Page 165 of Their Rejected Queen

When we’re at the circular stone wall, Godric greets one of the guarding Alphas.

The shifter holding the camera remains outside the structure but keeps the device pointed at us.

“I caught the prince trying to mate the candidate. He’ll be joining the Outcast until the king has a chance to evaluate him, or until the games begin,” Godric says. “Whichever comes first.”

Panic skitters up my spine because Godric actually intends to imprison Arwan.

I glance at the prince, but he doesn’t say a word and his expression remains completely stoic. An invisible wind lifts the sheer sleeves of his royal garb, and a flicker of shadows and blue motes swirls around him before disappearing.

He doesn’t have to tolerate this disrespect. Arwan is extremely powerful, the prince to a realm of the dead.

That low hum of the tower where I initially found him sounds in the back of my mind. I never realized it had always been there, and the closer I grow to Arwan, the more I notice it.

Perhaps that’s where his power originates from, and now I understand why it comes with a cost.

Everything inside that tower is a collection of nightmares.

Is that why King Cain took an interest in me?

Somehow, the Elite City King plays into all of this, too, and I intend to unravel that secret.

Assuming I survive the next few weeks.

The Alpha guarding the den must be satisfied with Godric’s explanation, because he steps aside and we’re granted entrance.

I wonder why I’m allowed inside, too, but Godric answers that as if he can read the question across my face.

“You became a pack member when you survived the death challenge on the train. And now, you’re a nominated candidate for the games. You have a place of honor among this pack. No one will question you, as long as you’re with me.”

I nod as I fall a step behind him and let him lead, relaxing when I realize the camera won’t be following us inside.

The interior of the den isn’t at all what I expected. From the outside, I had thought it was a small meeting place, but it’s an entire city underneath the camp.

Godric brings us through a series of steps and wide halls; the largest of which is decorated with leather charms, beads, and massive statues of wolves carved into the stone.

The place feels eerily empty, as if this had once been where the entire pack lived, but now something has run them off and they’re stuck above ground in tents and wooden cabins.

We pause before a towering statue that leads a series of figures framing a golden pathway that glows with red mage lights.

“They’re the Alphas who came before me,” Godric explains and raises his hand to trace the lines of the structure. The statue depicts a wolf with gold paint over his eyes, and a male stands beside him with his fingers combing through his fur. There’s a female offering the wolf a cup of water, and the intricate details of the sculpture show it spilling onto the ground.

“My parents,” he says, bowing his head in respect. “They loved each other, and they loved their pack. The water my mother offers is her own life in exchange for the companionship that they know will kill them both.” He turns up to regard the image of his father, who looks lovingly down at the woman. “It was worth it for him.”

Is that why he refuses to mate me?

He thinks that it wasn’t?

Arwan remains silent, absent of any snarky commentary I’d normally expect from him, as Godric flexes his jaw before he leads us deeper into the den.

We bypass a chamber with tables, and my stomach rumbles at the aroma of meats and spices. Godric grabs something for me and pushes it into my hands as we continue. He ties a waterskin at my waist without saying a word.

I nibble on the offering until it’s gone, then wash it down with the water.

I’m not sure if it’s because of the refreshment or the fact that we’re getting closer to Ze’ev, but the dizziness I had been feeling for days slowly subsides, and I’m finally able to take in a deeper breath.

The only sounds echoing through the halls and the stairways we continue to descend are those of Arwan’s chains and our footsteps. We haven’t run into any other shifters for quite some time, and the only ones I had seen thus far were a handful of the pack’s Alphas I recognized.

“Are you going to release me now?” Arwan finally asks as we enter a chamber with rows of iron bars, and the humidity of the underground room hits me in the face.