Page 144 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

While I never lied, I also hid this from him, which is a big deal considering I’m carrying another alpha king’s child and am his fated mate. How is Nyx supposed to take that, other than to bow out in defeat?

My heart aches at the thought of him giving me up.

I don’t want him to. I want to stay with him even with Aiden here. But I also can’t deny the pull that my fated mate has on me, the way my heart yearns for him and my wolf demands that I go back.

Both parts of me are at war with each other and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Once I finally get Nyx as cleaned up as I can, I grab another towel and rinse my hands from the blood. There’s still some caked under my nails that I’ll deal with later.

Nyx shocks me when he leans forward and rests his forehead against my belly. I freeze for a moment, not quite believing that he’s not shoving me away the second that he can. Instead, he’s reaching out to me, wanting to bridge the gap between us instead of making it larger.

My fingers tangle into his hair, brushing through the tangled lengths with care.

“This doesn’t change anything,” I tell him, even though we both know that I’m lying.

He’s quiet for a while, simply letting me play with his hair and brush it back from his face in more of a ritualistic action that calms me down. When he finally speaks, his voice is quiet.

“Is it his?”

I already know what he’s referring to. What else would he be asking that for? “Yes.”

He pulls away from me in order to look me in the eyes. My hands cup his jaw while I stroke my thumbs over his cheeks. He is beautiful even when he terrified me earlier. I’ve never seen him like that—completely lost in his bloodlust.

Is that what he’s like on the battlefield? With no one to answer to aside from those that beg for him to show them mercy?

“You’ll go to him,” he tells me.

My head shakes. “No.”

“You did.”

My hands tighten around his jaw. “I don’t want to, Nyx.”

He stares at me for a long while, searching my eyes for something. I wish he’d tell me what he’s thinking so that I could answer whatever question he’s trying to find the answer for. I meant it when I said I had true feelings for him.

“And whatdoyou want, Raine?” he finally asks.

“You.”

Something shifts in his eyes.

He grabs me by my hips, pushing me away just far enough to give him room to stand. I grab his arms to keep him steady when he pitches forward, catching himself at the last moment. Right as I’m about to tell him to sit back down, he grabs my face and kisses me hard.

I melt into it, letting him breach the seam of my lips to tangle his tongue with mine.

He doesn’t give me a chance to get into it before he pulls away again, fixing me with a hard look. “You aremine, Raine.”

A shiver races up my spine.

“He may be your fated mate, but you are mine.”

My fingers tangle in the hair at the base of his neck, pulling him down into another kiss—this time slow and sensual. I pour myfeelings into it, letting him know just how I feel about such a bold claim.

Him wanting me, despite my mate showing up, is incredibly sexy. Nyx turns us slowly, backing me up into the counter where our hips meet. When we part again, he trails his lips across my cheek and down to my neck, sucking a fresh mark into my skin.

“I will send him away,” he tells me.

My head shakes. “He’s not going to leave. Not at least until the baby is born, which you both will have to fight to claim.”

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