark of a nearby birch.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The cool forest breeze rustled through the canopy above, whispering through the leaves. The man’s eyes drifted to her hair, spotting a small, dried leaf caught in her reddish locks.

“Hold still a moment,” he murmured softly.

“What?”

Before she could step back, he reached out, his long fingers brushing gently against her hair as he plucked the leaf free. The sudden closeness made Soina’s breath catch, the cool air feeling suddenly warm against her cheeks.

He held the leaf up between two fingers. “A souvenir from your silent tracking.”

“Right,” Soina murmured, looking down to hide the flush warming her face. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome.” He tossed the leaf aside, his grey gaze lingering on her face with a quiet intensity that made her pulse flutter.

Clearing her throat, Soina forced her focus back to the matter at hand. “So... what is your name then? Or are you going to keep that a state secret as well?”

“Adams,” he offered softly.

Soina nodded slowly. “Right then. Adams.”

His mouth twitched. “You state it as though you’re entering me into a ledger.”

“You’re far too arrogant for your own good,” she shot back, though a small smile threatened to break through her stern expression.

“Perhaps,” he murmured, taking a deliberate half-step toward her, lowering his voice to a hushed murmur. “Yet here you are, following me into the shadows of the woods.”

“I was following my grandmother!”

“If you say so.”

“I was!”

“I hear you,” he said playfully, though his eyes sparkled with mischief. “I simply don't believe a word of it.”

Soina rolled her eyes, suppressing a laugh. But then the reality of the situation crashed back over her like a wave of cold water. She looked up into his striking eyes. “You were watching our cottage last night, weren't you?”

The lighthearted amusement faded from his face, replaced by a quiet gravity. “I was.”

“Why?”

He gave a slight, casual shrug, though his eyes remained serious. “Consider me your shadow.”

Soina stared at him, bewildered. “My shadow?”

“Or a stalker, if you prefer the dramatic term.”

“You are utterly absurd,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“Yet memorable,” he pointed out softly. “You certainly haven't forgotten me.”

“You hauled me into a holly bush!”

“A very effective introduction.”

Soina let out a soft laugh despite herself, but quickly sobered. “How long have you been watching me, Adams? Truly?”

His smile disappeared completely. “Longer than you think, Soina.”

Before she could press him on what that meant, a sharp, raised voice echoed from further down the hidden path. Both of them turned instantly toward the sound. It was Mama Naya—her voice sounded strained, defensive, and filled with a rare, trembling anger.

Soina immediately took a step toward the brush. “I need to see who she's meeting.”

Adams’ hand shot out, his fingers wrapping firmly but gently around her wrist to pull her back. “Do not.”

She looked back at him, her eyes flashing. “Why not?”

“Because if she catches you trailing her, she will realize you no longer trust her,” Adams warned, his grey eyes locked onto hers. “And right now, her belief that you are safe and ignorant is the only shield you have.”

Soina hesitated, the truth of his words stinging. She looked toward the narrow path, then back into Adams’ steady gaze. “Will you at least tell me what is going on?”

He searched her face for a long, heavy moment. “Not yet.”

“Why does everyone keep treating me as though I'm made of glass?” she snapped, pulling her wrist free from his grasp. “I am sick to death of being told I'm not ready!”

Adams offered a faint, melancholy smile. “I know.”

“How could you possibly know how I feel?”

He looked at her with an expression so complex—a mixture of fierce protection and deep regret—that it made her heart skip a beat.

“Because I have been watching you for a very long time,” he whispered softly.

Soina’s eyes widened in shock. But before the words could fully process in her mind, a loud, heavy crack snapped through the deep timberland—like a thick oak branch shattering under immense force.

Both of them whipped their heads toward the dark heart of the forest.

Adams’ entire posture shifted in an instant. The relaxed charm vanished, replaced by the deadly alertness of a hunting hound. He stepped in front of Soina, shielding her body with his own.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered, his voice dropping into a harsh, authoritative tone.

“What was that?” Soina whispered, her heart pounding violently against her ribs.

Adams didn't answer. His eyes darted rapidly between the path where Mama Naya was arguing and the deeper, pitch-black shadows of the old-growth trees. The air around them seemed to drop several degrees, heavy with a suffocating, unnatural pressure.

He turned back to her, gripping her shoulders with hard intensity. “Listen to me carefully, Soina. Whatever happens in the next few minutes, do not let your grandmother—or whoever she is speaking to—see your face.”

“Adams, you’re terrifying me,” Soina gasped. “What is out there?”

His eyes remained fixed on the dark treeline, his jaw set in a hard, unforgiving line.

“I do not think your grandmother came into these woods to hide a secret,” he whispered, his voice laced with grim realization. “I think she came here to deliver a ransom.”

And from the deepest, darkest corner of the woods, a cold, unfamiliar voice called out Mama Naya’s name.