Trapped with the Alpha King (Althea) novel Chapter 182

Always Yours

Althea felt terrified, but Gavriel’s arms around her were enough to steady her. His warmth always had a way of calming the storm inside her, even now when everything felt uncertain.

“Did you eat dinner already?” Gavriel asked quietly.

“Not yet,” she murmured, still leaning against his chest.

“I’ll have the cook prepare something. I’ll eat with you.” He gently guided her face up, wanting to see her eyes.

“Even if the bond gets severed, I’ll still feel the same way,” he said. “It isn’t the matebond keeping me with you. It’s us, Althea. Our hearts.”

She nodded, a soft smile forming. She believed that too.

“But Zander will use my life against you,” she admitted. “We don’t know what he wants… or why he wants me. And if Candice is right, then maybe Zander and I are connected somehow.” Her hand moved to the key hanging from her necklace. “He knows about this. And I think… he knew my mother.”

Her throat tightened. “Gavriel… if he heals your sister completely, the covenant of binding will start working on me. I’ll die. Slowly. And from how confident he sounded, he’s the only one who can undo it. He’ll use that to force you into letting him take me.”

“I will kill him,” Gavriel growled, once again with rage in his voice.

She touched his arm, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Even if he wanted to tear Zander apart, her safety would stop him. He would endure anything if it meant keeping her alive.

Althea lifted her eyes to him. “Gavriel… do you trust me?”

His expression darkened, he seemed insulted she even needed to ask. “Of course I do.”

“Then just go with the flow,” she whispered. “Let things play out the way they need to. I have a plan… and I’ll come back to you. I promise.”

Gavriel’s jaw tightened. “Go with the flow? Althea, he wants to take you from me. He wants to use your life as leverage. How do you expect me to stay still?”

She held his hand, squeezing gently. “Because if you fight blindly, he wins. If you show him how much power he has over you, he wins. Zander is smart. He’s calculating. And he already knows you’ll do anything to keep me alive. So let him think he’s leading the game.”

Gavriel looked like he wanted to argue, but he forced himself to stop. Her eyes… the quiet resolve he saw there… it made something inside him still.

“You’re asking me to pretend,” he muttered.

“Yes,” she said softly. “Just until tomorrow. Just until I find out what he truly wants. If he wanted to kill me or harm me, he would’ve done it before. Instead, he helped Princess Riela. He even promised to return her. He’s chasing something else.”

Gavriel cupped her face. His fingers trembled slightly, betraying the fear he wouldn’t admit.

For some reason, she wanted to feel him. To be close to him. To memorize the warmth of his breath and the steady beat of his heart. She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. She didn’t know what Zander would do, or what price she would have to pay.

But she knew this… she wanted this moment with him.

The least thing she could do was give him every part of her she could while she still could.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer. Gavriel responded instantly, one arm wrapping around her waist as if instinct told him she was trying to slip away.

“Althea…” he murmured against her lips, his voice low, strained, almost pained. “What are you doing?”

She shook her head slightly, her eyes soft and full of an emotion he couldn’t quite grasp yet.

“I want to feel you,” she whispered. “Just… be with me tonight.”

Then Althea took a small step back and slowly let her dress fall away, never breaking eye contact with the man she had come to love with all her heart. Her lips curved into the sweetest, most genuine smile as she murmured, “I’m always yours.”