บททั้งหมดของ Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by the Crown: บทที่ 261 - บทที่ 270

Ember Frost’s POVShe slipped her arm through mine for a moment before letting go and taking a step back. Even then, I was still aware of her standing nearby."I'm scared," I admitted, my voice shaking. I swallowed hard, but the tears came anyway. "I don't understand why all of this keeps happening to me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do next."She stayed quiet while I spoke. When I finished, she took a moment before answering."Maybe you don't have to figure everything out right now," she said. "Most people don't. We spend so much time trying to understand why things happen, but sometimes there isn't an answer waiting for us straight away."She glanced down briefly before looking back at me."I know it feels overwhelming now," she said. "But feeling lost doesn't mean you'll always feel this way. A lot can change before you realize it."I was quiet for a moment before asking, "So what do we find in the end? Something good? Or something bad?"She thought about that."I don't think

Ember Frost’s POVChunks of flesh sloughed away from him, but no bones emerged beneath. What should have been a skeleton was instead filled with an endless, void-like darkness, as though something hollow and infinite lay where his body should have been. I couldn’t tell whether the supreme demon’s full-strength strike would be enough to end him during his regeneration phase, but one thing was clear—this was the most exposed he would ever be. His form was in complete ruin.Without a physical vessel to anchor his power, only two outcomes seemed likely. Either he would be forced to retreat back into Hell, or his true body would descend—and if that happened, the Stormsphire Mountains wouldn’t remain on any map afterward.I wasn’t in any better condition either—time was still against me. Even if I forced Lunaris around my body, it wouldn’t be enough to fully protect me. The blow I’d taken was on the same level as Malachar’s; nothing about it was lighter.My bones were cracked, my armor red

Eira’s POVI was dead. That much I understood with a strange, detached clarity.Death wasn't what I had expected. It was neither purely soft nor purely cruel, but something in between—an odd contradiction that brushed against my senses without ever fully taking shape. One moment I felt submerged in deep, shifting water; the next, I was tumbling endlessly through the void of space, with no direction to anchor me.Everything that had once held me together—pain, weight, the limits of flesh—had fallen away. My body no longer mattered. It was something discarded, distant, almost irrelevant now. What remained was awareness alone, untethered—a soul drifting somewhere beyond the reach of any path back.And in that quiet, uncertain expanse, a single question lingered.Who would be the one to find me now?A faint unease stirred within me. Would the Moon Goddess even accept someone who had followed the Goddess of Fate? Would she recognize a soul touched by moonlight's shadow?But the stillness r

Ember Frost’s POVThe sharp smell of antiseptic filled the air. It was familiar, unpleasant... but oddly easy to ignore.My body felt heavy. Even opening my eyes seemed to take more effort than I could manage.Something cool rested against my wrist. A tube. I could feel a faint, steady flow through it, though I couldn't tell what it was carrying.A hospital.That was the first thought that came to me as my mind slowly cleared.The second was far less important.What time is it?I had no idea how long I'd been out. It could have been minutes or much longer. I wasn't even sure there was a clock nearby to check.After a moment, I finally forced my eyes open.I'd been right.A hospital.At least... I thought it was.The ceiling stretched high above me, and beyond it I caught glimpses of more beds than I could count.Before I could make sense of it, exhaustion pulled me back into stillness.Okay, maybe I got a little carried away. Waiting around was just that boring.Lying there, time bare

Ember Frost’s POVAs the last of the emotions settled, an awkward silence crept in between us.Orion was still holding my hand, but he wouldn't look at me. Instead, he stared intently at the murals covering the sanctuary walls, as if they'd suddenly become the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.The faint blush creeping across his ears gave him away.I had to bite back a smile.The longer the silence stretched, the more uncomfortable he seemed to become. Before it could swallow us both, I decided to put him out of his misery."So..." I said, tilting my head with a faint smile. "Did I hear you right earlier? You called them your believers?"Orion glanced up at me, but the moment our eyes met, he looked away again, the blush on his ears deepening."...Yeah," he admitted with an embarrassed nod."They're your believers," he said quietly. "Your people... the ones who serve you. Your companions."A quiet laugh escaped me, and I shook my head."Don't say it like that," I said with an amu