บททั้งหมดของ My mate slept with my bestfriend,so I became his alpha queen: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 49

“Xander!” Bailey’s scream echoed through the basement. For one horrible second, everything inside her stopped. The arrow was buried deep in Xander’s shoulder, just below his collarbone. Blood poured down his arm almost instantly. But he was still standing. Barely. “Get the boy out!” Xander barked. Another arrow slammed into the wall beside Bailey’s head. The rogues were pouring into the cabin above them now. Too many. Way too many. “This way!” Liam shouted, already moving toward the stairs. One of the warriors grabbed Miriam’s son and pulled him toward the exit. Bailey stayed frozen for half a second longer, staring at Xander. Blood. Too much blood. “Bailey!” he snapped. That made her move. She rushed to his side just as another rogue appeared at the top of the basement stairs. Xander shifted partially, his claws extending instantly despite the injury, and slashed across the rogue’s throat. The body hit the stairs hard. “Can you run?” Bailey asked breathlessly. H

Bailey refused to leave his side. Not that anyone could have forced her to. By the next morning, the entire kingdom knew the Alpha King had been badly injured. Guards stood outside the healing wing. Servants whispered in corners. Warriors walked around with tension written all over their faces. Their king was hurt. And everyone was afraid. But inside Xander’s room, it was quiet. For once. Bailey sat in the chair beside his bed with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, watching him sleep. He looked better than he had the night before. Still pale. Still weak. But alive. That was enough. For now. The door opened softly and one of the healers stepped inside. “He’s healing faster than expected,” the woman said quietly. Bailey let out a slow breath. “Because he’s stubborn.” The healer smiled faintly. “Because of the mate bond too.” Bailey looked up. The older woman hesitated before continuing. “The bond is stronger now.” Bailey’s chest tightened slightly. Of course

“Everyone out.”Xander’s voice cut through the corridor like a blade.No argument. No hesitation.Guards dragged Miriam away despite her protests. The hallway emptied quickly, leaving only Bailey, Xander, Liam… and the body on the floor.The silence that followed was worse than the chaos.Bailey stared at the note again.Wrong girl.Her fingers tightened around the paper.“She wanted me here,” Bailey said quietly.Xander’s expression darkened.“And she almost got it.”Liam stepped closer, scanning the corridor.“This wasn’t random. Whoever did this knew you’d follow the scent.”Bailey nodded slowly.Lavender.Miriam.A perfect lure.Her chest tightened.“If I came alone…” she whispered.“You’d be dead,” Xander finished.The bluntness didn’t shock her.It grounded her.Because now it was clear.This wasn’t just war anymore.This was a hunt.And she was the prey.“No,” Bailey said suddenly.Both men looked at her.“I’m not prey.”Xander’s eyes narrowed slightly.“Then what are you?”Bai

The corridor still smelled like blood.And something else.Something darker.Bailey sat on the edge of the healer’s bed, her side freshly bandaged, her body finally starting to feel the weight of everything that had just happened.Her hands wouldn’t stop trembling.Not from pain.From what she felt when the Crimson Alpha touched her.That power.That recognition.That knowing.“You’re shaking.”Xander’s voice was quieter now.Controlled.But she could hear what he wasn’t saying.Fear.Bailey didn’t look at him immediately.“I’m fine.”“You’re not.”She exhaled slowly.“No… I’m not.”Silence settled between them.Not uncomfortable.Just heavy.Real.Xander stepped closer.Carefully this time.Like she might break if he moved too fast.“What did he mean?” he asked.Bailey frowned slightly.“When?”“When he said you belong to something older.”Her chest tightened.“I don’t know.”But that wasn’t entirely true.Because part of her did know.She had felt it before.In the battle.In the mo

The doors slammed shut with a force that shook the entire structure.Stone groaned.The glowing symbols along the walls burst brighter for half a second, flooding the room with eerie silver-red light.Bailey’s pulse spiked instantly.Trap.Not just physical.Something older.Something alive.Xander moved in front of her immediately, his body tense, his wolf dangerously close to the surface.“Stay behind me,” he growled.The Crimson Alpha smiled.“That instinct of yours is exhausting.”Liam stepped to Bailey’s other side, eyes locked on Jenny.“You really do love traps.”Jenny shrugged lightly.“I love winning.”Bailey’s gaze swept the room quickly.No windows.One entrance.Sealed.The symbols on the walls were pulsing now.Slowly.Like a heartbeat.And every pulse made something inside her react.Her wolf paced restlessly.The deeper power inside her stirred harder.Hungry.Awake.The Crimson Alpha noticed immediately.“There it is,” he murmured.Bailey hated the way he looked at her