Chapter 5 Chapter 5

ALPHA JEREMIAH

I had been watching Alexander’s territory for weeks, studying his borders, his patrols and the movements of his warriors. The Lycan King was more careful than most Alphas I had dealt with, which made getting inside his territory nearly impossible. Every entrance was guarded, and his warriors were trained well enough to notice even the smallest disturbance.

It was frustrating, but I couldn’t blame him. Alexander knew there were enemies waiting for an opportunity to strike, and he had done everything possible to make sure they couldn’t get close to his people. Unfortunately for him, I had spent years learning how to get around defenses like his.

Alexander and I had unfinished business.

Years ago, my pack had been known as the Silver Nights. We had our own territory, our own traditions and a family I thought would always be there. I was young when Alexander attacked us, but I remembered enough to know exactly what he had taken from me. He killed my father and half of our pack without hesitation, then took some of our pups and brought them back to his territory.

Those children grew up serving him.

That was the part I could never forgive.

Alexander hadn’t simply destroyed my family. He had taken what remained of it and turned them into his soldiers. I had spent years rebuilding what he had destroyed, gathering wolves who had survived and creating the RedDevils from the ashes of the Silver Nights.

Every raid, every battle and every territory I had taken had been part of something bigger. I wasn’t interested in becoming a feared Alpha simply for the sake of having power. I wanted Alexander to understand exactly what it felt like to lose everything.

The problem was that Alexander wasn’t stupid.

An attack on his territory would bring his allies into the fight, especially the Dead Lands. I had no intention of throwing my warriors into a war that could have been avoided. If I wanted Alexander gone, I needed to be smarter than him.

I stood among the trees near the border and watched another patrol move past. I studied their formation before turning away. I had already learned most of what I needed to know about his defenses.

His warriors weren’t the problem.

His walls weren’t the problem.

His weaknesses were inside the palace.

I had considered several ways to create problems within Alexander’s territory. I could turn his warriors against each other, interfere with his alliances or find a way to make his people question his leadership. But Alexander had spent years building loyalty, and I wasn’t interested in wasting time on a plan that could be uncovered before it even began.

There had to be another way.

I continued walking through the forest, thinking through my options when something suddenly changed.

A scent reached me.

I stopped.

My wolf reacted instantly.

The change was so violent that for a moment I couldn’t breathe properly. Every thought about Alexander disappeared from my mind as my instincts took over.

Mate.

I closed my eyes and breathed in again.

Lavender and rain.

Her scent.

I followed it without thinking.

My wolf pulled me deeper into the forest, growing more restless with every step. I had never experienced anything like it. I had fought Alphas twice my size without flinching, walked into territories where entire packs wanted me dead and survived situations that should have killed me, but none of that compared to the feeling of knowing my mate was close.

Then I saw her.

She was sitting on a rock beneath the moonlight, completely unaware that I was watching her. Her long silver-white hair fell around her shoulders, and even from a distance I could see that she didn’t belong in the forest.

She looked like someone who had escaped from a palace.

Then I recognized her.

Astrid.

Alexander’s daughter.

I almost laughed at the irony.

For years, I had been searching for a way into Alexander’s territory. I had studied his defenses, watched his warriors and considered every possible strategy.

Now his daughter had walked straight across the border herself.

I didn’t know whether to call it luck or a cruel joke from the Moon Goddess.

I stepped closer, and she immediately sensed me.

She turned sharply, her entire body becoming alert.

“Who are you! You better stay right where you are!”

I almost smiled.

She was afraid, but she wasn’t acting like it.

Most wolves would have frozen if they realized they were alone in the forest with me. Astrid looked ready to fight.

Interesting.

I looked at her properly then, taking in the silver hair, pale skin and unusual eyes. She was beautiful, but it wasn’t only her appearance that caught my attention. There was something about her attitude that made me want to know what kind of person was hiding beneath the title of Princess.

I took another step.

“I am Jeremiah and you… Oh, you are my mate. What a blessed night it is.”

Her jaw dropped.

I could practically see the questions racing through her mind.

She didn’t look happy.

That surprised me.

Most wolves dreamed of finding their mate, especially when they came from powerful families. Astrid looked as if I had just informed her that I planned to burn down her palace.

Then again, she knew who I was.

She had probably heard every rumor about the RedDevils.

I watched her carefully as she took two steps backward.

“Step back!”

There was a tremor in her voice, but she didn’t lower her gaze.

I had no intention of stepping back.

“Oh, I have no intention of stepping back, mate. You are most definitely mine.”

She looked at me as if she wanted to argue with the entire concept of fate.

“You better stay away from me or else…”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Or else?”

She looked uncertain for a second.

Then she ran.

I didn’t follow.

My wolf hated the decision, but I forced him back. Chasing her would have been easy, but there was no reason to frighten her into accepting a bond she clearly wasn’t ready for.

Instead, I watched her disappear between the trees.

Astrid was my mate.

That fact alone complicated everything.

But there was something else I couldn’t ignore.

She was Alexander’s daughter.

The heir to his throne.

The girl he had spent eighteen years protecting from the world.

And she had just crossed his border alone.

I had spent years trying to find a way inside Alexander’s territory, and somehow his own daughter had done it for me.

I should have seen it as an opportunity.

Part of me did.

If I could get close to Astrid, I could learn things about Alexander that no spy would ever discover. I could learn how the palace worked, who Alexander trusted and where his weaknesses were.

But another part of me didn’t like the thought of using her.

The moment I had seen her, something inside me had changed. My wolf wanted her, and for the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to have an instinct stronger than reason.

That didn’t mean I was going to throw away everything I had worked for.

Alexander had taken my family from me.

I had spent years preparing for the day I would finally bring him down.

I wasn’t going to forget that because the Moon Goddess had decided his daughter was my mate.

Still, I couldn’t deny the irony.

Astrid had no idea what she had just walked into.

Neither did I.

I turned toward the border and watched the direction she had disappeared in.

She would go back to Alexander.

She would probably tell him nothing about me, at least not immediately. She was too smart to announce that she had met the Alpha her father considered a threat.

But eventually, she would have to face the truth.

She was my mate.

And whether either of us liked it or not, our lives had just become connected.

I had spent years planning how to destroy Alexander’s kingdom.

Now the Moon Goddess had handed me the one person capable of changing everything.

His daughter.

His heir.

My mate.