Lahat ng Kabanata ng Rejected By The Beta, Claimed By The Alpha King: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

The door closed with a soft click, leaving me alone with the copper-haired girl who fate had cruelly designated as my mate. She sat across from me, her shoulders hunched beneath the woolen blanket, though her eyes never left mine. The mate bond pulsed between us, new and raw, a connection neither of us had asked for yet could not deny. Ares paced restlessly within me, his possessive instincts warring with my rational mind that still struggled to accept this impossible complication.Silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken questions. I observed her dispassionately, noting how she made herself smaller in the chair, a defense mechanism no doubt learned during her time as—what? A rogue? A prisoner? Something else entirely?Her scent told a complex story that contradicted her supposed status: beneath the prison filth lay traces of pack life, of privilege once held and lost, of recent trauma and older wounds never properly healed."So you're my mate." I kept my voice flat, a statem

I stared at the stranger in the mirror. Her copper hair gleamed in loose waves down her back, dotted with tiny crystal pins that caught the light like trapped stars. Her skin, scrubbed pink and perfumed, glowed beneath the careful application of cosmetics that enhanced rather than concealed. The emerald gown I wore hugged curves I hadn't known I possessed after days of prison starvation, the fabric whispering against my skin with each breath. A queen's transformation, and all it had cost was my freedom."Stop fidgeting," Elder Nora instructed, adjusting the neckline of my gown to better display the livid mark Lukas had left on my throat. "The King will be displeased if you appear uncomfortable with his claim."I fought the urge to cover the mark with my hand. Four hours ago, I'd been a prisoner awaiting execution. Now I stood in a guest chamber that dripped with luxury—crystal chandeliers, silk tapestries, a bed large enough for five—transformed into the perfect mate for a monster. T

I strode through the palace corridors, Amelia's unconscious form cradled against my chest, my fury a living thing barely contained beneath my skin. Each heartbeat pounded with the same rhythm as Ares's enraged mantra:‘Mine. Hurt. Kill. Protect.’Guards flattened themselves against walls as I passed, eyes downcast, sensing that the slightest provocation might unleash violence they wouldn't survive. The copper-haired woman in my arms weighed almost nothing, her breathing shallow, the scent of her blood a constant reminder of how I had failed to protect what was mine.‘We will destroy them all,’ Ares snarled, his rage feeding mine until I could taste metal on my tongue. ‘The blonde female first. Slowly. Then the Beta who rejected our mate. Then her false parents who cast her out.’I didn't disagree with his bloodthirst. The Silver Lake pack would pay—Victoria first and most painfully, but the others would follow. No one touched my Queen and lived to boast of it.Servants scurried out of

The door closed with a soft click, and I let out the breath I'd been holding. Alone at last. My ribs ached with each inhale, and the throbbing in my skull kept perfect time with my pulse. Just days ago I'd been a servant girl in Silver Lake, scrubbing floors and swallowing humiliation, then I'd discovered my wolf and run for freedom, only to be captured by rogues. Yesterday I'd been a prisoner awaiting execution. And now? Now I was the claimed and marked mate of the Alpha King himself, a man I'd watched tear people apart with his bare hands. Fate had a sick sense of humour.I touched the mark on my neck, wincing as my fingers brushed the tender skin where Lukas's teeth had broken through. The wound was already healing—faster than it should, thanks to the magic of a mate's claim—but the memory of his mouth on my throat, the violent possession of the act, remained fresh and raw.‘It wasn't that bad,’ Athena piped up, her voice warm and satisfied in my mind. ‘Our mate is strong. His mark

I stood by the window, watching Amelia as she prepared for the trial. Morning light caught in her copper hair, setting it ablaze against the dark fabric of the robe she wore. Her movements were careful, measured, betraying the nervousness she tried to hide. Three attendants hovered nearby, ready to assist with the formal attire I'd commissioned overnight, but she'd dismissed them to the corner of the room, preferring to manage alone. Independence. Stubbornness. Qualities that would serve a queen well, once properly directed.'She's perfect,' Ares preened in my mind, his satisfaction rolling through our shared consciousness like thunder across distant mountains. 'Look how she stands. Already a Queen.'Indeed, despite her evident unease, Amelia carried herself with an innate dignity that couldn't be taught. Even in my borrowed shirt yesterday, she'd possessed a natural grace that spoke of something beyond her servant life. No wonder Silver Lake had feared her enough to cast her out. The