Page 43 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

“You requested an audience,” Aiden speaks, his voice even.

I nod, stepping forward to the first riser. A hand quickly latches onto my arm, holding me back from advancing any farther. I look up to see one of the enforcers holding onto me, his eyes trained steadily ahead at his alpha, waiting for instructions.

Aiden waits in utter silence for me to speak.

My heart begins to pound while something in the back of my mind whispers that I’m in trouble.

But why would I be?

“I came to see you.” I swallow, trying to clear my throat as my voice grows scratchy. “I-I ran from my pack.”

He doesn’t say anything, nor does anyone else. He simply stares at me with a blank look on his face, utterly devoid of all emotion. The atmosphere in here is unnerving. Why isn’t he saying anything?

I press on. “My alpha…he…he locked me away in a cell beneath his estate for weeks. I managed to escape and I came here right away.”

My eyes begin to water, the horribleness of what was done to me finally hitting me.

To my surprise, Aiden simply leans back in his chair and lets out a small sigh. “And what did you come here for?”

My jaw drops. “What?”

“I assume you came here for…something? To complain, to…what?”

Dumbfounded, I say, “I came to tell you. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Why would you? What your alpha does with his pack is his own business.”

“Helocked mein acell, Aiden,” I bite out.

Instantly, both enforcers grab me and thrust me down to my knees.

“You will address his Grace withrespect,” one of them spits at me.

Fear shoots through me as I look up at them and then back to my mate. I’m so confused—why isn’t he helping me? Why doesn’t he care? Does our bond mean nothing to him anymore?

Aiden slowly rises from his chair and makes his way down the risers to where we are. He untucks something from his pocket, pulling it out as he grows closer to me. My entire body stiffens when I see that it’s my pregnancy test, along with the letter I wrote to him.

How the hell did he get those? And fromwhere?

He clears his throat and holds the letter up in front of his face.

18

Raine

“Dear Aiden,” he reads. “I’m writing to you with regret, as I haven’t been honest with you. Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to find the words to say to tell you the truth, but I find myself unable to do so, for fear of hurting you. That is the last thing I want, however, I know that it’s the right thing to do. As you will be able to see from the test I included, I am pregnant.”

I’m stunned silent. Not even a single breath escapes me.

He continues to read:“I confess that before the ball, I found myself pregnant after I slept with one of my alpha’s enforcers. I panicked, not knowing what to do, as he had already made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with it. When the letter for the ball came, I knew I had to make a tough choice. And that, unfortunately, included you.”

“No,” I mumble.

This isn’t my letter. This isn’t what I wrote to him when I told him I was pregnant with his child. Where did he even get this from?

“See, I knew my alpha would never accept a bastard child into the pack. I am already considered one myself, as I am the daughter of his former beta, who defected more than eight years ago to another pack with no other explanation than him stating that he hoped we all rotted in hell.”

My eyes squeeze shut as tears pour down my face.

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