Betrothed To The Alpha, My Soul Answered His Dearest Friend

I didn't sleep. At dawn, I washed the blood off my palm, pinned up my hair, and walked straight into Kael's study without knocking.

He was eating breakfast at his desk. Bread. Honey. A cup of black tea.

He looked like a man who had slept very well.

"Elara." He didn't stand. "You're early. Did the envoy arrive?"

"Not yet." I shut the door behind me. "I came to ask you something first."

"Make it quick. Elias is due within the hour."

"How long have you been sleeping with Lois Marrow?"

The honey spoon stopped halfway to his mouth.

For one second, his face went blank. Then he set the spoon down and wiped his fingers on a napkin, one at a time.

"Who told you that?"

"Nobody told me. I saw you. Last night. At the fountain."

"You were spying on me?"

"I was bringing you the border agreement." I tossed the bent folder onto his plate. Honey smeared across the leather. "You told the guard nobody gets in. You should have told him to lock the gate."

Kael pushed the folder aside. His jaw worked, then went still.

"Sit down, Elara."

"No."

"You're upset. I understand." His voice went low and patient, the way he talked to frightened horses. "But you're making this bigger than it is."

"Bigger than it is?" My laugh came out cracked. "You told her I'd sleep in the east wing. You told her I'd never get your mark. You said my job was to smile at the elders."

"Isn't it?"

I stared at him.

He leaned back in his chair. "This is a treaty marriage. You knew that from the start. Your father knew it. Ironvale gets grain and safety. You get a title most Omegas would kill for. What exactly did you think you were getting?"

"A husband."

"You're getting one."

"I'm getting a jailer who keeps his lover by the fountain!"

He stood up so fast the chair scraped stone. "Lower your voice."

"Or what? Someone will hear? Everyone already knows, Kael. Your guards know. Hilde knows. I'm the only fool in this territory who didn't."

"Lois was in my life before you were." He came around the desk. "I didn't choose this engagement. My father did. I've been nothing but polite to you for three years."

"Polite." I tasted the word. "You kissed me four times. Every time, you stepped back and said our bond was sacred."

A flicker crossed his face. Guilt, maybe. Or just irritation.

"I was being kind," he said.

"You were being a liar."

He grabbed my wrist. Not hard, but firm enough to remind me who was the Alpha in the room.

"Listen to me. In six days, we stand in front of both houses and say the vows. You'll wear the white. You'll smile. Then you can do whatever you want in the east wing. Read. Paint. Plant your little moonflowers." His grip tightened. "And if you go running to your father with stories, who do you think he'll believe? His Omega daughter, crying about a fountain? Or the Alpha who feeds his people?"

I pulled my wrist free.

"I'll make him believe me."

"With what? Your word?" Kael smiled, and it was almost gentle. "Elara. Nobody takes an Omega's word over mine."

The knock on the door saved him from my answer.

"Alpha Kael." Pip's voice, thin and nervous. "Alpha Elias Thorne of the Frostmarch has arrived. He says he's here to settle the alliance terms."

Kael's whole face changed. The coldness vanished. He was grinning like a boy.

"Send him in."

He turned back to me and straightened my collar with two quick tugs.

"Fix your face," he murmured. "Elias is the closest thing I have to a brother. Don't embarrass me."

The door opened.

The man who walked in had to duck under the frame. Dark hair, cut short. A gray traveling coat still damp from the morning fog. A scar along his left jaw that pulled slightly when he smiled at Kael.

"You look fat," he said.

"You look old," Kael shot back, and they slammed into a hug that knocked a stack of papers off the desk.

I should have stepped back. I should have curtsied and found a reason to leave.

Then Elias turned his head and looked at me.

Everything stopped.

Heat poured through my veins like someone had lit a fire under my skin. My heart slammed once, twice, then broke into a wild, pounding run. Deep in my chest, something woke up and pulled toward him, so hard that my body swayed a half step forward before I caught myself.

Pine. Cold rain. Smoke.

His scent filled my lungs, and my wolf, who had been quiet for three long years in this house, lifted her head and said one word.

*Mine.*

No.

No, no, no.

Elias went rigid. His hand was still on Kael's shoulder, and I watched his knuckles turn white. His gray eyes widened. Something tore open behind them, shock first, then a raw, naked hunger, then something that looked a lot like horror.

"Elias?" Kael pulled back. "You alright?"

Elias blinked. Once.

"Long ride," he said. His voice came out rough, scraped from somewhere deep in his throat.

"Ha. You're getting soft up north." Kael swept an arm toward me. "This is Elara. My bride."

My bride.

The words landed like a slap.

Elias didn't look at me again. He fixed his eyes on a point just past my shoulder, on the bookshelf, on nothing.

"Lady Elara." A short bow. Stiff. Perfect.

"Alpha Thorne." My mouth was so dry I barely got it out.

I folded my hands in front of me so nobody could see them shaking. My skin was burning. Sweat gathered at the back of my neck. If he took one step closer, I didn't know what my body would do.

He didn't take a step. He took two steps back, toward the window, and pulled a sealed scroll from his coat.

"The troop terms," he said to Kael. "Frostmarch commits four hundred warriors to the wedding guard. I need your seal on the supply clause."

"Straight to business. Same old Elias." Kael laughed and grabbed his seal ring off the desk. "You should have seen her this morning. Came in here spitting fire over nothing."

I flinched.

Elias's shoulders locked.

"Over nothing?" he asked quietly.

"Wedding nerves." Kael waved a hand. "She'll settle."

Elias said nothing. He was breathing so shallowly that his chest barely moved, like he was afraid that if he took in too much air, he'd take in too much of me.

I knew, because I was doing the same thing.

The bond hummed between us, tight as a bowstring, invisible and impossible to ignore. Kael stood right in the middle of it, pressing hot wax onto parchment, whistling under his breath.

He didn't notice a thing.

"There." Kael handed the scroll back. "Now the important part. You're staying for the week. No arguments."

Elias's fingers closed around the scroll. They weren't steady.

"I have duties in the north."

"Your duties can wait. My father's dead, and you're my oldest friend." Kael threw an arm around his neck. "Six days from now, Elias, you're standing beside me at the altar."

Across the room, for one breathless second, Elias finally looked at me.

And I saw the same thought burning in his eyes that was screaming inside my head.

He was going to watch me marry his brother.

And neither of us would survive it.