All Chapters of The Crown’s Chosen Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Two portraits lay on the table before me.On the right was Owen Blackwood. In the painting, the Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack wore the same bold, unrestrained smile that had once captivated half the court.Now it only made my skin turn cold.For a moment, the phantom memory returned with brutal clarity. I forced my gaze away from the portrait and lifted my hand.“Your Majesty,” I said calmly, pointing to the other painting, “I choose Lord Sebastian.”King Aldric frowned slightly. “Selena, you are certain you do not wish to choose Owen?”He studied me carefully. Everyone in the royal court knew how close Owen and I had once been.But the truth of my rebirth was too strange to explain.I simply lowered my head and answered with quiet certainty.“Father, I will not regret this.”The king watched me for another moment before nodding.He rolled up Sebastian’s portrait and handed it to the chamberlain.“I will summon the High Cleric and prepare the covenant between the Crown and the Vampire D

When I finally returned to my chambers in the royal palace, I curled up on the bed, but the familiar room did nothing to calm my thoughts.The memory of my previous death would not leave me.Tears slid down my face before I realized it.Owen and I had met when we were ten.I had wandered too far from the palace grounds and accidentally crossed into wolf territory. A pack of feral wolves surrounded me, dozens of yellow eyes closing in as they prepared to tear me apart.Owen appeared at the last moment.He drove the wolves back and escorted me safely to the royal gates.He was the heir to the Bloodmoon Pack. Strong, confident, and already respected among the wolf clans. To a young princess, he seemed almost heroic.I fell in love with him before I even understood what love meant.From then on I followed him everywhere whenever he came to the capital. I told anyone who would listen that I would marry Owen when we grew up.The court treated it as an inevitable future.When we finally marri

“I refuse… wait. The Crown Princess is bound to which House?”Owen’s confident expression shattered. Disbelief spread across his face.The entire hall fell silent. Curious gazes shifted back and forth between the two of us.Whispers quickly spread among the nobles.“What just happened? I thought the princess was choosing Owen. She’s been so attentive to him these past months.”“Did the High Cleric read the decree wrong?”I shook my head calmly.“He did not. The man I chose is Sebastian.”Owen finally lost his composure.“Why didn’t you choose me?” he demanded sharply. “Is this because I’ve been distant with you lately? Are you throwing a tantrum?”He seemed to convince himself of that explanation and looked at me with open disapproval.“This is a royal alliance, not a childish game. You cannot drag the entire court into your temper.”He gestured toward the altar.“Go up there and correct the decree. Tell the High Cleric you made a mistake.”I looked at him and laughed softly.Yesterday

I walked slowly back toward my chambers. As I passed through the palace gardens, raised voices reached me again.Owen and Nora.I stopped for a moment, feeling oddly speechless.The Royal Court had given them guest chambers inside the palace. Yet somehow they always ended up arguing or whispering to each other in the gardens where everyone could see them.Perhaps public drama was more exciting.I was still thinking about that when Nora’s voice suddenly rose in anger.“You said you didn’t care about Selena,” she snapped. “Then why are you so bothered by who she marries?”“Yesterday you even told her to go back to the High Cleric and change the covenant. Were you trying to make her choose you instead?”Owen’s patience was clearly wearing thin.“Can you stop making trouble for once?” he said sharply. “You know how powerful the Frostfang wolves are. I need Selena’s power behind me.”“If she binds herself to Sebastian, how is she supposed to help me?”Nora’s tone softened slightly, but the

After paying my respects to the king, I returned slowly to my palace.Within the safety of my own residence, my guard naturally lowered.I never noticed the figure behind me until the sharp scent of spellcraft filled the air. The world spun, and darkness swallowed my senses.When I woke again, I was no longer in the Royal Court.Stone walls surrounded me. The smell of pine and wolf territory lingered in the air.I had been taken to a wolf den.Owen sat beside me. His appearance was disheveled and exhausted, yet when he saw my eyes open he immediately leaned forward in relief.“Selena, you’re awake,” he said. “Do you feel unwell?”I pressed a hand against my aching head and felt irritation rising.“If the you wished to see me, you could have requested an audience through the Royal Court,” I said coldly. “What exactly is the meaning of kidnapping me like this?”Owen showed no anger at my tone. Instead he moved closer as if intending to hold me.I stepped back immediately.“I have already