All Chapters of My Second Chance with the Alpha King: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

~Nyla~“You can rise.” He said in that gravelly voice.I stood on shaky legs and looked up into his face. My heart slammed into my chest the minute our eyes met. Something inside me yearned to reach out to him and I had to visibly restrain myself from doing that.He was looking at me with so much intensity as if he could feel what I was feeling.“Tha…thank you.” I stammered.He gave a single nod. His face was blank, no expressions.“Carry on.” He told the priestess.I turned to the altar once more and the priestess began her rituals. She handed us a clay bowl with cold water and we all sipped from it before she took it back.“You are now full and you are now fledged. Become!” She ordered.We all looked up into the sky and howled. Some transformed into powerful wolves showing they were no longer omegas.Sandra, Lily and Janet transformed into smaller brown wolves. I could see the disappointment on Sandra's face.Meanwhile, I couldn't transform. I was still stuck in my human body. Alpha

~Nyla~The mating ceremony and coronation felt like a funeral. No one was happy. Everyone moved around like they had been compelled to.“Our life starts now.” Oswald whispered when the rituals were over.He grabbed me by the neck and pulled me closer to him so he could mark me. His thumb pressed down on my throbbing being and he smiled in satisfaction.The minute his teeth sank into my neck, I closed my eyes expecting pain. But what I felt next was pure ecstasy. I moaned,.relishing the feeling of him sucking my blood.A few minutes later, he came up for air. Blood was all over lips and he just lapped it up like a hungry wolf.“Mate.” He growled.Something inside me purred in glee. He led me down the path, back to the palace.“Shouldn't we be celebrating?” I asked.“Nobody is in the mood for a celebration. They all hated my decision and so they have no reason to celebrate.” He answered.“Why?” I blurted out.“Why what?”“Why me? I'm not worthy. I'm not even up to your social status and

~Nyla~"Horrors?" I repeated, my voice cracking on the word.I expected to see flames. I expected the underworld, or nothing at all. Instead, I was lying on hard-packed earth, the scent of grass and smoke still clinging to my skin.Oswald Ashborne was standing over me, very much alive, very much unmarked by the death I'd watched claim him.I scrambled backward, putting distance between us before I even understood why. My hands hit dirt, not ash. Not fire."Careful." He didn't move to help me. He just watched, arms folded, waiting to see what I would do next like I was something curious he'd stumbled across in the woods.I looked around. The clearing. The same clearing where the coming of age ceremony had been held. Except there were no drummers, no dancers, no altar. No priestess. No crowd chanting for my death."How am I here?" I whispered, more to myself than to him."You collapsed." He said it plainly, like it was an unremarkable thing, a wolf fainting in the grass. "I was passing

~Nyla~The shack looked exactly the way I remembered it, and somehow that was worse than if it had changed.Same crooked door and gap in the wall where the wind always found its way in. Same single cot pushed against the corner, the blanket thin enough to see through if you held it to the light. I stood in the doorway for a long moment before I made myself step inside, half expecting the walls to shift the moment I touched them, to prove none of this was real.It didn't shift. It just sat there, patient and unimpressed, the way it always had.I sank onto the cot and pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes.Think, Nyla.If the moon goddess had truly given me another chance, then somewhere out there, right now, whoever had poisoned that wine was still walking free.It was still years away from doing it but that meant they were gathering whatever pieces they needed to make sure Oswald died exactly the way he had before.I forced myself to remember it properly. The wine had come f

~Nyla~"I asked you a question." Artemis's voice was low, controlled, the kind of calm that scared me more than shouting ever could. "What is a wolfless omega doing skulking around the storehouse after curfew?"My mind raced, scrambling for anything that wouldn't sound like a lie even though it was one."I was looking for herbs." I said, forcing my voice steady. "One of the omegas mentioned the storehouse keeps dried chamomile for headaches. I've had one all day, and I didn't want to bother anyone this late."It was thin. I knew it was thin the moment it left my mouth.Artemis studied me, his eyes dragging slowly from my face down to the dust still clinging to the hem of my dress, then back up again. I resisted the urge to brush it off, knowing the movement would only draw more attention to it."Chamomile." He repeated flatly. "You went looking for chamomile, alone, after dark, instead of asking the kitchen staff who actually have keys to that door.""I didn't think it would matter."