Chapter 193 Chapter 192
Rayena shook her head. "I can't believe this.. " She mumbled to herself before closing the distance between them, standing on her toes so she could reach his face and hold it. "Forgive me for this, but I read your mother's journal and I believe that her account of what happened is vastly different from what you were told. Your mother, the late werewolf princess was already infatuated with your father long before she met him. He never abducted her. If anything, being a sheltered royal princess, he offered her an opportunity to see the world beyond the palace walls. She agreed and followed him to his abode, inadvertently having her first heat with him there."
"What?" He mumbled, shocked.
"Yes! I believe, just like you, she never got her heats prior so she didn't know what to do. He was the only one she could trust to help her out with it as well as subsequent ones. You were never born out of rape. Your parents loved each other, her family just couldn't accept that their sworn enemy was the princess mate, so they destroyed them and twisted the story."
The world tilted around Xenon. He stumbled backward but quickly found his footing.
Forcing air into his lungs, he made to speak.
"You.. You're not lying? This is true right?" He growled, his voice shaky. Heavens, the way he wanted this to be true. His body was already shaking with the possibility of this being true. That would mean everything he had been told, everything he believed was a lie.
"Read her journal, Lylall. It's why I was crying when you came to see me. Your parent didn't hate you. They hoped for better things for you. They risked their lives to change the world for you where you would be accepted. It just didn't work out."
“Show me,” he rasped.
Rayena immediately led him to her chambers. Where he found the leather book sitting on the table. He snatched it up and read through a few pages, his vision blurring as his entire world view collapsed in front of him.
This was his mother's writing. A good number of them directed at him while he was still in her womb. Filled with love, hope and grief at losing his father. How she was eager to meet him, wondering how he would look like, praying to be alright when the time of delivery came. If this was true, then every sneer, every lash of punishment was just a calculated cruelty of the people that were supposed to care for him.
He blinked rapidly, his heart shattering at the content that filled his page. All his life, he'd been told the opposite. So much that he believed them, internalized it and saw it manifest in his life. Now, the truth was staring at him in the face and he didn't know what to do. His parents wanted him, they never saw him as an abomination. The real traitor has been the royal werewolf family that wanted to get rid of him.
"You can't let them impeach you. Not after everything you've gone through. That seat is rightfully yours. You fought through fire and blood to have it!"
Xenon gently set the book down, breathing through his rage, his gaze turning amber as bought beasts rose in fury, hurt and betrayal. His fangs grew, so did his claws.
There was no stopping this outburst, not that he wanted to. The suppressed emotions he had for decades were rushing up all at once.
The air trembled with the growl rumbling from his chest.
“I won’t,” he whispered, voice shaking with restrained power. “But you need to leave. Right now.”
“Why?” Rayena breathed, eyes wide with alarm.
“Just go.” His voice was almost unrecognizable — low, feral, vibrating with everything he’d kept buried for years. “Call Morvan. Get out. Now.”
She didn’t wait for another warning. Rayena turned and sprinted toward the door. The moment it closed behind her, a deafening roar erupted, shaking the very walls as the beasts inside the king finally broke free.
As Rayena ran down the hallway, she met Morvan already running toward her, alarm in his eyes.
"What happened?!" he asked, as he brought Rayena to a stop.
"It's the king! I don't know what happened, but he told me to leave and call on you!" she cried out, her heart in her throat. Morvan's gaze narrowed, his body already tense.
Another roar broke out from the room, followed by the crash of something heavy. Rayena whirled around, torn between the urge to go back to him or stay right where she was.
"Did he go into another rut?" Morvan asked as he straightened to his full height, irises flashing gold.
"No, I don't think so..." Rayena answered, hurriedly shaking her head. Morvan was already moving, his body changing as he entered the room she had just run out of.
"I need backup!" she heard him call out, and soon enough, thudding footsteps filled the hallway as soldiers approached.
Rayena stood frozen, tremors coursing through her as she listened to the panicked cries of Morvan before more roars, growls, and grunts filled the air, followed by more sounds of things shattering. It felt like a battle was taking place in her chambers, and though the urge to check was maddening, she could not move an inch—too afraid of attracting more danger to herself.
More blood-curdling roars filled the air, and Rayena whimpered, her heart feeling like it was being stampeded in her chest. She felt as if she would split in half, tears running down her cheeks. His anguish was too great for her to handle.
Shutting out all thoughts, she ran back to the room, finding the door ajar, and stumbled upon several tigers struggling to restrain a much larger, terrifyingly huge tiger—amber eyes blazing with grief and fury. It howled and roared, snapping its jaws in rage. That had to be the king.
Her heart shriveled when she saw the number of wounds he had sustained, the smell of copper crinkling her nose. Tears instantly filled her eyes, a sob breaking from her lips.
"Your Majesty, please stop..." The words tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. "Stop fighting with them... please. You're hurting yourself and others. Please, just stop!"
The rage in his eyes wavered. His muscles quivered beneath the hands that held him down.
Slowly, she took another step. Then another.