One Night with the Alpha King

Chapter 18

The phone call came while I was folding Cody's clothes, my father's voice crackling through the receiver like distant thunder.

"Aurora." He sounded older than I remembered, weaker. "I need to see you."

I pressed the phone harder against my ear. Ten years had passed since I last stepped foot in my father's house, since my mother died and he brought that woman and her daughter into our lives. Ten years of silence stretched between us like an unbreachable chasm.

"I don't have time," I said, already knowing I would go.

"Not even if this is my last chance to see you before I die?"

The words hung in the air between us. I closed my eyes and saw my mother's face, hazy and distant like morning fog. I barely remembered her anymore, just fragments of warmth and safety that felt more like dreams than memories.

"I'm coming," I whispered.

I hung up before he could say anything else. Nonna had taken Cody to the tavern near the healer's quarters while I handled pack business. I had time to visit my father and return before they came back. I changed into a simple dress and slipped out into the kingdom streets, hailing a carriage to take me across the territory.

What I didn't know, what I couldn't have known, was that everything was already falling apart.

Nonna told me later what happened, her voice shaking as she recounted every terrible detail. She had taken Cody to the Moonstone Tavern, a popular establishment near Richard's healing house. They sat together at a corner table, Cody happily munching on honeycakes while Nonna sipped tea and watched him with that protective fondness she always showed my son.

Two wolves entered the tavern. Nonna barely noticed them at first, too focused on Cody's sticky fingers and bright smile. But one of them noticed Cody immediately.

Eduardo. The Alpha King's second-in-command, his most trusted beta. He had been searching for weeks alongside Nicolas and the other pack warriors, following orders from King Jack himself. They had pictures, descriptions, every scrap of information they could gather about a boy who looked remarkably like the Hudson bloodline.

Eduardo froze when he saw Cody's face. He turned to his companion, a pack warrior named Marcus, and gestured sharply toward my son. At that exact moment, Cody glanced in their direction, his young face open and curious.

The resemblance was undeniable. Eduardo saw it immediately. This boy looked more like King Jack than Prince John ever had, despite the pictures suggesting otherwise. The strong jaw, the set of the eyes, the way he held himself even at such a young age. Eduardo pulled out his communication stone and contacted the Alpha King directly.

"We found the boy and his caretaker," he reported.

King Jack's response was immediate and absolute. "Bring him to me."

Nonna had excused herself to use the facilities, leaving Cody alone at the table for just a few moments. That was all Eduardo needed. He approached my son with a practiced smile, the kind that put children at ease.

"Hello there," he said warmly.

Cody frowned up at him. "My name is Cody, not there."

Eduardo's smile widened. My son had spirit, that much was clear. "Of course, Cody. I'm your mother's uncle. She asked me to bring you to her at the..."

He trailed off, realizing he had no destination prepared. But Cody was already suspicious, his small face scrunching up with distrust. I had taught him well. Never trust strangers. Never go with anyone you don't know.

But Eduardo was the Alpha King's beta, and he had warriors with him. When Nonna emerged from the facilities and found Cody's seat empty, panic seized her immediately. She searched the tavern frantically, calling his name, checking every corner and shadowed booth. Nothing. No trace of my son.

She even stumbled into the male facilities in her desperation, where some drunk warrior grabbed her and made disgusting suggestions. She barely registered the encounter, her entire focus on finding Cody.

When she couldn't find him anywhere, she used her communication stone to contact Richard. He arrived within minutes, his healer's robes billowing as he rushed through the tavern entrance. One look at Nonna's face told him everything he needed to know.

They went straight to the tavern keeper, who pulled them into his private office and showed them the memory stones. These magical crystals recorded everything that happened in the establishment, a security measure common in kingdom businesses. Nonna and Richard watched in horror as the images played out before them.

There was Cody, sitting alone. Eduardo approaching. A brief conversation. Then Eduardo scooping Cody up despite my son's protests, Marcus helping to hustle them both out the side entrance. The whole thing took less than two minutes.

"Who is that wolf?" Richard demanded, his voice sharp with barely contained fury.

The tavern keeper's face went pale. "That's Eduardo, the Alpha King's second-in-command. He was here earlier today meeting with territory representatives. I suppose that's when he spotted the boy." He paused, looking between them nervously. "Isn't the boy King Jack's son?"

Richard didn't answer. He grabbed Nonna and pulled her from the office, his mind racing with implications and consequences. He had performed the surgery that revealed Cody's bloodline, had seen the results with his own eyes. He knew exactly why the Alpha King wanted my son.

When I returned from my father's house an hour later, my heart lighter from the difficult but necessary conversation, I found Nonna sobbing in Richard's arms and my son nowhere in sight.

"Where's Cody?" I asked, my voice surprisingly calm despite the ice forming in my veins.

Richard met my eyes, his expression grave and filled with guilt.

"The Alpha King has him," he said quietly. "Eduardo took him from the tavern."

The world tilted sideways. Everything I had feared, everything I had run from for five years, had finally caught up with us. King Jack Hudson had my son, and I had no idea what he planned to do with him.

Or what he would do to me when he discovered the truth.