All Chapters of The Alpha King’s Ruthless Claim: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

As much as I hoped the Supreme Alpha King would slaughter the entire royal court, I needed to run faster if I didn’t want to be one of the dead ones.My slippers were already soaked through by the time I hit the tree line, and the tight, shirred bodice of my wine-coloured gown felt like a corset of iron. My mother had hoarded this dress in tissue paper for years, waiting for the day she could finally make me someone else’s problem. Now, the heavy, gathered tiered skirt was snagging on every branch, root, and briar in the Aurelian woods.I didn't care.Stopping behind a thick oak, I grabbed the layers of expensive silk and yanked. The violent tearing sound echoed in the quiet forest as I ripped the skirt high enough to free my legs. The cool night air hit my bare calves, and for the first time all evening, I felt like I could actually move.I pulled my dark travelling cloak tighter and broke into a sprint.The further I got from the palace, the colder the air became. By the time the t

"I don't want your sister."The words hung in the air between us, heavy and impossible.I stared up at him, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs I was certain he could hear it. The heat radiating off his massive body was the only thing stopping my teeth from chattering, but his proximity was doing terrible things to my ability to think."What do you mean you don't want her?" I whispered, my voice barely working. "She is the most beautiful woman in Aurelia. She’s the one the High Alpha promised you."Varek’s thumb finally stopped tracing my jawline. His hand dropped, though he didn't step back. The sheer size of him still trapped me effectively against the center table of the tent."I don't care what your father promised me," Varek said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "I have no use for a pampered, perfect princess who has never had a single original thought in her head. I run a war kingdom, Devanne. Not a dollhouse."Hearing my name in that dark, gravelly accent sent an invo

“She’s my fated mate.”For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.The words settled over the tent like a death sentence, too heavy and too impossible to belong to me. Fated mate.My mate.The same word that had belonged to Caelan less than an hour ago.The same bond I had carried in my chest for years, only to feel it ripped apart beneath the cold edge of his rejection.My body reacted before my mind could catch up. Something deep inside me stirred at Varek’s declaration, answering him with a sharp, terrifying pulse of recognition.No. Absolutely not.I shoved against his chest and this time he let me go.I stumbled backwards, my knees nearly giving out beneath me. The edge of the map table caught against my hip, and I reached for it blindly, gripping the polished wood until my fingers ached.“You knew.”The words came out quieter than I intended, but the accusation beneath them filled the space between us.Varek stood several feet away, his broad shoulders rigid beneath his black tunic.

The journey into the heart of the North took three grueling days, but the moment the jagged, obsidian peaks of Frostfang finally broke through the blizzard, I forgot how to breathe. Aurelia was a city built to look pretty—white marble, delicate glass gardens, and golden spires that caught the southern sun. Frostfang was a fortress built to survive the end of the world. Massive towers of dark, unyielding stone were carved directly into the side of a mountain, surrounded by walls so thick they looked like a natural geologic formation. Braziers the size of carriages burned with roaring orange flames along the battlements, casting long, menacing shadows across the snow. There were no delicate gardens here. There was only iron, stone, ice, and power. Varek rode at the head of the column on a monstrous black warhorse, his broad back an immovable wall against the freezing wind. I sat in a heavy, iron-wood carriage behind him, wrapped in so many furs I could barely move, clutching my ling

The sickening sound of the general’s choking gasps echoed in the suffocating silence of the Great Hall. Varek held the massive man suspended by the throat, his claws dripping blood onto the stone floor, his golden eyes burning into mine with an unhinged, territorial fury. With a flick of his wrist, Varek hurled the general backward. The man crashed into the shattered remains of the oak table, crumpling into a pathetic, groaning heap. Varek didn’t spare him a second glance. He slowly straightened his broad shoulders, the lethal tension radiating off him in suffocating waves. "Out," Varek commanded, his voice a low, guttural rumble that shook the dust from the rafters. "All of you." The reaction was instantaneous. There was no hesitation, no murmurs of dissent. The Northern warriors and nobles scrambled for the heavy iron doors, dragging the bleeding general with them. Within seconds, the chaotic, roaring feast was reduced to a cavernous, echoing silence. My heart hammered a frant