THE SUBSTITUTE BRIDE TO THE ALPHA KING

The Northern Palace was nothing like Lyra expected.She'd imagined something cold and brutal, all stone and ice. Instead, the castle sprawled across a mountain peak, its towers reaching toward gray clouds. Snow covered everything, but the palace itself felt alive. Warm lights glowed in the windows. Smoke curled from chimneys. Guards patrolled the walls with sharp eyes and sharper weapons.Lyra's carriage stopped at the main entrance. Her hands were numb from the cold despite the fur blanket someone had thrown over her lap three hours ago. The journey north had taken two and a half days. Two and a half days to think about what waited for her.A broken prince.A forced marriage.A new life she didn't choose.The carriage door opened. A tall woman with braided white hair stood there, her expression stern. "Lyra Hale?""Yes.""I'm Commander Thea. Head of the prince's personal guard." She didn't offer her hand. Just stepped back and waited for Lyra to climb down. "Follow me."No welcome, n

Rowan stared at Lyra for what felt like forever.The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken threats. Finally, he stepped back. Giving her space to breathe."You're right," he said quietly. "I can't send you away now. But understand this. What you saw, what you heard, it stays between us. Tell anyone and I won't be able to protect you.""Protect me from what?""From the people who want me dead." He turned and walked back into the room, every movement fluid and strong. Nothing like the broken prince everyone believed him to be. "Go back to your room. Lock your door. And for once, listen to me."Lyra opened her mouth to argue, but he'd already disappeared into the shadows.She made her way back to her chambers, her mind spinning. The king was Rowan's uncle. Which meant Rowan's father, the true king, was gone. Dead? Overthrown? And Rowan was hiding his strength, biding his time.For what?Sleep didn't come easy. When it finally did, it was restless and full of half-formed dre

Lyra couldn't sleep.The claw marks on her door haunted her every time she closed her eyes. Four deep gouges. A warning and a promise.You're not safe here.She sat by her window, watching the moon climb higher over the mountains. The palace had gone quiet hours ago. No footsteps in the halls. No voices. Just silence and cold stone walls pressing in from every side.A sound broke through the stillness.Faint and rhythmic. Lyra stood and pressed closer to the window. The noise came from somewhere below, from the lower courtyards she'd been told were off limits. Ruins, Clara had said. Dangerous. Nobody goes there.Which meant someone was there right now.Lyra grabbed her cloak and slipped out of her room. She left the chair wedged under the door handle behind. If someone broke in while she was gone, at least she'd know.The corridors were dark. Lyra moved quietly, keeping to the edges, listening for guards.Nothing.She found a servants' staircase that spiraled down, down, down. The ai

Two weeks passed.Lyra fell into a rhythm. Days spent in the library or walking the palace grounds, playing the role of the quiet substitute bride. Nights spent in the ruins, training until her muscles screamed and sweat soaked through her clothes.She was getting stronger.The first few nights, she could barely lift the practice sword. Now she could hold it steady for an hour. Her reflexes improved. Her strikes landed harder and faster.Vera pushed her relentlessly. "Again. You're dropping your guard. Again."Lyra blocked, spun, attacked. The movements became smoother and natural."Better," Kael said, watching from the sidelines. "Your form is improving."But it wasn't just the physical training that changed her.Her wolf was waking up.Before, her wolf had been quiet and timid. Lyra could shift, but it took effort and she tired quickly. Now, her wolf stirred constantly beneath her skin. Alert. Hungry for action.One night, during a particularly brutal session, Vera knocked Lyra flat

The rumors started small.Whispers in corridors. Servants falling silent when Lyra passed. Nobles giving her strange looks during meals.By the third day, Clara finally told her."They're saying you're meeting men in secret," Clara said, "That you're unfaithful to the prince. That you're plotting something."Lyra's blood went cold. "Who's saying this?""Everyone." Clara wrung her hands. "I don't believe it, miss. But the talk is spreading fast."Of course it was. Someone wanted her reputation destroyed before they destroyed her completely.That afternoon, the situation got worse.Lyra was in the library when Commander Thea found her."You have visitors," Thea said, her expression carefully blank. "From the South. Your family."Lyra's stomach dropped. "My family?""Your stepsister arrived an hour ago. With a companion."No. Not her.But when Lyra reached the receiving room, there she was.Elara.She looked perfect as always. Golden hair swept up in an elegant style. Green eyes bright a