The girls carrying the painting moved swiftly through the palace, down corridors and past the guarded gates, whispering every detail to those searching. Every door was checked. Every human quarter scrutinized. Every hidden passage behind the walls was inspected. Yet still, the woman whose face haunted the Alpha King remained undiscovered.
Where could she be? Why was she so difficult to find?
Emma's adoptive parents had hidden her well, moving her to a place beyond the reach of the wolves, away from the danger of the city, away from the Alpha King's relentless pursuit. They had hoped that secrecy would protect her, keep her safe from a world where wolves ruled with ferocity.
But fate is relentless.
Two days passed. Hours blurred into nights. Yet Emma remained invisible, untraceable, a shadow in the city.
Derek's patience snapped. Fury surged through him like fire.
"Where could she be hiding?" he roared. "Find her!"
The search intensified. Guards tore through streets and alleys, scanning every courtyard, every building. No stone of Dark Heaven City was left unturned.
Orion, Derek's younger step-brother, stepped forward, his voice dripping with derision. "Why waste your time searching for a woman who doesn't exist?" he sneered. "Perhaps she is a figment of your imagination, a dream you've conjured to torment yourself."
Orion had always loathed Derek. Though Derek had raised him after their father's death, Orion believed the throne should have been his. He had envied Derek, resented the love and authority their father had bestowed upon him, and secretly prayed for Derek's downfall so he could claim what he believed was rightfully his.
"Why search for someone who is not there?" Orion repeated, folding his arms. "This woman she is nothing but a phantom. A tale you tell yourself to weaken your mind."
Derek's gaze hardened. His eyes, sharp and commanding, met Orion's. A new intensity burned in them—fury, conviction, and unshakable certainty.
"I saw her," Derek said, his voice low but edged with steel. "She saved me once, and she will save me again. She exists. I know it. And I will not rest until she is brought before me."
He raised his hand, and the room fell silent. Every guard, every soldier, every servant waited.
"Search the city," he commanded, his voice echoing like thunder. "Every alley, every street, every hidden corner. Turn Dark Heaven upside down if you must. Leave nothing unexamined. Bring her to me."
His words carried the weight of absolute authority. They were not a request. They were a decree. His worst guards, those ruthless, feared throughout the city, were summoned immediately. They would stop at nothing to obey.
And so, the hunt began anew.
Dark Heaven City, vast and labyrinthine, would tremble under the search for the woman whose blood could save the Alpha King.
Emma's fate and perhaps the fate of the city itself hung in the balance.
After weeks of frantic search.
Emma was brutally spotted in the streets, her eyes wide with shock. The guards rushed forward to seize her, but the King's orders were clear: she was not to be dragged like a common criminal. She was to be treated like royalty taken, protected, and placed before him as one might present a jewel.
When Emma's adoptive parents discovered that she had been traced, panic consumed them. They rushed forward, desperate to shield their daughter, but the guards formed an unbreakable wedge, forcing them back. Emma had no choice she was taken, powerless, toward the palace.
In the human court, whispers and threats followed her. Many declared that she had no right to stand before the Alpha King, that no human deserved his attention. But their words fell on deaf ears. Her adoptive parents, exhausted and defeated, could no longer protect her.
Emma was brought into the presence of Derek. The moment his eyes fell upon her, something sparked—ignited like a flame behind his irises. His gaze pierced through her, sharp, commanding, unyielding. He did not waste words. He did not offer charm or persuasion. His voice was cold and absolute:
"Marry me."
Emma froze, stunned. Her mind raced. How could she marry him? The man before her the king was the same person she had saved in the rain, whose life had once rested in her hands. And now he was here, demanding her obedience.
She shook her head, her voice trembling. "I… how could I… marry you? I—"
But Derek cut her off. His expression did not falter. "You will marry me, or you will remain my prisoner. My wife. There will be no other option."
Emma's heart pounded. Was this real? Was she dreaming? She could hardly believe what was happening. A life she had never asked for, a choice she had never been given, had been thrust upon her.
She had saved him once, risking everything, and now that very act seemed to have ensnared her in chains she could not break. The weight of her powerless position pressed down on her chest. She realized, with a cold clarity, that her courage in the past had not freed her it had condemned her.
She was trapped.
Forced into a marriage she never wanted, with a man whose will was absolute, Emma could only stare, unsure whether she had been granted honor or sentenced to a life she did not choose.