Mated To The Alpha King (Raven and Ethan) novel Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Raven’s POV

I stood up from the sofa where I had been sitting for a long time.

It felt like a big stone was pressing on my chest. My hands were shaking, but I closed them into fists and tried to make my

voice strong.

“See?” I said, looking straight at Alpha Ethan. “Now you know I was not the monster after all.”

The words came out sharp, but they were true. For so long, people blamed me.

For so long, I felt broken and alone. But now, standing here, I felt both angry and free at the same time.

He did not speak at first.

He just stared at me with those dark eyes that once held all the promises I believed in. But now? Now they were empty.

Or maybe they were full of something else, like regret. I didn’t know, and I didn’t care anymore.

“I guess…” I took a shaky breath, feeling a big lump in my throat. “I have to do this now.”

His eyebrows pulled together. He looked confused. For some reason, he looked so small to me now, like a man who had

everything but still lost the only thing he thought he could keep me.

But did he ever really have me? Or did he just keep me like a bird in a cage, clip my wings, and call it love?

I didn’t give him a chance to talk. If I did, I would break. So I kept speaking, letting out everything I had held inside for

years.

“You know something, Ethan?” My voice cracked, but I didn’t stop. “When I was a little girl, I thought having a mate was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was all I ever dreamed about.

Even when life was hard, even when my life felt like a nightmare, I held on to that one hope the day I would meet my

mate.”

I laughed, but it was a sad laugh. It sounded wrong, but I couldn’t help it.

“I didn’t have a mother when I was growing up,” I said, and my eyes turned hard because the old pain came back fresh.

“Do you know what that feels like? To never have a mother’s love? To grow up with a father who was always mean? A father who didn’t see me as his daughter, only as a mistake? And then there was her… my step–sister… the devil in human skin. She made my life a living hell, Ethan. Every single day.”

My voice was shaking now, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

“So yes, when I turned eighteen, all wished for was my mate. I prayed to the Moon Goddess every day. I begged her to give me someone who would love me, protect me, and make me happy. Someone who would take away all the pain I felt. And when I found you…” My voice broke, and a tear rolled down my cheek. “When I found you, Ethan, I thought my prayers had been answered. I thought the world was finally kind to me.”

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11:21 Fri, 29 Aug

Chapter 173

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I laughed again, but this time it sounded weak and broken. “But I guess I was wrong.”

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I stepped closer to him, holding my head high. “Because the same mate I prayed for, the same man I thought would save me, became my curse. You dragged me through hell, Ethan. Worse than anything I ever faced before. Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep? How many times did I sit alone and asked myself what I did wrong? Why did the Moon Goddess punish me with a mate like you?”

I was breathing hard now, anger and sadness mixing inside me. I looked him straight in the eyes, hoping to see even a little guilt, a little sign that he understood what he had done.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, his voice low and rough, like he was about to cry.

I laughed, a bitter laugh, and wiped my tears fast. “Sorry?” I said, spitting the word like it was poison. “Do you think sorry. fixes anything? Do you think sorry erases all those nights I wished I was dead? Do you think sorry makes me forget all the pain, the shame, the scars you left inside me?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised my hand and stopped him. “No. Don’t. Just don’t.”

I took a deep breath because what I was about to say was heavy. “You know what I think, Ethan? I think maybe we are not meant to be together. Maybe the bond was a mistake. Maybe rejecting you will fix everything.”

His eyes grew wide. His whole body went stiff. “What?” His voice was low and scary, but I didn’t move.

“Maybe,” I said strong and clear, “if I reject you, I will get a second chance.

Maybe then I can find someone who truly loves me. Someone who will not hurt me. Someone who will give me the life I

deserve.”

His jaw became tight, and I saw anger and fear in his eyes. “And what if I don’t get a second chance?” he asked, his voice shaking.

I tilted my head and gave him a cold smile. “That’s not my problem.”

His eyes went darker, and I could feel his wolf inside trying to come out.

But I didn’t care. Not anymore. “All I know,” I said, “is that I am done with you.”

And then I said the words that broke everything. The words that ended it all.

“I, Raven Andrew,” I said, loud and clear, “reject you, Alpha Ethan, as my mate.”

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