All Chapters of The Rejected Queen: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

Rayna POVThe world didn’t go silent after the explosion. I only wished it had.Instead, the sound hit me like a tidal wave - screams, metal on stone, the snarl of wolves tearing into creatures that should not exist. The silver flash faded, leaving streaks of afterlight clawed across my vision.I staggered, breath hitching as the power rushing through my blood sputtered and flared like a dying flame. Damon caught my elbow, steadying me.“Rayna, look.”I did.The center of the square was a crater of scorched stone. The explosion had blown out the pavement, shattered the nearest columns, and sent half the council chamber’s facade collapsing onto the steps. Dust rained like ash.And in the middle of that crater, Nythera stood untouched.Her new form was fully solid now. Her beauty was sharp, almost too much, but wrong in every imaginable way. Her skin shimmered like polished obsidian, and her long limbs moved like something half-fluid. Those void eyes fixed on me as if Damon, the army, a

Rayna POVLight swallowed everything.Silver, blinding, sharp enough to tear the world in half. My ears rang. My skin felt like it was turning inside out. For a moment I didn’t know where I ended and the moonlight began. Power tore through me in waves, hot and cold and weightless.Then… I felt a hand.Cool fingers brushed my cheek. A presence - vast, ancient, heartbreakingly gentle - knelt beside me in the storm of light.I couldn’t open my eyes, but I felt her. The same way I knew my own heartbeat.“I am here, child.”The voice wasn’t sound. It was memory, starlight, the hush of night wind on the first snowfall.Moon Goddess.Her presence folded around me like warm blanket. I wanted to ask a thousand questions, scream a thousand fears, but no words existed. Only pain. Darkness. Fading. All was fading.“You are not lost,” she whispered. “Not while I'm here.”The ground shook. Nythera’s roar echoed somewhere beyond the blinding white. The Goddess’s presence tensed - fierce, protective

I felt the next pulse of light tear through the air, and for a second, I thought I’d thrown Nythera off balance. But then the shadows coiled faster, angrier, and one struck me across the shoulder. Fire raced through my veins, hot and sharp, and I staggered, nearly losing my footing.“Rayna!” Damon’s roar cut through the smoke and rubble.Before I could think, he was there. His hands on me, pulling me close. I barely had time to register the heat of his body, the steady, grounded strength that anchored me against the chaos. Nythera’s lash slammed into him instead, and I gasped, fear twisting my stomach into knots.“Not her,” he growled, low and fierce. “Not while I breathe.”I blinked, stunned. His eyes, dark and unyielding, locked on mine. No hesitation. No fear. Only protection.“I’ve got you,” he said, his voice rough, unwavering. And then he charged.We weaved through the ruins together, his body shielding mine, his every movement a promise I didn’t deserve but couldn’t deny. The s

Damon POVHer weight in my arms shouldn’t have felt like this.Rayna had always burned hot - everything about her was fierce, stubborn, alive. But now she hung against me limp and frighteningly cold, her skin pale enough to look carved from moonlight.“Stay with me,” I whispered, my voice already shredding. “Rayna, don’t you dare-”A breath shuddered out of her, barely there. But it was there. And it was the only thing holding me together.I pushed through the ruined palace corridor, boots splashing through puddles of broken wards and melted stone. Garrick ran ahead, clearing the path, shouting for healers as if volume alone could drag her back to life.The moment we reached our chambers, I laid her on the bed - gently, carefully, like the wrong angle might break her.Her head lolled to the side.My wolf howled inside me, raw and frantic. "Get her up. Get her breathing. Fix her. Fix her."“I know,” I rasped, gripping her hand. “I know.”The door slammed open. Lira burst inside, robes

Rayna POVA tremble rolled through my chest. Damon felt it instantly.“Rayna?” His voice cracked. “Rayna, can you hear me? Gods, tell me you can hear me.”I forced my eyes open. The world swayed, blurry, too bright - but there he was. Hovering over me, hair disheveled, eyes rimmed in red, cheeks streaked with grime and sweat and fear he didn’t bother to hide.“Hey,” I rasped.Damon broke.A sound tore out of him - half laugh, half choke - and he pressed his forehead to mine, hands shaking around my jaw.“You’re awake,” he breathed. “You’re actually- Rayna, I thought-” His voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”I barely had strength to lift my hand, but he caught it instantly, pressing it to his mouth.“You’re not moving,” he said when he finally pulled back enough to look at me. A command, not a suggestion. “Not today. Not tomorrow. The council will handle the city. You’re staying in this bed. Healing. That’s final.”A weak smile tugged at my lips. “Since