Mated To The Alpha King (Raven and Ethan) novel Chapter 381

Chapter 381

Alpha Ethan’s POV

I punched the last guy in the face, my fist connecting with bone in a sickening crack that echoed down the street. He

staggered backward, crashing onto the sidewalk before collapsing heaped, groaning.

My chest heaved, rage and adrenaline burning through my veins like wildfire.

I didn’t even look at him again.

I spun around, scanning the street wildly.

“Reven“Nothing.

Cars passed.

Strangers stared.

A woman pulled her child closer, her eyes wide with fear.

But Reven was nowhere.

Not behind the taxi stand.

Not near the storefront.

Not hiding among the crowd.

It was as if she had vanished into thin air.

My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.

No.

No, no, no.

Not again.

I strode into the middle of the road, ignoring the angry honk of an approaching car as I searched every direction like a madman.

She had been right here.

Her scent still lingered faintly in the air – soft, familiar, devastating.

Moonlight. Rain. Wildflowers.

Home.

“I’m not hallucinating,” I muttered harshly, dragging a hand through my hair. “She was here. That was her.”

The face.

The body shape.

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E

The

way

her hair fell over her shoulders.

Even the tiny scar near her eyebrow – the one she got when she slipped while chasing Lucian.

No imposter could fake that.

No illusion could recreate that.

It was her.

It had to be.

Then why–

Why did she look at me like I was a stranger?

Why did she say she didn’t know me?

Why did she scream like I was hurting her?

My stomach twisted violently.

And the worst question of all clawed its way to the surface.

How is she alive?

Because when the pack was attacked… when the rogues descended like a storm of blood and teeth… we had hidden the children and the non–fighters in the underground safe rooms.

The women.

The elders.

The weak.

But Reven hadn’t hidden.

She had fought.

My vision blurred.

“Fuck,” I growled hoarsely, pressing the heel of my hand against my eyes. “Fuck!”

If she survived…

Why didn’t she come back?

Why didn’t she search for us?

Why didn’t she take the kids?

Unless-

No.

I refused to think‘ it.

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My car pulled up beside me, the driver jumping out quickly.

“Alpha, are you hurt?” he asked urgently.

“I’m fine,” I snapped, yanking the door open and dropping into the back seat.

The leather creaked under my weight.

The familiar scent of the car should have grounded me.

It didn’t.

My hands were shaking.

Not from the fight.

From her.

“I came here to get milkshakes,” I muttered bitterly, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. “For the kids.”

Now I couldn’t even remember what day it was.

“Take me home,” I ordered quietly. “I don’t have the strength for anything else.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

The drive was silent.

Heavy.

Oppressive.

Streetlights flickered past the window in dull golden streaks, each one slicing through my thoughts like a blade.

Her voice echoed in my head.

I don’t know you.

You’re insane.

Please let me go…

My chest tightened painfully.

That wasn’t Reven.

My Reven would never look at me like that.

She would never sound so… broken.

Because that was what haunted me most.

Not the denial.

Not the fear.

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Chapter 381

The emptiness.

Her eyes had been hollow, like something inside her had been ripped away.

Like she wasn’t fully there.

My hand drifted to my phone before I even realized what I was doing.

I dialed the number I knew by heart.

Three rings.

Four.

Then-

“Hello?” a male voice answered.

“Mike,” I said flatly. “I need a report on the job I gave you three months ago.”

I didn’t wait for his reply.

I cut the call and tossed the phone onto the seat beside me.

If she had been found…

If anyone had seen her…..

Mike would know.

He always did.

“Alpha, we’re home,” the driver said softly.

I blinked.

The packhouse loomed ahead, massive and imposing, its lights glowing warmly against the darkening sky.

Home.

Without her, it had never truly felt like one.

The driver opened the door, and I stepped out, forcing my body to move even though every muscle felt like stone.

4 headed toward the entrance, intending to go straight to my study.

I needed space.

Silence.

Control.

“DADDY!”

Three small voices shouted at once.

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Before I could react, they slammed into me like tiny missiles,

Lucian wrapped himself around my waist.

Lyra clung to my leg.

Marcus grabbed my arm, bouncing excitedly.

I froze for half a second…

Then something inside me softened.

I crouched down, pulling them all into my arms.

“Hey, troublemakers,” I murmured, my voice rough.

Lucian pulled back first, his bright golden eyes scanning my face.

“You’re late.”

Lyra pouted. “You promised milkshakes.”

Marcus nodded vigorously. “Chocolate!”

Guilt stabbed through me.

“I tried to get them,” I said gently, ruffling Marcus’s hair. “But something came up.”

Lucian’s expression sharpened–too perceptive for a child his age.

“Work?”

Something like that.”

I forced a smile.

“I’ll get them tomorrow. I promise.”

They exchanged glances.

Then nodded in unison.

“Okay.”

I picked them up one after the other, tossing each lightly into the air and catching them, their laughter ringing through the hall like music.

For a moment….

Just one moment….

The crushing weight inside my chest eased.

These kids had been my only light since Reven disappeared.

My reason to wake

1. up.

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My reason not to burn the world to ashes.

“Go play.” I told them, setting them down. “I’ll read bedtime stories when I finish work.”

“Yay “They ran off toward their rooms, their footsteps fading down the corridor.

I watched them go, my chest tightening painfully.

If she had truly abandoned us…..

No.

No.

I turned sharply, pushing the thought away.

I mind–linked Matthew.

My study. Now.

On my way, came his immediate reply.

Two minutes later, I was seated behind my desk when the door opened.

Matthew stepped in, closing it quietly behind him.

“Alpha,” he greeted.

“At ease.”

He studied my face for a long moment, concern darkening his features.

“You look like someone who saw a ghost.”

I let out a humorless laugh.

“I did.”

He stiffened. “Whose ghost?”

I met his gaze.

“Reven“His mouth fell open.

… Reven? As in your mate?”

“Yes,” I said flatly. “Which other Reven do you know?”

“I just–I needed to be certain,” he stammered.

*I saw her,” I continued. “At a store. I went to buy milkshakes for the kids.”

My hands clenched on the desk.

“When I called her name, she turned.”

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Hope had exploded inside me then, bright and blinding.

“And she said she didn’t know me.”

Matthew’s eyes widened.

“The same thing Lucian said,” he murmured.

I nodded slowly.

“It’s only now that what he told me makes sense.”

Lucian had insisted he saw his mother at the mall days ago.

I thought it was wishful thinking.

A child’s desperate imagination.

But now…

“She sounded like a stranger,” I said hoarsely. “Like someone broken. Empty.”

Matthew leaned forward. “Did you follow her?”

“No.”

My jaw tightened.

“I got angry. I grabbed her wrist. She screamed.”

Shame burned through me.

“Some men attacked me. In the chaos… she ran.”

Matthew exhaled sharply. “This is insane. How could she be alive and not come home?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“And even when she saw you, she denied knowing you,” he added grimly.

I closed my eyes briefly.

“The Reven I know would never do that.”

Silence stretched between us.

Heavy.

Then Matthew spoke carefully.

“There are only a few explanations, Alpha.”

My stomach knotted.

“Say it.”

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“Maybe she found someone else… and moved on.”

The words hit like a physical blow.

“Or,” he continued quietly, “she doesn’t want you or the children in her life anymore.”

“No.”

The word tore out of me, raw and feral.

“No.”

My wolf surged violently beneath my skin, rage blazing through my veins.

“She would never abandon her children.”

But doubt crept in anyway.

Poisonous.

Relentless.

Because I had seen her eyes.

Seen the emptiness there.

Matthew watched me carefully.

“Then something is very wrong.”

I leaned forward, gripping the edge of the desk so hard the wood creaked.

“I will find her,” I said quietly. “No matter what it takes, and I will ask her what made her abandon me and the kids.”