Rejected and Pregnant by the Alpha King (Forbidden Alpha Kings #4)

8. Raine

8

Raine

“I’ll be back soon.” He places a soft kiss on my forehead hours later, the sheets sliding off of his body when he sits up.

I reach for him—an automatic response while my wolf wails at having to be separated from her mate yet again. “When?”

He smiles, grabbing my hand to kiss along my knuckles and wrist. “Soon.”

I hate that he won’t give me an exact time. What does “soon” even mean, anyway? He still hasn’t asked me to stay with him in his lands after the ball ends. Nor has he even mentioned anything about presenting me to his pack.

Am I not good enough? Have I done something so wrong that he feels too ashamed to bring me out of the shadows?

My worry over this subject hasn’t left me since he first came to me after our run-in at the gardens. I want to be honest with him and tell him how I’m feeling, but will that only put more pressure on his shoulders and cause him to distance himself even more?

“Will I see you in the morning?” I ask, just as he’s letting go of my hand and rising from my bed.

He hesitates, half-frozen in place.

The silence that follows my question is deafening.

“I’m…not sure.”

Fuck, I hate that answer. I sit up, using the sheets to cover myself, suddenly feeling more self-conscious than I ever have before with him. “Why not?”

He sighs, which also isn’t a good sign. “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes with my pack, Raine.”

“Such as?”

“It’s Pollis pack business.”

He says it firmly enough that I have no room to argue any more information out of him. While it’s true that as an alpha, his dealings within his own pack should be kept private, am I not the exception? I’m his mate, after all.

Is he worried I’m going to run back to my own pack and tattle or something? He can’t seriously think I’d do that, right?

“I wish I could tell you more, but right now I can’t.” He gives me a small smile. “I’ll come back to you soon though. I promise.”

His words should be comforting to me, but they’re the exact opposite. What if he can’t ever let me in? What if this is how it’s going to be for the rest of our lives? Him keeping me at arm’s length and me begging to be let in?

I don’t know how I’ll be able to live like that. Back home, that’s already the life I’m living. Having a mate, as unexpected as it had been to find each other, should be different. Being forced to be in the same situation as before seems not only unfair but downright diabolical, as far as fate is concerned.

While Aiden dresses, I stay silent in bed and watch him.

Even in the terrible lighting, he’s still gorgeous. My body still craves him despite us just getting done ravishing each other.

He leans over to press a soft kiss to my lips once more. “Have a good sleep, Raine.”

And with that, he’s gone.

***

I barely sleep at all.

In fact, I don’t even remember my eyes closing until the morning light from my window is shining in my face and rousing me from my dreamless nap.

Across the way, I spot Delilah tucked into her bed, having come in sometime during the night after Aiden had left and I’d rolled over to bury myself under my covers. I’m glad he left the door unlocked after he’d gone. I would’ve hated for her to have found herself in another suite yet again because I couldn’t get myself together enough to actually stay up and wait for her.

My heart is heavy while I sit up and try to steady myself. Who knows what Aiden’s even up to right now. “Pack politics” could mean so many things, and with him not telling me what’s going on, there’s no way for me to even try to guess what he’s dealing with.

Other than the usual rumors about Pollis’s temperament as a pack, there is hardly any information about their operations floating around, which could be both a good and bad thing. Good, as it shows the rest of our packs how strong and collected they are. Bad, because who knows what dealings they do in the shadows.

Sighing to myself, I throw my covers off and grab my nightshirt off the floor before pulling it on. I hope Delilah at least had a good time last night.

“Mmmm, Raine?” Her bed shifts slightly as she slowly sits up, rubbing her eyes. “What’re you doing?”

“Hey, sorry. Did I wake you?”

“No.” She yawns. “It’s still early…why’re you up?”

“Um…couldn’t sleep.” I glance over at the door. Would it be suspicious of me to leave and wander around the grounds until breakfast?

Delilah’s brows knit together. “You okay?”

Fuck, that’s such a loaded question.

I’ve never been in the habit of lying to Delilah, but how can I tell her about Aiden when I don’t even know what’s going on? This is all such a whirlwind that I can barely keep my own head on straight.

“Uh…”

She scoots over and pats the side of her bed. “Come here. Talk to me.”

“Aren’t you still tired?”

She smiles. “I’m okay. I wanted to ask you where you disappeared to last night but by the time I got back, you were already asleep.”

I slowly walk over to her, my feet dragging. Inside, I can feel my wolf stirring restlessly. She’s wary like I am about telling Delilah anything—not because my best friend can’t be trusted, but because this is kind of the biggest deal ever.

Coming here with the determination to not fuck up in front of anyone and embarrass my pack had been my only goal. With fate apparently having other plans for me, now I’ve got a whole other mess on my plate to deal with.

Not to mention that whatever’s been going on with Aiden’s pack, and his secrecy surrounding it, will most likely affect me in some way.

“Yeah, I was pretty tired,” I say, sitting down slowly.

She throws part of the comforter over my lap, still warm from her body. “I didn’t see you dancing with anyone at all. Did someone upset you or something to make you leave?”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

Yeah, someone had upset me alright. Am I allowed to complain about Aiden though? As an alpha, it’s kind of a given that he’d have girls throwing themselves at his feet, trying to beg for his attention.

Which, while that hurt, hadn’t been anything compared to him knowingly letting it happen as I watched.

That had been the shittiest part about last night. He’d kind of made it up to me afterward, but then left soon after.

I sigh. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if someone upset you?”

“No.” Shit, how am I ever going to properly explain this? “It’s…complicated.”

“Talk to me, Raine. You know I’m always here for you.”

My throat tightens at her sweet words. Delilah has been my rock for as long as I can remember. There’s not a single day that goes by where I don’t thank every god in existence for her. Trusting her is second nature at this point. So why am I clamming up?

“I…” Swallowing, I force the words out. “I met someone.”

She gasps, grabbing my hands. “You did? That’s great! What’s he like?”

Tears burn in my eyes while I stare down at my lap. Instead of excitement and joy, all that I feel is shame. Shame for who I am in comparison to Aiden. I’m nobody, a disgrace to her own pack, which refuses to accept her. All anyone sees when they look at me are my father’s sins.

How will Aiden’s pack ever accept me?

“Raine? What’s wrong?” She puts a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s, um…really complicated.”

“How so? He’s part of Pollis, right?”

I nod.

“Are you worried Daniel’s going to refuse the match?”

Lifting my head, I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. “Among other things.”

“Screw him.”

To my surprise, I let out a laugh. It’s so ridiculous hearing anyone from our pack say that, since we’re all terrified of our alpha. He’s never been nice or heartfelt about anything, choosing to rule us with a strong hand that’s never shown kindness.

Living under his thumb has always been suffocating.

“I’m serious.” She squeezes my hands. “If this is a true love match, he can’t refuse that.”

“It’s not just a love match, Delilah. It’s…we’re…”

Her eyes widen. “No way…the mating bond? It snapped into place?”

I nod.

Her grin is so wide that it must hurt her cheeks. “Gods, Raine! No wonder you’ve been sneaking off so much! And here I thought you were just being antisocial! This whole time you were meeting up with your mate.”

“Yes. But you can’t tell anyone. I don’t want any of the enforcers to get the information back to Daniel.”

“He can’t do anything if it’s a mating bond, Raine. You know that.”

While under normal circumstances she’s right, with me Daniel’s rules are a whole different ballgame. He’d sooner throw me down in the damn cellar and leave me there than allow me to become Aiden’s Luna and prove to him once and for all that I’m actually worth something.

“What if he can, though?” Lifting my eyes to look at her, I already feel a few tears slip down my cheeks. “If word gets back to Daniel, he’ll no doubt rip me away from here before I can be properly claimed.”

Delilah’s eyes widen. “Wait, the mating bond snapped into place but he hasn’t claimed you yet?”

I wince at the harsh judgment in her voice.

Normally I’d understand her frustration—I mean, of course I’d feel the same way if some alpha was dragging his feet when it came to claiming the mating bond with her—but this is an entirely different circumstance.

Maybe this whole time Aiden’s been trying to figure out how to present me to his pack. He’d put on this ball to find himself a Luna and it just so happens to have brought him his soulmate. I can see how overwhelming that might’ve been, and how unexpected.

With a mating bond, there’s no arguing with it, no matter who objects. I have no doubts that Aiden’s expectation had been to find a female from a good pedigree who came from an upstanding pack.

But instead, he got me. A nobody.

“Like I said, it’s complicated.”

She shakes her head. “Still. He shouldn’t be dragging his feet on this. No wonder you’re feeling this way! Bonds are so fragile when they first form. I can’t believe he’s even letting you out of his sight right now.”

Me either…

“You should talk to him, Raine. I’m serious. He needs to realize that he can’t just string you along like this. Mating bonds are for life . You’re not just some girl he can play around with for a while. Is he an alpha?”

I nod.

“Even more reason to hammer things out.”

She’s right—of course she is. I’m just afraid that overstepping and forcing Aiden into making some kind of public decision is going to drive him away. We barely know each other.

“What if he doesn’t want to?”

“He will.” Delilah’s voice is firm. “You’re amazing, Raine. Surely he’s realized that by now.”

Honestly, I don’t even know. But what do I know about Aiden other than the character he portrays in public and the person I see when he’s alone with me? Which one is the real him?

That’s the important part I need to figure out. I need to know what we’re doing with this bond because in less than two days, I’m leaving.

“You’re right. I’ll talk to him tonight after the ball.”

She grins at me. “Attagirl.”