Page 60 of Sold Bullied Mate

Forcing myself into a seated position, I open my eyes to see her sitting at my bedside. She has her own wounds, her palms bandaged, a scrape on her forehead covered with a band-aid, but she looks more gorgeous than I’ve ever seen her.

Wearing a pink plaid dress that’s tight around her chest, her mountain of curls pulled back into a bow, the hair loose around her bare shoulders, glinting in the light from the fire.

Those eyes—her amber, liquid gold eyes—fixed right on me.

“Dorian,” she says, frowning and reaching out, “Be careful—you don’t need to sit up—”

“You havenothingto apologize for,” I grunt, ignoring the pain and focusing on her.

She blinks, shaking her head slightly in confusion. “What are you—”

“Out there, before I shifted, you said you were sorry, but I’m the one who should be apologizing. I never wanted to make you feel like I was keeping you a secret, or that I was ashamed of you, Kira. We’d heard that Jerrod wanted you back, that he was coming for you, specifically. And … I was afraid. I let that fear control me, and more specifically, I let it control you.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asks, eyes softening as she lets out a sigh. “That would have made it a lot easier to understand.”

“I didn’t want you to feel unsafe,” I admit, closing my eyes. “I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t protect you. And more than that, I was worried you might try to take off, sneak out in the middle of the night.”

When I open my eyes, the look on her face tells me that it’s something she thought about, and I let out a little laugh.

“Dorian,” she takes my hands, leaning forward and resting her forehead against mine with a little wince. “I feel like … everything in our relationship has been complicated. But if you want it—”

“I want it, Kira,” I practically growl. “That’s why I marked you.”

She laughs. “Okay. You want it, but I need you to communicate with me. I need … I know that being the alpha leader is important, and that the pack needs you, but—”

“Youare my top priority,” I say, taking her hand in mine, careful to avoid the bandage on her palm. “From now on.”

Quiet stretches around us as we stay like that, foreheads together, until I reach an arm around her waist and pull her into the bed with me. My body aches, but that pain starts to ease the moment I have her beside me, the warmth of her seeping into me, her head resting on my chest.

“You’re my mate, Kira,” I mutter. “And you’ve always been. I’ll spend the rest of my life making this—everything—up to you. I know I don’t deserve you, but I’ll get as damn close as I can come to that.”

She sighs, tipping her head up and kissing just beneath my jaw.

“I have something to tell you,” she whispers, voice uncertain. “But I don’t want to overwhelm you. The healers said it’s important for you to be low-stress while you heal—”

I squeeze her, nuzzling into her, wishing for a moment that I could just climb inside her body and live there.

“Tell me,” I say, voice muffled against her. “Whatever it is you have to say, I want to hear it.”

“Are you sitting down?”

“Even better,” I laugh, raising my head to meet her eyes. “If I pass out, the healers will come take care of it.”

“Okay.” She shifts, pushes the hair from her eyes, then says, “I … it’s not certain yet, but I had a premonition and…” she closes her eyes, squinting her face, “I might be—I mean, I think I’m pregnant, Dorian.”

The entire world stops spinning. Kira and I are the only objects that remain in motion.

Endorphins flood through me like a detox, washing away the pain and leaving elation in their wake. It’s like my limbs wake up, all stiffness and aching completely gone as I push up,wrap my arms around her, and flip her so her back is against the mattress.

She giggled, admonishes me, “Dorian—you’re not supposed to—”

I silence her with a kiss, capturing her lips with mine, swallowing her words and being careful of her as I press our chests together.

Kira is pregnant. We are having a baby,

My baby. I will have a baby—a son. A daughter. A child of my own. Tears spring to my eyes, and I surprise myself by letting out a happy sob against her lips.

I only wish Gramps were here to see it.

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