Page 87 of Their Rejected Queen

“The healing potion you’ve been using on yourself. I don’t need it. I’ll heal on my own in a few minutes.”

Frowning, I put the tonic away. “You’ve known I had it this whole time?”

He chuckles, and my stomach flips when one of his rare smiles appears. He’s so pretty when he does that, in a rugged, brutish way. “I smelled them on you the moment I met you.”

That makes me wrinkle my nose in concern. “Are you saying all the shifters know I have them?” I feel like they should have been stolen or confiscated by now if that were the case.

He shakes his head. “My sense of smell is a lot keener than the others’. Your secret is safe with me.”

Well, that’s good to know.

Putting the vials down, I instead head to the section of the tent that has water and towels. I return with a bowl and dip one of the cloths into it. “Well, you can at least let me help you clean this up,” I tell him as I dab at the gash on his face that runs into his lip.

I suppose I know now why he has so many scars.

“Did you get these cuts from the challenge I heard about?” I ask. They certainly look like claw marks.

And the punctures bleeding through the leathers at his ribs suggest he has some bite marks, too.

He holds still while I work. When I’m done, I watch as the cut on his lips slowly closes.

Being a shifter does have its perks.

He pulls himself up onto his elbows. “Yes. I wasn’t expecting one tonight, but now it’s done. The Creek Pack will be merging with ours in the morning since I killed their Alpha. And I did so while in human form.”

My eyes widen.

He didn’t even have to shift.

“And they’re okay with that?”

He shrugs. “It was their Alpha who chose to fight me to the death. They wouldn’t want a weak leader. Now they have me.”

“Where will they all go?”

He gives me another one of his rare smiles. “Since when are you concerned about pack logistics? Don’t worry about it. There’s room for expansion near the east wall. Everyone will be working on getting them settled after the first combat.”

My stomach sinks.

“I almost forgot about that,” I admit as I dip the cloth into the water again. It turns red, and I try to ignore the squeamishness that makes my legs feel weak. “That means Arwan is coming tomorrow, right?”

There will be cameras.

The court.

The king.

And if I’m lucky, I’ll live to see another day.

And in a week, Ze’ev is going to…

My stomach flips as I try to push that fantasy out of my brain.

It’s not even a fantasy. Now it’s an expectation of what I know is coming.

Godric chuckles. “Ze’ev and I aren’t enough for you? You need Arwan to help with your heat, too?”

I roll my eyes. “That’s not what I meant.” I fumble with the fur rug on the floor as I twist the fibers between my fingers. “I’m experiencing something like a female shifter’s heat, right?” I glance up at him. He’s watching me with an intensity that strangely makes me feel like prey. “I mean, I know you kind of already explained it, but this isn’t something they taught me at the Elite City.” I tilt my head. “Are hybrids affected by it, too?”