From Rejected Mate to Royal Queen

The slap still echoed through the throne room long after the emissary had been dragged away.

Theron dismissed the court with a single wave, his face unreadable. Cassian remained by Raina's side, eyes scanning the chamber as it slowly emptied. Whispers floated behind silk sleeves and golden masks. Nobles. Spies. Pretenders.

Raina stood tall, chin lifted, blood still humming beneath her skin.

"That wasn't diplomacy," Cassian muttered once they were alone.

"I wasn't aiming for diplomacy," Raina replied. "I was aiming for clarity."

Theron stepped down from the dais, approaching her slowly. "You've sent a message to the Alpha King whether you meant to or not."

"I meant to," she said. "Let him know I'm not hiding anymore."

He studied her, the weight of a kingdom in his stare. "You changed after the ritual."

"I feel…" she paused. "Louder. Brighter. Like I finally understand what I was born to become."

Cassian crossed his arms. "Then you need to see something."

The chamber Cassian led her to was hidden behind a false wall in the castle's western wing — a war archive from the time of the first Blood Wars. Dust coated the scrolls, and a few shelves had collapsed from neglect.

He handed her a parchment sealed in wax. "This came from one of our scouts near the eastern ridges."

Raina broke the seal and unfolded it carefully.

Her eyes scanned the message. Her breath caught.

Subject spotted: female, silver-eyed. Not local. No scent trail. Watching the camp. Vanished before contact. Suspect: witch or spy.

Beneath the note was a sketch.

Raina's stomach dropped.

It was the woman from her visions.

The golden-armored queen.

But older. Hollow-eyed. Worn by time or torment.

"That's not possible," she whispered.

"You saw her in the fire," Cassian said. "Didn't you?"

"She died centuries ago."

"Or reincarnated," he said. "Like you."

Raina stared at the paper. Her fingers trembled.

"She's not part of your soul," Cassian added. "She's separate. That means she didn't pass on."

Raina swallowed hard. "What does that mean?"

"It means someone powerful is walking around with knowledge they shouldn't have. Maybe even power they shouldn't have."

Theron entered then, cloak swirling behind him. "The scout who saw her is missing."

Cassian's jaw tightened.

"And we just got a report that a Lunar border village was attacked. Burned. Survivors said it wasn't wolves — it was something… older."

"Magic," Raina whispered.

Theron nodded. "Dark magic."

Raina's chest tightened. "Is this connected to the emissaries?"

"Everything's connected now," Theron said grimly. "And we're running out of time."

That evening, Raina returned to the library, the heavy silence pressing on her shoulders like a crown of stone. She lit a lantern and returned to the book about the Lunaris queens, flipping quickly until she reached a section she had skipped before.

The Fallen Queen.

There was no name. Just a warning.

"She who breaks the bond, who refuses the cycle, becomes a shadow in the next life. She does not die. She devours."

Raina stared at the text.

Was that who she had seen?

A queen who had refused rebirth… and lingered?

Cassian stepped into the doorway, quiet. "You should sleep."

She turned the book toward him. "Have you ever heard of a queen who broke the cycle?"

He stepped closer, squinting at the faded ink. "No. And I've read everything in this castle. That's not history—it's a warning."

Raina looked up. "A warning that might be walking again."

Outside, the wind howled like a living thing, rattling the glass panes of the windows. The guards doubled at the gates. The castle's walls glowed faintly with protective runes activated by the elders.

But Raina didn't feel safe.

She sat by the hearth in her chamber, the flames casting flickering gold across the stone walls. Her thoughts ran wild.

Kael.

Her mother.

The ritual.

The emissaries.

And now — this fallen queen watching from the shadows.

She didn't realize she'd dozed off until her wolf stirred restlessly.

A cold wind brushed her face.

She opened her eyes.

The fire was gone.

The room was dark.

And standing in front of her was a woman cloaked in black silk, silver eyes glowing faintly in the dark.

Raina shot to her feet. "Who are you?"

The woman tilted her head. "You already know."

"You're the fallen one."

The woman smiled. "You wear her blood like a crown, but you know nothing of what came before you. You think power is enough to stop what's coming?"

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

Raina reached for her dagger.

But the woman was gone.

Just like that.

The fire returned in a roar, and the room warmed.

Raina's chest rose and fell rapidly. She looked down at her hand — a single silver thread was wrapped around her wrist like a bracelet of light.

She marked me.

She stared into the fire.

Why?