Page 72 of Alpha's Exiled Mate
The guards saw me and immediately saluted, stepping aside. I knocked lightly on the door, and Lilia’s voice came from inside: “Who is it?”
“It’s me,” I replied.
The door opened at once, and Lilia stood there, wearing a simple blue dress, her golden hair tied into a practical braid. Anna was at a table in the back of the room, drawing. When she saw me enter, she let out a joyful cheer, ran over, and hugged my leg.
“Daddy!” she cried, her voice a sweet melody that pierced my heart, igniting a fierce, protective instinct that surged with every syllable. “You came to see us!”
I crouched, scooping her into my arms, her warmth a fleeting refuge against the cold dread coiled in my gut. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, breathing in her scent—crayons, lavender, and the innocence of childhood. “Of course, sweetheart,” I said, my voicesoft but resolute, anchoring us both in this moment. “I promised I’d keep you safe, didn’t I?”
Anna nodded vigorously, her amber eyes—so like mine—sparkling with unwavering trust. “Are you going to hide with us?” she asked, her small brow furrowing with curiosity.
A chuckle escaped me, though it felt hollow, my smile a fragile mask over the uncertainty gnawing at me. “Not quite, darling,” I said, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Daddy has some important work to finish, but I’ll be back soon. Then we’ll have that picnic you drew, just the three of us, like you wanted.”
Her face lit up, her hands clapping with excitement, oblivious to the gravity of the world beyond these walls. “Really? In the garden or the forest?” she asked, her voice bubbling with possibilities.
“Wherever you want,” I promised, my heart aching with the weight of that vow.
I won’t live past thirty, and the dark magic is speeding up the clock.
The curse and the soul toxin I’d taken from Lilia were a relentless countdown, their clash within me a fire I couldn’t ignore. But I couldn’t let that truth taint this moment—not with Anna’s hopeful gaze fixed on me, her faith in me absolute.
I set her down gently, ruffling her hair with a forced lightness, and turned to Lilia, whose eyes searched mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. “I need to speak with your mom alone for a moment, okay, Anna?” I said, glancing back at our daughter.
Anna nodded, her small feet pattering back to her table, her crayons reclaiming her attention with the ease only a child could muster. The soft scratch of her drawing filled the room, granting us a fragile sliver of privacy in this fortified sanctuary.
Lilia stepped closer, her worry palpable, her voice dropping to a hushed urgency. “Has the war started?” she asked, her eyes scanning my face for answers, braced for the worst.
“Jackson’s army is closing in,” I said, keeping my tone even, though the words carried the weight of a kingdom’s fate. “They’ve taken the bait—our false report of your condition has drawn them out. Our plan is in place, including the reinforcements from Fellinger.”
She nodded, her jaw tightening, her gaze hardening with a resolve that mirrored my own. “I should be there, fighting beside you,” she said, her voice firm, the warrior within her rising to the surface.
“No, Lilia,” I said, taking her hand, my grip gentle but unyielding, my thumb brushing over her knuckles. “You and Anna are the priority. Your safety is the foundation of everything I’m fighting for. If we fail, you need to take Anna and escape to Fellinger. As their heir, you can rally their forces, lead the counterattack against Jackson, and protect our daughter.”
Her eyes flashed with defiance, a spark of frustration, but beneath it, I saw understanding dawn, her shoulders sagging slightly as the necessity of my words sank in. “You need to promise you’d come back, Perock,” she said, her voice soft but laced with a plea, her fingers tightening around mine.
“I’ll do everything in my power,” I said, my voice honest but measured, stopping short of a promise I might not keep. The battlefield was a crucible of chance, and my body, ravaged by the curse and the soul toxin I’d absorbed to save her, was a fragile vessel. Each heartbeat felt borrowed, each breath a defiance of the darkness within me.
Lilia’s gaze sharpened, as if she sensed the unspoken truth lurking beneath my words. She glanced at Anna, still lost in her world of colors and paper, and then reached out through ourfated mate bond, her voice clear and urgent in my mind: You have to promise me you’ll come back. Anna and I need you.
I gazed at her, my heart caught in a storm of emotions. Countless times, I had reached for her in my dreams, desperate to hold her close, only to wake up to an empty reality. And now, here she was, standing right in front of me—real, tangible, within arm’s reach, yet somehow slipping away, destined to become a distant memory.
I leaned forward, closing the space between us, and pressed my lips to hers. The kiss was fleeting, yet it burned with an intensity I couldn’t put into words, a rush of unspoken feelings pouring out in that single moment. As we parted, our foreheads touched, resting gently against each other. Our breaths mingled, warm and uneven, as we lingered in this fragile, quiet space. For just a heartbeat, the world faded away, and all that existed was the shared stillness between us, a precious pause before everything changed.
“I love you, Lilia,” I whispered, my voice rough, thick with the weight of everything I couldn’t say. “No matter what happens, hold on to that.”
Even if I die.
Tears glistened in her eyes, her hands gripping my shoulders as if to anchor me to her, to this moment. “I love you too, Perock,” she said, her voice trembling but fierce, a declaration that cut through the years of pain between us. “From the first day we met, through all the hurt, I never stopped loving you. Not really.”
Her words nearly undid me, a surge of longing and regret threatening to crack the resolve I’d built. I wanted to stay, to hold her, to lose myself in her and Anna, but duty called, a relentless pull stronger than my heart’s desires.
I glanced at Anna, her small figure hunched over her drawing, oblivious to the storm gathering outside, and forcedmyself to steady my breathing, to lock away the vulnerability threatening to surface.
“Keep yourself and Anna safe,” I said, my voice firm, a command born of love.
Lilia nodded, swallowing her tears, her resolve rising to match mine, her eyes burning with determination. “You stay safe too,” she said, her voice steady despite the emotion shimmering beneath it.
I pulled her into a tight embrace, her body trembling against mine, her warmth a reminder of everything I was fighting for—her, Anna, the kingdom, a future we might yet claim. Her heartbeat thrummed against my chest, a rhythm I memorized, a promise I carried with me. Then, with a willpower forged in years of sacrifice, I stepped back, turning away before I could look into her eyes again and lose the courage to leave. The door closed behind me, its thud a finality that echoed in my bones, and I strode down the corridor, each step heavier than the last.