Mated to a Wild Alpha

Chapter 4. After Dawn

Gabriella's POV.

As soon as I opened the door, I could feel a light breeze coming from outside, I could smell the delightful scent of freshly cut green grass, and the morning sun had just started to rise, softly glowing through the translucent curtains in my room. I was lying in my bed, my legs entangled in the silk sheets, a sign of the sleepless night I would had. The previous night's events played in my head like a melancholic tune, with every note conjuring up memories of the forbidden dance Seven and I had done in the palace's dimly lit hallways.

I stood up, feeling as though the burden of our intimate encounter was resting heavily on my shoulders. A woman with eyes that betrayed a hurricane of emotions, a maelstrom of remorse and longing that threatened to destroy her, reflected herself in the mirror. I was Gabriella, a handmaiden, yet for one careless instant, I had been the most powerful man in these walls' yearning.

The day held the typical frenzy of activity ahead of us, but Seven's touch and the intensity of his stare captivated my thoughts. Putting on the plain clothes of my rank, I dressed swiftly and headed into the vast hall. The air was filled with the sound of cutlery clattering and chatter murmuring, but it was his voice that stood out—a powerful baritone that made me shudder.

I stood back and observed Seven talking to Choice, the lady he thought he had brought to bed with him the night before. A twinge of envy, which I had no right to feel, tore at my heart. Essentially, Choice embodied everything that I did not possess: elegance, poise, and above all, discernible to a guy such as Seven.

They had a brief conversation, and although though I could not hear what they were saying, I could tell they were tense. Choice laughed aloud, a loud bell in the still early air, but Seven's face stayed unreadable, stern. He was aware that something was wrong, and I could see his mind's gears spinning as he tried to piece together the bits and pieces of what had happened to him last night.

My responsibilities provided a much-needed diversion from my internal struggle, yet the remainder of the day flew by. But when night fell, the fear of confronting Seven once more became a stone in my gut. I was only a ghost wandering through the palace, and I could not stay away from him forever.

Fate brought us together again in the twilight hours, when the sky was painting itself in shades of orange and purple. I felt his presence behind me as I was in the gardens, taking care of the roses that flourished beneath the marble arches.

He whispered, "Gabriella," and the feel of my name on his lips was comforting.

I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him. "My lord," I answered, scarcely raising my voice above a whisper.

The walls felt like they were closing in on me, and the truth was becoming too much for me to handle. "Seven, I—"

"Could you possibly tell where Lancelot might have gone? I am unable to locate him. I need the arrows and a few archers with me to find out how much hunting ability I still possess. Seven was an excellent archer, but he had become distracted by a lot of sloth and too fun behaviour, which caused him to lose concentration on his craft.

"No, I do not," I retort. I am cautious not to divulge too much information to avoid saying anything that I would regret later.

I could not stop thinking about whether Seven was certain about the person he had made love to in the dark part of the castle, and I could not stop wondering what he was doing down there at such a lonely and chilly hour of the day. Worse, the thing that puzzled me the most was that guards on the Kingdom's base were pursuing him. That only meant that they did not know who he was, so her deeply ingrained doubts and inquisitiveness might still be far from true. The fact that the man she made out with was Seven seemed unfathomable, as evidenced by the unstable bed we found a short distance from our passionate moment and the side of the palace below where we made love. Say "no."

She and I both turned to leave. The staff visited my room in the evening and brought in meals.

"My lady, you eat at the dinner table with a glass of water and your preferred fruit."

"All OK, Marcus, thank you." I answer, calmly yet joyfully.

"As the guard was leaving, Seven barged into the room with great force and dignity. With the throw pillows close to myself lying freely on the bed, I swung it to the dressing table where I sat, making Seven not see the contraceptives I had bout earlier in the day as a result of the pregnancy test that I did a while ago and it turned out that she was pregnant and that the lustful encounter she has with a stranger and possibly a mysterious Seven, came with a huge sacrifice.

"How was your first night of marriage?" Seven asked obligingly.

"Looking my most miserable, I say, 'It was less than amazing and there was no you nearby to turn to or call my own.'"

"However!" Seven speaks up.

To be honest with you, it was not a very wonderful night. He turned to leave the room.

However, before I could admit, there was a disturbance from inside the palace, with shouts and rushing feet. The court's demands stole away from us, interrupting our moment of revelation.

I realised that for the time being, our secret would stay a mystery as I watched him walk away, his figure retracing his steps into the centre of the palace. But who had really been the woman in the Alpha's embrace? That question hung in the air like a persistent whisper.

Though the darkness had hidden who we were, the day would soon claim its right. And it would be up to me, Gabriella, to deal with the fallout from a desire that pushed the limits of decency and status.