All Chapters of Rejected: The Lycan's King Fated Mate : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Chapter 60: A Night Without BloodThe palace hadn’t been this quiet since before the first attack.No patrols running at 2 AM. No emergency wards flaring. Just the sound of the wind in the gardens and Aria’s soft snoring from the next room over. 12 years old, Moon blood, finally asleep.Elara lay awake, listening to it. Darius was asleep beside her, one arm slung over her waist, face relaxed in a way she hadn’t seen in months. Elias was in the guard barracks, 17, having insisted he was “too old for bedtime.” Prince. Kade’s son. He’d lasted 10 minutes before passing out. Down the hall, Kade was still up. She could feel it through the bond — restless, irritated, pacing. Alpha. Father.She smiled into the dark. Poor Kade.---*Kade’s Problem*Kade was pacing the eastern balcony because if he sat still, he’d have to admit why he couldn’t sleep.Ryn. Specifically, Ryn sitting two feet away from him at dinner and not flinching when he bumped her shoulder. Ryn who’d said _“They’re your ki

The war room smelled of blood, ink, and burnt coffee.Dawn hadn’t fully broken yet, but the table was already covered in maps, ward schematics, and a list of the dead. Eight rogues on the stone outside. Four unaccounted for. 12 - 8 = 4.Elara stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, the pact mark under her sleeve still faintly glowing. First Line. Darius was beside her, quiet, reading the reports twice. Kade and Ryn stood near the door, both patched up, both pretending they weren’t watching each other. Mate bond.Mira sat with Aria and Elias at the far end. Aria was asleep, 12, head on the table, Mira’s hand on her shoulder. Elias was awake but silent, 17, staring at his hands. Prince. First kill.“We don’t change the plan,” Kade said first. Alpha. Father. “We double the guard on the northeast line, rotate every 4 hours, and hunt the four that got away before they bring friends.”“That’s how we get Aria back on that wall in 6 hours,” Darius said. “She won’t last.”“She held,” Kad

The supply convoy ran every 48 hours. Two wagons, twelve guards, one mage. Light escort. The route was open, predictable, and 6 miles from the palace walls. Perfect bait.Vex watched it from the treeline at dusk, counting heads. Twelve guards. Four on the front wagon, four on the rear, four riding escort. No Kade. No Darius. No Ryn. Just the way he wanted it.“Positions,” he said quietly. “We hit fast, take the mage first, then the wagons. If they split to chase, we fall back to the ravine. If they don’t, we burn it.”Kess nodded, bow in hand. “And the hammer?”Vex smirked. “She stays in her cage. That’s the point.”---*The Convoy – 7:14 PM*The road was quiet. Too quiet.Captain Lorn, the guard captain, felt it in his gut. He’d been running this route for 8 years. It was never this quiet.“Eyes up,” he said. “Mage, keep a detection ward up.”The young mage nodded, sweating. He was new. First real run.They didn’t see Kess in the trees. The first arrow took the mage through the t

Dawn came cold and clear.The bait convoy rolled out at 5:47 AM. Two empty wagons, six guards, one old mage who’d agreed to fake a detection ward for 200 silver. Kade rode rear guard, hidden under a tarp and illusion wards. Ryn led the front, pretending to be just another captain.From the treeline, Vex watched through a spyglass.“Empty,” Kess muttered, her shoulder still in a sling. “No mage signature. No real weight.”Vex lowered the glass. “Good. They’re desperate.”He didn’t know we’d been watching him watch us.---*7:12 AM – The Ravine*Vex’s pack hit exactly where we expected. Six rogues dropped from the ridge, targeting the front wagon. He’d recruited two new scouts since the convoy hit. Six total now.Ryn didn’t fight back immediately. She let them take the first wagon, shouted for her men to “fall back,” and ran the convoy into the ravine.Classic panic. Exactly what Vex wanted.“Now,” Vex said.His pack swarmed the second wagon. That’s when the ravine walls lit up with wa

The High Council chamber hadn’t seen blood in 80 years. Today it would see treason. The room was a perfect circle of white stone, tiered seating rising up around a central floor of black marble. Twelve thrones lined the upper tier. Ten were filled. House Thorne sat on Darius’s right. House Kael sat on his left, watching carefully. House Drayce hadn’t arrived yet. In the center, Lord Marrow knelt in silver chains. Lycan oath-magic hummed around him, invisible but absolute. He couldn’t lie. He couldn’t break it. He could only speak the truth. Elara stood beside Darius, Aria 12 and Elias 17 behind them. Queen and King. Kade and Ryn stood at the doors. Alpha and Mate. No weapons. No one needed them. The chamber itself would kill anyone who drew steel without cause. The High Arbiter, Lady Veyra, struck her staff once. “Let the trial of Lord Marrow of House Veyr begin.” ---*“State your name and crime,”* Veyra said. Marrow lifted his head. His face was bruised, but his eyes were cl