All Chapters of THE NIGHT MY MATE BURNED ME ALIVE : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

ARC 1:REBIRTH ​I always believed my mate would be the last person standing beside me when the world turned against me.​Instead, he was the one who ordered my execution.​The iron chains around my wrists rattled as a bitter night wind swept across the execution square. The harsh clink echoed off stone, scraping against the uneasy silence of the crowd. My skin was raw where the shackles bit deep, dried blood gluing fabric to flesh with every breath I took. Yet I barely felt the sting. Physical agony had long since ceased to be the worst thing happening to me tonight.​The entire kingdom had gathered to watch me die.​Nobles crowded beneath embroidered house banners. Warriors packed the front rows, their polished armor glinting like silver teeth beneath the moonlight. Servants shoved against the perimeter, whispering behind cupped hands, while children sat perched on their fathers' shoulders—too young to understand death, but eager for the spectacle all the same.​Every single one of th

My hands wouldn't stop shaking.​I stood in front of the cracked oval mirror, staring at a face I hadn't seen in five years. It was the face of a girl who still believed in fairy tales—a girl foolish enough to think fate rewarded loyalty, sacrifice, and love.​A girl who had no idea she was destined to burn alive.​A sharp knock sounded against the wooden frame.​"Seraphina?" my mother called from the hallway. "Are you ill, dear?"​The sound of her voice hit like a physical blow.​In my first life, she had died less than a year after my rejection ceremony. Accused of aiding political traitors against the Crown, she had been dragged from our home and executed without a trial. I never even got to say goodbye.​Now she was alive. Breathing. Waiting on the other side of my door.​My throat tightened, raw with unshed tears. "I'm coming," I managed to choke out.​For several agonizing seconds, I simply stood there, grounding myself against the cool wood of the dresser. Then I crossed the roo

​I read the letter five times before I finally accepted that the words weren't going to rearrange themselves into something less troubling.​I know what you did today. Meet me at midnight. Come alone.​— Kael Blackwood​The parchment crackled softly between my fingers. At first, I thought my hands were shaking because of Kael. That would have been simple enough to understand—a lingering echo of panic at the mention of my future executioner.​The truth was far worse.​I wasn't frightened of the man standing in the present. I was terrified of what his sudden, sharp interest signaled.​In my first life, Kael Blackwood had barely granted me a second glance. I had spent years collecting scraps of his attention like a starving beggar gathering crumbs beneath a feast table—a brief glance across a crowded ballroom, a cool, polite greeting at a ceremonial court, a rare, formal conversation I would replay in my mind for weeks afterward.​I had built an entire kingdom of dreams on those fragile f

By the time I reached the drawing room, I had already forced my expression into something calm and impenetrable.​Years ago, Vivienne had taught me a painful, expensive lesson: Never let your enemies see what you're thinking.​That lesson had eventually cost me my life.​Sunlight streamed through the tall, arched windows as I crossed the threshold. Dust motes drifted lazily through the golden beams, and the comforting scent of fresh jasmine tea lingered in the air.​Vivienne sat gracefully on one of the velvet sofas.​At first glance, she looked precisely as she always had: breathtaking, flawless, and completely harmless. Golden hair cascaded over one shoulder in soft waves, and a pale blue dress hugged her figure with practiced elegance. Her posture was delicate enough to make every noble daughter in the kingdom burn with envy.​In my first life, I had envied her too.​Now, I knew better. A viper coiled beneath a bed of roses was still a viper.​The moment she looked up and spotted me

"What exactly are you?"​The question hung in the heavy, static-charged air between us.​For several agonizing seconds, the only sound in the study was the relentless drumming of rain against the glass and the low, rolling thunder echoing over the capital. I stared at Kael, my throat tight, unable to utter a single word. My heart slammed against my ribs like a trapped beast.​If only you knew.​If only I could lay it all bare. Tell him I had already lived through these exact years once before. Tell him I remembered every quiet betrayal, every devastating mistake, and every step of the trail that had dragged me to the execution square. I remembered standing bound in iron chains while the kingdom cheered for my end. I remembered the blinding, agonizing heat as the flames took me.​Most of all, I remembered him—the man standing six feet away—giving the order that ended my life.​And yet, by some impossible twist of fate, I had opened my eyes five years in the past.​How could I ever say t