The Princess And The Alpha *Excerpt Only*

Found

"Good morning Princess." The intruder taunted.

My heart clenched at the sound of the familiar voice and I squinted slightly, not believing my eyes. How could this be? Why was he here?

"Preston? What are you doing?" I asked. I wanted to sound like a strong ruler under pressure, but my voice shook. I was no fool; I could not be brave when a gun was in someone else's hand.

"Are you going to come willingly or do I have to murder you, rogue?" Preston demanded. He kept the gun pointed directly at Ryan, his eyes never flickering over to me once. I had known Preston all my life, I had made him furious at me a hundred times before and I hated him far more than it was worth. But I had never seen him like this. He was standing in the door way of my bedroom, gun in hand, looking wild, yet certain. Anxious, yes, but calculating.

"What's going on?" I questioned again.

Then I saw more people come up behind Preston and my heart clenched tightly in my chest. I knew those men. All of them. They were the men who always stood alert on the grounds around the palace. The men that smiled as I played in the sandbox when I was a little girl, the men who held my escapes from my bedroom a secret from my strict parents. They were my guards, the ones who protected me when my mate had shown up unexpectedly at my party.

I understood now.

They had found us when I had been so certain that they wouldn't have bothered to look in this little cabin.

It felt like my insides were crushed. All the fight was taken out of me, my body turning limp. This was it. It was over. I had fought and I had lost. I had tried to hide, but I had been found.

"Turn around or I'll shoot you." Preston hissed at Ryan.

Ryan looked at me with those blue eyes that I was just becoming familiar with. I saw so much hurt and pain then. I could tell that he wanted to ask me if I knew this was going to happen. I saw that he thought there was a chance that I had set this up. That I had wanted us to get caught and for him to get taken away from me.

He let out a little sigh, so much sadness and defeat in the tiny gesture, and then turned away from Preston. His back was to twenty men that would've loved to kill him in a second, but he wasn't scared. He wasn't quivering or crying. He just looked completely and utterly broken.

Preston stepped into the room, and a handful of men poured in.

I had been frozen for so long. My tongue tied in my mouth, just watching in horror as my mate was ordered around by a man he didn't know. I was silent when Preston waved a gun around, threatening to murder the only man that I could ever be truly happy with. I was weak. I was pathetic and useless the entire time that they yanked his arms behind his back and snapped silver coated hand cuffs around his wrists. I didn't even say a word when I watched him gasp in agony before he was able to grit his teeth against any further noises. And I was silent when they dragged him out of our bedroom, treating him like complete filth.

"Adeline?" my mother's concerned voice snapped me out of my motionless state.

I slowly twisted my body, placing my feet on the carpet of the bedroom. And I just stared at her.

"Adeline, are you okay? Did he hurt you at all?"

I stood up after I forced all the blankets off my body and walked of the room. Multiple guards averted their eyes, thinking it was inappropriate to look at me when I was only wearing shorts and a soft, thin tank top. I didn't care. I couldn't.

"Adeline, do you need medical attention." my mom tried again. She came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to get some sort of reaction out of me. Then there was a gasp and she was pulling my hair away from my neck. "What did he do to you?" her voice wasn't steady anymore, she sounded terrified. "Grant, come quick!" she shouted. Evidently she had given up on getting a response out of me.

I pulled away from her with no regard for her desperate attempt to hold me still. I didn't need her scrutinizing the mark on my neck from Ryan. Yes, it looked awful, like acid had been dumped on my skin, and it had been painful beyond anything I had ever experienced. But it was something beautiful to me now. And it had come from a beautiful werewolf.

"Adeline?" my father was here now. He sounded a little worried, like I was causing his blood pressure to rise.

"Where is he?" I demanded. I didn't turn to look at my father, just craned my neck to peer out a window, hoping I would catch a glimpse of my mate.

"Are you alright?"

"Where is Ryan?"

"He didn't lay his hands on you, did he?"

"Where is my mate, father?" I snapped, finally spinning around. I wasn't calm anymore and I certainly wasn't frozen. And I wasn't scared of my parents. I wasn't worried about Preston wielding a gun. I had no concern for the men who were watching me from a safe distance. I was furious.

"Don't worry about him. We need to get you back to the palace and checked over by a doctor."

"Take me to Ryan."

"What's going on with you, Addy?" my mom asked quietly. Her eyes were suddenly deeply expressive and I saw so many fears and worries swarming her.

"I think she has Stockholm syndrome or something of the sort." My dad said softly. "Come on, sweet pea, we'll take you back to the palace and after we see the doctor we'll let you see Ryan."

I opened my mouth to argue with them. I wanted to tell them both to go to hell. I just wanted, no needed, my mate. I didn't want a doctor or a quiet, tense ride back to the palace. I didn't want my mate locked in a cell while my parents told me what I had done was wrong.

But I couldn't win.

I had to play by their rules now.

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