บททั้งหมดของ The Alpha King's Forbidden Mate: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

The cold from the underground chamber sank into Serena’s bones, though the sweat on her brow betrayed the heat from the burning torch in her grip. Her heart thundered in her chest—not from fear, but from anticipation. She was not supposed to be here. No one was.The passage that led her here had been hidden beneath the library, behind a forgotten tapestry of the first Alpha King. Serena had only noticed it because one of the maids had dropped a crumbling book filled with unfamiliar glyphs. Something about the way she had panicked… how she had tried to hide the book… it all felt deliberate. Like she was guiding Serena without words.And Serena had followed.Now she stood in a vast underground hall—its domed ceiling etched with the phases of the moon and the history of wolves long before Elias’s bloodline came into power. Every surface shimmered with faint markings that pulsed faintly in the torchlight, as if they were alive, reacting to her presence.A thick pedestal loomed in the cent

The royal chambers had never felt colder.Despite the soft flicker of firelight from the hearth and the velvet warmth of the thick rugs underfoot, Serena felt the chill of the Council’s threats still wrapped around her like a vice. She stood by the tall glass windows, arms folded tightly across her chest, staring into the snow-smeared darkness. The frost clinging to the glass mirrored the tension in her veins.It had only been hours since the confrontation with the Elders—old wolves clinging to archaic laws and fearing change with a paranoia that reeked of desperation. Their words still rang in her ears: You are not of pure blood. You are a threat to our hierarchy. The mate bond with the King is a mistake that must be corrected.Serena had expected resistance. But not the outright threat of exile.The door creaked behind her, and even before the familiar scent of cedar and smoke met her nose, she knew who it was.“I thought I’d find you here,” Elias said softly.She didn’t turn around

The moon was high by the time Serena slipped away from the palace.She wore no crown, no cloak of royal embroidery — just a dark tunic and soft leather boots, her hair braided tightly against the wind. The grimoire pressed against her chest as she moved through the gardens, heart pounding louder than her footsteps.She hadn’t told Elias she was leaving.She couldn’t.Not yet.He would try to protect her. But from what — herself?The eastern gate loomed in the distance, moonlight casting silver patterns across the cobblestones. A figure stood beneath the arch — cloaked, silent.Serena froze.The figure turned.Elias.Of course.“You didn’t think I’d notice you were gone?” he asked softly.She sighed, stepping out of the shadows. “I thought maybe you’d let me go without a scene.”Elias walked toward her, stopping inches away. “You’re not a prisoner, Serena. You never were. But don’t ask me not to worry when you’re walking into a firestorm.”“I have to know the truth.”“I know.” His eyes

The days that followed Serena’s declaration passed like storm clouds—dark, charged, and waiting to break.The Council didn’t attack immediately.Instead, they camped at the Northern Gate, their emissaries demanding an audience, their soldiers lining the forests like a slow-bleeding wound across the land. It was a tactic. A psychological siege. Let the queen unravel beneath the pressure. Let her people doubt. Let the Alpha King bend before the weight of duty.But Serena did not bend. And Elias? He was made of steel.Still, behind the walls of the royal palace, the cracks began to show."Your people are afraid," Nyra, the palace mage, said softly as she traced protective wards into the stone floor of the war room.Serena watched from the side, her arms folded. She hadn’t slept. Magic buzzed under her skin, making rest impossible.“They have every right to be,” she answered.Nyra looked up, her violet eyes steady. “But if fear turns to doubt, you’ll lose more than allies. You’ll lose you

The cold stone corridor beneath the palace throbbed with ancient magic.Serena’s boots echoed against the floor as she moved beside Elias, deeper into the hidden passage the seer had shown them—an entrance buried behind the royal archives, known only to the rulers of Crescentra and those in the Inner Circle. Only now had Elias broken centuries of silence to reveal it to her.“This place...” Serena whispered, fingers brushing the moss-laced walls, “it feels like it’s alive.”“It is,” Elias muttered, his jaw tight. “This path was carved with blood oaths. It remembers everyone who’s walked it, and it never forgets a traitor.”Their torches cast flickering shadows across the worn runes on the walls. Symbols Serena didn’t recognize twisted and curled like veins across the stone. She felt them hum beneath her skin, a low vibration that tugged at something deep inside her. Something ancient.Finally, they entered a rounded chamber. Its walls curved upward into a dome, and at its center sat a