The Alpha King's Hidden Defiant Omega

Bridgette Coleman POV:

I leaned against the wall outside the ER, pulling off my blood-stained gloves and tossing them into a biohazard bin. The emergency had drained the last of my energy.

Farrah and another doctor, Nathan Sullivan, walked over, handing me a bottle of water.

"You okay, Bridgette?" Nathan asked. He was a kind Beta, one of the few colleagues who treated me with simple respect.

"I'm fine." I took a long drink, the cool liquid a small relief.

Farrah glanced around before lowering her voice. "Did you see her? Kayleigh Reid, acting like she owned the place, touring our hospital with the Alpha King."

Nathan sighed. "Yeah, the whole Pack is talking. They're saying a union is imminent. It makes sense. Alpha to Alpha, a powerful match."

I listened with a blank face. A powerful match. A perfect union. And I was the dirty little secret, the stain in the shadows.

I pulled out my phone. Below that teasing text from earlier, a new message from Harden sat on the screen, sent half an hour ago. The flirtatious warmth was entirely gone, reverting exactly to his usual style—brief, cold, and devoid of any explanation.

"The Regent Hotel, Room 3601. Now."

No explanation for why he was still here. No mention of Kayleigh Reid. Just a command.

"I have a scheduled surgery," I told them, my voice steady, locking my phone and sliding it back into my pocket. "Starts in five minutes. I'm going to go prep."

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Nathan asked, concern lacing his tone. "You look exhausted."

"I'm fine. The patient needs me," I replied firmly. The operating room was my sanctuary, the one place where the complexities of my life faded away, replaced by the clean, absolute focus of saving a life. I wouldn't compromise my career for a man who treated me like an afterthought.

The surgery was complicated, and by the time I scrubbed out and drove to The Regent Hotel, I was twenty minutes late. I used the service entrance and took the private elevator to the top floor.

As I stepped out into the grand hallway, my steps faltered. A few yards away, the doors to the presidential suite were just closing. But the gap was wide enough for me to see inside. Harden was standing in the entryway, taking off his suit jacket. And standing right in front of him, reaching up to loosen his tie with a familiar smile, was Kayleigh Reid.

He had summoned me, yet he hadn't even bothered to wait twenty minutes.

I stopped in my tracks. A normal woman might have felt a sting of betrayal, or at least a rush of jealousy. But as I watched the door click shut, I just felt a profound sense of relief. Since he had already found his perfect Luna to entertain him, my services were clearly no longer required. I didn't have to force myself to play the pliant toy tonight.

Without a second thought, I turned on my heel, completely unfazed, and walked right back to the elevator. I had paperwork to finish anyway. If he wanted to entertain his future Luna, he could do it without me waiting in the wings.

It wasn't until the next morning, when I stopped by Harden's penthouse to retrieve some of my clothes, that the reality of my situation hit me.

I stood in the middle of the empty bedroom for a long time before I began to search for my carving. Specifically, a small wooden wolf I had carved for my brother, Leo, before he died. I checked the nightstand, the sofa, the desk. Nothing.

Then, a sick feeling twisted in my gut. I walked into the marble bathroom.

And there, in the small, chrome trash can, I found it.

The wooden wolf was broken in two, tossed in with a disposable razor and my forgotten hair clip.

I stared at the splintered wood, a sharp, physical pain lancing through my chest. It hurt more than Corinna's insults, more than Harden's public indifference. It was the careless destruction of the one pure thing I had left.

I dropped to my knees, carefully picking up the two broken halves. Memories of Leo's bright smile when I gave it to him flooded my mind, choking me with unshed tears. This wasn't an accident. Harden's staff wouldn't dare touch anything without his explicit permission. I knew exactly who had ordered it thrown away. To him, my precious memories were nothing but garbage.