Alpha King's Caged Mate

EVELYN

I would never forget that day—the day of my trial, when my life fell apart. The man I loved sat on the throne, declaring my doom. Pain shot through me like lightning as I was forced to kneel, bowing my head before him. His familiar dark eyes stared into my soul with contempt and hatred.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

“Evelyn Caddel, as the Alpha King of Hescor, I hereby pronounce you and your family guilty of treason. Your noble titles shall be revoked, your lands confiscated, and your honor erased. You shall endure the harshest punishments under the law of Hescor.”

Then, he reached out, cupping my chin, and lowered his voice into a chilling whisper. “I told you—you’d regret choosing the wrong man, Evelyn.”

***

"It's a lovely day," Elsa said, spreading her arms out and facing the sun streaming in through the window. "A shame we have to spend in the palace."

I laughed at that, pulling the cart down the hallway.

"There are worse things."

"Like what?"

Humiliation. Hopelessness. Torture. Those responses were too dark and too personal.

"... imagine still being here four years from now."

Elsa scrunched up her nose as I expected, and I couldn't blame her. She had only been here a week, and she hated it already. Though she had few options, Elsa wasn't trapped here. She was barely sixteen and had her whole future ahead of her.

I had been here a year and knew that I would likely die a maid of this place. Still, it was a lovely day.

"Did you hear about Thomas?" Elsa giggled. "Ended up head over heels into a pile of dung trying to steal a roll from the kitchen."

I burst into laughter, unable to help it. It had been such a long time since I'd laughed. It felt good.

"I think that's punishment enough."

We headed into the first room to clean for the day and started stripping the bed.

"Hardly. The stable master made him muck out stables all day without showering, and he still didn't get lunch."

I shook my head. "Poor Thomas, I--"

The door swung open. We both froze as the head maid, Mrs. Porter, entered the room. She glared at us with her usual cold expression.

"How many times must I tell you that you are to carry out your work silently? This will be your last warning." She pursed her lips. "You have ten minutes to get down to the main gate."

"But we're not done--"

Mrs. Porter glared at Elsa. "Make that nine. The king does not wait for servants."

My gut plummeted. Mrs. Porter looked at me pointedly before leaving.

The Alpha King was coming back.

“My goodness...” Elsa gasped. Her eyes were wide with excitement. "I thought he wouldn't be back until next month."

I wished he wouldn't come back at all.

Elsa hurried to gather the bedding and load it onto the cart we shared. We'd have to come back later to wipe everything down. Before I could even wrap my head around it, Elsa dashed around the bed, grabbed my arm, and started pulling me toward the door.

"What does he look like, I wonder? Do you think he’s really as handsome as everyone says?"

My feet felt like lead. I barely heard what she was asking me.

"Evie?"

I looked up. The excitement in her eyes dimed. She frowned.

"You look... pale. Are you okay?"

I forced a smile. My whole body was stiff, and my head swarmed with too many thoughts to make sense of.

I nodded. "We... We should hurry."

She squealed and pulled me onward.

By the time we reached the gates, all the other servants of the palace were there, lined up on either side of the carriage lane. We joined the line somewhere in the middle, a row back from the front.

I hope it was enough for him not to notice me.

Mrs. Porter and Mr. Barret, the head butler, stood in the middle of the carriage lane on either side of Anastasia Elrod, the former Luna Queen, and her personal maid.

My heart felt like it would beat out of my chest. I bowed my head and kept my eyes glued to the ground, wishing this would be over soon.

Suddenly, a fleet of carriages appeared at the end of the path, swiftly reaching the gates. Then, I heard the carriage door open and heavy footsteps.

“Ah, Cole, my son! Finally, you’re back. Everything all right?”

Anastasia’s voice had always been pretentious and loud.

“Mother.” A familiar male voice responded, deep and short.

My eyes remained locked on the ground, but my heart raced in my chest. The voice belonged to none other than Cole Elrod, the Alpha King of Hescor.

“Lady Anastasia,” Flynn Hart, Cole’s Beta greeted, along with the King’s Guard, Aiden Moran.

I took a deep breath, trying to shrink down between the maid in front of me. I could feel Elsa fidgeting beside me. She gasped.

"They really are as good-looking as everyone says... especially the Alpha King. No wonder the maids always daydream about him..."

I wished she would stop drawing attention. I didn't need reminding of Cole's looks. I knew all too well. I knew he was handsome. I knew he could be kind when he wanted to be.

But I also knew how terrible he could be.

"Why are you back so early, dear?" Anastasia asked. "Isn't the Crawford wedding tonight?"

"There was an issue we had to return for," Flynn said.

“What kind of issue?”

"It's not a matter we can discuss in public, Your Highness."

They were getting closer. But if they could just keep walking, if they could just get inside without even glancing my way, everything would be fine.

But suddenly, the footsteps stopped. Too near to me.

My heart leaped into my throat.

Please, no.

"Step aside."

The maids in front of me shuffled aside, and I heard him step toward me.

"Darling, what's--"

 “The issue is that we've found Jack’s remaining accomplice.”

Anastasia gasped. Silence fell over the crowd.

I didn't look up. I didn't care. I prayed for the Earth to swallow me whole. Let this be over. Let the Goddess show me some mercy.

No one moved. I didn't even think I was breathing.

“Still? Now? But..."

“It’s been a year since his death, but it seems that someone still misses him greatly... am I right?”

I felt his gaze on me, but I didn’t acknowledge him. It was a trap, just like every moment since I had been a maid in the royal palace.

They were speaking of Jack Elrod - the King’s brother, the elder son of Alpha King Theodore, the Crown Prince who had lost the battle for the throne and died one year ago.

But to me, he had been much more than that. He had been my fiancé.

It was why I was here.

The Alpha King wantedEVELYN

I would never forget that day—the day of my trial, the day my world collapsed.

The man I had once loved sat high upon the throne, his expression carved from stone. A guard snarled behind me before shoving my shoulder. My knees slammed against the marble floor. Pain shot through me like lightning.

“Evelyn Caddel,” he said, his voice like thunder, his dark eyes filled with venom.

“As the Alpha King of Hescor, I declare you and your family guilty of treason. Your noble titles are revoked, your lands forfeit, and your honor erased. You will suffer the harshest punishments the laws of this kingdom allow.”

Then he descended the steps of the throne.

He stopped before me, his hand reaching out. Those once-gentle fingers now felt as cold as iron. He tilted my chin up until I had no choice but to meet his gaze.

He leaned in close. His voice dropped to a whisper.

“I told you, Evelyn. You’d regret choosing the wrong man.”

***

The sun had already slipped beyond the horizon by the time I stirred. Morning had long since passed, and with it, the wake-up bell for maids. A jolt of panic shot through me as I realized it. I scrambled from his bed quickly and rushed into the washroom.

The dress I had worn last night was a ruin of silk and lace, but I clutched what remained and threw on the usable pieces. Taking a quick glance at the man sprawled comfortably on the bed, I gritted my teeth and shut the door before hurrying into the hallway.

My steps faltered from the soreness in my legs, and the skin on my shoulders prickled from his bite, but I didn’t dare slow down.

I didn’t need to imagine how furious the head maid, Mrs. Porter, would be if I was late for roll call. And of course, she wouldn’t care that the Alpha King was the reason. Mrs. Porter never listened to excuses. She had always told us that no one cared about our little grievances in this palace.

I rushed through the quiet corridors, slipping into the changing room just as the other maids had finished dressing. Stripping off the ruined garment, I quickly throw on a clean uniform.

As I toss the shredded fabric into a hamper, I caught my reflection in the mirror.

Red marks spread across my neck and shoulders. The skin burned as I lifted a finger to touch it.

 The Alpha King had been savage last night. He always was when he returned from a long journey. There would be no foreplay, no flirtation. He would toss me onto the bed like a beast and take me like one.

But last night, he’d been crueler than usual. I remembered how hard he bit into my shoulder when I refused to let out a shameful sound as he commanded. He was angry—I could tell—but I didn’t know why. Maybe something had vexed him during his travels. Or maybe he simply enjoyed tormenting me further, as he’d done ever since he seized the crown and killed Jack—his half-brother, the crown prince, and my husband.

Two years ago, King Theodore died during a hunting expedition. After weeks of mourning and a kingdom in limbo, my father – Lord Steven Caddel, Theodore’s most trusted Beta – secured my marriage to the Jack. Our wedding was held on my eighteen birthday. It was supposed to be beautiful and blessed, except Cole then stormed in and shattered everything.

The War of Princes began that day.

It was a merciless, bloody affair. Brother against brother. Kingdom against itself.

In the end, Jack fell, killed and burned by Cole’s loyalists. My family – along with every noble who had pledged fealty to Jack – was dragged to court and subjected to a brutal trial.

It had been an entire year since that trial – a year since he stripped me of my nobility and reduced me to a maid. A year since I had been separated from my parents and little sister and confined to this suffocating palace.

My job was like the other maids’, except for the extra “night service.”

He had made it painfully clear that it was my duty to satisfy him whenever he wanted—and to endure whatever he wished to vent upon me. And if I dared to fight back, he’d threaten me with my family, who had been exiled to a barren island for lifelong labor.

“You do understand I can order them all to death with a flick of my finger,” he had warned me the first time I snarled at him in defiance—when he ordered me to strip.

So instead of clawing at him or baring my teeth, I had bent. I had obeyed. I had knelt on that vast bed as he tore my dress, yanked my hair, and forced me to forget I had once been anything more than his toy.

That was my punishment. My penance.

The clock in the hall struck, snapping me back to reality.

I didn’t have time to cover the marks as I raced through the halls as fast as I could. But when I reached the assembly room, Mrs. Porter was already there. Her ever-slightly-lifted chin turned toward me as I skidded into place, breathless, and ducked my head.

“You’re two minutes late,” Mrs. Porter said, tapping her pocket watch with a disapproving glare.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Porter,” I murmured.

I braced for more, but she merely inclined her head for me to join the line.

She cleared her throat. “You may have heard that the Alpha King has returned from his grueling inspection journey, during which he quelled riots and fought valiantly for this kingdom. His dedication to Hescor knows no limits. We, too, must work three times as hard to reflect that devotion.”

I stifled a yawn as her voice droned on. Mrs. Porter never spared an opportunity to flatter Cole. Most people didn’t, not after he seized the throne. Even those who had once been close to Jack now sang praises for the new king. They either wanted favor or feared meeting a fate like mine.

My exhaustion blurred her words. It wasn’t until Elsa nudged me that I realized Mrs. Porter had stopped speaking. She was staring directly at me.

“I trust I don’t need to remind you all,” she said, voice sharpening, “that regardless of the families you were born into or the lives you once led, you now belong to His Majesty. Your freedom is his. Your attention must be entirely devoted to his comfort and well-being. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Mrs. Porter,” the maids echoed. 

“Evelyn Caddel,” she snapped, eyes locking on me. “You will clean my parlor after the morning call. And you are not permitted to eat breakfast. This is your punishment for tardiness.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded. My fists clenched at my sides. I had to dig my nails into my palm to swallow the retort burning on my tongue. Mrs. Porter despised me. Everyone here did. They believed it was me who caused the War of Princes and plunged the kingdom into darkness – a shameless seductress who had tangled sheets with both heirs.

Muffled snickers rippled among the maids. Mrs. Porter quickly silenced them and spoke again.

“Now, with the Selection approaching,” she resumed, voice once again formal and clipped, “we must serve with unmatched enthusiasm. The ladies will begin arriving soon. Each will choose her personal maid from among you…”

A hum of excitement spread through the group. I caught Elsa’s eyes light up with hope like many of the others.

“Selection? What selection?” I whispered, nudging her lightly.

“The Luna Selection,” Elsa whispered back, glancing at Mrs. Porter to ensure she wasn’t watching us. “It seems His Majesty is finally choosing a wife.” my redemption.

EVELYN

I couldn’t stop thinking about the announcement of the Luna Selection as I scrubbed the floor of Mrs. Porter’s parlor.

After the morning roll call, Elsa had whispered more details to me. She was the only maid who still showed me a shred of kindness, though I doubted it would last. She was new here, and in a few weeks—or days—she’d likely come to loathe me like the rest.

“Jessica served at the welcoming banquet yesterday,” Elsa had said. “She told me the Dowager Queen made the announcement right in the middle of it—said she’d already sent invitations to all the eligible ladies. And apparently, one of them arrived at the palace for the Selection just last night.”

Cole was turning twenty this year, and at that age, most kings in history had already fathered their first heir. But Cole’s harem remained empty. He had no consorts, and the title of Luna Queen still went unclaimed. Whispers had it that the lords and ministers had been su