Mated To The Alpha King (Raven and Ethan) novel Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Raven’s POV

“Who’s there?” | murmured groggily as the knocking continued, sharp and impatient. My body ached with stiffness from the hard mattress, and blended against the morning light trickling in from the curtain’s edge.

The doci rattled with more force.

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned as realization sank in. I had overslept. Shit.

I swung my legs over the bed and scrambled up, hurrying to the door. “I’m coming.” I called, trying to keep my voice steady. But the moment I cracked open the door, my blood ran cold.

There he stood. Alpha Ethan.

He wasn’t just angry–he was furious. His eyes, usually so calm and calculating, now blazed with a dangerous fire.

“Good morning, Alpha,” I greeted, forcing a smile and trying desperately to hide the panic rising in my chest. “I–I’m sorry, ”

“What time were you supposed to meet me in the study?” he cut me oft his voice low but seething with restrained rage.

I swallowed hard. “I–I think it was five…

He took a step forward. I instinctively stepped back. The clock on the wall taunted me–11:43 AM, I had slept through it. Slept through his summons.

“I’ve been waiting in that damn study for over three hours he shouted suddenly, slamming the door open wider and pushing past me into the room.

“I didn’t mean toll overslept–1 stammered, trailing after him, “It wasn’t on purpose, I swear,”

He whirled around so fast i barely had time to gasp. “Overslept?” His voice was colder now, quieter–but far more terrifying. “You think you can just ignore me? You think I don’t notice when someone disrespects me like that?“.

My heart pounded. “I wasn’t ignoring you, I just

He moved like lightning. One second I was standing, and the next, his hand was around my throat, lifting me off the floor.

My legs kicked weakly, and 1 grasped at his wrist, choking. “E–Ethan…”I rasped, tears springing to my eyes.

“Don’t play games with me,” he growled, his face inches from mine. “You may be under my root, but that doesn’t mean you get to make a foot out of me. If you mess with me again, Raven, I won’t be this merciful.”

His words were laced with venom, and though the pressure on my neck wasn’t enough to kill, it was enough to make me believe he could–if he wanted

Then suddenly–he dropped me.

I hit the floor hard, my legs folding awkwardly beneath me. The air rushed back into my lungs as I coughed and gasped, curling into mysell.

He stood above me, chest heaving, staring at me like I was nothing

“You’re only good for one thing,” he sneered, turning his back.

Tears streamed down my face. My throat burned, and every muscle trembled as I tried to sit upright. My voice cracked as I whispered, “It’s obvious you don’t care about me… not really. It’s only my body you want.”

He stopped. I saw the slight twitch in his jaw, but he didn’t turn around.

Chapter 35

“try.” I whispered brokenly. “I try to be useful. I try to stay out of the way I do everything can to survive in a place the hate you, aren’t 17”

Still, no reply.

“know I’m just a maid. I know I’m not good enough to stand beside you like she is,” I said, bitterly. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t feel things, everything. Heel every cruel word. Every time you look at me and see someone disposable. Every time you pretend last night didn’t happen“:

He turned slowly now, his expression unreadable. “Don’t talk like you know me

I looked up at him through my tears, defiantly. “I don’t have to know you to know how this feels. I’ve spent my while being nothing to the people who should have loved me. So when you touch me and then pretend I’m invisible the next day–yeah, it hurts.”

He took a slow step toward me. I flinched.

But he didn’t touch me.

He crouched in front of me instead, and for a moment, I saw something flicker in his eyes. Regret? Guilt? No. It vanished too quickly.

“You knew what this was, Raven,” he said, voice quieter now. “You didn’t complain when you let me take you.”

“I didn’t know it would come with bruises,” I whispered.

A heavy silence fell between us. He rose to his feet again and stared down at me, arms crossed.

I didn’t dare Inck away.

“I’ll punish anyone who disrespects me,” he said coldly. “That includes you.”

y time you hurt me,” I whispered, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. “But I won’t stop being human. You can’t take that from

“And I’ll cry every tir

The tension crackled in the room. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. For a brief second, he looked… uncertain

“I’ll be in the study, he finally said, turning away and walking to the door. “You’re dismissed.”

And just like that, he was gone.

I stayed there on the floor, curled up with my ams wrapped around myself, sobbing softly into the silence. Not because of the pain. Not even because of

the humiliation,

But because for the first time in a long time, I realized how utterly alone I truly was.

Later that day…

I didn’t see Alpha Ethan for hours. The maids a

s gave e me strange looks as I walked the halls, but no one said anything. Not to my face.

My neck ached where his fingers had gripped it. The bruise was forming fast. I kept my head down.

By dinner, I stood silently behind the Alpha’s chair in the dining room, as usual I wasn’t allowed to eat with them. That privilege belonged to his guests

and to Olivia.

She looked radiant, as always. Wearing soft silks and diamonds, smiling that perfect smile. She didn’t even glance at me.

I wondered if she knew what he did to me this morning.

I wondered if she would even care.

Alpha Ethan didn’t acknowledge me either. Not a look. Not a word.

Chapter 35

But when dinner was over, and the dishes cleared, and Olivia werd off to her quarters with a kiss to his chark he looked at me

A glance. A twitch of the brow. A silent command.

Follow me.

Thesitated.

But I followed

Back to the study. The place I was supposed to have been that morning,

He didn’t speak as he poured himself a drink, the glass clinking against the decanter. I stood frozen by the door, heart hammering

Finally, he turned toward me. “Come here.”

I didn’t move.

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