His Defiant Mate: The Alpha King's Obsession

I went to the Alpha Heir's office to tell him I was pregnant. I thought three years of devotion meant something. Instead, I heard him laughing with his mistress. "She's just a pet," Holden said. "A placeholder until you were ready." While I lay bleeding in the clinic, mourning my lost child, Holden sent a "prank" cake laced with ghost peppers to the only father figure I had left. The shock gave the old man a heart attack, killing him instantly. Holden didn't know about the miscarriage. He didn't know he had killed his own heir. He just dragged me out of the hospital bed and ordered me to be a bridesmaid at his wedding to the mistress. "Kneel and hold her train," he commanded, using his Alpha Voice to force me down. "That is your place." He thinks I'm broken. He thinks I'm trapped because I'm a weak Omega. But he forgot about the bet he made six months ago. He bet me as a prize in a street race against the ruthless Alpha King—and lost. I dialed the private number I swore I'd never use. "You won," I whispered into the phone. "Come get me." Holden is waiting for me at the altar, expecting a submissive servant. He has no idea that the Alpha King is coming to claim his prize, and his world is about to burn. Chapter 1 Kenia POV: Pain wasn't just a sensation; it was a physical weight, heavy and suffocating. It wasn't just the cramping in my lower abdomen, a sharp, twisting agony that felt like barbed wire being pulled through my insides. It was the emptiness. I lay on the cold, sterile bed of the pack clinic, staring at the ceiling. The fluorescent lights buzzed like a trapped fly. "The procedure is done," the doctor said. He didn't look at me. He was scrubbing his hands at the sink, the water running loud and harsh. "You were only six weeks along. It happens, Kenia. Especially with... your constitution." My constitution. That was the polite way of saying Omega. Weak. Expendable. "Where is he?" I asked, my voice cracking. My throat felt like I had swallowed broken glass. The doctor turned off the tap and dried his hands with a paper towel. "Alpha Heir Holden is busy. The Mating Ceremony is tomorrow. He has preparations to make." A cold laugh bubbled up in my chest, turning into a sob I choked back. The Mating Ceremony. Our ceremony. Or so I had thought for the last three years. I closed my eyes, and the memories assaulted me. Holden picked me three years ago. Not because of the Mate Bond—that cosmic lightning strike everyone dreams of—but because, as he put it, he didn't need destiny. He needed me. The quiet art student who was good at fixing things. I thought I was fixing him. I thought I was fixing us. But this morning, the illusion had shattered. I had gone to his office to surprise him with the news. We're having a pup, I was going to say. A pup. The future of the Silver Lake Pack. Instead, I stood outside the heavy oak door, my hand raised to knock, and I heard them. "Is she still clinging to you? It's been three years, Holden. It's getting pathetic." That was Estella. Her voice was like silk wrapped around a dagger. She was a high-born Beta, beautiful, vicious, and Holden's childhood friend. "Relax, Estella," Holden's voice had replied, lazy and amused. "It's almost over. Hunt Number 98 is nearly complete. I just need to drag it out until the ceremony. The look on her face when I mark you instead of her... it's going to be the highlight of the decade." "You're terrible," Estella giggled. "She actually thinks she's going to be Luna? An Omega orphan?" "She's a pet, Estella. A placeholder until you were ready to settle down." I hadn't knocked. I had run. I ran blindly down the stairs, tears blurring my vision, until my foot missed a step. The fall hadn't been far, but the impact was hard. And then came the blood. Now, lying in the clinic, I knew the truth. There was no baby. There was no wedding. There was only Hunt Number 98. I was a game. My phone on the bedside table buzzed. I picked it up with trembling fingers. It was a notification from the Pack's internal news feed. A photo. Holden and Estella, standing on a balcony, holding a cake. “A sweet treat for our beloved Elder Evans,” the caption read. “Celebrating the future of Silver Lake.” My heart stopped. Elder Evans. He was the only one in this pack who had ever treated me like a human being. He was old, his heart weak, but he had been my father figure. Why were they sending him a cake? A second later, a Mind-Link forced its way into my head. It was Holden. His mental voice was smooth, devoid of the cruelty I had heard in the office. Kenia, babe, where are you? You missed lunch. I hope you aren't sulking about the dress fitting. He didn't know I lost the baby. He didn't know I heard him. I stared at the phone. Then, another message popped up, this time from a nurse at the Elder Care center. "Kenia... it's bad. Elder Evans... he ate the cake the Alpha Heir sent. They spiked it with ghost peppers as a gag. Just a prank, they said. But his heart gave out. He's in a coma, Kenia. They don't think he'll wake up." The world went silent. The buzzing light faded. The pain in my womb vanished, replaced by a cold, black void in the center of my chest. A prank. They put a man in a coma for a laugh. I sat up. The movement made my head spin, but I forced my legs over the edge of the bed. I grabbed my bag. Inside was the white dress I had spent months embroidering for tomorrow. I took the scissors from the medical tray. With calm, precise movements, I shredded the silk. Rip. Rip. Rip. The sound was satisfying. I left the pile of rags on the bed, right next to the medical bill for the "Spontaneous Abortion." I walked out of the clinic into the cool night air. The moon was hidden behind clouds, as if the Goddess herself couldn't bear to look at me. I pulled out my phone again. My fingers hovered over a number I had saved six months ago, a number I swore I would never use. It was a private line. No name. Just a memory of a deep voice and a scent of rain and pine that had terrified me. I pressed call. It rang once. "Speak," a voice commanded. Low. Dark. Powerful. Just the sound of it made the fine hairs on my arms stand up. It carried the weight of an Alpha King. "You said..." My voice was a whisper. I cleared my throat and tried again. "You said if I ever realized the truth, I could call." There was a silence on the other end. A heavy, pregnant silence. "Kenia," he said. He didn't ask who it was. He knew. "I lost," I said, tears finally spilling over, hot and angry. "I lost the bet. He doesn't love me. He never did." "Where are you?" "I'm in hell," I whispered. "Get me out of here." "Pack your things," the Alpha King, Gael, replied. His voice was no longer just a sound; it was a promise of violence and salvation. "I'm coming." I hung up. Suddenly, the Mind-Link flared again. Holden. Kenia? Why aren't you answering? Get back to the estate. We have a surprise for you tomorrow. I looked up at the moonless sky. Oh, I know, I thought, blocking him out. But I have a surprise for you too, Holden.