THE ALPHA'S REJECTED QUEEN

I knew my place. I'd spent five years learning it.

The floor. That was my place.

More specifically, the kitchen floor of the Silver Moon Pack house, scrubbing away stains that weren't even mine while laughter drifted in from the dining room. Laughter and conversation and the clinking of silverware—all sounds that belonged to people who mattered. People who had wolves. People who were worth something.

I dipped my rag into the bucket of soapy water and wrung it out, my knuckles red and raw from hours of cleaning.

"Elena!"

The name wasn't called; it was sneered.

I didn't jump. I'd learned better than that by now.

I turned on my knees to face Delta Commander Reese, a massive wall of a man who'd made my life miserable since my failed shift at age six. Since the pack doctor had shaken his head and said, "No wolf. She's Wolfless. Defective."

Six years of shame. Five years of being less than nothing.

"I... I'm sorry, Commander. I was just—" I pulled at my sleeves, automatically covering my hands. A nervous habit I couldn't break.

"Cleaning?" He kicked the bucket over. Soapy water spilled across the floor I'd just scrubbed. "Well, you missed a spot."

The other Deltas laughed. Reese's cronies. They always traveled in packs, like the wolves they actually were. Unlike me.

"I'll... I'll clean it up again." My voice came out small and thin. Pathetic.

"See that you do." He stepped closer, invading my space, knowing I wouldn't—couldn't—fight back. "And hurry up with those dishes. The celebration starts in an hour and we need serving trays ready."

He kicked the empty bucket toward me. It skittered across the floor, mocking.

Then they left, still laughing. Still feeling powerful because they could push around the Wolfless girl. The defective one. The one who didn't have a wolf.

I stayed on my knees for a long moment, staring at the overturned bucket.

My eighteenth birthday.

And the only thing celebrating was that I'd survived this long.

***

One hour later, I carried a heavy silver tray into the dining hall, careful not to spill the drinks balanced on top. The room was already filling with pack members, all dressed in their finest. The women in elegant dresses, the men in dark suits that complemented their wolves.

Everyone looked beautiful. Everyone looked like they belonged.

I looked like a servant in clothes that had been handed down three times before reaching me, faded and ill-fitting and utterly humiliating.

"Over here, Wolfless." One of the Omegas waved me down. "We need more wine."

I set my tray down on a side table and rushed to pour wine, keeping my head down, my eyes on my task. Don't make eye contact. Don't speak unless spoken to. Be invisible.

These were the rules. These were my survival strategies.

I'd learned them all too well.

"Happy birthday to you..." the singing started from the main table.

I paused mid-pour, my hand trembling. Happy birthday. That was for me. Sort of. The pack acknowledged everyone's eighteenth birthday—it was tradition, a rite of passage. But for me, it felt more like a reminder than a celebration.

Eighteen years old. And still no wolf.

"Happy birthday, dear Elena..." the song continued, but my name sounded like an apology, like they were embarrassed to even say it.

I kept pouring wine. I didn't look up.

"Make a wish!" someone called out.

A wish.

I didn't have wishes anymore.

The door opened.

The room went silent.

Not the comfortable silence of anticipation or the hush before a speech. This was something else. This was the kind of silence that falls when a predator enters the room. When an Alpha walks in.

I knew without looking who it was.

Kael Thorne. Alpha of Silver Moon Pack. My Alpha.

Our Alpha.

I risked a glance up, just for a second.

Dark hair. Silver-gray eyes that could see through to your soul. A presence that filled the room, commanded attention, demanded respect. He wore a black suit that probably cost more than my parents had earned in their entire lives, and he wore it like he'd been born wearing expensive things.

He looked tired. There were shadows under his eyes, lines of stress around his mouth that hadn't been there a month ago. The pack had been on high alert lately—Rogue attacks on the borders, rumors that Blood Moon Pack was mobilizing for war.

War. Politics. Strategy.

These were things that mattered to an Alpha.

These were things that would never concern someone like me.

He scanned the room, his gaze assessing, calculating. Looking over his pack like he was inventorying resources, not greeting family.

Then his eyes locked on mine.

Across the crowded room, through dozens of people, through the noise and the laughter and the celebration—

Our eyes met.

And my world stopped.

***

The bond snapped into place like a physical blow.

Air left my lungs so hard I actually swayed on my feet. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird trying to escape. Every nerve in my body screamed the same thing, over and over again, an endless desperate chorus that made my knees want to buckle:

*MATE MATE MATE MATE MATE*

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't see anything but him.

Him.

My mate.

My Alpha.

The Moon Goddess had answered my silent prayers, my desperate wishes, the nights I'd spent crying into my pillow because I was so alone, so broken, so worthless.

She'd given me someone.

She'd given me HIM.

"Kael?" Beta Marcus stepped forward, looking concerned. "Alpha? Are you—"

"Who is that?" Kael's voice carried across the room. Low. Rough. Commanding.

Everyone turned to look at me.

I wanted to sink through the floor. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to run.

But I couldn't move. Could barely breathe.

"My name," I managed to whisper, "is Elena."

"Elena what?"

"Vance. My mother was Maria Vance. She... she died when I was born."

Something flickered in his eyes. Recognition? No, that wasn't it. Confusion, maybe. Or calculation.

"The Wolfless girl?" someone whispered.

"The Runt?" someone else muttered.

Kael stepped toward me, and the crowd parted instinctively. He moved like a predator, smooth and dangerous and absolutely focused on me.

Closer. He was getting closer.

My heart tried to beat its way out of my chest. This was happening. This was real. He was my mate. My true mate. The Moon Goddess herself had chosen him for me, and—

The tray slipped from my fingers.

It crashed to the floor, wine shattering everywhere. The sound was impossibly loud in the silent room.

I dropped to my knees, trying to clean it up, trying to hide, trying to disappear.

"Elena." Kael's voice came from right above me.

I looked up, and my breath caught all over again.

Up close, he was devastating. Beautiful. Perfect. Silver-gray eyes that could drown in, high cheekbones, a jawline that could cut glass, and oh goddess, he smelled like pine and rain and MINE MINE MINE—

"You're my age," he said.

"Yes, Alpha. I... I turned eighteen today."

"That's why..." He frowned, processing. "The bond snapped into place. Just now."

The bond. He felt it too.

Hope, wild and desperate, bloomed in my chest.

He felt it. He knew. And now—

"What are you?" he asked. "I don't... I don't remember you from before."

"I'm Wolfless, Alpha. I never—"

"You can't shift."

"No, Alpha. I... I tried. When I was six, and again at twelve, and—"

"Useless." The word slipped out before I could stop it, and I hated myself the moment it left my lips. But it was true, wasn't it? I was useless. Defective. Broken.

Kael studied me for a long moment.

I waited, barely breathing, praying he wouldn't send me away. Couldn't he feel it? The bond? The connection? The way we were meant to be together?

"We need to talk," he said finally.

"Alone," he added to the room.

The pack scrambled to clear out instantly. No one disobeyed an Alpha command. Especially not one that came with that tone—that low, dangerous rumble that said: OBEY OR ELSE.

Then it was just us.

Just me and my mate.

Alone.

***

I couldn't look away from him.

I'd spent years dreaming about this moment, about being chosen, about having someone who would want me. Love me. Choose me.

Now here he was.

And he was even more beautiful up close.

"Elena," he said, testing my name.

"Alpha."

"Kael." His eyes flickered. "When we're... alone. You can call me Kael."

"Kael." The name felt like honey on my tongue. Sweet and forbidden.

"The bond..." He shook his head slightly, like he was trying to clear it. "It's never been this strong. Not in any recorded case. This intensity—"

"It's the Moon Goddess," I said softly. "She chose us."

He didn't look reassured.

He looked... strained.

"Kael? Is something... is something wrong?" My heart squeezed painfully. "Don't you feel it? The bond?"

"I feel it." His jaw tightened. "That's the problem."

My stomach dropped.

"The... problem?"

He started pacing. "I can't be distracted right now, Elena. The pack is vulnerable. Blood Moon Pack is mobilizing. We're on the brink of war. I need..." He gestured helplessly. "Focus. Strategy. Logic. I can't be distracted by—"

"By me?" The word came out small and hurt.

"I didn't mean—" He stopped pacing. "This is... this is inconvenient timing."

Inconvenient.

The word hit me like a slap.

"Inconvenient?"

"The pack comes first," he said, like he was reciting something he'd memorized. "Always. An Alpha must prioritize the pack above all else."

"But we're true mates." The words tumbled out, desperate. "The Moon Goddess chose—"

"I KNOW WHAT SHE CHOSE!" He exploded, then visibly got himself under control. "I know. I feel it too. The pull. The... connection. Everything."

"Then—"

"But I'm not just anyone, Elena." He knelt down so we were eye-level. "I'm Alpha. Two thousand people depend on me. Their lives, their safety, their future—it all rests on my shoulders. I can't just follow my heart. I have to use my head."

My heart cracked. Just a little.

"But... we're mates. That means something. It has to mean something."

"It means I have to find a way to make this work without compromising the pack." He stood up. "Leave us. Both of you. For now."

The pack. They'd been waiting outside.

"Now," he said, in the Alpha Command tone.

Everyone scrambled away.

"I need to think," he said. "Alone. Please."

"Please." My voice broke. "Please don't—"

"Elena." His voice softened, just a fraction. "I'm not rejecting you. I'm just... I need time to process this. To figure out how to... to..."

"To make my existence convenient?" The words were out before I could stop them.

He flinched. Good.

"That's not what I meant."

"That's exactly what you meant." I stood up on shaky legs. "I'm an inconvenience. A distraction. A problem to be solved."

"Elena, listen to me—"

"No." I backed away. "I've listened my whole life. To people telling me I'm defective. Broken. Worthless. I thought... I thought when the Moon Goddess chose you for me, it meant she didn't see me that way."

"She doesn't." He stepped toward me. "Elena, you're not listening—"

"I'm listening!" I cried out. "I'm hearing you loud and clear! I'm a problem! An inconvenience! Something to be 'figured out'!"

"Elena, please, just—"

"Do you even feel it?" I demanded. "The bond? The connection? Because I do! It's screaming at me that you're MINE and I'm YOURS and we're meant to be together, but you're looking at me like I'm a BURDEN."

Kael's face went still.

Very, very still.

"I feel it," he said quietly. "And that's why this is so hard."

I waited. Hoping. Praying.

"I'll walk you back to your room," he said.

The words were gentle.

They broke my heart all over again.

***

I didn't let him walk me back.

I couldn't. I wouldn't.

I fled instead, running through the pack house corridors, blind with tears, barely seeing where I was going. I could hear him behind me—calling my name—but I didn't stop.

Couldn't stop.

Wouldn't stop.

I reached my small room off the kitchens and locked the door, collapsing onto my narrow bed, and finally, finally let myself cry.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Mates were supposed to be happy. Excited. Overjoyed.

They weren't supposed to look at you like you were a math problem they couldn't solve.

I curled around myself, sobbing into my thin pillow, and for the first time in my life, I felt it—felt something stir in the back of my mind, in the place where a wolf should have been.

Not a wolf.

Something else.

Something ancient. Something dormant. Something that had been waiting.

*He doesn't want us,* it seemed to say. *Then we don't need him.*

I cried myself to sleep that night, alone and heartbroken and so incredibly tired of being unwanted.

***

I woke to someone pounding on my door.

"Elena! Open up!"

I sat up, disoriented. My eyes were swollen from crying. My throat was sore. My heart—

My heart still ached, but beneath the pain, something else was growing.

Anger.

"Elena!" It was Kael's voice.

I unlocked the door without thinking, then wished I hadn't when I saw him standing there. He looked terrible. Dark circles under his eyes. His shirt was wrinkled, like he'd been pulling at the collar all night.

"Alpha," I whispered.

"There's going to be a pack meeting," he said. "In the assembly hall. In an hour."

"Okay?" I didn't understand what this had to do with me.

"You need to be there."

My heart leapt. "Why? Is it... is it about the bond? Are you going to—"

"It's about the pack, Elena." He wouldn't meet my eyes. "Just... be there. Please."

I nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll be there."

He hesitated, like he wanted to say something else.

Then he turned and walked away.

I watched him go, a terrible feeling growing in my chest.

Something was wrong.

Something I wasn't going to like.

***

The assembly hall was packed. All two thousand pack members, crammed into the space. The air smelled of anxiety and anticipation.

I stood at the back, invisible as always, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my ribs.

Kael stood at the front of the room, with Marcus and the pack leaders. And...

And someone else.

A woman I'd never seen before.

Beautiful. Elegant. Dressed in expensive white silk, with dark hair cascading down her back and eyes like cold, hard stones.

She stood next to Kael like she belonged there.

"Dearly beloved pack members," Kael said, his voice carrying to every corner of the room. "I've called you here to make an announcement."

My heart squeezed. Please. Please let this be about us. About the bond. About—

"As you know, Blood Moon Pack threatens our borders. Their numbers grow daily. Their attacks become more brazen."

Okay. So this was about the war. That made sense.

"We cannot face them alone," Kael continued. "We need allies. We need strength. We need..." He paused. "We need unity."

The woman in white stepped forward.

"This is Seraphina Blackwood," Kael said. "Daughter of Alpha Aldric of Northern Pack."

Northern Pack. The largest pack in the region. The most powerful.

"Alpha Blackwood and I have reached an agreement," Kael said. "A strategic alliance. Marriage. Between myself and Seraphina."

The room went dead silent.

Marriage. He was getting married. To someone else.

"With all due respect, Alpha," Marcus spoke up, "what about... about your mate?"

Oh goddess.

Everyone turned to look at me.

I stood frozen, feeling the blood drain from my face.

"The mating bond snapped into place yesterday," Kael said, and his voice was so steady, so emotionless, it broke something inside me. "With a pack member."

People whispered. Looked around. Speculated.

"The Wolfless girl," someone said.

"The Runt," someone else muttered.

Kael didn't correct them.

"However," he continued, "I cannot accept this bond. I reject you, Elena, as my mate. I reject the bond. This decision is final."

The snap was audible.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

Pain, unlike anything I'd ever felt, tore through my chest. Like something was being ripped away, something vital and precious and—

My wolf. Or where my wolf should have been. The empty space where a wolf's spirit should live.

The pain was so intense I actually screamed.

My knees gave out.

I hit the floor hard, but I barely felt it.

Because my wolf—the silent, absent presence I'd carried for twelve years—was whimpering. Was crying. Was—

The bond broke.

Her presence faded.

Went dark.

Went away.

And I was alone.

Completely, utterly alone.

"The alliance," Kael continued, his voice not even shaking, "takes priority. The pack comes first. Always."

Seraphina stepped forward, taking his arm. Possessive. Triumphant.

"The engagement will be announced formally next week," she said. "Preparations for the wedding will begin immediately."

She looked out at the crowd, her eyes scanning until—

They found me.

She smiled.

It wasn't a nice smile.

"Well, that was handled efficiently," she said. "I'm so glad we could... resolve that little distraction."

The pack laughed.

They actually laughed.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Could only kneel there, broken and bleeding and alone, while the person who was supposed to be mine—the person who was SUPPOSED TO BE MINE—stood at the front of the room with someone else.

With his fiancée.

Someone he'd chosen over me.

Someone he'd chosen over the bond.

Over me.

"Get out," Kael said.

I looked up. He was looking at me.

"Get out," he said again. "And don't come back."

I crawled toward the door, barely able to see through my tears. The pack laughed. They mocked. They pointed.

And in the back of my mind, in that empty space where my wolf had been, something else woke up.

Something ancient.

Something angry.

Something that had been waiting a very, very long time.

*Don't worry,* it seemed to say. *This isn't over.*

*This is just the beginning.*

***

I made it back to my room before I collapsed completely.

Not collapsed.

The world spun, darkened around the edges.

Pain—wracking, agonizing pain—tore through my body like I was being ripped apart from the inside out.

What was happening to me? Was I dying?

I clutched at my stomach, at my chest, at my head, but the pain was everywhere. Nowhere. Everywhere. All at once.

The door opened.

Someone walked in.

I tried to scream, but I couldn't breathe.

"Oh, you poor thing."

Seraphina.

She knelt beside me, her expression one of perfect, fake concern.

"This happens sometimes," she said. "When a bond breaks. The body doesn't know how to handle it."

"Why?" I gasped out. "Why are you... why are you doing this?"

"Because this isn't about you, darling." She brushed hair back from my face. Her touch was gentle, but her eyes were cold. "This is about power. About territory. About the future."

"You can't just—you can't just take him from me—"

"I can. I did. And there's nothing you can do about it." She stood up. "Except, of course, make this easier on everyone."

"What?"

"Leave." She looked down at me, and her smile was triumphant. "Leave the pack. Leave the territory. Go somewhere far, far away."

"You can't be serious."

"I am." She leaned closer. "Because if you stay, you'll just be a constant reminder of what he gave up. A constant humiliation. And that would be... unfortunate."

"You're trying to get rid of me."

"I'm trying to help you." She straightened her dress. "You're free to go. No one will stop you. No one will come after you."

She started for the door.

"Why are you doing this?" I called after her.

She paused.

"He chose me, Elena. He chose the alliance. He chose the pack." She looked back over her shoulder. "He didn't choose you."

She left.

I lay there, curled around myself, in more pain than I'd ever felt in my life.

And in the back of my mind, that ancient presence grew stronger.

*Don't worry,* it whispered. *We'll show them.*

*We'll show them all.*

***

I don't know how long I lay there before I could move again.

Hours, probably.

When I finally could, I stood on shaky legs and looked around my small room. The bed where I'd slept for five years. The few possessions I owned—none of them valuable. Nothing that tied me here.

Nothing that mattered.

Except...

My hand went to my stomach.

I'd been feeling off lately. Nauseous. Dizzy. Exhausted.

And when the bond snapped into place, there was this moment—a split second—where I'd felt something else.

Something small. Something fragile. Something growing.

I should have been terrified.

Should have been panicked.

But instead, for the first time in my life, I didn't feel alone.

Not completely.

I had something worth protecting.

Something worth fighting for.

I packed quickly. Clothes. A few belongings. Not that I had much.

Then I slipped out the window, into the night, away from the pack that had rejected me.

Away from the mate who had broken me.

Away from the home that had never really been mine.

Behind me, the pack house slept.

Ahead, the forest waited.

And deep inside, that ancient presence stretched and smiled.

*Hunting season begins,* it said.

*Let's start with the truth.*

***

I ran until dawn.

Until my legs gave out and I collapsed against a tree, gasping for air, my lungs burning, my body screaming in protest.

Pregnant.

The word had been floating through my mind all night, but I hadn't wanted to face it. Hadn't wanted to acknowledge it.

But I couldn't deny it anymore.

The timing. The symptoms. The feeling.

I was pregnant.

With Kael's children.

With the children of the man who had rejected me. Who had chosen someone else. Who had humiliated me in front of our entire pack.

Who had ordered me to leave.

I pressed my hands to my stomach. To the tiny lives growing inside me.

*I'm sorry,* I thought. *I'm so, so sorry.*

*You deserve better than a broken mother. Better than a father who doesn't want you. Better than—*

Something shifted in the air.

Magic.

I scrambled to my feet, spinning to face—

Nothing.

Just trees. Just shadows. Just—

A woman appeared out of nowhere.

Old. Weathered. With eyes that seemed to see everything.

"Elena Vance," she said.

I froze. "Who... how do you know my name?"

"I've been waiting for you." She stepped closer. "My name is Astrid. And you're in danger, child."

"Danger?" My voice rose. "What danger?"

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Ah. You don't know."

"Don't know what?"

She reached out, hovering her hand over my stomach.

Her eyes went wide. Shocked.

Then... delighted.

"Oh," she said softly. "Oh, this is... unexpected."

"What?" I demanded. "What's happening to me?"

"You're carrying twins," she said. "And they're not just any twins."

She stepped closer.

"Elena... your mother. Do you know who she really was?"

"She died when I was born."

"She did." Astrid's expression softened. "But who she was... that's the question."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mother was Maria. Daughter of Lycaon. Granddaughter of the last Lycan king."

I stared at her. "The what?"

"The Lycan heir." Astrid smiled. "The last of the royal bloodline. And now... now it lives in you."

"I don't... I don't understand."

"You will." She nodded toward the path behind her. "Come with me, child. I have much to teach you."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm the only one who can protect you." Astrid's voice dropped, became serious. "You're pregnant. With the Alpha's rejected mate's children. Do you think Seraphina will let you live? Do you think she'll let them live?"

My blood ran cold.

"She... she ordered me to leave. She said—"

"She lied." Astrid's eyes were grim. "Or she only told you part of the truth. The rest? She's sent assassins after you, child. I can feel them coming."

I couldn't breathe. "She's trying to kill me?"

"She's trying to clean up a mess." Astrid stepped closer. "Come with me. I can protect you. I can teach you. I can help you understand what you really are."

"And what am I?"

Her eyes flashed—just for a second—with an inner light that wasn't human.

"You're not Wolfless, Elena. You never were."

"Then what am I?"

"You're Lycan." She smiled, and there was something fierce and proud in it. "The last royal heir. The future queen. And the one thing Seraphina and her father truly fear."

"Lycan," I whispered. "But... that's a myth. They're extinct."

"We were hunted to near-extinction." Astrid nodded. "But some survived. Went into hiding. Passed the bloodline down through the generations, dormant, waiting for the right moment to awaken."

"And that's... me?"

"That's you." She held out her hand. "Come with me, Elena. Let me help you. Let me help you protect your babies."

I looked at her hand. Then back at the direction I'd come from.

Back at the pack.

At Kael.

At everything I'd lost.

Or maybe... at everything that had never really been mine to begin with.

I took Astrid's hand.

"Teach me," I said.

Her smile widened.

"First lesson, child. You're not broken. You're not defective."

Her eyes flashed again.

"You're just waking up."

***

We walked for hours.

I don't know how I did it, barely able to breathe from the pain, barely able to see through my tears.

"Are you all right?" Astrid asked.

"I'm... I'm pregnant."

"Yes. I can feel them." She glanced at my stomach. "Two heartbeats. Two lives. Two little miracles."

"Pregnant," I said again, like I couldn't quite believe it.

"Twins," she added. "Fraternal twins. One will take after their father. The other..." She paused. "The other will take after you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means they'll both be powerful." She squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Different. But powerful."

We walked in silence for a while.

"Why didn't I shift?" I asked suddenly. "Everyone else shifts at age six. Why not me?"

"Because your blood is different." Astrid didn't look at me. "Normal wolves shift when their bodies are ready. Lycans shift when their souls are ready."

"What's the difference?"

"Emotional trauma." She said it so casually. "Lycan powers are tied to emotions. To the heart. They don't awaken until you've been broken open."

"Broken open?"

She stopped walking and turned to me.

"Elena... do you know what happened to your mother?"

"She died giving birth to me."

"She did." Astrid nodded. "But do you know why?"

I shook my head.

"Because giving birth to you nearly killed her. You were too powerful. Too much Lycan blood in such a small, fragile body."

She touched my shoulder.

"You were born in the middle of a transformation, Elena. You were shifting in the womb. Your mother had to hold it back, had to keep you from shifting too early, because if you had—"

"We both would have died."

"Yes." Her voice was heavy with memory. "She saved you. By sacrificing herself."

My throat tightened. "I... I never knew that."

"No one told you." Astrid sighed. "Your father... he couldn't bear to talk about it. He left you with your aunt and uncle, hoping you'd live a normal life. Hoping your blood would stay dormant."

"It didn't."

"No." Astrid resumed walking. "Because the blood always finds a way."

"What happens now?" I asked. "What happens to me?"

"We train." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We prepare. We wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait for the birth."

I stopped walking. "What happens when I give birth?"

She turned to me, and her expression was fierce.

"You awaken."

"Awaken?"

"Your Lycan heritage. Your royal blood. The powers that have been dormant in you for eighteen years—they'll activate during childbirth."

I stared at her. "You mean I'll... shift?"

"You'll do more than shift." Astrid smiled. "You'll become who you were always meant to be."

"And who is that?"

She didn't answer directly.

"The birth will be difficult," she said instead. "More difficult than a normal birth. Your body isn't ready for Lycan powers yet. They'll activate whether you're ready or not."

"Will I... will I die?"

"You might." She didn't lie. "The mortality rate for Lycan births is high. Your mother died from it. Her mother died from it. It's the price of our blood."

I wrapped my arms around myself, around my babies.

"Then why do it? Why have them at all if it'll kill me?"

Astrid's expression softened.

"Because new life is always worth the risk, child."

She started walking again.

"Besides, I'll be there to help you. To guide you through it. To make sure you survive."

"And the babies?"

"If you survive, they will too."

I swallowed hard. "And if I don't?"

"Then I'll raise them myself." She said it so simply. So certainly. "I'll teach them about their mother. About the sacrifice she made. About the queen she would have been."

The tears came again.

"I don't want to die."

"Then don't." Astrid kept walking. "Fight for it. Fight for them. Fight for the life you deserve, the family you deserve."

"Fighting hasn't exactly worked out for me so far," I muttered.

"Because you were fighting alone." Astrid glanced back at me. "Not anymore."

We walked in silence for a while longer.

"Astrid?"

"Yes, child?"

"How long until... until the birth?"

She did some mental calculations.

"Three weeks? Maybe a month. Lycan pregnancies are faster than normal ones. The blood accelerates everything."

"Three weeks." I pressed my hand to my stomach. "I have three weeks."

"To prepare. To train. To survive."

"Yes."

"Then what happens?"

"Then?" Astrid's eyes flashed again. "Then you return to your pack. To your mate. To the home that rejected you."

"Why would I ever go back there?"

"Because you're not the same girl who ran away." Astrid's smile was fierce. Proud. "You'll be the Lycan Queen. And it's time the world remembered what that means."

"I don't want revenge," I said quickly.

"Didn't say you did." She kept walking. "But there's a difference between revenge and justice. Between destroying your enemies and earning their respect."

"Kael won't just... let me back."

"He won't have a choice." Astrid's voice dropped, became deadly serious. "When the Lycan Queen speaks, wolves listen. Even Alphas."

We walked in silence for a while longer.

"Astrid?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you... can you teach me? About Lycans? About my family? About... everything?"

She smiled.

"That's what I'm here for, child. That's what I've been waiting for. For twenty years, I've been waiting for you."

"Why twenty years?"

"Because that's when your mother died." Astrid's voice was thick with emotion. "And I swore I'd find her child. That I'd protect you. That I'd teach you what she couldn't."

She squeezed my hand.

"I'm so sorry about your mother, Elena. She was my best friend. My sister, in all but blood. And I miss her every day."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"She'd be proud of you," Astrid added softly. "She'd be so proud of the woman you're becoming."

I thought about that.

About the mother I'd never known.

About the father I'd barely remembered.

About the heritage I'd only just discovered.

"I don't even know what I'm becoming," I said finally.

"Sure you do." Astrid squeezed my hand. "You're becoming the woman who survived."

"Survived what?"

"Everything."

She was right.

I had survived.

The rejection. The humiliation. The heartbreak.

And I would survive this too.

I would survive the pregnancy.

Would survive the birth.

Would survive whatever came next.

Because I wasn't alone anymore.

I had Astrid.

I had my babies.

And somewhere, deep inside, I had an ancient power waking up.

One that would make everyone who'd ever hurt me regret it.

*We're coming for them,* it whispered. *Every last one.*

I smiled into the darkness.

*Good.*

***

We reached Astrid's cottage just as the sun was starting to rise.

It was small, tucked away in a part of the forest I didn't recognize. Wild. Remote. Safe.

"This is home," Astrid said simply.

She pushed open the door and I stepped inside—

And stopped.

It was warm inside. Cozy. Magical.

Dried herbs hung from the ceiling. Books lined the walls. Candles flickered with flames that weren't normal fire—I could feel the magic radiating from them.

"It's not much," Astrid said.

"It's perfect." I meant it. "It's more than I've ever had."

She smiled and motioned me inside.

"There's a bed through there. You should rest. The next three weeks will be... intense."

"Intense how?"

She didn't answer. Just gave me a look that said I'd find out soon enough.

I walked toward the bedroom, my exhaustion finally catching up with me.

"Elena?"

I turned back.

Astrid stood in the doorway, her expression serious.

"Yes?"

"Get some sleep. Rest. Recover." Her eyes flashed. "Because tomorrow... we begin."

"Begin what?"

She smiled.

"The rest of your life."

I curled up on the bed, surrounded by the scent of herbs and magic and home, and for the first time in my life, I didn't feel alone.

I wasn't alone.

I had a purpose.

I had a future.

And deep inside, that ancient power stretched and smiled and whispered to the darkness:

*Ready or not, world... here we come.*

I closed my eyes and drifted off, already half in love with the idea of the person I was becoming.

The person who would one day make Kael regret everything.

The person who would one day show them all exactly what they'd thrown away.

The Lycan Queen.

And she was just getting started.