Mated To The Alpha King (Raven and Ethan) novel Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Alpha Ethan – POV

No. No, this can’t be possible. She was a virgin?

The realization hit me like a blade to the gut–sharp and cold. That means she never did anything with Matthew. I messed up. Goddess, I messed up bad.

I stood frozen, staring at the blood on the sheets like it was going to erase itself if I stared long enough. But it didn’t. It stayed. It screamed at me. Mocked

1. me.

You hurt her. You broke her.

I didn’t even ask her. I just assumed. I believed what I saw and let my anger take over. I was so sure she betrayed me, and I punished her for it. I brutally took her virginity.

“Fuck!” I growled, dragging a hand through my hair, my fingers trembling.

I couldn’t stay in the room any longer. The scent of her pain clung to the air, mixing with the metallic tang of blood. The more I breathed it in, the more suffocated I felt.

She signed up for this. She’s a sex slave, I reminded myself harshly.

Sex slaves aren’t to be pitied. They’re meant to serve.

But why did that excuse sound hollow now?

I grabbed my clothes and stormed out of the room before my guilt could consume me entirely. My mind was a mess, but I needed to run, to move, to do something.

When I got to my room, Olivia was already there, lounging on the couch and flipping through her phone like the world hadn’t just shifted under my feet.

“There you are,” she said, looking up. “I’ve been looking for you. It’s lunch already. Where were you?”

I couldn’t face her–not now, not with all the blood still vivid in my mind. “Let’s go down for lunch,” I muttered, brushing past her. “I’m starving.”

It was a lie. My stomach churned with guilt and disgust, but I needed to change the topic. I needed normalcy.

We walked down together, Olivia rambling about some pack event, but her voice faded into the background. My eyes scanned the dining hall automatically, searching for her.

But Raven wasn’t there.

She was Olivia’s personal maid and should have been among those serving lunch, but for some reason, she wasn’t here.

Still, I looked. I watched the servers, scanned the corners, peered near the doors… but she was nowhere.

I wanted to ask where she was.

But I couldn’t. Olivia was already getting suspicious of me, and I couldn’t ask about Raven now.

But how would that sound? The Alpha asking about a maid–one who wasn’t assigned to him. Especially when I’d just accused her of betrayal and-

I shook my head.

Lunch passed in a blur, I barely tasted the food. The sound of clinking cutlery, laughter, and conversation was a distant buzz compared to the storm in my

head.

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Chapter 45

As soon as I could, I excused myself and headed out to the woods.

I needed to shift. To clear my head.

The run was meant to help. The forest always brought me clarity–soft dirt under my paws, wind slicing past my fur, the rhythmic pound of muscle and earth grounding me.

But not today.

Every tree I passed, every howl I released… it echoed her screams. Her cries.

She begged me to stop.

And I didn’t.

Her face, twisted in pain. Her hands pushing at my chest. The tears on her cheeks. Her voice, broken and desperate.

“Please… Alpha…”

I shifted back near the edge of the woods, collapsing beside a tree, breathing heavily, heart hammering.

What have I done?

I couldn’t get her out of my head.

She was innocent.

And I ruined her.

I returned to the pack house as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sky was painted in hues of fire and sorrow, like the world knew what I’d done.

That’s when I saw the crowd.

Dozens of pack members, clustered near the training yard. Murmurs, panic, confusion in their voices.

“What’s going on?” I barked, pushing my way through the circle.

And then I saw them.

Two guards, carrying a semi–limp body between them. Her arms hung loose. Her head lolled to the side. Her hair–her soft, raven hair–was soaked with blood.

No. No, please no-

shoved through the last line of people, my eyes locked on her.

It was Raven.

Her face was pale, lips tinged blue. Her dress torn and dirt–stained. Bruises colored her arms and legs, and one side of her face was swollen.

I rushed forward. “What the hell happened to her?”

“She was found in her room with an empty bottle of insecticide beside her,” the guards replied.

Insecticide.

My world tilted.

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