Rein POV

Rein’s POV

Three days.

It had been three whole days.

No food. No water. No sunlight. Just the cold, hard floor and the endless echoes of my own thoughts bouncing off the stone walls of the prison I had no idea I’d trespassed into. I was lying on my side, the ache in my body pulsing in time with the beat of my heart. My lips were dry, my head pounded, and even blinking took effort. It felt like I was dissolving—slowly, painfully.

Was this how it would end?

Me, Rein Mendes, the girl who used to complain about school cafeteria food and slow Wi-Fi, now curled up like a forgotten doll in some dungeon that smelled like wet dogs and regret.

I tried to think of something happy, something bright—Rachel’s hugs, Adam’s teasing, Kael’s weirdly possessive glare when anyone looked at me funny. But even those memories started to blur under the weight of my exhaustion.

And then… the door creaked.

The rusty hinges groaned as light spilled into my cell, though it did little to warm the freezing stone around me. I tried to sit up but barely lifted my head before it flopped back to the floor.

A man walked in—tall, broad, and grimacing like he had just sniffed something nasty. He was holding a tray with what looked like… a moldy piece of bread and water in a metal cup that looked like it hadn’t seen soap in decades.

“Oh my gosh, you brought me leftovers from the medieval era,” I rasped, voice almost nonexistent.

The man grunted and set the tray on the floor beside me. “Eat.”

I stared at the food like it was a roach on a plate. “Is this the appetizer or the punishment?”

He didn’t find that funny.

His face twisted with anger, and before I could even blink, he sent a punch flying into my shoulder and grabbed me by my torn shirt, slamming me into the wall. The pain exploded in white-hot flashes and I screamed—what little voice I had left giving out completely. My body slumped like a ragdoll, bruised and shaking. My shirt tore further, exposing my scraped skin.

Tears welled up, sliding down my cheeks silently. I didn’t even have the strength to sob anymore.

Gabriel spat near my foot. “Ungrateful brat.” Then he left, slamming the door behind him.

I stayed there, slumped, broken, breathing in the smell of blood and old stone.

This is it, I thought. This is how it ends.

Darkness came fast that night. Or maybe I just stopped noticing the difference. My eyes fluttered shut, the pain dulling into numbness. I started to drift off… when I heard footsteps.

Fast. Purposeful.

Not the lazy shuffling of a bored guard or the cruel stomp of Gabriel. These were different. Powerful. Almost… angry.

Then the door burst open.

And there he was.

“Hunter?” My voice cracked out of me like a whisper of wind.

His eyes locked onto mine—those golden eyes that once looked at me in an airport like I was a puzzle he didn’t know how to solve. Now they were wild with emotion. His suit was dusted with snow, his jaw clenched like he was holding back a hurricane.

“Rein?” he said, disbelief painting his voice.

I didn’t wait. My legs moved on their own. I stumbled toward him and threw myself into his arms. I didn’t care how weak I was—I clung to him like he was the only real thing in the universe. And maybe he was.

He caught me effortlessly. I felt his entire body tense up as he took in the state I was in.

“What… what did they do to you?” he muttered, his voice dark with something I couldn’t quite name. Fury? Grief? Both?

I just cried.

I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to be held and safe and far, far away from the nightmare I’d just lived through.

He wrapped his arms around me tighter, lifting me off the ground like I weighed nothing. My head fell against his chest, and for the first time in days, I felt warmth.

At the door, he barked, “No one moves. No one speaks. I’ll deal with all of you after.”

His voice was sharp, commanding—like a king talking to peasants. I peeked over his shoulder and saw the guards stiffen, eyes wide in fear. For a second, I wanted to stick out my tongue at them like a five-year-old. But I didn’t have the strength for sass.

Hunter carried me through the halls like I was made of glass. Each step made my body scream, but I didn’t care. I was safe now.

We reached what looked like a clean, sterile room—bright lights, white sheets, and people in scrubs. The infirmary.

“She needs immediate treatment,” Hunter said.

The doctors rushed to him. One woman gently touched my arm. “Sir, we need you to step outside so we can—”

“No!” I croaked, clutching Hunter’s shirt. “Please… don’t go. They’ll come back. They’ll hurt me again. Please…”

His eyes softened immediately. He sat on the edge of the bed with me still in his arms.

“I’m not leaving. I promise.”

The doctors hesitated. Then nodded, and got to work, treating me gently.

My vision blurred, my eyes growing heavier.

“Stay awake for me, Rein,” Hunter whispered, brushing hair away from my bruised forehead. “Please.”

I wanted to. I wanted to stare into those strange golden eyes that made me feel like maybe the world wasn’t so terrible.

But the exhaustion won.

Everything faded to black, except the feeling of his hand, warm in mine.

Zach’s POV

I’d seen Hunter angry before—furious, even. I’d seen him tear through enemies like they were nothing more than paper dolls, heard the sound of bones crunching beneath his fists, watched grown men drop to their knees from just one look.

But I’d never seen him like this.

Not until now.

The moment he saw her—bruised, bloody, weak—something shifted in him. Something deep and ancient. He didn’t say a word to me as he carried her in his arms like she was the most precious thing in existence. But I saw it. The fire in his eyes, the trembling in his jaw, the wild beat of his heart.

The king had found his queen.

I stood there, frozen by the cell gate, watching him vanish into the infirmary with her in his arms. My chest tightened. He’d waited so long… been through so much. The world hadn’t been kind to Hunter Cavelli. He was born into power, but he didn’t grow into it with ease. No, the throne came to him in blood and fire. He became king when he was barely more than a boy, forced to grow hard and fast—shaped by tragedy and betrayal.

I was there for all of it. I watched him lose everything… and still rise.

And now, the Moon Goddess had finally gifted him the one thing he didn’t even dare dream of: a mate.

And not just any mate.

A human. Sweet. Bubbly. Hilarious. Innocent.

His opposite in every way… and yet, the one person he instinctively chose to protect. The one person who could quiet both the monsters inside him—Luca and Kayden.

He’d found her.

And she’d been thrown into a damn dungeon.