Alpha's Secret Bride

One of the judges pulled the financial records closer and compared the account numbers with the authorization.

"They match," he said quietly.

The chief judge looked at Samuel. "Do you have an explanation for that?"

Samuel opened his mouth, then closed it again. Brandon stepped forward before the silence could be broken.

"There is more."

He placed a set of photographs on the evidence table. The first showed Samuel meeting privately with one of the men involved in the attack. The second showed an envelope being handed over, while the third showed the same man entering Samuel’s intelligence duty chamber two days before the attempted murder. The final photograph showed him leaving with the envelope.

The chief judge examined each photograph. "Who took these?"

"Royal intelligence surveillance officers," Brandon replied. "The original files are included with the evidence."

Samuel’s attorney looked at the photographs and slowly lowered himself into his chair. Samuel remained standing, but the confidence he had carried earlier had disappeared from his face.

The chief judge turned toward him. "Alpha Samuel, you have heard the evidence. You have seen the recordings, the CCTV footage, the payment records, and the photographs. You have heard the testimony of the men involved in the attack and the officer who processed the payment. You may now make your final response before this court delivers its judgment."

Samuel slowly turned toward the judges. For several moments, he said nothing. His gaze moved across the chamber, passing over Alexandra, her attorney, and the nobles beside her before settling on Brandon, who stood near the evidence table watching him without saying a word.

Samuel’s attorney leaned toward him and whispered something, but he finally stepped forward.

"The evidence has been arranged to make me look guilty," he said, his voice quieter than before. "I never ordered anyone to kill Brandon."

The chief judge watched him closely. "Then whose voice did we hear?"

Samuel’s lips parted, but no answer came.

The chief judge continued, "Whose signature authorized the payment?"

Samuel looked down at the document on the bench.

"And whose intelligence officers arranged the attack?"

Samuel’s hands slowly closed into fists, but he still had nothing to say.

The chief judge leaned back and exchanged a brief glance with the other judges before looking toward Samuel again.

"This court has considered the testimony, financial records, security footage, recordings, communications, photographs, and witness statements presented during these proceedings. The evidence establishes far more than an attempt to gain political support for your claim to the throne. It establishes a coordinated effort to manipulate the succession, eliminate opposition, and conceal those actions through the royal intelligence network."

The chamber remained silent as the chief judge lifted the final judgment from the bench.

"Samuel, this court finds you guilty of conspiracy against the Crown, unlawful interference with the succession, abuse of royal authority, and ordering the attempted murder of Brandon Oliver Frostbane."

Samuel’s face went still.

The chief judge continued, "Your claim to the throne is hereby rejected. You are stripped of all authority, titles, and privileges granted to you under the Crown. You are to be taken into royal custody immediately and confined to the dungeon pending further proceedings on the remaining charges."

Two guards stepped forward.

Samuel looked toward Brandon. For the first time since entering the chamber, there was no confidence in his eyes, only disbelief.

"You planned this," he said quietly.

Brandon held his gaze. "No. You did."

The guards took Samuel by the arms and began leading him toward the doors. He resisted for a moment, but the guards tightened their grip and continued moving him forward. The chamber erupted into whispers as Samuel was taken away, and nobles who had once been afraid to speak against him now watched him leave under guard, stripped of the authority he had spent winters trying to claim.

The succession dispute was over. Samuel had lost the throne, and this time, there was nowhere left for him to hide.

The chamber erupted the moment the chief judge delivered the final judgment. Cheers and applause broke out among the nobles, while several people rose to their feet, celebrating the decision. While others turned to one another in disbelief. A few voices called Brandon’s name, and the sound spread through the chamber until even those who had doubted him were forced to acknowledge what the evidence had revealed. Brandon remained still until Luna Alexandra reached him.

She crossed the chamber without hesitation and pulled him into her arms. Brandon held her tightly, his eyes closing for a moment as she pressed a trembling hand against the back of his head. When they finally separated, Alexandra kept both hands on his shoulders, looking him over as though she needed to reassure herself that he was truly standing in front of her.

"How did you survive?" she whispered.

Brandon glanced toward the judges, then lowered his voice. "Father and I planned the investigation together after Darius contacted him. Lord Ashley was part of it too. We knew we couldn’t trust everyone inside the palace, so we kept the operation secret and moved carefully."

Alexandra’s expression tightened. "But Samuel found out."

"He did." Brandon’s jaw hardened. "We changed our routes and kept the investigation off the official records, but somehow Samuel still learned enough to know what we were doing. He sent men after me before I could reach Darius and the people we were investigating or get to the place where we were hiding.

He paused, remembering the attack.

"I was lucky. The man leading them was a man I knew from my academy days. We were classmates before either of us had any position or title. Winters ago, I helped him when he was in trouble, and he never forgot it. When he recognized me from that moonfall, he couldn’t go through with Samuel’s order."

Alexandra stared at him. "He turned against Samuel?"

Brandon nodded. "He did more than that. He warned me that Samuel had ordered the attack and helped me disappear before Samuel’s men could find me again. After that, he agreed to help us expose Samuel instead."

"How did you find Darius?" Alexandra asked.

Brandon looked toward Darius before answering. "He discovered the truth about Samuel long before Father was willing to believe him. He started sending evidence through a secure channel and had already gathered enough information before I joined him. He risked everything to expose Samuel, and I owe him my life too."

Luna Alexandra turned toward Darius, her eyes filling with emotion. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"I wish Damon had your kind heart too."

Darius held her for a moment before gently pulling back. "He does, Alex. He always has. The problem is that they’ve spent winters filling his head with lies."

Alexandra’s expression softened with sadness.

"They told him that our uncle was responsible for our father’s death," Darius continued. "Damon believed them because he had no reason to question what he was told. But I couldn’t accept it. I started investigating on my own, and the more I uncovered, the clearer the truth became."

His expression hardened as he looked at Brandon.

"Samuel was the one who killed Edgar, my father, and anyone else who stood in his way. He destroyed families, silenced witnesses, and made sure the truth stayed buried."

Alexandra lifted a trembling hand and wiped at the tears gathering in her eyes. "Thank the Goddess you were wise enough to look for the truth."

Darius gave her a small smile before turning toward Brandon. "Hey, go spend some time with your family. I still have a few things to take care of."

Brandon stepped forward and pulled him into a brief side hug. "Be careful."

"I will."

As Brandon turned to leave, Alexandra reached for Darius’s hand.

"Dari, please come home when this is over."

Darius looked at her for a moment before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I will."

With those words, he turned and walked away, leaving Alexandra watching him until he disappeared from sight.

Across the chamber, Lord Ashley watched them with a quiet smile. The nobles who had once whispered about Brandon were now crowding around him, offering congratulations and clasping his hand.

When Ashley finally reached him, he held out his hand.

He took it.

Ashley gave him a firm shake and smiled. "You’re the real Alpha."

He laughed softly, but before he could answer, the judges called the chamber back to order. The applause gradually faded, though the excitement remained in every corner of the court.

For the first time that day, Brandon looked toward the bench without fear.

The truth was finally out.

__

At Moon Estate, Emma sat near the window with a book resting open in her lap when the door opened. She glanced up, expecting one of the household staff, but the servant who stepped inside stopped just beyond the doorway. Her breathing was uneven, and her face had lost its usual color.

"My Queen Luna..."

Emma closed the book and set it aside. "What happened?"

The servant swallowed and took another step into the chamber. "There’s news from the court."

Emma’s fingers tightened around the edge of the chair. "What news? Has the judgment been given?"

"Yes, my Queen Luna."

"And?"

"In Luna Alexandra’s favor."

Emma stared at her in surprise. She had expected the decision to go the other way. "But there wasn’t enough evidence to keep Samuel from taking the throne. What happened?"

She hesitated long enough for her to rise.

"Alpha Brandon is alive. He appeared before the court with enough evidence against Alpha Samuel."

The book slipped from her hand and landed on the carpet.

She stared at the servant. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. After a few seconds, she slowly shook her head.

"No."

"My Queen Luna, I..."

"No." She pushed herself to her feet, her eyes fixed on her. "Who told you that?"

"I saw him on the news," the servant said, her voice unsteady.

She took a step closer. "Saw who?"

"Alpha Brandon."

She stopped.

The name seemed to leave the chamber silent.

Emma’s hand found the back of the chair beside her, and she held on as her breathing grew unsteady. "What do you mean you’ve seen him?"

"He walked into the court chamber himself. The judges saw him. The politicians saw him. The nobles saw him and newswolves are recording everything."

Emma stared at her as though she were waiting for her to correct herself.

"Brandon walked into the court chamber?"

"Yes, my Queen Luna."

Her head moved slowly from side to side.

"What if it’s not him?"

The servant stepped closer. "It is him. They recognized him. The judges recognized him. He’s standing before the judges right now."

She looked toward the doorway, but her feet remained where they were. Her eyes filled as she pressed her lips together, trying to hold herself together.

For winters, she had lived with the belief that Brandon was gone. She had learned how to wake up without him, eat and smile without him, how to move through the estate without expecting to hear his footsteps or his voice, and how to keep going even when every part of her wanted to believe he would somehow return.

Now a servant was telling her that he was alive.

She wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her hand, but more followed.

"Go and bring the pups to me," she whispered.

The servant nodded and moved toward the door.

Emma followed, then stopped suddenly.

She looked back at the book lying open on the carpet.

For a moment, she simply stared at it before turning away.

Brandon was alive.

And after months of mourning a man she thought she had lost forever, Emma was finally afraid to believe that she might get him back.

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