All Chapters of I Rejected My Fated Alpha, Reborn Queen: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

A rough bamboo broom scraped across the cold bluestone floor.The sound was sharp enough to make teeth ache.Lila gripped the broom handle so tight her knuckles turned white.Chilblains covered the backs of her hands, and several blisters on her palms had burst open. Blood mixed with dirt, sending searing pain shooting up her arms.She wore a faded grey coarse linen robe today. A veil covered her face, hiding the toxic blisters that still hadn’t fully faded.This was the back hill of the Moon Temple.The once-proud daughter of the Silver Moon Chieftain was now reduced to the lowest form of drudgery, sweeping floors.“Hurry up, stop slacking!” A fat temple overseer walked past, lashing her back with a rattan cane without mercy.Lila stumbled, nearly falling.She bit her tongue to hold back a cry of pain, bowed her head, and kept sweeping.Two young acolytes carrying basins of holy water walked past the cloister.“Come on, stay away from her. You’ll never wash off the bad luck.”“Heard

The further north they traveled, the drier the air grew.At noon on the eighteenth day, an unmarked carriage slowly rolled into Blackrock City, capital of the Blackrock Kingdom.Its wheels rumbled over streets paved entirely with black volcanic rock. The air reeked of sharp sulfur, mixed with the stench of cheap ale and raw meat.Eira lifted the rough carriage curtain and gazed outside.Nearly every building here was dark brown and jet-black. Gone were Silvermoon City’s delicate marble carvings, and Windchaser Harbor’s light wooden pavilions. All the houses looked like rough-hewn iron boulders rising straight from the ground—sturdy, heavy, steeped in primitive ferocity.The Blackrock werewolves roaming the streets were all tall and powerfully built. They wore thick leather armor, with broad-bladed swords and soul battle daggers hanging at their waists.“Good grief, even the wind here feels harsh.”Serena sat across from Eira, irritably tugging at her collar. Her pale green Windchaser

At the highest point of Blackrock City’s royal palace stood the Star Observation Tower.Cold wind howled through the tower’s stone pillars. Kaelen leaned against the icy railing, his cold golden eyes fixed firmly on the eastern district.Half an hour earlier, his shadow guards had delivered news.Eira was not only in Blackrock City—she had saved Eve from four Dark Blood death squads in an alley in the east district.The moment he heard those words, Kaelen’s heart felt as if it had been squeezed tightly by an invisible hand.Blurred memories of his past life surged again. The woman whose wolf core he had crushed with his own hands in the snowy wilderness had, in this life, saved his most cherished sister at the same time and place.She knew full well how the Blackrock Wolf Clan spurned her. She had torn up their contract publicly at the coming-of-age ceremony. And yet, she had still stepped forward to save Eve.What did this mean?Did she still have feelings for him? Was she saving Eve

Early morning of the twentieth day.The central square of Blackrock City was a seething mass of noise.The pre-tournament draw for the Continent-Wide Young Warriors Tournament was taking place beneath the towering War God Statue. The stands were packed with spectators from the four great clans, a cacophony of different dialects ringing in the air.Eira and Serena stood in the contestants’ waiting area.All around them were burly warriors over two meters tall, their muscles bulging beneath their armor. Eira’s slender frame and grey linen gown stood out like a sore thumb among the sea of heavy plate.On a raised platform at the edge of the square, several VIP boxes offered unobstructed views.Kaelen sat in the central throne, clad in his black leather trench coat. His gaze cut through the noisy crowd, fixed unblinkingly on the grey figure in the waiting area.He hadn’t sent anyone to see her since the day she’d slammed the inn door in his face. But every night, he stood on the Star Obse

Morning of the twenty-second day.The Central Arena of Blackrock City.This massive circular coliseum, built to hold one hundred thousand people, was packed to the rafters. The stands boiled like a cauldron, flags snapping in the wind, the roar of the crowd threatening to tear the sky apart.The giant fighting stage at its center was paved with solid dark red bloodstone. The blood of every contestant who had died here over the years had seeped deep into the stone, staining it forever.Eira sat in the most obscure corner of the contestants’ area, dressed in her sleek black combat attire.Her hands were wrapped in clean white bandages, hiding the wounds from her training. The other contestants kept a wide berth, staring at her like she was already a corpse.In a hidden private box high above the stands.Lila sat in the shadows, her face hidden behind a thick veil. She stared at Eira, her nails digging deep gouges into the wooden windowsill.“Laugh while you can. Breathe while you can,”