Mated To The Alpha King (Raven and Ethan) novel Chapter 353

Chapter 353

Alpha Ethan’s POV

I know she is dead.

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The world insists on it. The council declared it. The ashes were identified. The ruins of the Rough King’s fortress still reeked of fire and rot when my warriors searched through it. Bones were not found, nor was blood found. The verdict was final.

And yet, “A part of me still doesn’t believe it,” I said quietly.

Mike sat across from me, his posture professional, his expression carefully neutral. He was human, thin, sharp–eyed, with the kind of calm that came from seeing too much of the world’s ugliness and surviving it.

A private investigator one of the best money could buy, according to the discreet sources I had used.

“It’s hard to track someone everyone assumes is dead,” he said slowly. “Especially when that death happened in a fire that wiped out an entire stronghold.”

“I know,” I replied.

The word came out heavier than I intended.

I rose from my chair and walked toward the window, staring out at the pack grounds below. Warriors trained in silence.

Servants moved carefully, as though the air itself might punish them for making noise. Since Reven’s death, the pack had learned to fear my moods.

I turned back to him and placed a thick folder on the desk between us.

“Then use this,” I said.

Mike’s brows furrowed as he opened it.

Inside were documents no outsider should ever have access to.

Reven’s personal information.

Her birth records what little existed of them. Old pack registries. Faded photographs taken years ago, before pain had carved itself into her eyes.

Pictures of her laughing. Pictures of her standing awkwardly at the edge of a frame, as if unsure whether she was allowed to exist inside it.

Mike inhaled sharply.

“This is… thorough,” he said.

“It has to be.”

He flipped through the pages, his fingers slowing when he reached the photographs. For a moment, his professional mask

cracked.

“She doesn’t look like someone who would go quietly,” he murmured.

I stiffened.

“No,” I said. “She wouldn’t.”

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Mike looked up at me. “I’ll try my best, Alpha Ethan. I can’t promise results“.

“I don’t need promises,” I cut in. “I need truth.”

He closed the folder and stood. “Then I’ll start with what doesn’t make sense. Fires erase evidence but they also reveal inconsistencies. If there’s even a single thread to pull, I’ll find it.”

I nodded once.

“That’s all I ask.”

The meeting ended shortly after. Mike bowed respectfully before leaving the study, the door closing behind him with a soft click.

Silence followed.

A familiar one.

The kind that pressed against my skull and whispered her name.

Reven.

The door opened again moments later.

Matthew stepped inside.

He had been my Beta for years, my second, my anchor when rage threatened to consume me whole. But even he moved cautiously now, his eyes scanning my face as if measuring how close I was to breaking.

“I saw him leaving,” Matthew said. “Who was that?”

“An investor,” I replied smoothly, turning back toward my desk.

Matthew frowned. “An investor… in what, exactly?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, I poured myself a drink, the amber liquid sloshing against the crystal glass. My hand didn’t shake. That alone told me how far gone I was.

“Why would an investor need to come through the back corridors?” Matthew pressed. “And why does he look like someone who asks questions people don’t want answered?”

I took a slow sip.

“You hired an investigator,” Matthew said suddenly.

It wasn’t a question.

I looked at him then.

“Yes.”

His eyes widened. “Why?”

“To investigate Reven’s death.”

The words hung in the air like a blade.

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Matthew stared at me as if I had lost my mind. “Ethan… the Rough King is dead. His fortress burned to the ground. Reven”

“-was inside,” I finished flatly. “I know.”

“Then why?” he demanded. “Why dig this up again? Why torture yourself?”

“Because I’m not convinced she’s dead.”

Matthew exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “You saw the fire. You saw the remains.”

“I saw what they wanted me to see.”

“That’s paranoia.”

“No,” I snapped, slamming the glass down on the desk. “That’s instinct.”

Matthew stiffened but didn’t back down. “You’re grieving.”

“I’m Alpha,” I growled. “And I know when something doesn’t add up.”

He folded his arms. “Explain.”

I turned away from him, my gaze drifting to the far wall–but I wasn’t seeing stone or tapestries.

I was seeing her.

Pale.

Broken.

Still breathing.

“Days ago,” I said quietly, “I heard her.”

Matthew froze.

“Heard her?” he echoed.

“Through the mindlink.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “That’s impossible.”

“She called my name,” I continued, my voice roughening. “Her voice was weak. Tired. Like she was struggling just to hold

on.”

I remembered it too well.

Ethan…

A whisper. Fractured. Fading.

I had been in my study when it happened. The bond had flared suddenly, painfully, like a wound being torn open. I had dropped to my knees, clutching my head, trying to answer her.

Reven? Where are you?

Nothing.

The link had shattered before I could reach her.

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“I tried to talk to her,” I said. “But it wouldn’t connect. Like something was blocking it.”

Matthew shook his head slowly. “That’s exactly why she isn’t alive.”

I rounded on him. “What did you say?”

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“That’s the thing,” he said carefully. “When someone dies, the bond doesn’t just vanish cleanly. It can echo. Your mind can recreate their voice. Especially under trauma.”

“You think I hallucinated?” I demanded.

“I think you’re hurting.”

“I’m not a child,” I snapped. “I know what I heard.”

Matthew stepped closer. “Ethan”

“No,” I cut him off. “I’m sure.”

My chest tightened as I spoke the words aloud.

“She’s out there,” I said. “Somewhere. Alive. Waiting.”

Matthew studied me for a long moment, then sighed. “And if you’re wrong?”

“Then I’ll accept it,” I said coldly. “But not until every shadow has been searched.”

He hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. “Just… don’t let this consume you.”

It already has, I thought.

After he left, the study felt colder.

The study was quiet after Matthew left–too quiet.

I sat alone, staring at the fire crackling softly in the hearth when a sudden knock echoed through the room.

Sharp. Urgent.

“Enter,” I ordered.

A guard stepped in, his face pale. “Alpha… a package just arrived. No sender. It was left at the gate.”

My instincts flared.

“Bring it.”

Minutes later, a small sealed box rested on my desk.

I stared at it for a long moment before opening it.

Inside was a piece of fabric.

Burnt.

Blood–stained.

And unmistakably familiar.

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My breath caught as I lifted it with shaking fingers.

It was Reven’s bracelet.

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The one I gave her when she came back to me, she has always had it in her hands and have never taken it off.Pinned to it was a folded note.

Three words.

Stop looking for me.

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