ALESSIA

I woke up drowning.

That's what it felt like. Like something was pressing down on my chest, crushing my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. I gasped, my hands clawing at nothing, panic surging through me.

The cell. I'm back in the cell. They caught me. They brought me back, and now they're going to—

"Easy." A deep voice cut through the panic, and a warm hand touched my shoulder. "You're safe. Breathe."

Safe. The word didn't make sense. I hadn't been safe in three years. Safe wasn't real. It was a lie they told you right before they hurt you.

But I forced myself to breathe anyway. In through my nose, out through my mouth.

Slowly, the panic receded, and my vision cleared.

I wasn't in the cell.

I was in a bed—a massive, soft bed piled high with furs and blankets that probably cost more than everything I'd ever owned combined. The room around me was huge, all stone walls and high ceilings and windows that let in morning light.

This was definitely not another cell.

"Where—" My voice came out as a croak. My throat felt like sandpaper. "Where am I?"

"The Royal Mansion." The voice came from beside the bed, and I turned my head slowly to see who was speaking.

My breath caught.

It was him. The Alpha King.

He sat in a chair pulled up beside the bed, close enough that I could have reached out and touched him if I'd wanted to.

He looked different in daylight. Less terrifying, maybe, though no less dangerous. He'd put on clothes—dark pants and a loose shirt that did nothing to hide the muscle underneath—and his hair was damp like he'd recently bathed.

His eyes were a rich brown, almost black if you looked from a further distance. He was tall, with broad shoulders and arms rippled with muscles. I saw a glimpse of his scars, crisscrossing his arms and even his face. I was certain there was more beneath his clothes.

His hair was dark, with silver at the temples, and his face was all hard angles and sharp edges. He looked like he'd been carved from stone by someone who didn't believe in softness.

Something electric thrummed between us, and I felt my wolf stir inside me, waking up.

Mate, she whispered, and my eyes widened. She'd been silent so long that hearing her at all felt like a miracle. But then the realization that what I’d felt had indeed been real, sent me into a panicked state.

"No," I said out loud, and I wasn't sure if I was talking to my wolf or the man, or myself. How could I be mated to the Alpha King himself? "I can't—"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his voice gentler than I expected from someone who looked like he ate his enemies for breakfast. "I just want to talk."

Talk? Like powerful Alphas ever talked to Omegas like me.

I tried to sit up, and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through my leg and arm—the places where the rogues had bitten me. I looked down and found thick bandages wrapped around both wounds.

"You were attacked," he said, watching me carefully. "By Rogues. Do you remember?"

Did I remember? I remembered everything. The hunt, the pain, the blood, the feeling of near-death.

And then him.

"You saved me," I said slowly. "Why?"

Something flickered across his face. "Why would I see a woman in danger and not save her? And you’re my mate."

The words hung in the air between us, heavy and hard to still fathom.

Mate. He'd said it so simply, like it was obvious. Like it explained everything.

But it explained nothing.

"I don't have a mate," I said, and my voice came out harder than I intended. "I was rejected. The bond is broken."

His expression darkened like storm clouds rolling in. "Who?" he asked, and there was something deadly in his voice. "Who rejected you?"

"It doesn't matter." I pulled the blanket up higher, suddenly aware of how exposed I was in nothing but bandages and a thin shift someone must have dressed me in while I was unconscious. "He made his choice. And I'm not—I don’t want to talk about it."

He leaned forward, his hand hovering over mine but not quite touching. "I'm not going to force anything. I just want to understand."

I didn't want him to understand. I didn't want to explain how Kael had rejected me, how Sienna had stolen everything from me, and how I'd been tortured for three years for a crime I didn't commit. If I could erase all the bad memories, I would.

But something about the way he was looking at me—patient, and waiting, like he had all the time in the world—made the words spill out anyway.

"My mate rejected me," I said, my voice shaky. "In front of the entire pack. Then he claimed my cousin as his mate. They banished me. And while I was trying to cross the border, when rogues attacked me. They were taking orders from my cousin. She wanted to make sure I died out there." I was careful not to mention names.

The Alpha King's expression went absolutely cold. "Your own family tried to have you killed."

It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway.

He was quiet for a long moment, his jaw clenched tight enough that I could see muscle jumping beneath his skin. When he finally spoke, his voice was carefully controlled. "My scouts investigated. They found... evidence of your imprisonment and torture."

My stomach twisted. Of course he'd investigated. Of course he'd sent people to dig into my past. Because why would he just take my word for it? That means he knew who they were.

"They say you were accused of murdering your parents," he continued, still watching me with those intense eyes. "That you were imprisoned for three years and tortured." He paused. "They're wrong, aren't they? You didn't kill them."

The certainty in his voice that I was innocent made something shift inside my chest.

"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't remember. There are pieces of what happened that night. I don't know what happened becausee I can’t remember. But I could never have killed them. I loved them."

"I believe you," he said, simple and certain.

I stared at him. "You don't even know me."

"I know enough." He finally let his hand settle over mine. His hand was warm. "I know someone hurt you, tortured you, and tried to kill you. And I know you survived all of it. That takes strength."

I wanted to pull my hand away, wanted to tell him he was wrong, that I wasn't strong, and I was barely holding myself together.

But I didn't. Because his hand on mine felt... good. Safe, even though I didn't trust safety anymore.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, because nothing came free. There was always a price.

"Right now? Nothing." He squeezed my hand gently. "Right now, I just want you to heal. To rest, to eat actual food and sleep in a real bed and remember what it's like to feel safe.”

My chest tightened. "And after that?"

His expression turned serious. "After that, we'll talk. About the mate bond. About my... situation. But that can wait. You've been through hell. The least I can do is give you time to recover."

His situation. What did that mean?

But before I could ask, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," the Alpha King called, not taking his eyes off me.

An older woman entered, carrying a tray that smelled like heaven. Soup. My stomach growled so loudly when I realized ig was food. It was embarassing.

"Alessia, this is Iris," the Alpha King said. "She's the royal healer. She's the one who saved your life."

Iris smiled warmly at me. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Sore," I admitted. "But... better. Thank you for saving me."

"It's my job." She set the tray down on the bedside table. "Now, you need to eat. Both of you." She shot a pointed look at the Alpha King. "You've been sitting there for three days without food or sleep. You're no good to her if you collapse."

Three days? I'd been unconscious for three days?

And he'd been here the whole time?

I looked at him—really looked—and saw the dark circles under his eyes, the tension in his shoulders. He looked exhausted.

"You didn't have to do that," I said.

"Yes, I did." He stood, finally releasing my hand. "But Iris is right. I should let you rest. Eat. We'll talk more later."

He moved toward the door, and I felt a sudden, irrational panic. He was leaving. He was leaving and I'd be alone. What If I got ambushed? What If Sienna found me?

"Wait," I said before I could stop myself.

He turned back, one eyebrow raised.

"What's your name?" I asked. "You saved my life and I don't even know your name."

Something softened in his expression. "Kassian," he said. "My name is Kassian Darkmore."

Kassian. It suited him, somehow.

"Thank you," I said. "For saving me. For... everything."

He nodded once, then left, the door closing softly behind him. I stared at the closed door for a long moment, my mind spinning.

The Alpha King was my mate. Kassian Darkmore—the most powerful wolf in the kingdom—was my mate. And I knew what I had to do about it.

I was going to run away from him.