All Chapters of The alpha king's slave mate: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Ronan’s POVThe room was too quiet.I could hear the pounding of my heart, the steady breathing of lyra and Garrick, the way Aldric’s chair creaked slightly as he leaned back—still staring at her like she was a miracle made flesh.Because to him, she was.His granddaughter. The missing piece of a past he thought lost.To me?She was the complication I never saw coming.I stood there, rooted to the floor, watching her as she tried to make sense of everything she’d just heard. Her eyes weren’t glassy with tears, they were just distant and alert. She wasn’t falling apart, she was piecing things together, even if her hands were shaking as she clasped them tightly in her lap.By blood… you are the heir to both thrones.The words rang in my skull again, no matter how many times I tried to silence them.Moonstone and Shadowfang. Her veins carried the right to rule both.She was the Queen of both kingdoms.And I—I was just the rogue prince who had clawed my way back from the dead.I had bled

Lyra’s POVI didn’t go back to the servant’s quarters.The moment I left Aldric’s chambers, I felt like I couldn’t breathe within the walls of the castle. Everyone and everything felt too close. Too pressuring. Too loud. Like the stone corridors had ears and the portraits had eyes that watched me with new knowledge.So I just walked.I let my feet guide me, unthinking, uncaring, until the path ahead turned into earth and the trees parted into a familiar place.The forest.It welcomed me without question.I stepped past the tree line, deeper and deeper until I reached a clearing that made my breath catch. The same place I’d seen in the dream. The one where the moon goddess spoke to me—where I felt Ember stir for the first time in years.The grass was cool beneath my feet. Dewy. The air held the scent of pine and something ancient.I sat down without thinking, gathering my knees to my chest. Then, slowly, I laid back against the grass, letting it cradle me as I stared up at the moon.Sh

Lyra’s POVThe cool night air clung to my skin as we made our way back through the dimly lit corridors of the castle. Ronan walked a step ahead, his shoulders tense but his pace steady, as though afraid that if he slowed down, I might read too much into the moment we’d just shared. My mind, however, was still tangled in it—his words, his eyes.I was still trying to piece myself together when we reached the point where the hallways split. I turned instinctively toward the narrow staircase that led to the servants’ quarters. But before I could take more than two steps, Ronan’s voice stopped me.“Not there,” he said quietly.I blinked at him, my hand still resting on the cold banister. “What do you mean? I—”“Follow me.” His tone was calm but left no room for argument.Confusion stirred in my chest as I hesitated. He didn’t wait for my reply—he just started walking down the opposite hallway, the one that led deeper into the castle. The one I rarely set foot in. My feet carried me after h

Lyra’s POVBehind the stone was… a book.I froze, my fingers hovering in the gap for a moment before I carefully pulled it free. It wasn’t large—just a slim, leather-bound book, its cover worn smooth at the edges, the spine torn from use. A thin layer of dust clung to the surface, as though it had been untouched for years.I turned it over in my hands slowly, brushing my thumb along the gold-pressed edge of the cover. Why would someone hide a book in the wall?Then my eyes caught on the tiny, almost invisible lettering etched at the bottom right corner. My breath hitched. It wasn’t just a book.It was a diary.My mother’s diary.A strange, coldness settled over me as I stared at it. Questions swarmed in my head, colliding too fast to catch hold of any single one. Why would she hide this? What could possibly be inside that she didn’t want anyone to see? What secrets were buried in these pages?My fingers trembled as I opened the cover. The faint scent of aged paper rose up, holding thi

Ronan’s POVWe continued the rest of breakfast in silence. Well… I continued eating while Lyra was just being… strange. Her body was very tense and her eyes kept getting even more distant by the minute like her thoughts were pulling her deeper into her head.She had still barely touched her food which had long since gone cold.I tried not to stare, but it was difficult. Her mind was somewhere far from here—further than I could reach. I cut into my food, listening to the faint clink of silverware and the muffled footsteps of servants moving beyond the door, but I couldn’t shake the growing unease growing in my gut.She didn’t even pretend to be present at this point. Her fingers toyed with the edge of her napkin, twisting the fabric over and over until it was wrinkled beyond repair. Every so often, her gaze would flick toward the window, not to look at the gardens or the sky, but to stare blankly at nothing at all. It was the kind of distance that came from holding yourself too tightly