All Chapters of The King's Rejected Priestess: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

CHAPTER ONE. LYRA'S POV. I knelt in the center of the ritual circle, my white dress stained with the grey dirt of the northern winter. Around me, hundreds of wolves, people I had called family for years, snarled at me. The sound was not human, it was a low, vibrating growl that shook the very bones of my chest. ''Murderer.''''Traitor.''I could hear every whisper, and the words that were not silent. ''She was there when it happened.''''She must have known.''''How else will the rogues have found them?''''She betrayed them.''I kept my eyes lowered, my hands trembled against the cold stone beneath my knees. Blood still stained my knees. I had spent the entire night trying to save those who had been injured from the attack. I had used every herb I knew, every healing prayer my mother had taught me. It had not been enough. The smell of smoke still clung to my hair, my chest hurt whenever I breathed because of how much smoke I inhaled, trying to save people. But none of that mat

CHAPTER THREE. LYRA’s POV. I should have known returning to Silver Crest Realm would not be easy, I simply did not expect the Moon Goddess to test me so quickly. The air was thick with the scent of too many powerful wolves in one place. There was tension that I could feel in my bones. I wore a veil over the lower half of my face, a tradition of the High Priestesses, but my eyes remained uncovered. As I walked through the stone corridor toward the assembly hall, a voice stopped me in my tracks. “I need guards at the perimeter 24/7.” That voice, the voice was deeper than it had been eight years ago, it was richer, like the sound of a distant storm, but it carried a sharpness that made my skin produce goosebumps all over. My heart hammered against my ribs. Kael. I turned my head slightly, peeking through the archway. Standing in the center of the courtyard was a man who looked like he had been forged in a furnace. He was taller than I remembered, his shoulders broader. He wasn’t w

CHAPTER FIVE.KAEL’s POV. I woke up calling her name. Again. My eyes snapped open, and darkness surrounded me. For several seconds, I lay still, breathing heavily as I stared at the ceiling. Another dream, another night where my mind had betrayed me, I turned my head toward the grandfather clock. Past midnight. Again. I sat up slowly. The dream was already fading, but I could still remember her face. She had been standing beneath the moon. Just as she had eight years ago. Her silver dress had moved with the wind, her hair falling over her shoulders. She had been smiling at me. Not the smile she gave me yesterday. Not the cold, polite expression of a stranger. The smile she used to give me, the one that belonged to me. Then she had reached for me, and every time, I woke up before I could touch her. I dragged a hand over my face. Pathetic. Eight years. Eight years and I was still dreaming about the same woman, the woman who murdered my whole family. I should be dreaming about

LYRA. “Father.” The word was sharp and clear, slicing through the fragile composure I tried so hard to maintain. I stood there in a state of absolute awe and soul crushing shock. My heart, which had been beating for him in secret all this time, felt like it was being squeezed by an icy fist. While I was wasting away in the temple, suffering through every lonely night and praying for a glimpse of the man I once knew, he had been building a life. He hadn’t just moved on, he had a child with another woman. Was I really that easy to forget? Kael didn’t even look at me at first. His entire world was centered on the small girl in his arms. He leaned down, pressing a lingering, affectionate kiss to the top of her head, his voice dropping into a low, soothing murmur I had once thought was only reserved for me. “Freya, what are you doing out of your room?” He asked, his brow furrowing with genuine concern as he ticked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. For a second I felt an immense