Page 91 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha King

He turns to me, dropping his arms back to his sides. “Yes.”

His reply is earnest, which gives me a little hope that I’m not going to be regarded differently after this. Well, at least I hope so.

“Daniel is a cruel alpha.” I suck in a shaky breath, trying to calm my suddenly frazzled nerves. “He…did a lot of horrible things to us, to me. What you saw when you came to get me was only a fraction of the mess he’s made of Andromeda. It’s a shame because his father before him was a kind and gentle alpha, so I really don’t know where Daniel got his awful tendencies from.”

I didn’t realize I’d been looking down at my feet while speaking until I feel a finger hook under my chin and lift it up again.

His eyes are conflicted.

“Your pregnancy…” he murmurs. “Was it forced?”

My throat tightens at the care in his tone, a kindness that no one has ever shown me before. Nyx is not a kind alpha or king, and yet here he is treating me with something that doesn’t come naturally to him at all, like I actually matter to him in some way.

My voice is quiet as I say, “No.”

He relaxes slowly, nodding. “Good.”

“This baby was made with love.” My smile grows sad. “Unfortunately, that person chose not to stick around.”

“A shame,” he says, running his thumb along my jawline.

For the first time since meeting Nyx, I wonder what it would be like to lean in and kiss him.

41

Aiden

“I can’t believe it. A mate? Pregnant?” Camden shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

The cool night air, coupled with the soft noises of the forest around us, feels peaceful despite the obvious tension in the air. Blaming Camden for his poor mood wouldn’t be fair of me, especially considering I’m supposed to be telling him everything.

As my beta and my closest confidant, the hurt and betrayal in his voice—though hardly shown—is evident.

What kind of alpha hides something like this from the one they’re supposed to trust the most?

Making the excuse of not doing any of this intentionally isn’t going to make it go away, nor will it help Camden feel better in the end. All I can do is own up to it and make sure to let him in as much as possible, no matter how painful it is to talk about.

“I know it’s a lot,” I tell him, folding my arms across my chest too.

Ahead of us lies the lake just outside of Andromeda’s town. It’s beautiful out here, almost freeing in a way to have such a large forest surrounding their pack on all sides. I can see why they stay so isolated out here.

“When did it even start? That first night?” he asks.

“Just about. I was stalling in the gardens because I didn’t want to have to parade myself around like the elders wanted me to and ended up running into her there. It wasn’t until we touched that the bond snapped into place.”

Camden grunts. “I hear that happens sometimes.”

“It was very…overwhelming.”

He shifts his weight slightly. “So…what, you two just had sex in the gardens?”

I huff out a laugh. “No. I have some kind of decorum. I ended up leaving and trying to go to the ball but then found myself going stir-crazy soon after. I tracked her scent down and found her room. That’s when the first time happened.”

He nods slowly, quiet for a time.

I let us sit in the silence, wanting him to drive this conversation instead of me. It’s only fair for me to be interrogated like this after keeping all of these secrets from him. I’d barely mentioned anything to Camden about my feelings surrounding the ball outside of not ever wanting to do it again.

Even when the elders named Anais my Luna, I hadn’t told Camden how I really felt about it. I’m sure he could tell, as most people could if they were around longer than two seconds. But showing and telling are two different things entirely, and expecting my beta to pick up on things like that is rather ridiculous.

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