All Chapters of Hunted By My Rejected Mate: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

|| ELINDA'S POV ||I did not say a word on the return boat trip to the island. The sea was calm—ironically so—as if the world had become silent for me.Alexis stood beside me, silent too, arms crossed, expression unreadable. I did not ask him why he refused to look at me every time our eyes met. I did not ask because I already knew.Something had changed.The sky was dirty gray and dark when we arrived, with the air heavy with dampness. There was a storm surging inside me and above. I pulled myself up from the boat, my heels clicking as I walked on the wooden dock. I did not wait. I marched straight into the house.The next morning came with an unexpected guest. I had barely made it down into the kitchen when I could hear the sharp sound of a woman's voice ringing from the hallway. Her perfume hit me first—artificial roses, the sort of scent trying to seduce the men. This was followed by the clicking of heels and a werewolf aura."I'm here for Alexis," she said to the maid, loudly enou

Chapter 74|| Elinda's POV ||The forest echoed with the pounding of our feet on the earth, but all I could hear was the continuous rhythm of my own heartbeat. The moon hung low and full above us, its silver light infusing the endless sea of the trees with an otherworldly radiance. I didn't dare slow down. Not yet. Not until it was too late for him to overtake me.I heard Alexis behind me—his growls of confusion, his body's struggle to keep up. I could smell him too, that familiar intoxicating scent that once made me feel safe, now pulling at me to break all the promises that I had made to myself.But not tonight. Tonight, I would not be held back again.Finally, when my legs ached and my lungs burned, I slid to a stop on the riverbank. Moonlight had turned the water into shimmering liquid glass, and for a moment, I simply stood, gazing into it, searching for what courage I could find.I heard his paws stop behind me, confused and leaden. I could feel his confusion radiating from him

Chapter 76|| Alexis's POV ||The moment the servants ran and told me Elinda had headed to the nearby island on the speedboat, my heart hit my stomach. I didn't even pause. I was already moving, struggling through the crowds, disregarding the gasps, the widened eyes. She had set out alone, midnight, into nowhere. My wolf roused in my flesh, restless, sensing anxiety for her."Where are you going?" Lysa shouted after me, her tone accusing.I turned around. "To find her," I stated without slowing down.Lysa chased after me, her heels clicking against the dock. "She's not a baby, Alexis! You can't keep running after her every time she has a tantrum!"Her words pierced harder than they should have. Maybe Lysa was correct. Maybe Elinda did need room. But it made no difference. I could not simply sit and wait. Not when there were dangers outside of these waters."Mind your own business, Lysa," I growled under my breath.But of course, she took no notice. When I stepped aboard the small purs

Chapter 78|| ELINDA's POV ||The strong smell of blood cuts through the air, sharper than any blade. My heart thudded in my chest as I tracked the scent, my bare feet hardly kissing the cold forest floor. And there, in a glade bathed in silver moonlight, I found him.Alexis.He was barely conscious, blood dripping down his side, claws half-transformed, fighting with a desperation that ripped through me. Standing over him was another wolf—no, not just any other wolf. His aura was different, twisted, a dark power that made even the shadows tremble. His red eyes blazed with a hatred so deep it seemed to have no bottom.I did not know him. But he seemed to know Alexis.With a snarl, the stranger slashed his claws at Alexis's throat. My body moved before my brain did. "STOP!"The stranger—Kai, I knew later—hesitated for a split second, shocked that my voice cut through the mayhem. His red eyes flicked toward me. Confusion came across his face, quickly gave way to something colder."Stay

Chapter 80|| Elinda's Pov ||I'm not sure if I actually remember travelling. The murmurs of the l crowd, the tightening in my chest as I saw the royal crest on the palace gates—that's all heartbreaking. The only thing that's now completely crystal clear is when the palace guards opened those large doors and I saw his body.My father—King of the Royal Lycan Kingdom—was no more. He no longer existed.It was all like a dream. I didn't believe it, not for anything. There were courtiers on either side of the hall in black—for mourning, as they referred to it—but nothing mattered to me. I just kept looking at the white, dead form lying over the marble. My father.Alberto stood beside him, a shadow of himself. He was leaning forward, one hand on the marble slab, shaking."Alberto," I whispered and ran to him.He didn't lift his head, didn't say a word. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and only then did I hear the harsh sound of his crying."I'm here. I'm here, Brother," I said, placing my