All Chapters of Rejected, Bound to the Ruthless Alpha: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The voice echoed through the manor like a physical blow, heavy with centuries of ancient authority and dark intent.“Bring my daughter to me.”Athena stopped breathing. The air in the Grand Hall suddenly felt thin, charged with a terrifying, suffocating static. All around her, every wolf belonging to the pack—warriors, elders, and traitors alike—had instinctively fallen to one knee, their heads bowed in forced submission.Every single wolf except her.The silver mark branded into the flesh of her hand burned blindingly bright, pulsing in rhythm with her erratic heartbeat, sending scorching waves of liquid fire straight through her veins.Buck stood directly in front of her, his stance wide, his broad shoulders squared, and his greatsword drawn and gleaming in the torchlight. The jagged wound on his shoulder had torn open again, dark blood soaking through his dark tactical fabric, but he didn't even flinch. He didn't look back."Nobody is taking her anywhere," Buck’s voice growled, car

The shadow moved, a slow, terrifying shift of absolute darkness against the blinding silver radiance of the vault.Athena stopped breathing entirely.Two enormous, luminous silver eyes stared from the pitch-black abyss beyond the threshold. The creature didn't need to step forward. Its raw, ancient presence alone made the ancient, subterranean walls tremble and groan, as if the earth itself was bowing to an undeniable master.Around them, the sea of rogue wolves remained pinned to the stone floor, whimpering on their knees, completely paralyzed by a primal terror that bypassed thought and went straight to bone.Even Gerard Kane had frozen mid-stride.For the very first time since Athena had laid eyes on him, the cruel, calculating mastermind looked genuinely, utterly afraid."Impossible," Gerard whispered, his voice trembling beneath the weight of his disbelief.Athena’s mother lunged forward, grabbing Athena’s arm with a desperate, crushing grip. "We have to go. Now, Athena!"Athena

The chamber seemed to hold its breath.Athena stared at Damon, her gaze locked onto the dark blood dripping steadily from the tip of his sword. For a long, agonizing moment, she couldn't bring herself to move.Not because she was afraid of the blade. But because she had spent five miserable years wondering whether the loving brother she remembered from her childhood had ever truly existed at all.The man standing before her now looked like a cold, hollow stranger."You..." Athena whispered, her raspy voice barely carrying over the quiet hum of the ancient runes.Damon's dark eyes remained completely unyielding. "You should have listened when I told you to stay in your place."Athena's fingers curled tightly around the glowing silver pendant resting against her throat. "My place?" Her voice trembled, laced with decades of suppressed pain. "I was your sister, Damon."Damon's impassive expression flickered—a subtle, microscopic crack in his armor. But it vanished just as quickly, replace

The darkness swallowed them whole.Athena felt herself falling through the void—not quickly, yet not slowly. There was no sense of direction or orientation anymore, only total, suffocating darkness and the crushing pressure of something ancient and vast surrounding her soul.Then—THUD!Her boots struck solid stone.Athena gasped for air, her hands immediately reaching out into the dark. "Buck?""I'm here." His deep, familiar voice came from right beside her.She reached blindly until her fingers found his hand. It was warm, solid, and very much alive. "Are you hurt?""Just my shoulder," he replied, his grip tightening around hers."You shouldn't have come down here, Evan."A faint, breathy laugh escaped him in the dark. "You really need to stop saying that to me, Athena."Athena almost smiled. Almost.Then a terrified scream echoed through the subterranean silence."Mom!" Athena released Buck's hand and spun around. "Mom, where are you?!""I'm right here!" her mother's voice called o

"Don't trust Buck.”The four words echoed endlessly through the Heart Chamber, rattling against the obsidian walls like a curse.Athena stared intently at the dark, shattered silver doors.Her father's voice.It seemed utterly impossible. For twenty-two excruciating years, she had carried the crushing grief of his death. She had wept for him in cold servant quarters, hated the shadowy figures she believed had slaughtered him, and built her entire broken identity around a tragic lie.And now, his voice had returned from the dark abyss.Don't trust Buck.Evan stood completely motionless beside her, his chest rising and falling heavily. "Athena..."Slowly, deliberately, she pulled her hand out of his grip.Buck's expression shifted immediately—not with anger, but with a profound, agonizing pain that cut straight through his Alpha composure. "I didn't do anything to him, Athena. I swear it."Tears welled in her silver eyes. "I know.""Then why are you looking at me like that?""Because I