My Mate Sentenced Me To Death — Now I Am The Alpha Queen
Part 2
Before I could process how he knew my name, the darkness rushed in to claim me.
When I finally awoke, the biting cold was gone.
I was lying on a mattress stuffed with the softest down.
Heavy, luxurious furs wrapped tightly around my body.
They smelled of cedar, woodsmoke, and an intoxicating spicy musk.
I blinked against the dim light, taking in the sprawling stone bedchamber.
A massive hearth crackled with a roaring fire.
I tried to sit up, but my muscles screamed in violent protest.
Clean linen bandages wrapped my frostbitten fingers, smeared with a pungent healing salve.
“Drink,” a commanding voice ordered from the shadows.
Tyler sat in a high-backed leather chair by the fire, nursing a goblet of dark wine.
He stood with effortless grace and walked over to the bed.
He handed me a steaming cup of rich broth.
I hesitated, meeting his sharp obsidian eyes.
“If I wanted you dead, I would have let the rogues finish their meal,” he said dryly.
I took the cup with trembling hands and let the warm liquid flood my system.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as the freezing ache finally began to recede.
“Why am I here?” I rasped, my throat raw from disuse.
Tyler leaned against one of the heavy oak bedposts.
“You are in the capital of Crimson Peak,” he replied smoothly.
“As for why you are here, the enemy of my enemy is a highly valuable asset.”
I frowned, confusion clouding my exhausted mind.
His expression darkened, casting an intimidating shadow over his sharp features.
“Your former mate has grown terribly arrogant,” Tyler explained coldly.
“For six months, Craig has been secretly hoarding iron and brokering clandestine alliances.”
He detailed how Craig planned to challenge the crown and declare our lands an independent state.
The pieces slammed together in my mind with sickening clarity.
Craig needed the iron-rich eastern valleys to fund his rebellion against the Alpha King.
Dan had discovered the plot, so Brenda killed him to protect the secret.
I was framed to tie up all the loose ends and secure the territory.
“You knew I was innocent,” I whispered, a sudden burning rage igniting in my chest.
“Of course I knew,” Tyler stated without a shred of pity.
“I have spies in every shadow of your former home.”
He knew Craig had shattered my bond and thrown me to the ice just to steal my birthright.
I felt a single tear slip down my cheek, but I angrily wiped it away.
The time for crying over Craig was dead.
Tyler leaned in closer, his terrifying aura enveloping me completely.
“I am going to march on his fortress and burn it to the ground,” the king promised.
“But their hidden defensive tunnels are a closely guarded secret.”
He reached out, his calloused hand gently tilting my chin up.
He forced me to look directly into his mesmerizing eyes.
“I want you to give me the blueprints of those defenses.”
He wasn’t asking for a favor; he was offering a pact with the devil.
I stared back, the ice of the Dreadwood having forged my heart into steel.
“And what do I get in return?” I asked, my voice surprisingly steady.
A vicious, devastating smirk spread across his face.
“Give me his head on a spike, and I will make you my queen.”
He leaned in until his lips brushed against my ear.
Would I trade one collar for another, or was this my only path to vengeance?
