Disguised Before The Alpha Prince

Chp 62

Demyan’s POV

The door creaked open as I stepped out into the corridor, still bare-chested but now wrapped in a loose robe. My senses extended instantly, searching for anything anyone. But the wind howled softly, and the path outside the chamber remained untouched.

Still… I didn’t trust the silence.

I pulled out the small communication stone hidden beneath the decorative panel on the wall. “Karl,” I said into it firmly.

A crackle. Then his voice came through. “Yes, Alpha?”

“I want a perimeter set around the secluded wing,” I ordered. “No one comes near the corridor. No servants. No guards. No one.”

Karl didn’t question me. “Understood. I’ll station men around the outer ring and keep them distant enough not to draw attention.”

“Good,” I replied, voice harder than usual. “If anyone tries to enter... you know what to do.”

A cold silence confirmed he understood.

I placed the stone back and turned down the hallway toward the private bathhouse a warm chamber nestled into the edge of the estate that only the Alpha family had access to. I reached it quickly, moving with precision, and poured the mineral salts into the steaming water, ensuring it was just the right temperature to soothe muscle aches.

As the water began to swirl, fragrant with lavender and warm cedar, I exhaled.

She needed this.

I headed back into the chamber. She lay there, still curled beneath the sheets, her face a mix of exhaustion and something far more vulnerable trust.

“Pearl,” I said softly, crouching beside her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she tried to sit up. I could see the pain flash through her face.

“I prepared the bath,” I said, sliding one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back before she could protest.

Her eyes widened. “Demyan—wait—!”

“You’re sore. Don’t try to act strong right now.” I pulled the blanket from the bed and wrapped it gently around her before lifting her into my arms. “Let me take care of you.”

She blinked at me, flustered, as I carried her through the corridor, wrapped securely in the thick cover. Her skin was still flushed, her eyes soft but uncertain.

“I can walk,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

I looked down at her. “You couldn’t even lift your legs five minutes ago. Do you want to collapse on the stone floor?”

She pouted slightly, burying her face against my chest. “You’re always this bossy?”

“Only when it comes to you,” I murmured, brushing my lips against her temple. “You make it hard to stay composed.”

She peeked up at me, her cheeks turning even redder. “You’re not supposed to say things like that when I’m already embarrassed…”

“I like seeing you like this,” I admitted. “You don’t have to hide from me. I’ve seen you at your strongest, Pearl… now let me see you when you’re soft too.”

She didn’t reply, but her fingers curled into the fabric of my robe.

“I didn’t think you’d still be here this morning,” I confessed after a pause, my tone dipping into something quieter. “After everything last night… I thought I might have scared you.”

Her eyes lifted again to mine, searching. “I was… overwhelmed. But not afraid.”

We reached the bathhouse, and I gently nudged the door open with my shoulder. The warm mist greeted us instantly. I carried her inside, setting her down near the edge of the pool, still wrapped in the blanket.

“You always carry girls around like this?” she teased, her voice shy but playful.

“No,” I said simply, kneeling in front of her. “Only the one I plan to keep.”

She froze, her breath catching as our eyes met. That was the truth. I had no plans to let her go. Not now. Not after last night.

The soft splash of water echoed through the quiet bathhouse. I gently helped her into the warm pool, keeping the thick blanket draped around her shoulders until she sank into the water. A faint sigh escaped her lips as the heat embraced her sore muscles.

Her head rested lightly against the edge of the tub, eyes half-lidded with fatigue. I rolled up my sleeves and knelt beside her, dipping a cloth into the warm water and slowly trailing it down her arms. My movements were slow, reverent as if she were something delicate that might vanish if I wasn’t careful.

I couldn’t stop looking at her.

Last night came rushing back to me, not just the feverish haze of my heat, but the moment she came to me, willingly. The way she touched me. Trust me.

The way she whispered my name like it was the only thing tethering her to this world.

She had given herself to me, fully, body, soul, everything. And not because I demanded it, but because she wanted me.

She gave me something no one else ever could: her first time.

My jaw clenched slightly, but not out of guilt. No. It was something deeper protectiveness. Possessiveness. Pride.

I had been her first. And I would make sure I was her last.

I dipped the cloth again and carefully ran it down her back, then over her shoulders. She flinched slightly, sensitive from last night, and I leaned in, my voice low.

“Sorry,” I murmured near her ear. “I’ll be gentle.”

She looked up at me through damp lashes, then offered the faintest smile. “You always say that… right before you're not.”

I let out a quiet breath of a laugh, but even that felt like a warm ache in my chest. “Last night…” I started, unsure how to even voice the storm inside me. “When I was in heat, I didn’t think I’d make it through.”

Her eyes widened slightly. I dipped the cloth again and continued rinsing her neck.

“I’ve locked myself away before,” I admitted. “Every time, thinking I could endure it. But this time…” My hand slowed. “It would’ve killed me.”

I met her eyes again. “And then you came.”

She was silent for a moment. Then her hand, still trembling slightly, reached for mine under the water. She laced our fingers together.

“I couldn’t leave you,” she whispered.

A wave of warmth bloomed in my chest. I leaned in, brushing a kiss to her temple. “You saved me, Pearl. Not just last night. From the moment I saw you, I knew...”

She blinked. “Knew what?”

“That you were going to ruin me,” I said quietly, “and I wouldn’t mind one bit.”

She didn’t say anything at first, just stared at me with those wide, soft eyes that looked like they held the weight of every answer I didn’t deserve.

But when she finally whispered, “I think you ruined me first,”

something inside me shattered and rebuilt itself around her.

I couldn’t say anything in return. Not yet. Not when my throat tightened just from the way she looked at me, water glistening on her bare skin, the curve of her shoulder exposed and delicate beneath the soft steam.

So I kissed it.

Once.

Twice.

Again, until my lips found the place where her pulse beat strong and steady beneath her skin.

She tilted her head, granting me access without hesitation. And in that moment, I knew, there wasn’t a war I wouldn’t wage, a pack I wouldn’t betray, just to keep her like this. Safe. Loved. Mine.

Her body was sore, I could see it in the way she moved, in the way her lashes fluttered when she shifted her weight, how her breath stilled when I touched her gently. I held her under the water, her back to my chest, arms around her waist like she might float away if I didn’t hold on.

My hands moved slowly reverent, careful — down the insides of her thighs, kneading the tension from muscles that trembled beneath my touch. I could still feel her body clenching from the memories of last night.

I hadn’t meant to push her so far.

But gods help me… I’d do anything to soothe her now.

Her breast fit in my hand as though it belonged there, and when she flinched slightly under my thumb, I paused.

“You’re sore,” I said, brushing the pad of my finger softly across her n****e. “Here too?” I had sucked them the entire night, no wonder they had turned red.

She gave a small nod, her breath catching in her throat.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I murmured against her skin, placing a kiss to her collarbone. “If I could take the ache away with my hands, I would.”

Pearl leaned into me, trusting, warm, her breath a soft hum of comfort. I adjusted her slightly, her thighs straddling mine under the water. I paused, one hand gliding carefully between her legs.

I looked to her. “May I?”

She met my gaze and answered in a whisper that nearly broke me.

“I trust you.”

I closed my eyes and exhaled through my nose.

Gently, with slow and careful pressure, I began to massage her — not for arousal, not to take her again — but to comfort. To ease the pain I had helped cause. I watched her face carefully, tuned to every small sigh, every shift in her breath, until I felt the tension begin to melt from her.

“I’m here,” I murmured in her ear. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

Her body softened against mine, her head resting on my shoulder. I held her closer.

At that moment, I didn’t feel like a prince.

Not a warrior.

Not even a wolf. Just a man in love with the only woman who could bring him peace. And I would spend every breath I had proving to her that she wasn’t just my first.

She was mine always.

She was still in the bath, her eyes fluttering closed against my chest, her breathing soft and steady. I could’ve stayed there forever wrapped around her, in a world where nothing existed beyond the sound of her heartbeat.

But I knew this couldn’t stay hidden.

Not anymore.

Not when every part of me, every possessive instinct, every sacred bond knew she was mine. Not just in the stolen shadows of this chamber. Not just in whispers and hidden kisses. She was mine in name, in spirit, in blood.

My mate.

The word pulsed in my chest like a second heartbeat.

I watched her, her face still flushed from warmth and exhaustion. There were bruises where my mouth had worshiped her too greedily, and tenderness where I had taken what she had only ever offered to me. My chest tightened with something fierce and protective.

She had given me everything, her body, her trust, her firsts.

And now it was my turn.

I would give her my name, my pack, my crown.

My father had long grown tired of my refusals. Banquets, council dinners, alliance talks—he paraded noble-born she-wolves in front of me like fine horses to be examined. But none of them had ever stirred me. None had touched my soul like she did.

Pearl was no noble by blood.

But she had the spirit of a Queen.

And I would fight the world to place a crown on her head.

I gently ran my hand over her damp hair and pressed a kiss to her temple. Her lips curved in a soft smile, still lost in half-sleep. The sight made my heart ache.

“I’m going to tell him,” I whispered to her, though she couldn’t hear me. “My father. About you. That I’ve found my mate, that I’ve chosen. No more council alliances. No more matchmaking.”

No more hiding.

I pulled the towel tighter around her and carefully lifted her from the water again. She stirred slightly, but didn’t resist, just nuzzled against my neck, her arms instinctively curling around my shoulders.

“I’ll take you as my mate,” I murmured into her skin. “My wife. My equal.”

The word wife lingered on my tongue like the sweetest promise I’d ever tasted.

And when my father heard it—he’d finally understand.

I wasn’t just another Alpha in line for a crown.

I was a man in love.

And I’d already chosen the only woman worthy of standing beside me.