Semua Bab The Rejected Queen: Bab 31 - Bab 40

Damon POVMaddox stirred.Of course this hound did. It would be to easy if he just stopped breathing, like one of his friends. I looked to the third wolf-brat. He was still breathing too. Whatever happend here was powerfull. My sight was back on Maddox. Blood trickled down his temple, but he was trying to sit up now, mumbling something slurred and senseless. One eye swollen shut. Breath wheezing through cracked ribs. Still alive.Too alive.Rayna stepped back when I moved. She didn’t stop me.“You had a choice,” I said, pacing toward him. “You could’ve stayed drunk and loud and stupid. But you dragged her out. You let others follow. You made her bleed.”He spat blood. “She’s cursed.”I didn’t say a word. I just broke his wrist.Maddox screamed - raw and high and short-lived, because I slammed his head into the stone again, this time not gentle. But not enough to kill him. Not yet. He will be an example.The other rogue - one of the cowards who’d helped him - whimpered in the dir

Rayna POVSome things feel more dangerous than the blade. Like his hand on my lower back, steady. Reluctant. Warm.The camp was quiet as we walked.Too quiet.Not just the normal lull after training or meals - this was the heavy, loaded silence that follows when something cracks wide open and everyone’s waiting to see what bleeds out.The few wolves we passed looked at us like they were seeing ghosts. Or worse - omens.No one spoke.Damon stayed half a step behind me, his presence a shadow just brushing mine. He didn’t speak either. But the weight of him was there - the tension in his shoulders, the careful restraint in the way his fingers hovered near mine and never quite touched.And gods, I could still feel him. His kiss burned on my lips like a secret I didn’t know how to keep.The way he’d pulled me back from the edge, touched me like he hated every second of it - and still hadn’t stopped.My ribs ached. Not from the fall or the bruises. From the way something inside me kept pres

Rayna POVWe moved deeper into the woods, our breath fogging in the cold. The wind was wrong - too still. The kind of silence that presses against your skin like breath you can’t release.Kael walked ahead of me, blades already in her hands. Damon trailed behind, scenting the air, his body coiled tight like he was seconds from shifting.“They’re not just dead,” one of the scouts had said. “They were drained. Like something fed on them.”Now I couldn’t get that out of my head. The way his voice had cracked. The terror behind his eyes.“Rayna.” Kael’s voice was quiet. “You alright?”I nodded, but it was a lie. My skin itched. My wolf pressed at the inside of my chest, agitated, alert.“They shouldn’t be this close to camp,” Damon muttered. “This is too calculated. Someone drew them here.”His words stirred something sharp in my gut. I didn’t want to say it, but I did.“They were looking for me.”Kael glanced over her shoulder. “Why do you think that?”“I recognized one of the signs carv

Damon POVLira peeled back the blood-soaked leather with all the tenderness of a butcher skinning a deer.Kael swore, sharp and creative. “Gods, woman, could you not-”“Could you not get mauled every other patrol?” Lira shot back, not even looking up. “Hold still before I pour the whole pot of moonwort in there and see what grows.”I caught Rayna biting back a laugh. She wasn’t fast enough.Kael glared between the two of them. “Glad you’re enjoying this. I’m over here dying."“You’re not dying,” Lira said flatly, sprinkling ground silverleaf into the wound. “But if you keep talking, I’ll make sure you wish you were.”Kael winced as the herbs hissed against her skin. “Damon, control your healer-”“She’s not mine,” I said. “And I like her better when she’s mean.”Lira gave me a thin smile. “Careful, Alpha. I can still ‘accidentally’ stitch your mouth shut next time.”Rayna let out a soft snort, shaking her head. She was still close enough that I caught the scent of wildflowers clinging

Damon POVThe moment her teeth grazed my jaw, something in me snapped. I didn’t hesitate. My hands shot to her hips, pulling her flush against me until I could feel the heat of her body pressing into mine, every curve, every inch, every pulse. She was fire, and I needed her close.Her wolf’s low, satisfied growl thrummed through me, reverberating in my chest, making my blood pound with anticipation. Every nerve in me screamed for more - more of her, more heat, more this.“You’re insane,” I rasped, my lips brushing hers in a fleeting, desperate touch. But there was no bite in my words - not really. Just hunger. Just need. Primal, unyielding, mirrored in the sharp pull of her gaze.“Insane enough to hunt you,” she whispered, teasing, rough, and I felt my control slipping. “And never let go.”I groaned low, raking my teeth over my lower lip, forcing myself to slow my pace. I could feel the ache building between us, the pull of instinct and desire threatening to take over - but I was Damo