The room tilted around me, the chandeliers bleeding into streaks of golden light. My limbs felt like they were made of wet sand, and every breath came slow and thick. I knew, with a certainty that cut through the fog in my head, that my stepfather had drugged me. King Consort Oberon’s grip tightened on my arm as he steered me across the dance floor.
His smile was cold, the smile of a snake watching a mouse stumble into its coils. “You said you wanted to come to the ball, darling,” he murmured, his voice dripping with false concern. “You were very firm about it, in fact. ”
I fought to keep my eyelids open, fought to keep my spine straight.
“I feel… dizzy. ”
“Perhaps you should return to your room, my love. ”
His fingers trailed up my arm, possessive and sickening, before he wound a strand of my blonde hair around his finger like a chain. “Don’t call me that,” I managed, though the words came out slurred.
My head lolled forward, and I jerked it back with tremendous effort. I would rather collapse on the floor than lean into this monster for comfort. “You know how I feel about you, princess,” Oberon whispered, low enough that the dancing couples around us couldn’t hear. “How I’ve always felt.
”
“I know how you feel about the throne,” I said, each word a struggle. “And it will never be yours. ”
His grip turned bruising. “It will be when you become my wife.
You are already mine, Brina. I intend to keep you. ”
“You were my mother’s husband! ”
The protest came out weak, pathetic.
I hated how powerless I sounded. “And you are your mother’s daughter,” he said, his breath hot against my ear. “Just as beautiful. Just as valuable.
”
“You killed her! ”
The accusation hung between us, dangerous and true. “You can’t prove that, darling. ” His smile widened.
“No one can. ”
A nobleman approached, bowing low. “Your Majesty, if I might have a word about the trade agreements…”
“Of course, Lord Pemberton. ” Oberon’s tone shifted to one of gracious authority as he released my arm to clasp the lord’s hand.
I swayed, nearly stumbling, but managed to take a step back. Then another, slipping into the press of dancing couples before Oberon could notice. I had fought so hard to be included tonight, had begged and pleaded and finally thrown a tantrum worthy of a child just to be allowed out of my gilded cage. Tonight’s mating ceremony, the union between the Alpha King’s younger sister and Duke Ashford, had drawn nobles from across my human kingdom and dignitaries from the neighboring shifter realm.
The ballroom glittered with both my people and the wolf shifters, beings who could transform between man and beast. Allies, I had thought desperately. Someone here must be willing to help me. One of the visiting shifters, perhaps?
Or a noble who remembers my mother? Someone must see that Oberon is a monster. The room tilted violently. I grabbed at a passing server’s tray for balance but missed, my fingers closing on air.
Where was I? What was I doing? The thoughts scattered like startled birds. Faces blurred past, laughing, drinking, dancing.
Human nobles in their silk and jewels. Shifter warriors with their unnaturally bright eyes and predatory grace. None of them cared that a human princess was being held prisoner in her own palace. None of them cared that a dark mage had bewitched my mother, married her for the throne, and then slowly poisoned her over the course of two years.
None of them would care when Oberon announced our engagement later, when I would be too drugged to refuse. The room tilted violently again. I stumbled backward, trying to catch myself, but my feet wouldn’t cooperate. I crashed into something solid.
A chair, I thought dimly. And then I was falling, tumbling gracelessly into someone’s lap. “Easy there,” said a voice. Strong hands steadied me, keeping me from sliding right off onto the floor.
“Are you alright? ”
I blinked slowly, trying to make sense of where I was. Somehow I had ended up curled sideways in a chair, my head resting against a very broad, very warm chest. I tilted my face up, and my heart stopped.
I was staring straight into the eyes of the Alpha King. His eyes were the color of molten gold, sharp and ancient, like they had seen centuries of war. He was watching me with an intensity that made the rest of the room fade away. “Your Majesty,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—I was just trying to get away, and I couldn’t see straight, and I fell, and I didn’t mean to disturb you. ”
Words tumbled out of me, slurred and desperate, until he raised a single hand to silence me. “You’re the human princess,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
I nodded, my head feeling too heavy for my neck. The Alpha King’s gaze flicked to something over my shoulder. I followed his line of sight and saw Oberon cut a path through the crowd toward me, his face a mask of polite concern that didn’t reach his eyes. “Princess Brina,” Oberon called, his voice carrying across the ballroom.
“There you are. You shouldn’t have wandered off, darling. You’re not well. ”
The Alpha King’s arm tightened around me, almost imperceptibly.
He didn’t move to release me. “She fell,” the Alpha King said, his voice flat. “She could barely stand. I thought she was about to hit the floor.
”
“How clumsy of her,” Oberon said, reaching for me. “But I’ll take care of her now, Your Majesty. She needs to rest. ”
My fingers dug into the Alpha King’s jacket.
I couldn’t go back to Oberon. I couldn’t. If he got me alone now, there would be no escape. He would have me in his chambers, and by morning, the engagement would be announced, and I would be his wife, his prisoner, his—
The Alpha King’s hand closed over mine, firm and warm.
He didn’t release me. “I’m not finished speaking with her,” he said, his tone making it clear this wasn’t up for discussion. “My court has an interest in the human kingdom’s succession. I have questions for the princess.
”
Oberon’s smile froze on his face. For a moment, something dark and dangerous flickered in his eyes. Then he bowed smoothly. “Of course, Your Majesty.
I wouldn’t dream of interrupting matters of state. ”
He stepped back, but he didn’t retreat far. He hovered at the edge of our conversation, watching like a hawk. The Alpha King looked down at me.
His grip loosened slightly, but he didn’t let go. “Tell me, princess,” he said, his voice low enough for only me to hear. “Did you drink anything tonight? ”
My throat tightened.
“I had a glass of wine, to toast the couple. That’s all. ”
“And how did you feel after the wine? ”
I stared at him.
He already knew. He had seen it. “Like I was drowning,” I confessed, my voice shattering. “Like my own body was pulling me under.
”
His eyes hardened. They weren’t golden anymore. They were cold, like steel over a fire. “How long has this been going on?
”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. If I said the words out loud, if I admitted it, then it was real, and it was true, and I would have to face the full weight of everything I had been enduring for years. The Alpha King didn’t press.
He simply watched me, waiting. “Since my mother died,” I whispered at last. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “And who do you think is responsible?
”
The answer was on my lips, burning to be spoken. But before I could say the name, Oberon’s voice cut through the crowd like a blade. “Princess Brina! ” He was approaching again, his urgency unmissable.
“I really must insist. You’re unwell. The physician needs to see you at once. ”
The Alpha King’s arm moved, positioning me behind him without a word.
It was a small gesture, barely noticeable to the crowd, but it sent a clear message. “She’s not going anywhere,” he said. Oberon stopped. “Your Majesty, I appreciate your concern, but she is my ward.
Her health is my responsibility. ”
“She is a princess of the human kingdom,” the Alpha King corrected. “And the heir to its throne. That makes her welfare a matter of my interest as well.
”
The ballroom was starting to quiet. People were turning, watching, whispering. Oberon’s smile didn’t waver. “I see that you’ve taken quite an interest in her.
”
The Alpha King’s hand settled on the small of my back, steady and possessive. “Yes,” he said simply. “I have. ”
The words hung in the air like a challenge.
Oberon’s eyes narrowed, just a fraction. But he knew better than to make a scene in front of the entire court. He bowed, sharp and precise, and stepped back into the crowd. But I saw the look he shot me before he disappeared.
It was a promise, dark and patient. This wasn’t over. In his mind, I was still his. The Alpha King turned me to face him.
His voice dropped, soft and urgent. “If I walk away from you tonight, what happens? ”
The truth sat in my throat like a stone. “He’ll announce our engagement before the night ends.
And by morning, I’ll be too far gone to say no. ”
The Alpha King went very still. “I see. ”
He looked over at his younger sister, dancing with Duke Ashford, her face lit with joy.
Then he looked at his guards, stationed at the edges of the room. Then he looked at Oberon, who was speaking in low, urgent tones to a servant near the door. “Then I’m not leaving you,” he said. I blinked at him.
“Your Majesty? ”
“What’s your name? ” he asked. “Your real name?
”
I didn’t understand the question. “Princess Brina. That’s my name. ”
“No,” he said.
“Your name. The one you give people you trust. ”
I hesitated. No one had asked me that in years.
“Brina,” I said again, quieter this time. “Just Brina. ”
“Brina,” he repeated, like he was testing the weight of it. “I’m not leaving you with him.
Not tonight. Not ever. ”
I searched his face for a lie, for some hidden motive. But all I saw was a quiet, unyielding resolve.
“Why? ” I asked, and my voice cracked. “Why would you help me? ”
He didn’t answer at first.
He just looked at me, his eyes searching mine. “Because I recognize what you’re feeling,” he said at last. “That helplessness. That feeling of being trapped with no way out.
I know it. And I swore to myself a long time ago that I would never let it happen to someone else if I could stop it. ”
The ballroom swirled around us, but it felt far away, like we were the only two people in the world. “What are you going to do?
” I whispered. The Alpha King’s jaw set. “First, I’m going to find out exactly what he gave you. Then I’m going to find out exactly what he’s done.
And then,” he said, his voice turning cold and hard, “I’m going to make sure he can never touch you again. ”
The air crackled with unspoken power. For the first time in years, I felt a spark of something I had forgotten how to name. Hope.
“But you have to trust me,” he said. “All the way. Do you understand? ”
I looked past him, at the shadows where Oberon had disappeared.
Then I looked back at the Alpha King, at the golden fury burning in his eyes. “I understand,” I said. And when his hand closed around mine, I didn’t let go.
