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

40. Raine

40

Raine

“Well, that went better than expected.”

Nyx throws me an amused look over his shoulder. “Were you expecting something less?”

Do I want to admit to him that I was ready for him to be wrong about his own elders, and that they wouldn’t be as welcoming as he’d suspected them to be? No matter how I frame it, it would come across as me doubting him.

But I had been pleasantly surprised by all of their really mild reactions to me. With us being in such close proximity to each other, all of the elders had to know that I was pregnant by now, if Nyx hadn’t already informed them ahead of time.

And yet instead of them casting me away like I’d been tainted, they simply asked a few questions before shooing Nyx and I along for the day.

“I wouldn’t say ‘less,’ so much as…I don’t know,” I admit.

Nyx stops just past the gate outside of the elders’ dwelling and tilts his head at me curiously. “You seem to have many complicated feelings when it comes to my pack.”

Well, he’s not wrong.

I hate that I keep unintentionally expecting the worst in him and his pack. It’s not his fault that Soleus’s reputation up in the North is foul regardless of what the truth actually is. We’d been made to be scared of what we didn’t know, including our neighbors to the South.

Now that I’m here, I see how unfair it was for me to prejudge everything. Even if a few of the rumors have some truth to them, I can’t exactly pinpoint where the lies start until I see them with my own two eyes.

“Can I ask you something?” I say, stepping through the gate and closer to him.

“Anything,” he replies easily.

I don’t know why that makes my heart flutter. His candidness is so refreshing that it kind of hurts. Daniel was always secretive in everything he did as our pack alpha, and much in the same vein, Aiden was too, but for different reasons.

To be involved with an alpha like Nyx, who can be forthcoming with any answer as long as you ask the right question, feels kind of like I’m cheating some kind of system, and I have no idea when I cracked the code.

“Why haven’t you ever taken a Luna? I can’t imagine you don’t have your fair share of females throwing themselves at you.”

His eyes narrow in amusement. “Throwing themselves? That’s a bit dramatic.”

“You know what I mean.”

He huffs out a laugh and nods for me to walk with him, leading us back onto the main path heading into town. I keep a small distance between us, though comfortable enough to still be intimate. While I don’t feel safe around Nyx just yet, I still feel good enough that I’m confident at this point, he has no reason to harm me.

If he wanted to, he would’ve done so by now, as he keeps preaching.

“I suppose I’ve never had the time,” he finally says, looking out at the large stone monoliths in the distance.

“Is the South that chaotic to rule over?” It’s probably not the wisest choice to be getting into politics so early into our companionship, but since I’m going to be living here for the next few decades, I want to know what’s going on in the outside world.

Like it or not, my child is going to be entangled in whatever schemes Nyx himself is involved in.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he replies mildly.

Tricky . Finding the right words to crack into Nyx’s honesty feels like a game, but not one that I mind playing. In fact, it gets my brain to work in the same way it used to when I was little and my father was teaching me about pack laws.

“Would you say ‘complicated’ then?” I try.

His smile grows. “That’s closer to it. Perhaps if I’m being transparent, it’s a bit of both.”

Chaotic and complicated. Sounds like a recipe for a fucking disaster. “You seem to be holding things together pretty well, though. From what I see, at least.”

He glances at me. “You think so?”

This feels like he’s testing the waters again, trying to see if I’m observant or just plain oblivious. While I’ve never bragged about my abilities in reading things like a textbook, I do know a thing or two about civil unrest within a pack structure, and here in Soleus, I see none of that.

His pack doesn’t seem like they’re on the edge of an all-out war or anything close to it. In fact, they’re far from it. Not even his elders seemed concerned about much outside of complaining to Nyx about the pack’s need for another plot for farming.

“I do.” I give him a firm nod.

“Hm.” Nyx’s arms tuck behind his back, his fingers locking around one of his wrists. “That’s quite the compliment.”

I smile a little. “Well, considering the North is a bit of a mess sometimes, I’d say you’re doing fine.”

“Oh?”

Fishing again. Honestly if I knew much, I’d tell him. It’s not like my loyalties to the North have gotten me far, especially with Aiden. While I’ll never ever put him in harm’s way intentionally, that doesn’t mean I won’t call out any bullshit politics he puts in place once he does ascend to his place as king.

Because unfortunately, any of that will affect me and the baby directly if it turns on Nyx.

Instead of giving him any details about Aiden, I switch tactics. “I mean, you’ve seen my pack.”

His face falls into a bitter frown. “I won’t push you to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

I do though—I’m kind of desperate to get it all off my chest and relieve myself of the burden that I’ve been carrying for fifteen years: all the horrible shit Daniel’s inflicted on Andromeda, not just me.

Sure, I’d been the village scapegoat, but that didn’t save the rest of them from a fate similar to mine, except with a lot less public humiliation. I’d been used as a deflection tool for his wrath and with me no longer there to obsess over, I can’t imagine who’s taken my place.

“You want me to be honest?” My feet slow when we reach an alcove between buildings.

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.