All Chapters of The Alpha King’s Rejected Slave : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

~Elira~I sat on the edge of the same bed I had woken up in weeks ago, my fingers gripping the edge of the fabric beneath me as I tried to steady the feeling crawling through my chest. The faint scent of herbs lingered in the air, but it did nothing to calm what was building inside me.It wasn’t just pain. It was heat.A slow, suffocating heat that spread from my chest outward like something trying to claw its way free. Elda stood in front of me, her movements slower than usual as she poured a dark liquid into a small cup, her hands were steady despite the tension that had settled in the room.“Drink,” she said simply, holding it out to me. I didn’t hesitate.I took it from her and swallowed it in one gulp, the bitterness hitting my tongue immediately as it burned its way down my throat. It was stronger than anything she had given me before.I closed my eyes for a brief second, waiting. I hoped the heat was going to magically disappear, but it didn’t. It still lingered. Ryker stepped

~Elira~The ground beneath me felt colder than it should have, the loose soil still fresh where they had just covered her. The scent of earth lingered in the air as though it refused to let go of what had been taken from it. I remained on my knees, my hands resting weakly against my thighs as my gaze stayed fixed on the grave in front of me, unable to look away, unable to accept that this was real.Elda was gone.The thought didn’t settle no matter how many times it crossed my mind. It stayed there heavy and unbearable as my chest tightened painfully around it. My breath came unevenly as I tried to steady it, but it only made it worse, a sob escaped me before I could stop it.My hand moved quickly to cover my mouth, as though I could contain it, as though I could hide it, but it didn’t work. Nothing worked. The tears came again, blurring my vision as they fell freely, landing against the ground that now held the only person who had shown me kindness without question.Because of me.My

~Nira~The corridor was quieter than usual, the torches along the stone walls flickering low as the night settled deeper into the palace. Most of the guards had already rotated for the evening, their footsteps fading into distant echoes, leaving behind pockets of silence that felt rare in a place like this.I moved carefully through it, my steps were light. My gaze shifted briefly at every turn before I continued forward. It wasn’t fear that guided me, not entirely. It was caution. The kind that had been built over time, sharpened by knowing that one wrong move in a place like this didn’t come with second chances.Still, I didn’t stop. Because I knew exactly where I was going.His door came into view at the end of the corridor, slightly ajar, just enough to tell me he was inside. I paused for a second, listening, my breath steady as I made sure no one else was nearby before I slipped through the opening and shut it quietly behind me.The room was dim, lit only by a single lantern rest

~Kael~The steady creak of the cart wheels against the forest path blended with the rhythmic stomp of hooves and boots, a dull, persistent sound that should have grounded me, but instead only sharpened the restless tension clawing beneath my skin. The trees stretched endlessly on either side, their branches thick and looming, casting long shadows that swallowed the path ahead as though the forest itself was trying to hide something from me.I sat still inside the cart, one hand resting against the wooden frame, my gaze fixed ahead though I wasn’t truly seeing anything. My attention was elsewhere, split between the movement around me and the silence within me. Drex rode close, just within reach of the cart,, his eyes scanning the surroundings with practiced precision. He had said little since we began this journey.“Can you see anything?” I asked finally, my voice cutting through the quiet without raising in volume.Drex turned slightly in his saddle, his gaze sweeping the terrain ah

~Elira~The air inside the bunker felt warmer than it had any right to be, thick with too many bodies forced into one space, too many emotions left unsaid yet somehow still loud enough to press against my skin. The wooden frame of the bunk beside me creaked faintly as I set my small bag down, my fingers lingering on it for a moment longer than necessary, as though letting go of it meant accepting that this was real, that this was where we were now.This was home.Around me, people moved, some quietly arranging their spaces, others speaking in hushed tones that weren’t nearly as quiet as they believed them to be. I didn’t need to look at them to know what they were saying. I felt it through their glances, in the way their voices dipped and rose the moment I shifted even slightly.“She’s the reason we’re here.”My shoulders tensed instinctively, but I didn’t react beyond that. I kept my gaze on the thin mattress in front of me, smoothing it out slowly, as though focusing on something s