Page 5 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

Oh fuck.

3

Raine

My wolf howls inside of me, happy to have met our goal so damn early in the night. What are the chances that I’d run intothealpha king out here in the gardens of all places? Alone and without his guards to prevent us both from talking?

Trying to keep myself under control, I clear my throat and nod with a slight bow. “Pretty name.”

He squints at me instantly and then laughs again. “I can’t tell if you’re making fun of me or not.”

“I’m not.” Though I’m sure from my tone, even he can tell that I’m lying.

Is it stupid of me to lie to the alpha that could have my head presented to him on a silver platter? Probably, but I’m banking on the fact that he’s hopefully not as ruthless as his father was, at least according to rumor.

What intel could I get out ofthepack alpha? Tons, I’m sure.

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.” There’s a slight crinkle at the corners of his eyes that has me a little shocked. Does he think I’m funny?

Aiden is…not what I expected at all.

For all the rumors that have circulated about him and his pack over the years—dominating, arrogant, imperial—he seems to act like the complete opposite, almost friendly in a way. Like he doesn’t have the entire upper half of the West Coast to lead and command.

I don’t really know how I feel about that, other than being caught completely off guard. The entire trip up here, I’d been preparing myself over and over again on how exactly I was going to try to meet with one of his packmates.

And yet, now that he himself is standing here in front of me in the flesh, I can’t seem to get my mouth open or my lips to move to say the words.

To both of our surprises, I turn on my heel and walk away from him to head deeper into the gardens. I need a minute to breathe before I can start trying to seduce him into talking before someone finds us out here together and separates us.

Or better yet, drags him back into the ball where hundreds of other girls are waiting for him to distract him.

“Hey wait—Raine,” he calls after me, the sounds of his shoes crunching on the gravel following close behind. “Did I say something to offend you?”

Offendme?Why would he care about that?

What in the world is going on?

I continue to walk, praying that he follows me while I try to pull myself together.

I can’t help but wonder if he’s only following me because he finds me interesting enough to ditch his own damn party in order to play cat-and-mouse with me in the gardens. Wouldn’t that be what an alpha like him would do?

“Raine,” Aiden calls. “Wait.”

I stop as I round a corner that heads into a hedge maze. Right as I’m turning on my heel to face him, he practically barrels into me. As I fall back, his arms come out to snatch me up off my feet and slam me against his chest.

While the gesture is chivalrous, it knocks the wind out of me.

“Oof!” I grab at the lapels of his suit to keep me from tumbling back into the hedge.

“Shit. Bad move. My fault,” he tells me, but doesn’t put me down.

My entire body flushes with heat the moment I lay my hands on him. A full-body rush that has me sucking in a short burst of air that doesn’t seem able to quite fill my lungs. I’m struck by how intense it feels while I force myself to look up into the eyes of the alpha staring at me.

“Sorry, I—” His voice cuts off, his eyes widening.

Suddenly, I feel it too.

Like a wire winding itself around my heart, over and over again until I’m tightly bound with nowhere else to go.

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