All Chapters of THE POSSESSIVE ALPHA KING AND HIS FATED QUEEN: Chapter 111 - Chapter 112

The afternoon sun stretched over the valley, golden light slanting across the cottages and smoke trails curling from hearths. Ryker swung an axe down into a thick block of wood, splitting it clean. He gathered the pieces into his arms, the scent of pine and sap clinging to him as he carried them toward the gentle slope leading to Rae’s house. The rhythm of it—chopping, stacking, carrying—had begun to soothe him. A routine. A life that, though simple, tasted sweeter than any dream he had dared while in the Duke’s service. Rae sat where he always did in the afternoons, perched on his stool outside the small house with a skein of yarn looped around his bent fingers. The old man’s hands moved slow but steady, twisting and weaving, his eyes half-lidded in thought. When he saw Ryker crest the hill with the firewood, he set the yarn aside and smiled.“You’ll have me spoiled,” Rae said, voice rough with age. “Another day or two of this and I’ll forget how to fetch my own firewood.”R