My Alpha King Mate Fled Into The Feral Woods After I Betrayed Him — Now I Have To Hunt The Beast I Created

Part 1

I had spent my entire life scrubbing the cold stone floors of the royal palace, invisible and insignificant.

The heavy iron buckets blistered my palms, and the harsh lye soap cracked my skin until my hands bled.

My only solace was the quiet companionship of Heather and Danielle, two maids who shared my miserable existence.

But those dreams were shattered the day the terrifying Alpha King arrived to wed Princess Brenda.

The entire palace buzzed with a terrifying mix of awe and absolute dread.

Princess Brenda was utterly disgusted by the arrangement, throwing endless tantrums in her lavish suites.

While she threw crystal vases at the walls, we were worked to the bone preparing the castle for his arrival.

By the third night of the festivities, my exhaustion had reached a dangerous, delirious peak.

I slipped into the royal guest wing carrying a heavy tray of fresh linens, desperate for a moment of quiet.

The massive suite was empty, the flickering candlelight casting long shadows against the tapestries.

A steaming copper tub sat in the center of the room, smelling of expensive oils.

I spotted a crystal decanter of wine on the side table, the ruby liquid catching the light.

I took a long, burning swallow straight from the bottle, the heat rushing to my lightheaded brain.

Before I could stop myself, I stripped off my coarse wool dress and slipped into the inviting warmth of the bath.

I awoke to the sound of heavy boots echoing against the stone floor.

A massive shadow blotted out the light, throwing the entire room into stark relief.

I blinked my heavy eyelids open, struggling to focus on the towering figure standing over the tub.

His dark hair fell over eyes that glowed with a feral, mesmerizing gold.

“Who are you, and what are you doing in my bath?”

His voice was a low, dangerous rumble that vibrated deep in my chest.

The wine still clouded my mind, completely erasing my sense of self-preservation.

I smiled up at him lazily, patting the warm water beside me.

“You look tired, you should get in.”

He froze completely, his glowing eyes widening in absolute disbelief.

Then his scent hit me, a powerful wave of sharp pine and damp earth that overwhelmed my senses.

A deep, ancient instinct flared to life inside my chest, a sudden, undeniable pull toward this terrifying man.

My hazy brain finally supplied the horrifying realization of what I had done.

I was sitting completely naked in the Alpha King’s personal bath.

He moved with terrifying speed, grabbing a heavy wool cloak and wrapping it securely around my dripping shoulders.

He lifted me effortlessly from the water, cradling me gently against his massive chest.

I snuggled closer into his warmth, sighing as the freezing air was banished by his body heat.

Everything faded to black, and I fell into the deepest sleep of my entire life.

I woke up the next morning alone in his massive bed, the scent of pine baked deeply into my skin.

Panic slammed into me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs.

I sprinted back to the servants’ quarters, praying nobody had seen me leave the royal wing.

Princess Brenda stepped out from behind a stone pillar, her elegant face twisted into a mask of calculating fury.

She knew exactly where I had spent the night.

“You are going to fix this,” she commanded, her voice dropping to a vicious whisper.

She ordered me to make the Alpha King cancel the engagement himself by publicly rejecting his affections.

If I refused, she promised to hang Heather and Danielle in the courtyard before the week was over.

I had absolutely no choice but to walk into the blue receiving room that evening, my stomach twisting with nausea.

The heavy oak doors smashed open before I could even draw my next breath.

Tyler stood in the doorway, his golden eyes blazing with a world-ending fury at the sight of another nobleman holding my waist.

A bone-rattling growl ripped through the air, shaking the dust from the high ceiling rafters.

He crossed the room in a terrifying blur, grabbing the man by the throat and lifting him effortlessly off his feet.

Tyler dropped the gasping man instantly, turning to me with an expression that absolutely shattered my soul.

His rage vanished entirely, replaced by a devastating betrayal that I could physically feel tearing through our newly forged bond.

He asked if I was hurt, desperately searching for any excuse to forgive my apparent betrayal.

I forced myself to look directly into those broken, beautiful golden eyes and delivered the final, fatal blow to his chest.

I told him I could never love a monster, crushing the mate bond with every lying, venomous word.

He accepted my brutal rejection with quiet dignity, turning his broad back to me and walking silently out the door.

The gaping void in my chest opened immediately, a hollow, screaming agony where his warmth used to reside.

I scrubbed floors on my hands and knees for ten grueling days, consumed entirely by the pain of severing our intertwined souls.

Then King Craig burst into the castle kitchens, his face pale with absolute terror.

He screamed that the Alpha King had gone completely feral.

My mate had lost his mind from the unbearable grief of my rejection, shifting into a mindless beast and disappearing into the northern forests.

I ran blindly to the royal stables, stealing the fastest horse before the guards could even draw their swords.

I rode desperately toward the tree line, ignoring the shouts echoing behind me.

I stepped off the stolen horse and stared into the dark tree line of the northern forests.

They had warned me that his feral wolf had already slaughtered three guards who tried to capture him.

They told me that if I walked into those shadows alone, I would inevitably become his fourth victim.