Page 11 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

I freeze in my chair, hearing that familiar voice.

Behind the man, Riker, comes another one. An alpha. He takes the glass from Riker’s hand and holds it up, a pleasant grin on his face while he nods to a few of the females near him.

Just as I remember from the night before, the alpha standing before us all—as dashingly handsome as ever—wears more formal clothes today, a dark long-sleeved shirt made with fine silk brocade that buttons up all the way to his collar, and a pair of slacks that hug his muscular thighs and taut waist.

It’s a fit for the king he’ll become in the near future.

“As I didn’t get to tell any of you last night,” Aiden, my mate, says, “I wanted to formally welcome you all to the Pollis packlands. Please enjoy your stay, and I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you.”

My heart sinks.

What the hell is going on?

6

Raine

A murmur of excitement ripples through the entire dining room at the sight of our host having finally arrived to join the festivities.

Aiden smiles at a few of the females closest to him, nodding along as one by one, they introduce themselves, all with varying degrees of awe and reverence. The entire world around me drowns out as I watch him—my goddamnmate—laugh and sit down at the head of the table.

“Gods, he isgorgeous,” Delilah whispers to me.

The compliment should delight me—he is my mate after all, a reflection of me in some way, and despite everyone fawning over him, my soul is the one that he’s linked to.

But instead, all I feel is jealousy.

How can he not have noticed me by now? I felt my wolf stir inside of me the second he stepped into the room, and her howling the moment I heard his voice addressing the room. Did his wolf not respond in some way toward me? Could there be something wrong with our bond?

“Oh, Your Grace! Please tell us you’ll be at the ball tonight to join us for dancing.” One of the females directly next to him flutters her lashes.

He lets out a hearty laugh. “Of course I will.”

Aiden takes the female’s hand in his and brings it up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles that has her swooning and the other females next to her seething with jealousy.

Humiliation burns my cheeks red.

Why? Why is he doing this when I’m right here? I thought I’d finally escaped this kind of humiliation. I thought that the second our mating bond snapped into place and Aiden sought me out last night, my life had been changed.

Clearly, I’m wrong and Daniel’s chokehold over me is as strong as ever. Even when he’s not here, I’m still treated like nothing more than dirt.

I’m so angry.

I need to run and let my wolf burn off some of the energy that’s threatening to boil over. Causing a scene by screaming at Aiden is only going to lead to me being kicked out and dragged back home, where I’ll more than likely face a worse punishment than Daniel simply locking me down in the cellar.

Especially if it gets back to him that I embarrassed his pack in front of the soon-to-be king.

Shoving my chair back, it screeches loudly against the floor, suddenly silencing the entire room.

Fuck.

I don’t look up from my plate as I stand, nor do I glance over at Delilah, who’s starting to reach for my arm to tug me back down. I can’t stay here any longer and watch Aiden flirt with girls in front of me. It’s going to actually cause me to shift and kill someone.

“Miss?” One of Aiden’s advisors addresses me. “Everything alright?”

Without even having to look up, I’m aware of several dozen pairs of eyes on me. Forcing my chin to rise, I don’t bother turning my attention to his advisor, and instead shift it over to the alpha still sitting with his hand grasping another’s.

Aiden stares at me with wide eyes, clearly shocked—but for what, I can’t imagine. He had to have known I’ve been sitting here this entire time. The tug of our bond is like having another limb.

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