All Chapters of Mated to the Alpha King: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

84 Chapters

1 - The Cursed One

Splintered wood of the bucket handle dug into Winter’s palms, the raw, angry skin threatening to split with every sloshing step. Cold water slopped over the rim, soaking the hem of her worn out woolen dress and chilling her to the bone. It was a pre dawn cold, the kind that felt sharper than a blade, seeping into her marrow and making her teeth ache. The well was a cruel fifty yards from the back door of the cottage, a journey she made four times every morning, rain or shine, snow or suffocating summer heat. Her aunt, Griselda, liked the water to be fresh. “Untainted” she would often say, her eyes, small and hard like river pebbles, always finding Winter’s. The implication was clear, Winter was the taint. “Faster girl!!” Griselda’s voice cut through the dim morning air from the open doorway. “The fire won’t light itself, and the porridge is waiting. Do you want me to come out there?” “No Aunt” Winter whispered, her voice a fragile puff of white in the air. The threat was

2 - Shame

“It’s your mother’s blood,” Griselda spat, the pretense of sympathy gone. “That witch’s filth. It poisoned you. Made you this.... pale, weak, useless thing. My brother, may he rest in peace, was a fool to lie with her. A complete and utter fool.” Winter squeezed her eyes shut. She barely remembered her mother, a vague impression of a soft voice and a scent like night blooming flowers. And she didn’t remember her father at all. Both gone, leaving her to the mercy of his sister. “Now get that fire lit and the porridge on,” Griselda commanded, giving Winter a sharp kick to the ribs with her boot. It wasn’t hard enough to break anything, never that, but it was hard enough to send a starburst of pain through her side and steal her breath. “The Alpha’s tithe collectors will be in the village square today. I need bread and some salt. You’ll go.” Winter gasped, curling in on herself for a moment before forcing her limbs to obey. “Yes, Aunt.” Going into the village was worse than any c

3 - A Beast

It wasn't a hard shove, but it was enough to make her stumble backward, her heel catching on a loose stone. She flailed, dropping the coin purse, the few coins scattering into the mud. “Oh look at that” he laughed. “As clumsy as she is cursed.” Winter fell to her knees, ignoring them, her hands scrambling in the dirt and muck to retrieve the precious coins. If she came back without them, or without the bread, the punishment would be severe. Her fingers were numb with cold, trembling as she fumbled for a small copper piece. A large, calloused hand suddenly appeared in front of her face, holding out the last coin. Winter looked up slowly, her heart pounding with fear. But it wasn’t Marcus. it was an older man, Jorunn, the blacksmith. His face was stern, etched with lines of soot and age, but his eyes held no malice. They held a deep, weary sadness. “Here child” he said, his voice a low rumble. He didn’t smile. He simply pressed the coin into her palm and closed her fingers around i

4 - It's Decided

He was the reason the werewolves were at the top of the hierarchy, the reason the witches who had once warred with them now lived in hiding, hunted and hated. He was a nightmare given form, and Winter, like everyone else, was terrified of the very idea of him. She clutched her loaf of bread and hurried away from the square, eager to be back within the familiar misery of her aunt’s cottage. The fear of the unknown was somehow even worse than the fear of the known. That evening, the meager meal was eaten in silence. Winter cleaned the dishes, her body aching from the day’s labor and the lingering pain in her ribs. She was just finishing when Griselda slammed a flagon of ale down on the table. “Heard something else today,” Griselda said, her words slightly slurred. She’d been drinking since the sun had set. “From the tithe collectors.” Winter tensed, her back to her aunt as she scrubbed a pot. “The Alpha King... our great and terrible King Ezekiel !” Griselda gave a short, barking l

5 - Terrifying Honor

“It is a solution.” The voice was low and pragmatic, belonging to Fendrel, the acting Alpha of the Reval pack. He stood before the hearth in the elder’s hall, a squat, windowless building that smelled of old wood and dried herbs. His gaze was fixed on the crackling fire, avoiding the troubled eyes of the man sitting across from him. Jorunn, the blacksmith, ran a thick, calloused hand over his weary face. “A solution? Fendrel, we are sending a girl to a potential death sentence. We’re serving her to him like a piece of meat.” “She is a piece of meat that our pack chokes on,” Fendrel countered, his tone hardening. “You hear the whispers, Jorunn. You see the looks. After Samuel’s death.... it’s gotten worse. People are afraid. Griselda came to me this morning. She says the girl is uncontrollable, a danger. That she wants her gone.” “Griselda wants her inheritance, and she is a cruel drunk,” Jorunn grumbled, slamming his empty flagon onto the rough-hewn table. “The girl is… lost. Fr

6 - Journey

The families of June and Eve sobbed. The girls were helped onto two of the horses. The scarred man’s gaze fell on Winter, standing alone. He looked from her to the empty space around her, a flicker of something like surprise or contempt, in his eyes. “You. On the horse,” he commanded, pointing to the last one. Winter’s limbs felt like lead. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t obey. This was it. This was real. She was leaving. The second man, the one with the cold eyes, let out an impatient sigh. He strode over, grabbed her by the arm with a grip of iron, and practically threw her into the saddle. She let out a small gasp of pain and surprise as she landed awkwardly. He didn’t say a word. He just turned, mounted his own powerful warhorse, and without a backward glance, led the way out of the village. Winter risked one look over her shoulder. She could see the figures of the villagers watching them go. She saw Jorunn standing outside his smithy, a dark, unmoving silhouette.

7 - The Alpha King Awaits

The girls were led off the horses and taken through a series of cavernous, echoing hallways. The interior was as bleak as the exterior. The walls were bare, dark stone, the floors were cold, and the only light came from torches set high in iron sconces, casting long, dancing shadows that seemed to writhe and grasp. There were no tapestries, no rugs, no furniture beyond the occasional severe looking stone bench. It felt less like a home and more like the inside of a mountain. Ancient, cold, and dead. They were brought to a large, imposing set of wooden doors and told to wait. June and Eve were pale, their earlier excitement completely extinguished, replaced by a wide eyed terror that mirrored Winter’s own. After what felt like an eternity, a new man appeared. He was younger than the guards, with a lean build and an easy way of moving that seemed out of place in the severe environment. His hair was a sandy brown, and his eyes, unlike everyone else’s, held a spark of weary life. He

8 - Mate

“Winter Moon?” Jax repeated, his voice laced with impatience. He walked over to her. “Come on now, girl, it’s not that complicated. Step forward.” He reached out and, with a frustrated flick of his wrist, pushed her hood back. Her cascade of white hair tumbled free, stark and luminous in the torchlight. There was a subtle shift in the room’s atmosphere. A change in pressure. “Head up,” Jax sighed. “Let him....let’s just get a look at you.” Winter couldn’t. She kept her eyes screwed shut, her head bowed. She was trembling so hard her teeth chattered. She could feel the weight of a gaze on her, a gaze that felt ancient and impossibly heavy. It was coming from the shadows. “Please,” she whispered, the sound swallowed by the cavernous room. “Gods’ sake,” Jax grumbled. He put a hand under her chin and firmly, but not violently, tilted her head up. “Just look forward.” Forced to obey, Winter’s terrified, tear-filled eyes fluttered open. Her gaze lifted from the floor, past the strai

9 - Get Out!

Silence was deafening. It screamed, a high, piercing note that only Winter and the monster in the shadows seemed to hear. The invisible chain that had slammed into her soul vibrated, a taut, humming wire that sang with a terrifying, one word song: Mate. Mate. Mate It was a physical blow, a jolt so profound it felt as though the mountain itself had buckled beneath her feet. Her vision swam, the torchlight blurring into streaks of orange and gold. The scent was the most overwhelming part..an impossible, primal aroma of pine needles crushed after a lightning strike, of cold mountain stone, and the furious, crackling energy of a storm about to break. It was himIt flooded her senses, bypassed her terror, and spoke directly to a deep, dormant part of her she never knew existed. And that hidden part of her purred. It was a horrifying, traitorous sensation. While her mind screamed in pure, unadulterated terror, a strange, deep warmth was uncoiling low in her belly, a liquid heat that

10 - Labyrinth

Now it was just them. Jax, looking like he was about to be physically ill. Winter, frozen in a state of pure, catatonic shock. And the Alpha King, who looked as if he was contemplating bringing the entire mountain down on top of them. “My King....” Jax started, his voice a strained, desperate whisper. Ezekiel didn’t look at him. His blazing golden eyes were still pinned on Winter, dissecting her, damning her. That scent, his scent, was still clinging to the air, making her head spin. He took another slow, deliberate step toward her. Winter’s paralysis broke. The dam of shock cracked, and a small, terrified whimper escaped her lips. She stumbled backward, her legs tangling, her worn boots scraping against the stone. The pathetic little sound she made seemed to lance the boil of his fury. Ezekiel froze. The inferno in his eyes banked with an unnatural quickness, swallowed by a profound, chilling emptiness. The stone heart was reasserting its dominion, encasing the raw, unwanted em

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