From Rejected Mate to Royal Queen

The forest was silent long after the Alpha King vanished, but the air remained heavy, as if his presence had scorched the very earth. Raina stood frozen, fists clenched at her sides, her body still trembling with the aftershock of standing face-to-face with the man who had ruled her life from the shadows.

Cassian stepped forward first. "What just happened?"

"He was watching us," Theron growled. "Waiting for her to step into his reach."

Raina turned toward them, her eyes still locked on the place where the Alpha King had stood. "He's afraid."

Theron raised an eyebrow. "He didn't look afraid."

"He is," Raina said, voice quiet but certain. "He wouldn't have come himself if he wasn't."

Cassian nodded slowly. "He's trying to intimidate you before your power grows."

Raina looked down at her hands. They didn't feel like hers anymore — they felt like weapons waiting to be forged.

"He came to see if I was ready," she said. "To measure the threat."

Theron's jaw tensed. "And what did he see?"

Raina looked up. "Not enough. Not yet."

The next morning, Raina rose before dawn. Her body ached from the long ride and emotional exhaustion, but her spirit refused to rest.

She found Vanya already in the training yard, tossing knives at a wooden target with mechanical precision.

"I need you to push me," Raina said without greeting.

Vanya turned slowly. "You look like you haven't slept."

"I didn't."

"Good. You'll fight with fatigue, just like in battle."

She tossed Raina a short blade. "Today, no staffs. Today, we fight like wolves."

By midday, Raina's arms were streaked with bruises, her lip split, and her hair soaked in sweat.

"Again," Vanya barked.

Raina gritted her teeth and lunged, blade slashing through the air. Vanya parried, twisted, and knocked her to the ground with a hard thud.

"Your hesitation will get you killed," she said.

"I'm not hesitating—"

"You are. You pull back when your strike gets close. Why?"

Raina sat up, panting. "Because I see her."

Vanya's brow furrowed. "Who?"

"Myself," Raina said. "The girl I used to be."

Vanya knelt beside her. "Then kill her."

Raina blinked.

Vanya leaned in. "That weak girl who begged for love from someone who didn't deserve her? She's your enemy now."

Raina's breath caught in her throat. She saw flashes of her past — Kael's cold stare, the rejection, the ache in her chest as she begged not to be discarded.

She stood.

And this time, when she struck, she didn't hold back.

Later, as the sky darkened, Raina returned to her room, body broken but heart burning. The fire inside her wasn't rage — it was purpose.

She looked at the parchment Theron had given her again, the one bearing the mark of the First Bloodline. The edges were worn now from how many times she'd unfolded it.

But tonight, she didn't need to read it.

She felt it.

The truth was no longer something she feared. It was something she would own.

As she sat down to rest, the door creaked open and Theron entered.

"You pushed too hard," he said, eyeing the bruises on her collarbone.

"Not hard enough," she replied.

Theron smirked. "You remind me of my mother."

"I thought you were raised by warriors."

"I was," he said. "But she was the fiercest one."

He handed her a bundle wrapped in velvet. "Wear this tomorrow. You've earned it."

She unfolded it slowly — a black leather battle corset engraved with silver lining, fit for a royal wolf in training.

Raina's throat tightened. "You're dressing me like a warrior."

"No," Theron said, meeting her eyes. "Like a Queen."

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Cassian stepped inside, eyes wide. "You'll want to see this."

They followed him to the war room, where a scout stood waiting with a bloodied scroll.

Theron unrolled it carefully.

At the top, the Alpha King's seal.

And beneath it, a list of names.

Raina's name was first.

Cassian whispered, "It's a kill list."

Theron's jaw clenched. "He's not waiting for war. He's starting it."

Raina didn't blink.

"Then we strike first."