Page 142 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

When I finally reach them, Nyx has his teeth buried into Aiden’s pelt and is yanking him through the brush while blood pours over his golden fur. Aiden twists in the hold, his nails clawing at the space by his opponent’s head, trying to hook him somewhere vulnerable.

Unfortunately, the angle he’s being dragged in won’t help him. Seeing Nyx this way is shocking and nothing like how he’d been at that border dispute.

This display is what the rumors about him are born from—a true testament to his ruthless nature.

Aiden shouts in pain while managing to rip himself out from the hold. Rolling back to his feet, he shoves himself forward to shoulder-check Nyx onto the ground and away from him. It barely phases the other alpha, only putting him back a few more seconds in recovery before he’s launching himself at Aiden again.

Shifting, I scream, “Stop!” and run for them.

Neither of them hears me over their fight, too concerned with their fatal blows. They both crash back into the dirt, narrowly missing me. This time, Aiden has his paws dug into Nyx’s chest while the other’s jaw is snapped around his leg.

Deep long gashes are sliced across Nyx’s chest, earning Aiden a howl. The sight nauseates me, to the point where I feel myself wanting to double over. Forcing it back, I dodge forward the moment Nyx tosses Aiden off of him.

“Stop!” I say again and throw myself across Aiden’s back once he rolls back onto his feet.

He freezes under me, his weight shifting unsteadily from the blood he’s lost. My arms grow tight around his neck, forcing him to actually focus on something other than the other alpha.

“Please.” Begging them.

Nyx pushes himself up from the ground slowly, his dark fur caked and tacky where he’s bleeding. He shifts on unsteady feet, his breath coming in and out of him harshly. He stares at me with wild eyes, confusion laced in his expression.

I hold my hand out to him and slowly slide off of Aiden’s back. He crumples to the ground and shifts too, the wounds around his neck deep and horrible looking.

“You…” I stumble forward. “He’s not just some alpha. He’s—”

“I know who he is,” Nyx says, tone flat.

At my feet, Aiden coughs wetly, causing my heart to sink.

“Step aside,” Nyx tells me.

His own wounds are a harsh red, scraped down his chest where blood cakes his pale skin. There’s another wound that I didn’t see earlier due to his dark fur, one right across his cheek that curves up toward his temple.

“I can’t.” My feet won’t move, even if I try. The instinct to protect my fated mate is ingrained into me from generations of all of the fated mates who have come before me.

“Raine,” he growls.

Pleading, I say, “Ican’t.”

Aiden coughs again. “She’s…mine.”

Nyx snarls in response, stepping forward with his fists clenched at his sides. I hate the way my body moves in front of him, blocking Aiden from him. I don’t want to do this—I don’t want Nyx to think that I’m choosing Aiden over him. But that’s exactly what’s happening. My wolf won’t allow anything else.

He stops short, anger snapping away instantly to be replaced with confusion.

Aiden lets out a rough laugh. “My…fated mate…Calloway.”

Instantly, my eyes squeeze shut.

Nyx is silent. So much so that I can’t even hear his labored breathing. Has it stopped? Is the news shocking enough that he can’t possibly bear to move at all?

I’m so sorry,I want to say to him.This changes nothing.

But it does. With Aiden here, it all changes. Fate won’t allow anything else.

“Is this true, Raine?”

His voice is so quiet and vulnerable—a tone I’ve never heard from him before.

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