His soldiers exchanged wary glances before one hesitantly asked, "See who, Your Majesty

 Alric's jaw tightened. He turned back toward the riverbank, scanning the mist-covered landscape. The beauty he had seen—the one bathed in golden light, dripping with water like a vision crafted by the gods—was gone.

Completely.

As if he had never existed.

"Search the area," he commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The soldiers fanned out, torches casting flickering light through the darkened trees. The king moved deeper into the forest, his senses razor-sharp, his heartbeat louder than it should be. He was not a man easily shaken, yet something about that fleeting encounter had unsettled him.

The Omega had vanished without a trace.

And that was impossible.

A trick of the mist? A hallucination? No—he had seen him, had felt something in his chest stir the moment their worlds had collided.

His golden eyes darkened.

He didn’t know what that feeling was, only that he hated it.

---

Deep within the shadows, concealed by layers of enchanted mist, the one he sought moved silently.

His breath was steady, his expression unreadable as he stepped through the concealed pathway that led back to the towering palace walls. He had come here alone, as he always did, to escape the weight of duty and expectation.

No one knew of this place. No one had ever found it before.

And yet—tonight, someone had.

The stranger by the river had been unlike any man he had ever seen. Tall, commanding, radiating power even in stillness. His presence alone had sent a shiver down his spine, an instinct whispering that he was in the presence of something dangerous.

But there was no time to think of that now.

By the time dawn broke, he would be back behind palace walls, masked and veiled as tradition demanded. His identity was a secret, hidden even from the one meant to claim him.

And the man by the river, whoever he was…

Would never know he had already seen his future bride.