I Got Drunk And Fell Asleep In The Alpha King’s Bath — Now I’m Forced To Destroy His Heart
Part 1
I never learned how to say no.
Not to the third glass of stolen wine, and certainly not to Heather’s dare.
The palace kitchens were an oven, the air thick with laughter and the scent of roasting meat.
We were supposed to be delivering refreshments to the Alpha King who was visiting to meet his betrothed.
Heather shoved the silver tray into my hands with a grin.
She dared me to march right into his chambers and confess my love to a man I’d never even seen.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
I stumbled through the corridors, the tray rattling against my palms.
His private chambers were empty.
A copper tub sat in the center of the room, steaming slightly, the water surface perfectly still.
The wine sang a rebellious song in my veins, drowning out my usual instincts.
I dropped my coarse maid’s dress to the floor, shivering despite the ambient heat.
The water swallowed me in an embrace that smelled faintly of expensive oils.
I closed my eyes, letting the liquid silence wash away my exhaustion.
A shadow blotted out the flickering candlelight, throwing the room into stark relief.
I blinked open my heavy eyelids, struggling to focus.
The largest man I had ever seen filled the arched doorway.
His shoulders practically scraped the stone frame.
His dark hair fell over eyes that glowed with a faint gold.
He stared at me, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle ticked beneath his skin.
His voice was a low rumble that vibrated the water in the tub.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my bath?”
He looked furious, his frame coiled tight as a spring.
I smiled lazily, oblivious to the danger, patting the warm water beside me.
“You should get in.”
He froze, his glowing eyes widening in disbelief.
His scent hit me then, a wave of sharp pine and damp earth that overwhelmed my senses.
My hazy brain supplied the obvious answer.
I was sitting naked in the Alpha King’s bath.
He grabbed a wool cloak, his movements fast, wrapping it securely around my dripping shoulders.
I mumbled into the fabric, burying my nose in his scent.
He lifted me effortlessly, cradling me against his chest.
His heart thudded a frantic rhythm against my cheek, betraying his calm exterior.
I snuggled closer, sighing as the warmth of his body seeped into mine.
“I think I love you a little bit,” I slurred against his collarbone.
Everything went dark.
I woke up the next morning alone in his bed, the scent of pine baked into my skin.
Panic hit me like a physical blow.
I scrambled frantically into my discarded dress, my hands shaking so badly I ripped the laces.
I sprinted back to the servants’ quarters, praying nobody had seen me leave the royal wing.
Heather grabbed my arm the second I stepped into the kitchen, her eyes wide with gossip.
The Alpha King was tearing the palace apart looking for the Princess.
He thought she had spent the night in his bed.
My stomach plummeted past the stone floor.
He thought I was his betrothed, the woman he was meant to marry.
I backed away blindly, stumbling into the quiet courtyard, struggling to drag air into my lungs.
A sleek shadow detached itself from the ancient stone pillars.
Princess Brenda stepped into the harsh morning light.
Her elegant face was a mask of calculating fury.
She knew exactly what I had done in the dark.
My knees hit the cobblestones hard.
Treason meant the gallows.
Her sharp smile promised she would happily supply the rope herself.
She stepped closer, her silk skirts rustling threateningly.
“You are going to fix this,” she commanded, her voice dropping to a whisper.
She didn’t want to marry him, but her father wouldn’t allow her to break the political alliance.
I had to make the Alpha King cancel the engagement himself.
If I failed, I would hang by my neck before the week was over.
I spent the next seven days trying to be the worst royal in history.
I demanded thirty new gowns in a single afternoon, whining about the silk quality until my throat ached.
Tyler just smiled, his golden eyes entirely too soft, and ordered fifty more pairs of matching slippers.
I butchered a sonata on the grand piano, pounding the keys until the noise echoed down the halls.
He sat closely beside me on the velvet bench, his warmth pressing flush against my side.
His calloused fingers brushed a stray curl from my flushed cheek.
“You are enchanting,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips.
He wasn’t repulsed by my terrible behavior at all.
He was completely smitten.
I kissed him without thinking, acting purely on instinct.
It was an accident, a gravity I couldn’t fight.
His mouth crushed against mine with desperate heat.
His hands spanned my waist, lifting me effortlessly against the wall while his tongue swept past my parted lips.
I tasted pine and absolute devotion.
I ran back to Brenda’s chambers an hour later, my lips bruised, my heart hammering a treacherous rhythm.
She paced the length of her Persian rug, her eyes dark with rage.
My miserable failure had only sealed the ancient mating bond between us.
Brenda stopped pacing abruptly, her perfect posture going rigid.
Brenda looked at me with cold eyes and delivered her ultimatum.
“If you can’t make him leave you, we move to the final option.”
“You will be found with another man, and let the Alpha King catch you.”
