All Chapters of The Alpha King’s Mate Is An Ancient: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Ishtar woke with a gasp that tore violently from her chest.Her body jerked upright as though dragged from drowning, lungs burning, and heart hammering so hard, she thought it might split her ribs apart. Cold sweat slicked her skin, as her fingers clawed at silk sheets, breath coming in ragged, broken pulls.The cliff—yes… she’d fallen off. She felt the wind. Felt Poppy’s claws digging into her flesh. She remembered Pete, and how he just stood and watched.My baby.Ishtar wrapped her abdomen, as she curled inward instinctively, a strangled sound escaping her throat. Panic surged through her in a brutal wave as she waited for the pain, for the tearing agony, and the hollow, dead silence that followed as she fell.But nothing came.Instead, there was a steady warmth beneath her palms. She sucked in a sharp breath, and finally looked down. Her stomach was flat. Unmarked. There was no blood. No pain.Her chest rose and fell beneath fabric far too soft to belong to the forest or the cliff.

The gala dragged on in a blur. By then, the heavy silence had lifted, replaced by lively music that soon filled the hall with laughter, and little by little, the noise grew again. However, it never changed the assessing and scrutinizing eyes fixed on Lillia. After she sat, the herald continued, calling family after family, who would come forward with gifts to pay respects. Amid the celebration, music and dance filling the room with melody and colour, Regaleon stood abruptly. Without a word or as much as a glance in her direction, he turned and walked away, dark silk brushing the obsidian steps as though she were no more than a necessary engagement he needed to get over. The effect was immediate. Whispers rose beneath the music, Lillia felt them before she heard them. The shift in attention, the sharp increase in scrutiny. A foreign bride abandoned at her own joining celebration. During this time, it was clear to Lillia that their initial very respectable smi

Maera froze as a sharp intake of breath from the other maidens followed. “Forgive me, my lady, but that… that won’t be possible,” She said, carefully choosing her words this time. “You cannot approach his Majesty unless summoned.” Fenris scoffed. He can’t be serious, can he… really? Only one way to find out. Lillia thought as her brows arched. She rose from the bed. “I wasn’t asking.” This time Maera raised her gaze, and silence stretched. Lillia could see her fingers curled at her sides, knuckles whitening. Her gaze flicked with mixed emotions. Her expression hardened and fell at the same time, almost as though an inner battle was being fought. “My lady,“ Maera said at last, voice low, strained. “This is not customary.” This time, Lillia could almost sense terror in her voice and see fear in her eyes. Her assistants' bowing figures shrunk. The air was palpable, but Lillia was not about to back down because of a ruthless dictator. She lifted her gaze and stared down at Maer

When Lillia opened her eyes, she watched the blurred space before her in silence, overwhelmed by the intense feeling of hate. Hate for the entirety of Clan Clearwater for betraying her father the moment his heart stopped.Even more, she was enraged by Poppy and Pete for the ease with which they had discarded her, like she was nothing more than an inconvenience once her shield was gone.Someday, she vowed, the promise already burning steady beneath her ribs, I will destroy them. All of them. Shapes hovered above her, their outlines wavering, voices reaching her as though through deep water. Lillia blinked.She felt suspended, adrift between waking and memory, until the fog thinned, and their faces sharpened into focus.Kyla was crying openly now, tears streaking down her cheeks as though she had forgotten how to stop them. Selene sat close, one hand wrapped around Lillia’s fingers, rubbing slow, grounding circles into

Her pulse thundered in her ears as she stood motionless, one hand still gripping the iron gate, knuckles white.Then slowly, too slowly, Lillia turned her head.“Pa—”Lillia, don’t listen. Fenris’ voice cut sharply through her thoughts. That voice is not—Father? I know… Her response wavered, surprised at her thoughts even. But that voice. That name. By then, the growl was gone. So was the suffocating weight that had loomed over her moments before. Silence stretched unnaturally, thick and taut, as the pressure she felt intensified, coiling around her ribs, and squeezing just enough to make breathing painful. Lillia could still hear Fenris, but her presence felt distant now, dulled, as if submerged beneath layers of water. Her feet remained rooted on the stone path, yet something deeper tugged at her, pulling her into the garden. It felt warm, familiar, and she was drawn to it. Her brows knit together as her feet moved without permission, stepping back towards the stone pathway. But