All Chapters of Rejected By My Mate, Claimed By The Lycan king : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

CASSIAN’S POV The air up at the council sanctuary was thin, sharp, and freezing. It was the kind of cold that bit right into your joints, but the Elders refused to light a fire, claiming it kept everyone alert. Personally, I just think they liked the grim atmosphere. I stood at the very head of the crescent-shaped stone table, my hands resting flat against the unpolished granite. I didn't sit down. I wanted every single person in that room to have to look up to meet my eyes.My golden eyes slowly scanned the chamber, landing directly on the two men sitting across from me. Alpha Rowan sat with his shoulders perfectly squared, trying his absolute best to look completely unbothered, but the tight, white-knuckled grip he had on his leather portfolio gave him away. Beside him sat Garrick.He looked like an absolute shell of himself. The arrogant, untouchable boy I had seen months ago was entirely gone, replaced by a man who looked like he was slowly rotting from the inside out. His skin h

ZARIA'S POV The heavy iron deadbolts didn't hold.We had managed to slam the massive doors shut and throw the security bars into place, but the wood and iron groaned under a relentless, heavy pounding from the other side. Every strike sent a jarring vibration through the stone floor beneath my boots."They're going to break through!" Maya yelled, her voice raw as she stood in her human form, holding a discarded guard's spear. Her knuckles were white, her breathing shallow."Let them try," Maeve muttered, though her face was slick with sweat. She stood slightly ahead of us, her sword raised, her eyes fixed on the center seam of the double doors. Her old figure seemed to had morphed into a younger one. She didn't look so old.I couldn't be more grateful for her and Maya. They were being my protectors. I wasn't as strong as they were.With a deafening crash, the left door buckled inward, the iron hinges tearing completely out of the stone wall in a shower of plaster. The gap was only a

ZARIA'S POV The bitter wind sweeping through the inner courtyard did nothing to cool the raw tension hanging over the stones. The air tasted of ash, ozone, and old snow, a brutal reminder of the violence that had just torn through the royal wing upstairs.Cassian’s hand was a heavy, warm pressure on my forearm, his fingers tightening every single time I tried to take another step down the stone stairwell."Zaria, stop this. You can barely keep your balance," he said. "Let me go down there and handle it.""No," I told him. My ribs ached with a dull, throbbing heat every time I drew a full breath, and the palms of my hands were still raw and stinging from where the greenhouse glass had sliced into them. My human body was entirely spent, shaking from the absolute edge of physical exhaustion, but my mind was absolute steel. "He came to the gates screaming my name, Cassian. I’m not going to hide. I’m going to look him in the eye."Cassian let out a low, frustrated rumble from the back of

CASSIAN’S POVThe heavy keys felt cold against my knuckles as I unlocked the heavy iron gate leading down into the bowels of the palace. Down here, the air was different. It was thick with the smell of damp stone, old rust, and the metallic tang of dried blood. The only sound was the steady, hollow thud of my boots against the wet ground, echoing down the long, torch-lit corridor.I stopped in front of the cell at the very end of the hall.Garrick was chained to the granite wall, his arms pulled tight by heavy iron links. The dirt and dried horse sweat from his desperate ride were still caked onto his skin, and his chest hitched painfully with every breath he took. He looked broken, like a stray dog caught in a trap. But the second the torchlight caught my face, the pride he loved to hide behind flared right back up. He lifted his chin, forcing a weak, venomous sneer across his bloody face."Come to gloat, Volkov?" he rasped. His voice sounded like broken glass, raw and scraped thin by

ZARIA'S POV I threw open the heavy wooden doors to the medical wing, the hinges groaning loudly in the quiet corridor. My breath was shallow, catching in the back of my throat as I rushed inside with Cassian following closely behind me. The clinic smelled strongly of clean linens, sharp antiseptic, and that heavy, familiar scent of crushed herbs and copper that always hung around healing wolves.Maya was sitting upright on one of the cots near the back wall. Her torso was wrapped tightly in thick white bandages, and I could already see small, fresh blossoms of red bleeding through the fabric where her stitches must have strained when she moved. Her gray wolf fur was entirely gone, leaving her looking fragile, pale, and shivering against the sheets. But her eyes were wide and completely alert, scanning the room frantically until they finally locked onto my face."Zaria!" she cried out. Her voice cracked under the weight of pure panic, and she immediately burst into heavy, breathless t