All Chapters of Rejected: The Lycan's King Fated Mate : Chapter 21 - Chapter 29

The castle gates exploded open with a roar as we returned. Guards dropped to their knees in the courtyard. Servants pressed themselves against walls, heads bowed. And the air — it was thick with it. Recognition. Fear. *Worship*. They could smell it on me. White Lycan. Not wolf. Something older. Something that made their wolves submit on instinct. I was still in Darius’s shirt, his scent wrapped around me, legs shaky from the shift. He carried me through the great hall like I was made of glass and dynasties both. “Summon them,” he told a guard without looking. “Full court. Now.” The throne room was obsidian and silver, vaulted ceiling lost in shadow, a single throne on a dais. Not gold. Not gaudy. Black stone carved with snarling wolves. A King’s throne. Darius didn’t sit. He stood on the dais and set me on the throne. Panic shot through me. “Darius—” “Sit,” he said softly. Not a command. A plea. “Please. Let them see.” So I sat. In his shirt. Bare legs. Hair wild from runnin

“Get up,” Darius said, tossing me folded black clothes. “We’re going to the caves.” It was dawn. I’d slept maybe two hours, tangled in his sheets that smelled like him, while he stood guard at the balcony like a gargoyle. Every time I woke, his silver eyes were on me. Not creepy. Safe. “The caves?” I caught the clothes. Leather pants. Tactical top. Like his. “My curse is tied to this land.” He was already dressed, knives strapped to his thighs, the white curse marks on his forearms stark against his skin. “If it’s really fading because of you, the Sacred Cave will confirm it. And—” his gaze darkened — “it might wake what’s sleeping in you.” My stomach flipped. “My wolf?” “If you have one.” His mouth curved, not quite a smile. “And I think you do, little weapon. I felt her last night when you told Kade off. She’s pissed.” Thirty minutes later we were deep in the Forbidden Territory forest. The trees here were ancient, black-barked, humming with old magic. No birds. No wind. Just

His mouth crashed into mine. There was no hesitation, no softness. Darius kissed like he ruled — demanding, scorching, a brand that erased every cold word that Kade had spoken.His hand fisted in my hair, tilting my head exactly where he wanted, and a sound I didn’t recognize tore from my throat. It wasn’t pain, It was relief. For three heartbeats, the world narrowed to heat and silver and the terrifying safety of his arms. His tongue traced my bottom lip, asking, not taking, and Goddess help me, I opened for him. He tasted like winter storms and power. Like coming home to a place I’d never been. The curse. The stories said any woman he kissed would be dead by sunrise. I should have been terrified. Instead, my hands fisted in the black tactical fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer. If I died at dawn, at least I’d die knowing what it felt like to be *wanted*. Darius growled, the sound vibrating from his chest into mine. His other hand spanned my waist, fingers splaying against

We started training at sunrise.No time to waste. Not after the Moonstone’s warning and that vision of darkness. Not after Aria threw a 400-year-old Magister across a room like he weighed nothing.The training grounds were a mess from the battle, so we used the inner courtyard. Stone walls on all sides, healers on standby, and Roric watching from a cot because he refused to miss this even with a broken spine.Aria was in the center, sitting on a blanket with her tiny hands on her knees. She was 3 weeks old now, but she looked bigger somehow. Stronger. Her gold eyes tracked everything with that unsettling focus that made my skin crawl.Elias stood to her left as the shield. Kade stood to her right as the “what not to do” example. Darius and I stood in front of her.“We’re not teaching her to fight,” I said firmly, looking at all of them. “We’re teaching her to control. Moonblood reacts to emotion. So step one is learning to feel without losing control.”Darius nodded and knelt in front