Alpha's Secret Bride

Three winters had passed, and the palace had settled into a different kind of noise. The halls that had once felt too quiet now seemed almost impossible to keep peaceful for more than a few minutes. There were schoolbooks left on tables, toys forgotten in corners, little shoes abandoned outside the nursery bedchamber, and the occasional sound of pups arguing over something that rarely seemed important enough to fight about. Emma had grown used to it, and although she sometimes complained about the noise, she secretly loved knowing that their home was filled with the sounds of their heirs growing up.

One moonrise, Emma was sitting at the feeding table, sorting through a few household reports, when Charlotte rushed into the chamber with Elyon close behind her.

"Mother!"

She looked up just as Charlotte climbed onto the chair beside her.

"What happened?"

"Elyon took my pencil."

"I didn’t take it," Elyon protested as he hurried into the chamber. "I borrowed it."

"You didn’t ask."

"I was going to."

"You already broke it."

Elyon looked down at the broken pencil in his hand before quickly hiding it behind his back.

Emma pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "Elyon."

He slowly brought the broken pencil forward.

"It broke by itself."

Charlotte immediately pointed at him. "How?"

Emma shook her head, trying to look stern. "Elyon, how many times have I told you not to take things without asking first?"

Elyon looked up at her and began counting on his fingers. "One... two... three times?"

The serious expression Emma had been trying to maintain disappeared, and she burst into laughter at the way he counted, as though he were carefully calculating the answer.

Once she had composed herself, she looked around. "And where is Bryan?"

"Outside," Charlotte said.

"Then why are you two arguing over one pencil?"

"Because he broke mine," Charlotte said.

"I said I’ll give you another one."

"You said that before."

Before Emma could respond, footsteps sounded in the hallway, and Bryan entered the feeding chamber with a book tucked beneath his arm. He stopped when he saw his younger siblings standing beside their mother.

"Charlotte, what happened? I’ve been looking all over for you."

"Elyon broke my pencil," she said.

"I didn’t break it," Elyon protested.

Bryan looked at the pencil in his brother’s hand. "You definitely broke it."

Elyon frowned. "How do you know?"

"Because you’re holding the broken pieces."

Emma couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore.

Brandon entered the chamber at that moment and paused when he saw all three pups gathered around the table.

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Emma said, but before she could say anything else, the three pups immediately began talking over one another.

"Elyon broke my pencil," Charlotte complained.

"It broke by accident," Elyon protested.

"Bryan is taking her side."

Brandon looked from one pup to the other before turning his attention to Emma. She simply shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Welcome home."

A quiet laugh escaped him as he walked toward them. He listened to the three versions of the story, though it quickly became clear that none of them was willing to let the others finish. After a moment, Brandon crouched in front of Elyon and held out his hand.

"Let me see the pencil."

Elyon reluctantly handed it to him.

Brandon looked at the broken pieces before raising his eyes to him. "You broke your sister’s pencil?"

Elyon lowered his head. "Yes."

"And what do you say?"

"Sorry."

Charlotte folded her arms, still looking at her brother. "And he has to give me his new pencil."

Elyon glanced at her, then sighed in defeat. "Fine."

Charlotte’s expression immediately softened. "Good."

Just like that, the argument was over. Elyon went to find another pencil while Charlotte followed him, and Bryan shook his head as he watched them disappear toward the nursery.

Emma watched the three of them settle down again, a fond smile spreading across her face. She turned to Brandon and shook her head gently.

"They remind me of us."

Brandon looked at her with mild surprise. "Us?"

"Yes," she said, her smile growing. "You don’t remember?"

He leaned against the table and glanced at the direction the pups have taken. "I don’t remember being that troublesome."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "You don’t?"

"No."

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Elara told me plenty of stories about you."

Brandon immediately looked at her. "She did?"

"She did." Emma laughed softly. "Apparently, you once climbed over the garden wall because your father wouldn’t let you leave the palace."

Brandon shook his head. "Elara still remembers that?"

"She told me about it more than once."

"You’re believing her?"

"She sounded very convincing."

Brandon gave her a doubtful look. "She probably left out the part where she encouraged me."

Emma laughed. "So you admit you did it?"

"I admit nothing."

"But you climbed the wall."

Brandon sighed. "It was Bernard who climbed the wall. Elara would always ask me to go after him."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "And you were the one who created the secret exit?"

He signed "Yes."

A smile spread across Emma’s face. "And what were you planning to do with it?"

"Leave."

"Without permission?"

"I was a teenager."

"That doesn’t answer the question."

"It was a long time ago."

Emma laughed softly. "I think I understand why Elara had so many stories about you."

Brandon shook his head, but a smile appeared on his face as the memory returned.

The memory seemed to pull them both backward for a moment, away from the palace and everything they had become responsible for. They remembered being young, stubborn, and certain that they knew more than the adults around them. Back then, they had no idea what their lives would eventually become. There had been no crowns, no kingdom to protect, and no pups running through palace corridors. There had only been two young people trying to figure out where they belonged and what they wanted from life.

Emma rested her elbow on the table and looked at him.

"We really were in trouble."

"You were worse."

She gave him an offended look. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I remember you getting into more trouble than I did."

Brandon laughed. "That’s because you always managed to convince me to do it."

"What exactly?"

"Sneak out through my secret exit and come looking for you in the Springfield region."

Emma shook her head, smiling. "You make it sound like everything was my fault."

"Wasn’t it?"

She lightly pushed his arm.

Their laughter caught the attention of the three pups who were coming back to the feeding chamber.

"What are you laughing about?" Charlotte asked.

Emma looked toward them.

"Your father and I were remembering when we were your age."

Bryan’s eyes lit up with interest. "You got into trouble too?"

Brandon gave Emma a warning look.

She smiled innocently. "Of course we did."

Elyon climbed onto the chair beside Charlotte. "What did you do?"

Brandon sighed. "I don’t think your mother should tell you everything."

"Why?"

"Because some of those stories involve your mother."

Emma laughed. "Don’t listen to him. He just doesn’t want everyone knowing what he was like."

Bryan closed his book and placed it on the table. "Tell us."

Charlotte immediately nodded. "Yes, tell us."

Elyon looked between them eagerly.

Emma exchanged a glance with Brandon.

For winters, their past had been filled with memories they had tried not to revisit. There had been loss, betrayal, fear, and moments neither of them ever wanted their pups to experience. But there had also been ordinary days they had almost forgotten to cherish: stolen conversations, teenage arguments, laughter in places where they weren’t supposed to be, and two stubborn teenagers slowly discovering that they cared about each other more than either wanted to admit.

Those were the memories Emma wanted her children to know.

"All right," she said. "But your father has to tell the first story."

Brandon stared at her. "Why me?"

"Because you were usually the one causing the trouble."

"I knew you were going to say that."

The pups burst into laughter.

Brandon shook his head before pulling out a chair.

"Fine. But I’m choosing the story."

"No," Emma said immediately. "You always leave out the best parts."

"Because the best parts make you look guilty."

"I was never guilty."

Brandon looked at her.

Emma smiled.

"All right. Sometimes."

The pups laughed again, and Brandon finally gave in.

As he began telling the story, Emma watched their pups gather closer around him. Bryan listened carefully, Charlotte interrupted every few moments with questions, and Elyon laughed whenever the story became particularly ridiculous.

Emma found herself smiling at the sight.

They had once been two teenagers with no idea where life would take them.

Now they were sitting in a palace with three pups listening to stories about the people they had once been.

For all the things they had lost along the way, this was something they had never imagined having.

A family that could laugh together.

A home that felt alive.

And pups who would grow up knowing that their parents had once been young, foolish, stubborn, and very much in love.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!