Page 141 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

Delilah grabs at me again, her eyes pleading.

“Raine.” When Aiden finally moves again, he reaches his hand out toward me. “Come home.”

My mouth opens but no words come out, tears silently falling down my cheeks. I can’t do this. I can’t pretend like this male has never meant anything to me when he’s had the biggest impact on my life so far.

He’s been the driving catalyst behind everything—my entire future completely altered because of him and his choices. How can I forgive him for the things he’s done? And how can I hate him? My mind is a mess of emotions, so focused on the binding around my heart that is so tight that it chokes me.

I don’t want Aiden, yet my soul yearns to have him.

Fated mates are the cruelest gift the universe could’ve ever cursed us with.

As he comes closer, a small and soft whine leaves me. His eyes soften and his hand lowers back down to his side. When he gazes down at my belly, a small and relieved smile graces his face.

“You’re still carrying,” he says.

My hand flies over my belly protectively as I step back from both him and Delilah. None of this is her fault—she’s only trying to help, and getting my fated mate involved would’ve been the only way to track me down.

I’m not angry with her at all, but that doesn't mean I can just pack up here and go. I have a life here now. I haveNyx.

Guilt shakes me as soon as thoughts of him break through the mess in my head. Leaving him isn’t an option. Not when we’ve finally gotten to where we are.

Just as I’m opening my mouth again to tell Aiden he needs to leave, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. For some reason, instinct kicks in and I reach out to grab Delilah’s wrist, yanking her toward me.

The next second, a large male shifter slams into Aiden, taking them both down onto the ground hard.

Another appears right behind him, teeth bared at Delilah. My protective instincts flare as I pull her behind me, shielding her from Wren. Loud snarling catches my attention from over my shoulder, just as Aiden shifts and is body slammed back into the ground by Nyx.

Oh gods.

This isn’t supposed to be happening. My two lovers aren’t supposed to be clashing together in a fight to the death, let alone meet in the first place.

But I’m frozen in place with no way to move in order to break them up. The second I do, Wren will go after Delilah, I have no doubt about that. Nyx’s orders would’ve been to kill on sight, regardless of who the intruders happened to be.

Rose steps back from me, her head shaking while her eyes are wide. She moves back toward her brother, giving him room to take down Delilah once he gets the chance to.

Delilah lets out a choked sound, her hands clutching my arm. Our alpha kings rip through the overgrown brush in their brutal fight, leaving blood and fur in their wake.

They’re going to kill each other.

“Delilah…”I’m so sorry.

“Go,” she says, squeezing my arm.

When I catch her eye as I turn, I tell her, “You can outrun him. Don’t stop until you’re past the border.”

She swallows thickly and nods.

At the same time, we both shift, bounding off in opposite directions. I head toward the alphas and Delilah for the tree line she came from. Wren lets out a deadly snarl and chases after her, both of us leaving Rose behind.

I don’t bother looking back to see if she’s following me. She won’t hurt me, even if her brother has mindlinked her to capture me and drag me back into town.

That won’t be happening anyway, even if she somehow is able to catch up to me.

Running as fast as I can, I come upon a wider berth in the brush that’s farther away from the creek. Howls echo in the fading light of the rapidly darkening sky, the torturous sounds of two shifters trying to kill each other.

It sends chills down to my bones, as I’ve never heard anything like it before. I’ve seen plenty of border disputes or scuffles between packmates growing up, but none have sounded as vicious as this.

Does Nyx know who he’s fighting? Will that change the shaky agreement between our sides? My stomach is sick with knots.

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