Stolen by the Rebel King
As a princess who could not wield magic, Princess Daphne's only value to her kingdom was her arranged marriage. The task was simple, but when Daphne was kidnapped and brought to the cold mountains of Vramid, she realized that she was in over her head.
She had heard of these cursed mountains before― rocky terrain, freezing temperatures, and the land was ruled by a man feared by many within the continent.
King Atticus Heinvres, the blood-thirsty ruler of the North.
Even though she had never met him before, tales were spread of King Atticus's ruthlessness. Some said he was a monster, others claimed he was the devil himself, but whatever the story was, everyone knew of the man who had powers beyond anyone's imagination. He could topple armies and crumble nations with just one wave of his hand, aided by what others rumored to be a cursed obsidian ring.
No one outside of Vramid had ever met the fearsome king before. Not until Daphne.
However, upon meeting the formidable man, Daphne found out that the king might not really be the monster others had claimed him to be.
In fact, what was hidden under that obsidian shield could just be a diamond in the rough.
―
[Excerpt]
"Now... where should I put you both?" he asked casually, not expecting a reply. "It's regretful that I only have one chandelier."
"Underneath my bed? No, no, too dirty. My dust bunnies don't deserve this," Atticus mused to himself. "The mantlepiece? How about the vanity table? I suppose if I lop off one of your heads I could mount it over... Wife, which head do you want to stare at while you do your hair?"
"Atticus!" Daphne screamed. "I don't want any heads! Let them go."
"Fair enough." Atticus shrugged, and flicked his fingers.
There were two identical cracks as both necks snapped at once.
Daphne gasped, horrified. This man, her husband, had just killed two men with a flick of his finger, as though he was snuffing out candles.
"I told you to let them go!" Daphne cried out.
"Yes, I let them go," Atticus said. Then, his eyes darkened. "To receive divine judgment from the heavens."
Chapters
Share
Chapter 4
"C-Consummate?!" Daphne all but squeaked, her voice cracking in disbelief as she echoed the word she just heard― the only word she heard.
"Is that so hard to digest, my beloved wife?" Atticus questioned, the corner of his lips raised in a slight curl. "Isn't that something that every average, ordinary couple would do?"
He leaned forward, bending down slightly so that they could meet eye to eye. Daphne leaned back as far as she could. If she hadn't, their lips would've met again.
A small part of Daphne wasn't too against it. After all, King Atticus was remarkably handsome―
'No!' Daphne squeezed her eyes shut. 'Snap out of it!" she chided herself internally.
The man was indeed handsome, she would give him that. But he was also rude, annoying, and a persistently disrespectful, pigeon-livered―
"Why is your face so red, my darling?" Atticus continued to ask, wearing a lazy grin as he watched her sulk. "Surely you wouldn't abhor the idea as much as you seem to show?"
"In case you don't remember, Your Majesty, I was not and am not a willing participant of this marriage. " Daphne smiled with all her teeth. "And besides, no one would classify you as average and ordinary."
King Atticus smiled. "So you do think I'm extraordinary. What high praise, it almost makes my heart flutter."
Before she could slap him for his impudent comment, he continued.
"The whole hall heard you say your vows, sunshine." Atticus dared to reach forward, playing with a lock of her hair in his hand, twirling it around his finger. "You are now my queen whether you like it or not. And ultimately, you will still be by my side whether you like it or not."
"Your Majesty!" A guard suddenly appeared, saluting the king.
"Speak."
"The room has been prepared as per your instructions."
Before Daphne could react, Atticus scooped her up in his arms bridal-style, an arm under her knees and another supporting her back. She was swiftly lifted into the air and hulled out of the hall, a collective gasp ringing throughout the hall as the crowd watched their king and new queen practically disappear in a cloud of dust.
"Put me down!" She protested, but of course she was ignored.
They went past a few different corridors which all looked the same to Daphne. And when they finally came to the last door at the end of the hallway, Atticus unceremoniously kicked it open, causing her to panic. That door was made out of heavy wood, and it was dented by one mere kick. If he used his strength on her in bed, her bones would shatter immediately. She immediately squirmed, trying to escape.
He tightened his arms around her as he strode into the room. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
She had half-expected him to be rough. Yet, Atticus gently laid her down on the silky sheets before reaching for her shoes. Carefully, he helped her to remove them without another word, placing them against the wall and out of the way.
"What are you doing?" Daphne asked, wrinkling her nose in suspicion. "Why are you suddenly so... so..."
Gentle.
That was what she wanted to say. Yet, the word was caught in her throat.
"Hmm?" he hummed, looking up. In the dim light, Atticus's eyes reminded Daphne of a wild animal― wild and ravenous.
"Can I not help my lovely wife get comfortable in our own bed?" Atticus asked.
He reached up, loosening his own clothing. One by one, each piece of fabric fell from his body until all that was left was a loose white top with a very low collar. Daphne's eyes dropped down, betraying her by stealing a glance at his broad, firm chest.
She caught a slight glimpse of his sculpted figure, tantalizingly hidden only by a piece of sheer white fabric. But before she could see more, a finger was propped under her chin, lifting gently so that now her gaze met the king's.
"Eyes are up here, sunshine." He chuckled.
Atticus leaned forward, sending Daphne quickly scrambling back in a futile attempt to create distance between them. However, her back soon came into contact with the head of the bed frame, rudely reminding her that she now had nowhere else to run.
So instead of running, Daphne looked for a weapon. Her eyes flitted back and forth around her immediate vicinity until they landed on the bronze candelabra that was placed right next to the bed. She reached for it and gripped it tightly in her hold, poised and ready to strike.
"Is that necessary?" the king asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't exactly fancy the idea of fornicating with a man I am not in love with."
"Most married couples aren't in love, especially kings and queens," Atticus dryly replied. "And, correction, we are husband and wife. We should 'fornicate' intensely and frequently, for the good of our people."
"Frequently?! You must be daft. I see― you just want children. Well, since I'm your wife, I'll let you adopt all the children you want for your lineage! There's no need for consummation." She wielded the candelabra in front of her protectively, her knuckles turning white.
At her words, he chuckled darkly. "My my, are you so sheltered to believe that children are the only reasons for consummation?"
"Why else would anyone have bedroom relations?" Daphne demanded, her cheeks red hot.
She knew. Of course she did. There were more than a hundred whispers from the maids whenever they thought that no one else was within listening range. It was just that Daphne had never dared dream of it.
Could anyone even imagine? She was a princess! These vulgar gossip should've never made it to her ears. However, God made women curious creatures.
"And ― if it were for children ― what if I wanted children born from true royal blood?" Atticus hummed, his voice almost sing-song.
Daphne gulped, wishing away the bitter taste in her mouth as she prepared for what she was about to say next.
"Then take concubines, lovers, if you must."
"And you would allow that, my queen?" Atticus teased. "If I were to spend the night with another woman in bed," he moved forward, "tumbling in the sheets," another inch closer, "our breaths hot and heavy..."
Daphne took in a sharp breath when Atticus edged in nearer. Their faces were barely inches apart now. She was so close that his gaze was all that she could see, and as like before, she was entranced.
Just a bit. A bit more and their lips would've touched. But as much as her mind fought against the thought, her body couldn't seem to obey.
"Tell me, my sunshine," Atticus continued, "would you truly be okay with seeing your husband with someone else intimately?"
You may also like
9.5
Alpha Lykos lives with a deadly curse: any woman who touches him dies on the spot. His pack fears him, and he has given up hope of ever finding a mate.
Until a weak, fragile girl named Aria stumbles into his territory and touches him... and nothing happens.
She is his mate-
but she is not meant to live.
Aria's life belongs to someone else, borrowed by an ancient spell. If the spell breaks, she dies. If the curse stays, she also dies.
And an enemy pack wants her because she is the key to awakening an ancient power.
Alpha Lykos must protect her, break the curse, and fight fate itself-before time runs out.
But the greatest danger is not the enemies hunting them...
It is the truth Aria doesn't know about herself.
8.6
Amara's life has always been predictable-until the shadows start watching her. Footsteps follow her on empty streets, strange chills scrape down her spine, and something ancient tracks her every move from the dark.
Everything changes the night a terrifying wolf-like creature lunges out of the darkness and leaves her fighting for her life. Just when all hope slips away, a mysterious man steps in-sleek, powerful, and gone before she can speak his name.
Haunted by the memory of his golden eyes, Amara begins to unravel a truth she never imagined. A creature in the night. A man in the shadows. A bond that defies logic. Her search for answers leads her to a hidden library and a forgotten article that exposes a world she was never meant to discover, one of magic, danger, and beings who walk between realms.
From the veil of the other world, Kael watches her. Her guardian. Her burden. The one fate bound to her long before she was born. And every day, the pull between them grows stronger... and harder for him to fight.
As enemies gather in both realms, Amara must face the darkness hunting her and the bond tying her to Kael. Because when shadow meets destiny, survival demands trust, courage,
and a heart willing to walk into the dark.
9.7
The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes. But as Alpha King Damien Blackmoor stood before his entire kingdom and rejected his fated mate, he wondered if the goddess had finally lost her mind. Aria Thornwood was weak. Wolfless. Worthless. And the only woman destiny had chosen for him. Humiliated before thousands, Damien cast her into exile, choosing pride over prophecy. He told himself it was for the best. He told himself the Moon Goddess made a mistake. He told himself these lies for five years. Until the curse came. Until his kingdom began to die. Until the ancient prophecy revealed that only the True Luna could save them all.
Now Damien must journey into the wilderness to find the woman he destroyed and beg for her help. But Aria is no longer the broken girl he rejected. She has become something the world has never seen, a True Luna, more powerful than any Alpha in history. She doesn't need a king. She doesn't need a mate. And she is not interested in forgiveness. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes. Damien did. And winning back his rejected mate will require more than his crown. It will require his heart. Some bonds cannot be broken. Some kings must learn to kneel. And some love is worth any price.
7.4
Cadence, a modern botanist, woke up to a glaring sun and massive, alien purple leaves blocking the sky. She was stranded in a terrifying, primal world.
Before she could process the metallic smell of blood in the air, a white tiger the size of an SUV crushed a giant boar's neck right in front of her. The beast locked its piercing blue eyes on her hiding spot. But instead of tearing her throat out, a blinding flash of silver light erupted, and the monster transformed into a towering, heavily scarred naked man.
He was Harlan, a shifter who immediately claimed her as his mate under tribal law. Dragged back to his primitive village, Cadence faced a brutal reality. Unbonded females were targets, and she was expected to take multiple mates just to survive. The tribal women mocked her fragile frame, calling her useless. To make matters worse, her foreign scent attracted a rogue serpent-shifter who violently ambushed her in the river.
The icy shock of the serpent's attack plunged Cadence into a deadly, burning fever. The tribe's Shaman tried his healing magic, only to shake his head and abandon her.
"She lacks primal fortitude. She will rely entirely on her own weak vitality. I can do nothing."
As Harlan held her shivering body in despair, Cadence felt a deep sense of desperate injustice. Was she really going to die in a filthy stone hut in an unknown universe, killed by a simple cold?
No. She remembered her grandfather's strict survival lessons. Forcing her heavy eyes open, she grabbed her terrified tiger mate's hand. She didn't need their failing magic; she had science.
"I need specific plants to live. I need white willow bark. And a spicy, ginger-like root."
She rasped, preparing to show this savage world the true power of a modern survivor.
9.2
I woke up suffocating in the dark, only to find my mind trapped inside a tiny, plump, and entirely uncoordinated body.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in my brain, announcing that I was dead in my original world and had transmigrated into a corporate revenge novel as the six-month-old illegitimate daughter of Edward McClure, the story's ruthless villain.
The system mercilessly outlined my doomed fate. Tonight, my cold-blooded father would abandon me to a state orphanage. By age two, he would officially sign my rights away, leaving me to die miserably at the hands of human traffickers. Outside my nursery, I could hear his terrifying footsteps approaching, his voice devoid of any human warmth as he debated throwing me out like garbage. I was completely helpless, trapped in a baby's body, staring up at a man who looked at me with pure, visceral disgust.
Why did I have to be reborn as the tragic cannon fodder of a tyrant destined to put a bullet in his own head? How was I supposed to win over a severe germaphobe when my unequipped infant reflexes made me literally pee and vomit all over his pristine Tom Ford suits?
"Your ultimate mission is to prevent Edward McClure's self-destruction. Step one: Survive tonight's abandonment crisis."
Hearing the system's terrifying ultimatum, I swallowed my adult panic, forced a pool of pitiful tears into my large eyes, and reached my chubby little hands toward the monster.
7.6
For six months, I drained my very soul to heal Alpha Coleton's paralyzed spine. I gave so much energy that I lost the ability to shift into my wolf form. I thought when he finally stood up, he would announce to the pack that I was his Fated Mate.
Instead, he looked right through me.
"You have served the pack well as a servant," he said coldly.
Then he welcomed back Charly, the woman who had abandoned him the moment he was injured. To protect Charly from a harmless spider, he shoved me into a purification pool laced with liquid silver. It burned my skin like acid, leaving scars that refused to fade.
When Charly faked a cough during lunch, he accused me of poisoning her with Wolfsbane. He didn't check the food. He simply grabbed my jaw and forced boiling hot soup down my throat while I gagged and begged for mercy.
"If you hurt her again, I'll make you a slave," he threatened, his eyes full of disgust.
I finally understood. My sacrifice meant nothing to him. He would kill me to please a liar.
So, I sent a single text: "I accept your rejection, Alpha Coleton."
Then I disappeared.
Three years later, I returned. Not as a weak, broken healer, but as a legendary White Wolf, with the most powerful Alpha Prime in Europe holding my hand.
Coleton fell to his knees in the middle of the airport, tears streaming down his face as he begged for the bond to return.
I looked down at him with glowing golden eyes.
"You broke me so I could rebuild myself," I said softly. "And I built a world where you don't exist."