Page 151 of Their Rejected Queen

He hooks my chin with his fingers and forces me to face him.

Mine, he mouths. He can’t speak. That is his worst curse—and his only companion during his long exile.

But everything he has to say is a waterfall inside my chest as he lowers his mouth to mine.

He has waited for an answer to his prayers. Monsters don’t exactly pray like humans do. They don’t believe in the Gods or even in each other.

But he has prayed for this, to a force greater than something he can control.

That is an act of submission that Ze’ev of the Lost Pack will never demonstrate to anyone else, and I know the vulnerability of that as he kisses me and pushes all of his desires, his fears, and his pain into me.

This is what a mate bond is supposed to feel like.

Everything I’ve experienced with this triad of monsters has been a compatibility test, an exploration, and a promise that was destined to be broken.

I was going to go through with it just because I know this is how I save my sister. This is how I survive long enough to get into the Monster Isle castle and find her and take her away from this Gods-awful place.

Tears stream down my cheeks, as I know I can’t do that now. Not when Ze’ev doesn’t know the truth.

The others don’t, either, and it’s not something I have to say aloud.

I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. The dark secret is too painful, the crux of everything that has gone wrong in my life.

I cannot have children, I think. The mental words don’t reach Ze’ev like they would had I been using the Rinhold potion, but I push the information through in other ways.

Ze’ev’s eyes widen as he takes in all of the sensations I share with him.

My womb is frozen in time. It’s a side effect of the longevity potion my mother had taken when pregnant with me.

Parts of my body will never properly develop.

I suffer from muscle weakness, from fatigue, and as far as producing life of my own, my body will never allow it. It can’t. Everything inside me is frozen in time forever.

He drops to his knees and presses a kiss to my stomach as he peels away my pants, exposing me to him.

It’s not the reaction I expected.

He doesn’t need offspring. In fact, he’s glad that it won’t be a concern after everything he’s been through. He doesn’t want to pass on his insanity to a precious child.

For a male without a pack, that actually makes sense, and I relax in response.

He won’t reject me.

I can hardly believe it. Perhaps I should have given him more credit instead of assuming.

But those reasons that exist for Ze’ev don’t entirely exist for Arwan or Godric. Not when they still have options.

Yet, both of them watch me as if mesmerized with the secret conversation Ze’ev and I share. Our bodies are entangled as we learn each other, our spirits mingling for the first time.

Ze’ev stands and pushes away my hair and exposes my neck. I offer him my vein, and then he bites me.

A brief spike of pain is followed by pleasure as my entire body sings with the effect of Ze’ev’s venom. He draws in my blood, then I hear him swallow.

He groans before he holds on to me tighter and does it again.

I still can’t hear his thoughts, but I can feel his intention through every caress of his tongue and delicate path of his fingers as he traces lines across my body.

You are perfect just the way you are.