All Chapters of The Rejected Queen: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Rayna’s POVThe tremor faded as quickly as it had come, but its echo lingered in the marrow of my bones. Wolves shifted uneasily, hackles raised, gazes snapping to the horizon as if expecting the forest itself to split open.“What was that?” Damon’s voice was low, edged with the kind of danger that came only when his wolf strained for blood.Wendrah’s golden eyes gleamed faintly in the half-light. “Not yet a storm… but the whisper of one. When new roots pierce the earth, the old things buried there… stir.”Her words crawled cold down my spine. “Do you mean it’s a threat?”“Not today,” she said, her tone careful. “But nothing rises without drawing shadows to it. The kingdom you’ve called back into being-” her gaze swept across the shining streets, the new homes, the temple’s silver spire “ - it is a beacon. And beacons are seen by more than those who welcome the light.”The wolves nearby shifted, some growling under their breath. Fear flickered sharp in the air, but Damon’s hand found

Damon’s POVThe circle had begun to settle, the murmurs of dissent thinning into a tense but steady quiet. Rayna hadn’t only won them - she had bound them, though fragile still, like threads spun too fast.Her gaze swept the hall, silver eyes glinting against the fire. “One more matter,” she said, her voice carrying with the certainty of command. “Each pack will choose a representative to remain here in the city. Not just today, not just tomorrow - permanently. This council cannot exist if its members vanish back to their corners of the world. This kingdom will breathe only if its heart beats every day.”The words struck the chamber like stones tossed into water. Wolves shifted. Claws scraped stone.The scarred Alpha leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “You would have us weaken our packs by leaving warriors behind?”Rayna met him without blinking. “Not weaken. Root them deeper. You will send not only strength, but trust. Blood of your blood, bone of your bone. A voice that speaks for you w

Damon’s POVHer voice cut through the training yard before I even stepped past the archway. Sharp, ragged, more than battle-grit.“I didn’t ask for this crown!”The words hit me like a blade to the gut. I froze in the shadows, one hand on the stone wall, listening.Rayna’s sword sang against Kael’s, wild and furious, sparks kicking up in the air. Her wolf’s energy flared silver, spilling into the dirt with every strike.“I didn’t ask to carry a kingdom or rebuild from ash!” she shouted again, her voice cracking open. “I just wanted to be me. And I don’t even know who that is anymore.”The sound of her - raw, breaking - made something inside me ache. My wolf pressed against the surface, desperate to go to her, to shield her, but I held still.Kael disarmed her then, blade clattering to the dirt. She stepped in close, too close, laying a hand on Rayna’s shoulder. I tensed, almost moving - until I caught Kael’s tone. Not mocking. Not dominant. Steady.“You think warriors fight with their

Damon’s POVI thought she’d be too spent, too soft in the aftershocks. I thought she’d curl against me, whisper some sly remark, and let me hold her until sleep claimed us.I was wrong.The moment I shifted to roll us onto our sides, her hands gripped my shoulders with surprising strength and shoved me flat on the mattress. Her eyes gleamed in the low light - feral, molten, not my sweet wolf but the wild queen beneath.“Don’t think I’m done with you,” she growled, her voice husky, ragged from screaming my name.My cock, still throbbing from the last storm, twitched violently at her words. The wolf inside me rumbled in delight. "Mine. Look at her. Mine."She straddled me in one smooth, commanding motion, nails raking down my chest, not caring about the sting, not caring that I hissed. She wanted marks . Wanted to own me as much as I owned her.“Rayna-” My voice was half warning, half worship.She silenced me with her mouth, biting my lip until it bled, sucking the copper taste from me

Rayna POVThe discussion stretched until the wine was gone and the map was cluttered with marks from Damon’s hand. Garrick excused himself to check the watch rotations, Kael sauntered out with a lazy salute, muttering something about sharpening her blades “for the brats of tomorrow.”That left Damon and me alone at the table. He caught my chin, pressed a kiss to my mouth - steady, grounding. “We’ll make it work,” he murmured. “We always do.”But when he left to fetch more wood for the fire, the air shifted.I felt it before I saw her.“Your thoughts run loud tonight.”Wendrah stood just beyond the balcony doors, pale against the moonlight, her silver hair catching starlight like strands of fire. She didn’t step closer until I beckoned, her movements graceful, but… off. Like a marionette with threads tugged too tight.My gaze dropped to her hand, and my stomach tightened. It flickered again - solid flesh for a heartbeat, then transparent, twitching like a shadow caught between worlds.