All Chapters of The Lycan King's Rogue Alpha Queen : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Dr. Zarina walks beside me as I escort her out of my wing, her boots tapping softly against the marble floor.She still smells faintly of antiseptic herbs and wolfsbane tinctures. Normally, her scent calms me. Tonight, with her scent still lingering in my room, nothing can.“She’s stable for now,” Zarina says, smoothing the sleeves of her white coat.There’s a small frown between her brows—the kind she gets when she has to deliver news she knows I won’t like. “But the silver is still in her bloodstream. And the venom.”I don’t respond.Zarina sighs. “Rael. You asked me to leave the silver in—”“I remember what I asked.” My voice comes out colder than intended, but I don’t soften it.Because if I do, something else inside me will slip.Something with claws.Zarina studies me for a beat, not intimidated. She’s known me too long for that.“Just know this: with the amount still in her system, she’s running on barely half her strength. If she gets upset, tries to shift, or even pushes hers

“Hey,” I say gently to Elise, forcing my voice to steady despite the storm brewing under my skin. “Do you want to practice more calligraphy later?”Her eyes widen. “Yes!”“Great. Could you get some of your papers and ink? The really good ones.”She gasps—as if I’ve just offered her a crown. “I’ll get them! I’ll get the fancy ones!”Of course she will.Lady Araya opens the door before Elise even reaches it—because of course she’s been listening the whole time.Elise darts past her, her tiny boots pittering excitedly down the hall.Araya’s heavy footsteps follow.I wait as I track them with my hearing. And when the last footstep fades out of range, I slowly get off the bed.Zarina freezes.The air between us sharpens instantly, crackling with the pressure building in my body.I deliberately speak slowly. “What did you do to me?”Zarina’s eyes widen. “Miss Ash—wait—”“Don’t lie,” I say flatly. “I hate it.”Her throat works in a swallow. “I didn’t—”“Don’t.” My voice drops to a low, deadl

A blur of dark silver hair rushes into the room, and before I can even process it, Elise is torn from the foot of my bed and wrapped in a pair of trembling arms.Head Priestess Aisling.The woman collapses to her knees with her daughter crushed against her chest, sobbing into her hair, whispering frantic prayers.“Thank you, Moon Goddess… thank you, thank you…” Her voice cracks and breaks and mends all at once.Elise clings to her, little fingers fisting the fabric of her mother’s dress.A faint memory flickers in me—my own mother bending down, tucking my hair behind my ear, humming under her breath. Soft hands. Warm eyes.I shove the memory away before it can take shape only to hurt me.Aisling finally pulls back enough to look at me. Her violet eyes are a storm of fear, relief, and fierce love.“You’re the one who rescued my daughter.”I simply nod. It’s all I have to give right now.Lady Araya, ever the keen observer, scoffs quietly.“Show some respect when speaking to the King’s s

I don't realise I am stumbling backwards until I stumble into the snow.I struggle to my feet and run toward the tree line.I can still make it. If I run now.If the Goddess finally pities me for once in my miserable life—All I need is to climb those trees, wait out the chaos, and stay alive.Simple.Whoever—whatever—he is, must not kill me.I'm halfway across the snow to the trees when I feel the vibrations, and then—Crunch.The sound snaps me to a standstill.My entire body goes rigid. My heart is slamming so hard against my ribs I think it might crack through bone.I don’t turn.Scratch that.I can’t.Not when every instinct I have is already screaming. Not when every muscle is frozen with fear.The murderous feeling rolling off the creature behind is enough for me to imagine the current colour of the gates of hell.I'm betting it's black.The wind shifts, sweeping past me in a cold, merciless gust.I can't tell if I'm shivering from the cold or the fear but the scent filling my

Zarina doesn’t blink when I refuse the chair.She simply exhales and flips the chart open.“Fine,” she says coolly. “We’ll start with the obvious. Her shift.”My jaw tightens. “She shouldn’t have shifted. Not with silver still in her system.”“No,” Zarina replies, “she shouldn’t have. Which is why forcing her body into one was catastrophic.”A cold line of dread slides down my spine.“Catastrophic… how?”Zarina folds her arms, bracing like she’s preparing to tell me something I won’t survive hearing.“Your Majesty,” she begins carefully, “the silver you ordered me to leave circulating in her blood reacted violently with the hunter venom she was already carrying.”Hunter venom.From that stab wound in her shoulder.“It accelerated the spread,” Zarina continues. “It triggered her wolf prematurely. The shift wasn’t voluntary. It wasn’t even natural.”Forced shift.My stomach drops again.That’s one of the most painful things a wolf can endure.“What happened?” I hear myself ask, even tho