Mated To The Alpha King (Raven and Ethan) novel Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Alpha Ethan’s POV

I sat outside the healer’s house, my back against the cold bark of a rock, staring into space. I had been sitting here for almost half an hour, and no one had come out of the healer’s house yet not Elisa, and not the healer, and it was getting me worried. I couldn’t sit still. I should’ve left. I had better things to do than wait for a maid my so–called secret sex slave–to get treated. But my legs wouldn’t carry me far, not when every breath I took reminded me of the crimson blood soaking through her clothes… her skin pale… her lips trembling.

And her voice–pleading, begging for mercy. But I didn’t—not when I was blinded by hate.

What if she doesn’t survive this?

My wolf’s voice echoed in my head, calm but firm. I clenched my fists.

“Then she doesn’t,” I muttered to myself.

Liar.

The word whispered through me like a cold wind.

Because deep down… I did care. Maybe not in the way mates were supposed to care–but enough that the thought of her leaving this world stirred something sharp in my chest. Maybe I wasn’t done with her yet. Maybe I needed her to keep reminding me of how much of a monster I really was. Or maybe, just maybe… I wanted her to live because I didn’t know what I’d do if she died–especially like this.

A coward’s death.

A death that screamed I gave up.

I gritted my teeth and stood. The tension in my shoulders burned like fire. I paced the ground like a caged animal, unable to shake the image of Raven’s pale face as she drove that broken bottle into her skin.

“Shit,” I growled, raking my hands through my hair.

I should never have told the guards to have their way with her. That punishment was too cruel… even for someone like me. I had acted out of rage- blinded by what, I thought, was betrayal. But even monsters had limits… didn’t they?

You crossed every line.

I squeezed my eyes shut. The blood. The silence. Her eyes staring back at me with so much pain… not fear. Pain.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

turned on my heel and stormed away from the healer’s house, into the woods at the far end of the estate. The trees welcomed me with eerie silence, their branches whispering secrets of the night. I needed to run. I needed to clear my head before I did something worse–something unforgivable.

With a groan, I stripped down, shifted, and took off.

The rush of the wind against my fur, the pounding of my paws on damp earth, the scent of moss and bark–it all blended into a blur as I ran, ran, and ran until my lungs burned, and my mind was spinning

But no matter how far I ran, I couldn’t escape her.

Raven.

The name echoed with every step.

Her face haunted me. The way she looked at me when the guards dragged her into my room… the way her eyes widened in fear when I asked the guards

1/3

Chapter 69

to have their way with her

“No,” Imuttered, shaking my head.

And I broke her.

You did this.

7453%%%

My wolf said, disappointment evident in his voice.

“You know you can’t blame me. I was just serving justice for what she did to my Luna,” I replied to him.

I stumbled and shifted back, falling to my knees as the wind howled through the trees around me. My hands dug into the soil. My head hung low.

I didn’t even know why I hated her so much. Maybe because she used witchcraft to get my wolf to her–no, it shouldn’t be enough reason to hate her. She saved me, and I owe her. But this is what I find myself paying her with: cruelty.

Or maybe… because she made me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time.

I looked up at the sky.

The stars didn’t care.

Nobody did.

I got up slowly and began walking back. My feet were heavy, but I didn’t stop. I reached the spot where I’d left my clothes, got dressed, and made my way back to the healer’s house.

But just as I was about to turn the corner, I saw Elisa.

She was running toward me, her blonde hair a tangled mess, her face pale, her eyes wide with something that sent a jolt of dread through me.

“Elisa?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

She stopped in front of me, breathless, her hands shaking. “It’s… it’s Raven,” she gasped.

My chest tightened.

“What about her?”

Elisa looked up at me, her eyes glossy. “She’s resisting the healer’s power… Something’s wrong. She’s… she’s rejecting it.”

“What?” I growled, grabbing her shoulders. “That’s not possible.”

“She’s fighting it, Ethan. It’s like–like she doesn’t want to live.”

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