All Chapters of The Wrong Mate And The Silver Queen: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

"Selene. Selene, can you hear me?"The voice came from far away, muffled like I was underwater. I tried to open my eyes, but my body wouldn't obey. Everything hurt—a deep, bone-deep ache that radiated from my chest outward, like someone had reached inside me and scooped out something vital."She's waking up. Give her space."Another voice. Rowan's voice. Warm and steady, cutting through the fog. I forced my eyes open.The ceiling above me was rough-hewn wood, unfamiliar. I lay on a narrow cot, scratchy blankets pulled up to my chin. The air smelled of woodsmoke and herbs and something metallic—blood. My blood."Welcome back." Rowan's face appeared above me, his brown eyes soft with relief. But there were new lines around his mouth, new shadows under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. "You've been out for three days. We were starting to worry.""Three days?" My voice came out as a croak. "What happened? Where are we?""A safe house north of the Redwater Gate." He helped

"You look better than I expected."Elias's voice was warm as he limped through the doorway of the safe house's common room. It was a small space, crowded with mismatched furniture and the lingering smell of woodsmoke, but it felt like a palace compared to the battlefields we'd crossed."I look like death warmed over," I corrected, smiling despite myself. "But it's good to see you standing.""Standing is a generous term." He lowered himself onto a bench across from me, his bad leg stretched out with a grimace. "Victor says I walk like a drunk deer.""Victor says a lot of things." My older brother appeared in the doorway, his arm in a sling but his expression lighter than I'd seen in years. "Most of them true."The three of us sat together in the quiet, the weight of everything we'd survived settling around us like a shared burden. For a moment, no one spoke. We didn't need to. The fact that we were all here, all alive, was enough.Then my mother entered.Queen Mariselle looked differen

"Stay close. The tunnel entrance should be just ahead."Victor's voice was a whisper, barely audible over the wind. We'd been hiking through the hills for an hour, following a path that existed only in his memory. The moon was hidden behind clouds, and the darkness was absolute."How did you know about this place again?" I asked, keeping my voice equally low."Father showed me years ago. When I was being groomed for command." Victor's tone was bitter. "He said every good ruler needs secret exits. I didn't realize at the time that he meant for himself, not for his people."The cave entrance appeared suddenly—a dark maw in the hillside, half-hidden by dead brush. Lyra's team had already cleared the area, but I could still smell the faint scent of wolves who'd passed through recently. Thornwood soldiers, probably. They'd come close but hadn't found the entrance."Twenty minutes until the diversion starts." Victor checked the horizon. "That gives us enough time to reach the watchtower's f

"We'll reach the Moonstone Court by nightfall."Victor's voice was steady, but I could hear the tension beneath it. We'd been marching for hours, a ragged column of rebels and freed prisoners and soldiers who'd once fought for the enemy. The road was long, but the mood was lighter than it had been in days. Wolves talked quietly among themselves, sharing food and water, tending to the wounded."Are you ready?" Rowan asked, falling into step beside me."For the trial? For seeing my father in chains?" I shook my head. "I don't think anyone's ever ready for that.""That's not what I meant." His hand found mine. "Are you ready to go home? To the palace where you grew up? To the court that watched you suffer and did nothing?"The question hit deeper than I expected. The Moonstone Court had been my prison for nineteen years—a gilded cage of silk and protocol and silent cruelty. Going back there, even as a conqueror, felt like stepping into a ghost."I don't know," I admitted. "Part of me wan

Dawn broke over the Moonstone Court like a wound—red and gold and bleeding light across the marble floors. I stood at the window of my old chambers, watching the sun rise over the kingdom I was supposed to rule, and felt the weight of it pressing down on my chest."You've been awake for hours."Rowan's voice came from the bed behind me. I hadn't heard him stir, but I'd learned long ago that he moved like a ghost when he wanted to."Couldn't sleep." I didn't turn around. "Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces. The hostages in the dungeon. The soldiers I freed. The wolves who died at Redwater Gate."He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around me from behind, his warmth chasing away the morning chill. "You can't carry all of them, Selene. You'll drown under the weight.""Someone has to carry them." I leaned back against his chest. "My father never did. The council never did. If I don't—""Then the kingdom will still stand." He pressed his lips to my temple. "You're not respon