The Alpha Who Let Me Go

The news of the Alpha King’s arrival hit the pack like a bomb. One second, everyone was lazily going about their morning, and the next, it was chaos. Warriors scrambled to polish their already gleaming armor, omegas rushed to clean the Alpha’s estate, and a panicked cook could be heard yelling about running out of thyme for the lamb roast.

I stood off to the side, watching the commotion with an amused smirk. It was like watching a bunch of headless chickens, clucking and flapping without a clue where to go.

“Is this what leadership looks like these days?” I muttered under my breath, leaning casually against a tree.

An omega sprinted past me, clutching a stack of fresh linens like her life depended on it. Another one tripped over a root, sending a tray of silver goblets clattering to the ground. I raised an eyebrow, arms crossed, as the scene unfolded.

“They do know he’s not here to inspect the cutlery, right?” I said to no one in particular.

But apparently, no one was listening. The moment Lucian had announced that Alpha King Darius would be arriving in less than an hour for an “unplanned visit,” the entire pack had gone into overdrive. It was almost comical—almost.

Lucian, of course, was barking orders like his life depended on it. His deep voice carried through the air as he instructed warriors to stand straighter, omegas to work faster, and literally everyone to “act like you have a spine.”

I scoffed. If he had spent half as much energy fixing the mess within his pack as he did pretending everything was perfect, maybe he wouldn’t need to scramble every time someone important showed up.

The memory of last night still burned in the back of my mind, but I wasn’t going to let it get to me. Not now. Not with all the entertainment happening around me.

“Amelia,” Lucian’s sharp voice cut through the noise, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I turned lazily, meeting his furious gaze. He looked stressed, his usually composed demeanor cracking under the pressure of Darius’s arrival.

“Yes?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t just stand there,” he snapped. “Make yourself useful.”

I shrugged, barely suppressing a grin. “You seem to have everything under control.”

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought he might actually explode. But before he could say anything, a horn sounded in the distance. The Alpha King had arrived.

The pack gathered quickly, forming neat rows in the clearing as Darius’s entourage approached. The energy shifted immediately, the chaotic panic replaced by a tense, almost reverent silence.

When the Alpha King’s black SUV pulled up, I felt the familiar thrill of anticipation. It had been a long time since I’d seen Darius. Longer than I cared to admit.

The door opened, and he stepped out, his presence commanding instant attention. Alpha King Darius was the kind of man who could silence a room with a single glance. His tall, broad-shouldered frame was clad in a tailored black suit, and his piercing blue eyes scanned the crowd with the intensity of a predator assessing its prey.

Everyone bowed deeply, including Lucian. I, however, stayed standing, my arms crossed casually.

“Amelia,” Darius’s deep voice broke the silence as his gaze landed on me. A slow, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of his lips.