The Mystery Of His Legendary Queen

Chapter3

We must have slept through most of the day because when I woke up, there was food sitting on the table beside the bed. I pushed myself upright and walked over cautiously, sniffing it.

“Wolfsbane and silver,” I muttered. “Do they really think we’re that stupid?”

“Apparently,” Rudina replied dryly. “Don’t eat it. I stored as much energy as I could while we slept so we’d have enough strength to escape tonight.”

I nodded slowly.

There were no windows in the room, so I had no way of knowing what time it was. The walls felt suffocating, and every second spent trapped in here made my skin crawl.

The doorknob suddenly turned, and Victor walked inside.

“It’s time, my little mate. Let’s go.”

I followed him without a fight. We couldn’t waste energy battling him now—not when tonight was our only chance to escape.

He led me outside toward the center of the pack grounds where the full moon shone brightly overhead. Wolves crowded the clearing, all of them staring at me with the same disgust they’d shown since the day I arrived.

Victor stepped forward proudly.

“Pack, tonight my w***e comes of age. Let us witness her transformation.”

I clenched my jaw.

Several she-wolves sneered openly at me, but I didn’t want their Alpha. I never had.

As the moon climbed higher, a familiar scent suddenly hit me.

Death and sandalwood.

My stomach twisted.

“Rudina… please tell me this isn’t right. Why would the Moon Goddess pair us with him?”

“I don’t know,” she growled, “but he will never have us.”

I turned around only to find Victor standing inches away. His wolf had already surfaced, dark eyes glowing with obsession.

“Hello, mate,” he purred. “Tonight, you become mine.”

I immediately backed away, trying to keep distance between us, but he stalked after me step for step.

“Da’Vina,” Rudina snapped, “reject him now. The pain will weaken both him and the pack long enough for us to escape.”

“But then he’ll know there’s something different about us.”

“He may suspect it, but he still doesn’t understand what we truly are. Now do it.”

I took a shaky breath before forcing the words out.

“I, Da’Vina Daciana, daughter of Alpha Daciana and Queen Daciana of the Moon Kingdom, reject you, Alpha Victor Vaserian, as my mate and my king.”

The pain hit instantly.

It felt like my heart was being ripped apart from the inside, but Rudina wrapped herself around me, helping me stay upright.

Victor dropped to his knees with a roar, clutching his chest. Around us, members of the pack staggered from the backlash of the bond rejection.

But the look Victor gave me afterward sent ice through my veins.

Pure rage.

We couldn’t stay.

I let Rudina take control.

Bones snapped and shifted as we transformed midair. Even for a female Alpha, Rudina was massive, but her size wasn’t what made her dangerous.

It was her appearance.

Bright pink fur streaked with black covered her body, while a crescent moon marked her forehead and a full moon rested against her thigh.

The gasps behind us told me everyone had seen.

Rudina bolted into the forest before anyone could react.

The moment we crossed the pack borders, I severed the forced tie Victor had placed on me.

“I, Da’Vina Daciana, reject the White Howlite Pack.”

The bond snapped completely, and relief surged through us.

Then a furious Alpha howl split through the forest behind us.

“Rudina, how much farther until we reach the pack Sharaya told us about?”

“Not much farther,” she replied. “I’m masking our scent now so Victor can’t track us.”

“He never accepted the rejection,” I whispered nervously. “We’re still tied to him somehow.”

I felt Rudina’s amusement ripple through me.

“Only until we meet our second-chance mate. And something tells me we’ll meet him sooner rather than later.”

We ran through the forest for what felt like hours before I finally spotted Sharaya standing between the trees.

The moment she saw Rudina, her eyes widened in terror, and she stumbled backward.

I froze.

She had never seen my wolf before.

“We need to shift back,” I told Rudina quickly. “She thinks we’re going to attack her.”

I shifted back into human form, and the moment Sharaya realized it was me, she visibly relaxed.

“Nina…” Her voice shook. “What… what are you?”

I gave a weak smile.

“Honestly? I’m not completely sure. I just know I was born different. But Sharaya, you can’t tell anyone. It would put you in danger too.”

“I would never betray you, Da’Vina,” she said immediately. “I’m bound to you always.”

I frowned in confusion.

“Why would she say that?” I asked Rudina.

“Because when we saved her life, she unknowingly swore herself to us. She can never betray us now, even if she wanted to. She just doesn’t realize what she did.”

That only confused me more, but before I could ask further questions, Sharaya tossed a bundle of clothes at me.

“Put these on. I need to take you to the Beta. Alpha won’t return for a few weeks, so he left Beta Jordon in charge. I already told him you were coming.”

I quickly dressed and followed her through the forest.

As we approached the pack house, my eyes widened.

It was even larger than my parents’ palace.

Sharaya led me straight inside and toward an office before knocking softly.

“Come in, Sharaya.”

She opened the door and stepped aside so I could enter.

The moment I saw the Beta’s expression, I knew.

“Rudina,” I whispered internally, “that’s Sharaya’s mate, isn’t it?”

My wolf grinned proudly.

“Yes. But she won’t discover it until next week when she turns eighteen. I already spoke with his wolf.”

“This is the friend I told you about, Beta Jordon,” Sharaya said.

I dipped my head respectfully—not enough to show submission, but enough to acknowledge his rank.

“Hello, Beta Jordon. My name is Da’Vina.”

He studied me carefully.

“Do you have a last name?”

My smile faltered slightly.

“Yes, I do, Beta, but I’d rather wait to share it until I meet your Alpha.”

To my surprise, he nodded.

“That’s understandable after everything you’ve been through.”

“When will your Alpha return? I’d like to explain everything to both of you at the same time.”

“He’ll return the day before Sharaya’s eighteenth birthday.”

I smiled softly. “Alright. Is it okay if I wait until then to tell you everything?”

“That’s perfectly fine with me, Da’Vina.”

“Please,” I corrected gently, “call me Nina. After all, you allowed me into your pack knowing another Alpha is hunting me.”

Jordon leaned back in his chair.

“Don’t worry about Victor. He knows better than to come here. For now, I’ve arranged for you to stay with Sharaya. I hope that’s alright.”

Relief flooded through me.

“That’s more than alright. Thank you.”

Before I could say anything else, Sharaya grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the office.

“Come on,” she said excitedly. “Let’s get you something to eat and drink. I know you haven’t eaten properly in forever.”

I laughed softly for what felt like the first time in years.

Truthfully, I was starving.

She led me arm in arm into a massive kitchen where two plates of food already waited on the table.

I arched an eyebrow at her.

“Beta Jordon had the kitchen prepare them while I introduced you,” she explained. “He figured you were probably hungry.”

Probably was an understatement.

We sat down together and ate in comfortable silence.

And for the first time in a very long time, I felt safe enough to believe I might actually sleep peacefully tonight.