Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 465

Chapter 465

Chapter 465

Natalia’s POV

I gripped the rusty blade the King had given me and tried to steady my breathing. My hands were shaking, although whether from fear, exhaustion, or the effort of keeping my disguise steady, I wasn’t sure.

For the moment, I looked like Andrei. Tall, broad–shouldered, dark–haired. The King saw my mate standing before him, not me. But the illusion was fragile. I could feel it flickering at the edges, threatening to dissolve if I lost focus for even a second.

And fighting while maintaining the disguise was going to drain me fast.

“Well?” The King raised his sword. “Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to fight?”

I lunged forward. The King parried easily, his blade meeting mine with a screech of metal on metal. The impact sent vibrations up my arm, but I held on and pirouetted around him.

The King was strong despite his twisted body, even without his jewelry. He swung his sword, ruby hilt flashing, in a wide arc that forced me to duck. But I managed to roll to the side and come up swinging, aiming for his legs. He jumped back and brought his sword down toward my head.

I blocked it just in time. The force of the blow drove me to one knee, and I felt the disguise waver. My hair flickered from black to amber for a split second before I forced the illusion back into place.

The King didn’t seem to notice. He was too focused on the fight, too confident in his victory. He pressed forward, raining down one attack after another. My arms were already burning from the effort of holding them back. I couldn’t last much longer.

I needed to end this quickly.

I feinted left, then darted right, slashing at the King’s side. The blade caught him across the ribs, tearing through his robes and drawing blood. He hissed and stumbled back, clutching the wound.

“You’re stronger than I expected,” he said. His eyes narrowed. “Perhaps the waters didn’t affect you as much as I thought they would.”

I didn’t respond, mostly because I wasn’t sure if the ring would disguise my voice. I just kept moving, kept pressing the attack. I slashed at his arms, his chest, anywhere I could reach. Most of my strikes glanced off or missed entirely, but a few connected. Blood stained his robes in spreading patches.

But the King was learning my patterns. He began to anticipate my moves, blocking my strikes before I could land them. And he was faster than he looked. When I overextended on a lunge, he twisted away and brought his sword down on my shoulder.

Pain exploded through me. I gripped my shoulder, jaw clenching. The disguise flickered again. My face shifted, my hair lightened, and for a moment I was certain the King had seen me.

But he was already swinging his blade again. I threw myself backward, narrowly avoiding the attack. I hit the ground hard and rolled, coming up in a crouch. My shoulder throbbed, warm blood seeping through my clothes.

The King advanced with his sword raised. “You’re weakening already. I expected more from Natalia’s mate.”

Chapis 465

I forced myself to stand. My legs trembled, but I held the sword steady. The disguise was slipping. I could feel it draining my energy with every passing second. I needed to finish this now.

Gritting my teeth, I charged forward, pouring everything I had left into one final attack. The King brought his sword up to block, but I twisted at the last second and drove my blade toward his chest. He managed to deflect h but the force of my strike knocked him off balance.

I pressed the advantage. I slammed into him with my shoulder, driving him backward toward the edge of the water. He stumbled, feet sliding on the slick stones. For a moment, I thought he was going to fall.

But then he planted his feet and shoved me away. I staggered back and slammed hard enough into the pillar behind me to make lights dance across my vision. In that instant, I could feel the disguise flickering wildly new. shimmering just above my skin like a blanket of glittering starlight.

The King’s expression changed. His eyes widened, then narrowed into slits.

“It’s you,” he breathed.

The disguise shattered completely before I could stop it. I stood there in my own body, small and pale and covered in blood, still gripping the rusty sword. The King stared at me for a long moment, his face twisting through several emotions before settling on rage.

“You deceived me.”

I tried to raise the sword, but my arms wouldn’t respond. I was too weak, too drained from the effort. The ring and the fight had taken everything I had left.