The King’s Unclaimed Mate(BL)

"Did you see him?"

The king's voice was a low, urgent growl, tinged with something unfamiliar—something that even he was unwilling to acknowledge.

The soldiers exchanged wary glances, unsure of how to respond. Finally, one of them stepped forward, his voice tentative. "See who, Your Majesty?"

The king's jaw clenched, his eyes hardening. He turned back to the riverbank, scanning the mist-wreathed landscape, his heart thumping louder in his chest. The vision he had seen—the figure bathed in golden light, water dripping from his lithe form like the very essence of beauty—was gone. Completely gone.

It was as if the forest itself had swallowed him whole.

"Search the area," the king ordered, his voice cold and commanding, a sharp edge to his words that brooked no refusal.

The soldiers immediately scattered, torches flickering in the heavy air, casting shadows that danced like ghosts through the trees. The king stalked deeper into the woods, his every step deliberate, his senses stretched to their absolute limits. He was a man used to control, to order, to being the one who was never caught off guard. But tonight, something had shifted. Something about that fleeting moment by the river had unsettled him.

The Omega had disappeared without a trace.

And that—that—was impossible.

Had it been a trick of the mist? A hallucination? No. He had seen him. Seen the glimmer of water sliding down smooth skin. Felt his chest tighten as something... unfamiliar stirred within him.

His golden eyes darkened with an intensity that matched the night around him. He didn't know what that feeling was—only that it was raw, unsettling, and far too powerful for him to ignore.

And that, more than anything, terrified him.

---

Deep within the shadows of the forest, veiled by layers of enchanted mist that clung to the air like a lover's touch, the one the king sought moved with silent grace.

His breath was steady, his features unreadable, as he glided through a hidden pathway that only he knew. A pathway that led him away from the world he had long ago abandoned. Away from the weight of palace expectations and the prying eyes of those who never saw him for who he truly was.

No one knew 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 encountered. His presence was overwhelming, commanding, yet strangely restrained. Even in stillness, he radiated power, the kind of power that was woven into the very fabric of his being. A shiver ran down the Omega's spine as he felt the danger in the air, a primal instinct whispering to him that the man who stood by the river was not someone to be underestimated.

But there was no time for such thoughts now.

The Omega's journey would soon take him back to the towering walls of the palace, back to the world of masks and veils, of duty and tradition. By dawn's first light, he would be concealed once more—his true identity hidden, even from the one who was meant to claim him.

And the man by the river, whoever he was…

Would never know that he had already glimpsed his future bride.