All Chapters of Bankrupting the Alpha: Crowned by the Dragon King: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

The celebration began in full swing.Whatever hesitation had remained after the crowning vanished the moment the music swelled and the first guests began to move. Laughter spread from table to table. Glasses were raised. Plates filled and emptied almost as quickly as they appeared. Shadows drifted through the room carrying trays and lighting candles, while the gemstones embedded in the floor continued to glow beneath every passing step.The throne room no longer felt like a place of judgment.It felt alive.Warm.Joyful.A wedding reception built inside a realm that should never have been capable of softness.And yet—There it was.I sat beside Sol, still trying to absorb the sight of the two smaller thrones beside ours, still feeling the strange pulse of power moving through my veins and the even stranger tenderness that had settled in my chest.For once, no one was trying to kill us.No prophecy was being recited.No war council was forming in the next room.People were dancing.Cha

The reception unfolded with a life of its own.What had begun as a celebration quickly became something larger, stranger, and far more beautiful than any ordinary wedding could have been.There were games.Not simple games, either.Chaos had somehow created competitions that involved floating rings of light, shifting pathways across the floor, and gemstones that changed color depending on who touched them first. Guests laughed as commanders who had once looked terrifyingly serious argued over rules that changed halfway through. Even Hunter was forced into participating when Aurora dragged him into a contest involving balance and reflexes.He still looked offended.There was dancing too.The open space before the thrones filled with movement as couples, friends, families, and strangers stepped into the music. Some dances were graceful and elegant, practiced over years of tradition. Others were improvised, wild, and entirely driven by joy.The spirit realm joined in without invitation.

The garden went still.I looked at my hands instinctively.They looked the same.They did not feel the same.Darkness itself.Not the absence of light.Not shadow cast by something else.Something deeper.Older.Foundational.Chaos clapped once in delight.“Yes! Much better wording than mine.”I ignored him.“That’s impossible,” I said quietly.Order’s gaze sharpened.“So was a Spirit King born in an age without one.”He inclined his head toward Sol.“So was a union between realms that spent ages divided.”Then back to me.“So was an heir of the void before tonight.”His meaning was clear.Impossible had become unreliable.I felt the memory of that power again—the way it moved like flowing water, glittering like stars buried in smoke, swallowing Elias’s attacks as if they were nothing.Not shadow.Darkness.I looked up.“What does that mean?”Order answered immediately.“It means shadows may hesitate where darkness will not.”My pulse quickened.Chaos stepped in eagerly.“It means sha

The reception was still in chaos when we escaped.Music played too loudly.Someone was arguing over whether spirits should be allowed to cheat at games.Chaos was standing on a table, attempting to organize a second round of cake warfare despite clear public resistance.It was the perfect distraction.Sol caught my hand beneath the noise and laughter, his fingers sliding between mine with quiet certainty.“Now,” he murmured.I did not ask what he meant.I already knew.We moved at once.Not running at first.Walking calmly through the edges of the celebration, nodding when spoken to, smiling just enough to avoid suspicion. We passed guests too distracted by dancing, dessert, and dramatic retellings of Hunter’s fistfight to notice the King and Queen disappearing from their own wedding.Marcus saw us.Of course he did.He opened his mouth, likely to announce our escape to the entire room.Pamela shoved cake into it before he could speak.I nearly laughed aloud.Then we were past the las

Aella POVOnly those recognized by the realm could enter.Me.Sol.Hunter.And, naturally, Chaos and Order, who apparently considered rules a charming suggestion.Sol brushed a strand of hair from my face.“You did that in less than a minute.”“It felt longer.”“It usually does when Chaos is involved.”“I heard that,” Chaos said directly into both our minds. “And for the record, it was an elegant system.”I turned my attention upward, though I had no idea where he actually was.“The guests.”A pause.Then the sense of him sharpened.“Yes?”“When the party is over—or if anyone wishes to leave before then—you will transport them back to the Silver Pack.”Chaos gasped dramatically.You are assigning me responsibilities on your wedding night?“Yes.”Another pause.Then, with theatrical suffering:Very well. I shall shepherd your intoxicated guests through dimensional travel with dignity.“Please don’t make that sentence less likely.”“No promises.”The presence withdrew.I exhaled slowly.