Alpha's Secret Bride

The first light of moonrise slipped through the curtains and spread across the bed. Emma reached for Brandon without opening her eyes, expecting to feel him beside her, but her hand met only cool sheets.

A small smile touched her lips. He was probably checking on Bryan Oliver.

She stretched beneath the covers before sitting up. Brandon usually came back for one more kiss before starting his day, even when he had already gotten out of bed. When he didn’t return, she frowned and slipped out from under the covers.

The bedchamber was unusually quiet. His side of the closet stood open, but his shoes were still by the door. His watch and wallet were on the dresser, right where he had left them.

Emma walked into the bathchamber and looked around.

"Starlit?"

There was no answer.

She checked the dressing chamber next, then stepped onto the balcony and looked toward the grounds below. Nothing caught her attention.

She went back inside and paused near the doorway. Her eyes moved over the empty bed before she smiled to herself.

Maybe he was in the hearth brewing their moonrise coffee.

The thought eased the small worry that had settled in her chest. She returned to the bed, pulled the covers around herself, and settled against the pillows. If he was brewing coffee, he would be back soon.

Two minutes passed, then five, and Brandon still hadn’t returned.

She slipped out of the bedchamber and stepped into the hallway. A maid passing by stopped and bowed.

"Moonrise, Queen Luna."

"Have you seen the Alpha King?"

The maid blinked and shook her head. "No, Queen Luna."

She nodded and continued downstairs.

The feeding chamber had already been set for breakfast. Bryan Oliver sat at the nursery table beside the main feeding table, his little legs swinging beneath his chair as he tried to spread jam over a slice of bread. A maid stood beside him, ready to help, but Bryan had pushed her hand away twice already. He wanted either his mother or father to help him, and no one else would do.

The blunt butter knife looked almost as big as his little hand.

The moment he spotted Emma, his face brightened. He put the knife down and climbed off his chair before running toward her.

"Mother!"

Emma bent down as he wrapped his arms around her legs. She smiled, kissed the top of his head, and gently ran a hand over his hair.

"Moonrise, Your Highness."

Bryan pulled back and looked past her toward the doorway.

"Where’s Father?"

Emma’s smile slowly faded.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

Bryan’s lower lip pushed forward.

"He didn’t wake me up today."

She straightened and looked toward the hallway.

Brandon never missed waking Bryan Oliver. It had become their little moonrise tradition, so Emma looked toward the maid standing nearby and asked, "Did my Alpha already leave?"

The maid shook his head. "We haven’t seen him, Queen Luna."

She frowned and glanced toward the doorway. After a moment, she looked back at the maid. "Call the captain of the guards."

"Right away."

A few minutes later, Leo hurried into the feeding chamber with Teddy close behind him. He bowed as he approached. "You called for me, Queen Luna?"

"Where is Brandon?"

Leo looked at her in confusion. "I thought he was with you."

"He wasn’t in our chamber when I woke up."

Leo exchanged a quick glance with Teddy. Neither of them said anything, but Emma caught the look between them.

"What is it?" she asked.

Leo cleared his throat. "We haven’t seen Alpha leave the estate."

Emma’s fingers tightened around Bryan’s hand. "What do you mean you haven’t seen him?"

Leo glanced at Teddy, then back at Emma. "If he isn’t with you,we need to find him."

She stared at Leo for a moment before looking toward the hallway. "Then search the estate."

Leo straightened immediately. "Yes, Queen Luna."

He turned and hurried out, with Teddy following close behind.

Within minutes, guards were moving through every part of Nightclaw Estate, checking the gardens, training grounds, library, conference hall, garages, and even the underground security chambers. Leo kept receiving updates, but every report came back the same.

Nothing.

She tried Brandon’s device again. The call went straight to an automated message. She lowered the device slowly and stared at the screen before slipping it back into her hand.

She couldn’t sit and wait. She walked through the estate herself, pushing open doors to chambers Brandon rarely used and checking chambers she had never had a reason to enter before. Each one was empty. She searched the living chambers, his study, the private office, and even the smaller chambers near the royal wing, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

By noon, the worry she had been trying to push aside had settled heavily in her chest.

She returned to their bedchamber and stopped at the foot of the bed, her eyes moving slowly around the room. Brandon had to have left something behind. A message, perhaps, or some small indication of where he had gone.

She slowly sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her palms against her thighs. The chamber still carried the faint scent of his cologne, lingering on the pillows and the shirt he had left draped over the hanger.

Her gaze moved across the chamber and stopped at the coffee table near the window.

Something white lay partly hidden beneath the flower vase.

She frowned.

She was certain it hadn’t been there the moon before.

She rose and walked over to the table. After moving the vase aside, she picked up the folded piece of paper. Her fingers tightened around it as she opened the fold.

Three words were written across the page in Brandon’s familiar handwriting.

"Moonheart, I’m sorry."

That was all.

No explanation. No promise to return. Not even a goodbye.

The paper slipped from Emma’s fingers.

"No..."

She quickly picked it up and unfolded it again, her eyes moving over the three words as though another line might appear beneath them. She turned the paper over, then looked at the back, but there was nothing else.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Queen Luna?"

She quickly wiped her cheeks and took a breath. "Come in."

Leo stepped inside with Teddy behind him. His eyes went straight to the note in Emma’s hand.

"Did Alpha leave a message?"

She held it out to him without saying a word.

Leo took the paper and read it once before handing it to Teddy. Teddy’s eyes moved across the short message, then he lowered the paper slowly.

Neither man spoke.

She looked at them. "Find him."

Leo folded the note carefully and returned it to her. "We will."

"No matter where he is."

"We’ll search every kingdom if we have to," Leo said.

She nodded, her fingers closing tightly around the paper. "Call my father and inform the palace."

Less than an hour later, King Eldric arrived at Nightclaw Estate with Ashley and Luna Alexandra. Alexandra went straight to Emma and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"What happened?"

Emma pulled back and handed her the note.

Alexandra read it, her eyes widening as she reached the end. "Brandon..."

King Eldric took the paper from her and read it in silence. His expression hardened as he lowered it.

Ashley stepped closer and glanced at the note.

"This isn’t like Brandon," he said.

Emma shook her head. "He wouldn’t leave Bryan Oliver."

Her voice trembled.

"He wouldn’t leave me."

Eldric looked at her for a long moment before giving a slow nod. "No. He wouldn’t."

He folded the note once and handed it back to her.

Then he turned to Leo.

"Increase security at every border crossing. I want every entry and exit monitored. No one leaves the kingdom without clearance."

Leo bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Ashley stepped forward. "I’ll contact the regional commanders and have them increase patrols around the outer territories."

Eldric gave him a brief nod.

"Do it."

Ashley turned and walked away, keeping his face composed until he was out of Emma’s sight.

"Send word to every allied kingdom," Eldric ordered. "I want every guard, warrior, and scout searching for him."

Leo bowed immediately. "Yes, Your Majesty."

As Leo turned to leave, Ashley looked at Emma. "Did you notice anything? I mean, did you suspect something was wrong?"

She lowered her eyes to the note still clutched in her hand. "For the past few months, he’s been acting differently. He’d get calls and step away to take them. Sometimes I’d catch him smiling, but the smile never reached his eyes. Whenever I asked what was wrong, he’d just smile at me and act as if nothing had happened."

Ashley gave a slow nod. "Did he ever tell you who was calling?"

"No." She shook her head. "I never pushed him. I thought he’d tell me when he was ready."

Within hours, orders had spread throughout the Santorini Kingdom and reached its allied territories. Search teams moved through forests and surrounding pack territories while sky patrols scanned the mountains and surveillance drones swept across the valleys and remote roads.

Brandon’s photograph and biometric data were sent to the neighboring kingdoms, giving their guards and scouts everything they needed to identify him if he was spotted.

But no report came in.

As moonfall approached, the palace war chamber filled with commanders. Maps covered the long table, while live tracking feeds displayed search zones across the kingdom and surrounding territories. Commanders leaned over the marked routes, exchanging updates as new teams were sent into areas that had not yet been searched.

Still, there was no sign of him.

Emma stood near the window, Brandon’s note clenched in her hand. The paper had already begun to wrinkle beneath her fingers as another report came in.

"No sign."

"No witnesses."

"Nothing on the eastern road."

She lowered her eyes to the three words on the note, then looked back toward the window. Brandon had vanished without leaving a trail.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the corridor. A young guard appeared at the doorway, breathing hard. He stopped himself before entering fully and bowed.

"Queen Luna."

Every head in the war chamber turned toward him.

The guard swallowed and looked at Leo before speaking. "We found something."

King Eldric stepped forward. "What did you find?"

The guard reached into the evidence bag he was carrying and held it out.

"Alpha’s device."

Emma’s head snapped toward him.

Leo took the bag and lifted it carefully. The screen was shattered, and part of the casing was blackened. There were deep scratches along the edges, as though the device had struck something hard before being left behind.

Emma took a step forward.

"Where did you find it?"

The guard shifted his weight. "Near the eastern cliffs, My Queen Luna."

She glanced at the damaged device again.

"It was badly damaged."

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