The Alpha's Unwanted Bride Chapter 702: AWAKE

ONE

I woke with a violent gasp, my body jerking upright as though sothing had ripped out of deep water.

My chest burned.

My lungs scread.

For a mont, I couldn’t tell where I was or who I was.

The first thing I did was clutch my stomach.

My hands pressed hard against the familiar curve, panic flooding so fast it made dizzy.

Then a slow, insistent roll beneath my palm, followed by a sharp kick that felt almost indignant.

Relief crashed through so powerfully my vision blurred.

"I’m here," I whispered hoarsely. "I’m awake. It’s okay."

The room was dark, moonlight spilling through the tall windows in pale ribbons. The heavy curtains stirred faintly with the night breeze. Everything was exactly where it should be.

Except .

My heart still raced as though I were being chased.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat there, breathing through the lingering tremor in my hands. My skin felt too tight, like it couldn’t contain everything that had been poured into .

It hadn’t been a dream.

I knew that with the sa certainty I knew my own na.

Dreams didn’t freeze ti.

Dreams didn’t let you touch mories that weren’t yours.

Dreams didn’t sing songs that rewrote your soul.

My mother.

The sound of her voice still echoed inside my chest, low and aching, threaded with love and warning.

The way she had looked at , like she had always known . Like I had never been lost to her at all.

I pressed my knuckles to my mouth to keep myself from making a sound.

She wasn’t a wraith.

The word felt ugly now. Small. Cruel.

A lie.

My father had lied to .

The realization sat heavy and sharp, like a stone lodged just beneath my ribs. I hadn’t wanted to believe Maelis.

I still didn’t fully want to. But my mother? my real mother, had confird it in a way no one else could.

He had known.

He had known what I was seeing and had chosen to poison it.

I slowly leaned back against the headboard, staring up at the ceiling as pieces began to slide into place whether I wanted them to or not.

The dicine.

The way he insisted I take it every night, frad as concern.

Protection.

The midwives.

Lydia.

The rebels.

Punished. Executed. Dangerous.

Necessary.

My jaw tightened.

And then there was the ring.

The jagged red stone I had seen on his finger, catching the light just long enough to make my stomach twist. I hadn’t imagined it. I knew that now.

Corrupted.

My mother’s word echoed in my mind, heavy with grief.

He was a good man... once.

I drew in a slow, careful breath and rested both hands on my belly, grounding myself in the steady presence beneath my skin.

"I don’t know what to do yet," I whispered. "But I will figure it out."

The baby shifted again, a gentler movent this ti, almost soothing.

I sat there until the shaking finally stopped.

Then I moved.

Quietly.

Carefully.

I slipped out of bed and crossed the room barefoot, the cool stone floor sending a jolt through my nerves. I paused at the window and peered out into the morning air.

The castle grounds were peaceful. Guards patrolled in pairs, their movents unhurried, confident.

A perfect illusion.

I touched the erald necklace at my throat.

It was cool. Silent.

But I could feel it now, not as a burden, not as a mystery, but as sothing listening.

"Help ," I whispered to it, feeling foolish and desperate all at once.

Nothing happened.

Still, I didn’t take it off.

I returned to my bed just as a soft knock sounded at the door.

My heart leapt.

"Yes?" I called, forcing steadiness into my voice.

The door opened a crack, and Another of my maids Angela, stepped inside, her expression gentle and careful.

"Did you rest well, my lady?" she asked quietly.

I studied her face in the dim light, searching for sothing that might betray where her loyalty truly lay.

"Yes," I said after a mont. "I did."

She smiled, visibly relieved. "That’s good. You need your strength."

She crossed the room and placed a folded blanket at the foot of the bed before hesitating.

"Your father asked to check on you," she added. "He was... worried."

Of course he was.

"I’m fine," I said softly. "Please tell him that."

She nodded and turned to leave, then paused.

"If you need anything," she said, eting my eyes, "anything at all you only need ask."

Sothing about the way she said it made my chest ache.

"Thank you," I replied honestly.

When she left, I locked the door.

The click sounded louder than it should have.

I lay back down, but sleep didn’t co again. Every ti I closed my eyes, I saw my mother’s face, felt the urgency in her hands as ti began to move again.

Reach out to Bale.

The na sat uneasily in my mind.

Bale the man I had feared. The man whose shadow lood over so much of my pain.

The man my mother claid would always choose .

I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

But one thing was clear.

I couldn’t confront my father. Not yet.

Not while I was trapped inside his walls. Not while my wolf was still locked and my body heavy with child.

I needed to watch.

To listen.

To pretend.

The thought made sothing sour curl in my stomach, but I swallowed it down. Survival had taught this lesson long ago.

Smile.

Nod.

Endure.

I woke up way later in the morning.

When servants ca to dress , I let them.

When breakfast arrived, I ate.

It seed like a usual day since I had arrived here and yet.....

But sothing fundantal had shifted.

I was no longer the sa.

I had changed.

There were so many secrets and I needed to find the answers.

I heard a soft knock at my door.

A servant went to check.

She curtseyed and my father stepped in.

I almost choked.