Alpha's Secret Bride

The news spread through the palace before moonrise. Queen Luna Emma was carrying another pup, but instead of the celebration everyone might have expected, Nightclaw Estate remained unusually quiet.

She stood alone in the nursery with one hand resting on the cradle Brandon had bought for Bryan before he was born. She could still remember how excited he had been when it arrived. He had refused to let anyone else arrange it, laughing when the servants offered to help and insisting that Bryan Oliver wouldn’t want anyone but his father putting the nursery together.

Emma’s fingers moved slowly along the edge of the cradle.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

This pup was his.

And Brandon didn’t even know.

The royal physician continued to visit every few days. Each time, she found another reason to remind her to slow down.

"You need more rest, Queen Luna."

Emma would give her the same answer. "I’ll be fine."

"You’ve barely been eating."

"I’ll eat."

But the food on her plates was often left untouched. Some smells sent her rushing from the table, while other days she simply sat there without an appetite. When she did manage to eat, she sometimes couldn’t keep the food down.

One moonrise, Emily sat across from her and watched as she moved a piece of toast around her plate without taking a bite.

"You’ve been staring at that bread for ten minutes."

She gave her a weak smile. "I’m trying."

"I know."

Emily reached across the table and took her hand. "But trying isn’t enough anymore."

She lowered her eyes to the untouched food.

"I don’t know how to make myself eat."

Emily squeezed her fingers. "Then take it one bite at a time. For your pups."

She looked toward the hallway when Bryan Oliver’s laughter drifted into the chamber. She watched him for a moment before looking back at the untouched plate.

Emily quietly pushed the toast closer to her. "Just a little. You don’t have to finish everything."

She picked up the toast, tore off a small piece, and took a cautious bite. She chewed slowly, waiting to see if her stomach would turn.

When it didn’t, she took another small bite.

Emily watched her without saying anything.

She glanced at her. "Don’t look at me like that."

Emily smiled. "I’m not looking at you in any kind of way."

"You are."

"I’ll stop when you finish that piece."

She rolled her eyes, but another small smile appeared as she reached for the toast again.

"I’ll finish it."

---

King Eldric refused to slow the search. Every moonrise, another group of warriors left the palace, and by moonfall, another round of reports came in. None of them brought what he wanted to hear.

No sign of Brandon. No witnesses. No clue.

The maps covering the war chamber walls had become crowded with colored markings. Nearly every road, forest, village, and border crossing had been searched more than once.

Leo stood beside the long table, one hand resting on the edge of a map. "We’ve expanded the search into the eastern kingdoms."

Eldric lifted his head from the map spread across the table. "And?"

Leo glanced down at the report in his hand before meeting his gaze. "Nothing, Your Majesty."

Eldric’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table. "What about the southern borders, Samuel asked?"

"We searched every crossing and questioned the guards stationed along the border. No one saw him, and there’s still no trace of his scent."

Eldric was silent for a moment before looking toward another section of the map. "The ports?"

"We questioned every captain who came through. No one remembers seeing him."

Eldric rubbed a hand over his face and stared at the maps. "It doesn’t make sense."

Samuel stood near the window, fastening the clasp of his cloak. "Then we’ll keep looking."

Eldric looked at him. "You’ve barely rested."

He pulled the cloak around her shoulders. "I’ll rest when Brandon comes home."

Before anyone could stop him, he walked out of the chamber.

Weeks turned into months, and the kingdom slowly settled into a different kind of silence. At first, people prayed for Brandon’s safe return. Then they waited for news. When none came, whispers began to spread.

Emma noticed it during a visit to the royal healing den. People bowed as she passed, and most offered quiet smiles, but a few quickly looked away.

Near the entrance, two noblewomen stood together, their voices low. She might have walked past without hearing them if the hall hadn’t been so quiet.

"I heard he left her for another woman."

"Why would he do that?"

"Maybe he finally got tired of her."

The other woman glanced around before lowering her voice. "I heard they argued before he disappeared."

"I heard that too."

"Poor Queen Luna."

Emma stopped.

Emily, walking beside her, looked over. The two women were still whispering and hadn’t noticed them.

She lowered her eyes and kept walking.

She didn’t say anything as she climbed into the car. Emily got in beside her, and the driver pulled away from the healing den.

For several minutes, she kept her face turned toward the window. Her fingers rested against her stomach, then slowly curled into the fabric of her dress.

Finally, Emily broke the silence.

"Don’t listen to them."

She kept her eyes on the passing trees. "What if they’re right?"

Emily turned toward her. "You don’t believe that."

Emma’s lips pressed together.

She didn’t answer.

—

The rumors spread faster than the search. Some said Brandon had fallen in love with another woman. Others whispered that he had grown tired of being king and wanted a life away from the throne. A few insisted he had planned his disappearance long before anyone realized he was unhappy.

Emma tried not to listen. She kept her head down when people whispered in the palace and walked past conversations that stopped the moment she entered a hall. But the words followed her home, slipping into her thoughts when the house grew quiet.

One moonfall, she found herself standing in Brandon’s study. She pulled open the drawer where he kept important documents and slowly went through the neatly arranged papers.

Everything was exactly where he had left it.

His handwriting covered several pages of unfinished plans for the kingdom. She picked one up and ran her fingers along the edge before setting it back down.

A tear slipped onto the paper.

"This isn’t you," she whispered.

She looked around the study, waiting for some small detail to prove everyone wrong.

"You wouldn’t leave us."

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the desk.

But if Brandon hadn’t left...

Where was he?

Later that moonfall, Bryan Oliver climbed onto the couch beside her with a sheet of paper clutched in his hands.

"Mother, look."

Emma wiped beneath her eyes and turned toward him. "What is it?"

He held up the drawing with both hands. Three figures stood beneath a large silver moon, their little hands connected.

"Who’s this?"

Bryan pointed to the smallest figure. "That’s me."

Emma smiled. "And this one?"

"You."

Her smile grew as she pointed to the last figure. "And who’s that?"

Bryan grinned. "Father."

He looked toward the front door, then carefully folded the drawing against his chest.

"When he comes home, I’ll show him."

She swallowed and reached for him.

"He’ll like it."

Bryan leaned against her side and rested his head against her shoulder.

"Do you miss him too?"

She kissed the top of his head and held him closer.

"Every day."

---

Late that moonfall, she couldn’t sleep. Rain tapped against the windows as she quietly slipped out of bed and crossed to the bedside table. She opened the drawer and found a small photograph tucked beneath a stack of papers. She pulled it out and turned it over in her hand.

It was a picture of Brandon holding newborn Bryan against his chest. His hair was messy, his shirt was well ironed, and he was looking down at their pup with a smile Emma hadn’t seen in a long time.

Her thumb brushed over Brandon’s face.

She remembered how he’d refused to put Bryan down that entire moonrise, even when everyone kept telling him the pup needed to sleep.

"You’ve been holding him for two hours," she’d teased him.

"And I’m not done yet," he had replied.

She let out a quiet laugh, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

She pressed the photograph against her chest and closed her eyes. She looked down at the ring on her finger. She had never taken it off. Not once since the day Brandon had slipped it onto her finger and promised to love her for the rest of his life.

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Why?"

The empty chamber gave her no answer.

She looked down at the ring on her finger. Her fingers trembled as she slowly pulled it free. She held it in her palm for a long moment, turning it between her fingertips before setting it on the table.

The band touched the wood with a soft metallic click.

She stared at it until her vision blurred.

Then she whispered the words she had been too afraid to say aloud.

"Maybe you really aren’t coming back."

Outside, the rain crashed against the windows, drowning out the sound of her sob.

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