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

58. Nyx

58

Nyx

I can’t get enough.

The more I have of her, the deeper my need for her grows.

What in the world has she done to me? How has a single kiss, let alone actually being able to touch and caress every inch of her body, ignited something within me that I’ve long since believed to be dead?

Her body is hot against mine when I grab her again and pin her to the side of my home. She moans when I crush my lips against hers, her fingers tangling in my hair in order to pull me closer to her.

We haven’t been able to stop touching each other since wandering out of the conservatory. Even a subtle brush of our hands as we walked back had caused us to entangle ourselves in the rosebushes while we came together like we were newly mated.

I hadn’t wanted to put any pressure on her from last night, believing that us giving into our desires had been some kind of cathartic release. Pretending otherwise would’ve only set myself up for inevitable failure, or rather, something else deeper that I don’t quite want to name yet.

Letting myself be vulnerable, exposing my heart in that manner, to anyone, is too much. There have been very few times where true terror has stolen my senses from me, and letting Raine become the keeper of my heart is a job I’m not ready to give her.

Whatever is left of it, that is.

When Raine breaks from our kiss, she grazes her thumbs over my cheekbones. “Are we…going to keep doing this?”

“That depends. Do you want to?”

She frowns. “I hate that you’re not answering me. That’s making me nervous.”

“Sorry.” Truthfully, I’m worried about being honest about my wants for her in general. She’s already going to be giving me an heir; asking for more on top of that is rather cruel.

Her hands drop to my shoulders. “Nyx, please tell me what you want.”

And if I do, am I only setting us up for this to all come crashing down in a blaze of glory? Giving into my own desires is a rare thing, if not almost inconceivable. The control I have over myself is something I would ever brag about, given that it was born out of sheer necessity.

Being a young and na?ve child when I was named alpha king had changed and shaped me in ways that no one but myself would be able to recognize. Keeping myself in check had been the only way to ensure my place on this throne.

All Raine had to do was look at me in a certain way and I’d immediately crumpled at her feet. The power she holds over me is both unfathomable and terrifying. What could one do while holding the leash of a predator?

How much damage could she inflict?

The answer is too much. Enough that I should be reeling myself back and taking a break from her like I did just last week. But doing so had only made my need to see her worse. I’d watched her from afar like a forlorn stalker, hoping that she’d both see me and completely disregard me.

It’s a convoluted and confusing swirl of emotions that I have yet to sort out inside my own head, let alone try to vocalize.

“Raine…” I sigh. “I…”

The problem is that I want to be honest. I want her to know me, even if every instinct in me is screaming to shut up.

This is the kind of predicament that I never thought I’d find myself in. I’ve never had an interest in a female outside of the occasional tussling in the woods after a particularly good run, when I needed to blow off another kind of steam.

What can I do?

“What?” she asks, her eyes curious.

My hands come up to cup her face, cradling it tenderly. “I want you, Raine. More than anyone I’ve ever encountered. You are already doing me…a large service by allowing your baby to be shared with me. And that…is a gift that I can never truly repay you for.” Even though technically I kind of did. “I’m not going to pressure you into anything. If you simply want this to be casual or a one-time thing, that is fine.”

Her head immediately shakes. “No, I don’t want that.”

My brows furrow. “What do you want, then?”

“I want this, Nyx. I want you . I don’t—I want this to be serious. We’re going to be raising a baby together, right? And I think we’ve already established that we’ve got crazy chemistry.”

That makes me chuckle. “I believe that’s an understatement.”

She smiles a little. “So…I want to see where this goes. If you’re up for it.”

For some reason, her words lift a weight off my shoulders. I didn’t realize that the anticipation for her answer was stressing me out this much. Wren would die if he were to ever find out, and I’d never hear the end of it.

Relationship problems causing me stress…now that’s something new.

“I do too,” I say, leaning down to kiss her again.

She’s adorable when she lets out a soft sigh, murmuring, “Perfect.”

My hands work their way down to her hips again, pinning her back against the siding of my home when a tingle at the base of my skull sends a shiver down my spine: the familiar pull of my pack, Wren , needing me.

Pulling back from her, I sigh. “Sorry. I’m needed.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll catch up with you later. How’s that sound?”

Stealing one last kiss before I shift, I run to the source of that nagging feeling in the back of my head: my beta, ringing the proverbial summoning bell at me. I find him a ways out from our town, toward the border facing north of us.

He’s standing at the top of the incline that heads down into our town, his back to me. With him are a few enforcers and two patrol units.

Not a good sign.

Shifting back when I reach them, I say, “Talk to me.”

Wren turns to me then, uncrossing his arms from his chest. “Patrols spotted a pack of shifters coming this way.”

What? “Who?”

He shakes his head. “No idea. None of them were recognizable, so not local.”

What in the world would a pack be visiting me for? Unlike the North, we don’t do visitors. I travel to the problem and keep my sanctuary out of other packs’ business. There is never a need for my pack to be involved in the drama of others.

That’s what made Archeron’s visit so insufferable.

Anyone trying to weasel their way into my territory will be swiftly dealt with.

“Your Grace, they’re approaching,” one of my enforcers says.

“How many are there?” I ask.

“An alpha and a pack of enforcers. Not many.”

Odd.

All of us brace ourselves as the winds dance and the scents carrying on them are ones we don’t recognize. When the brush finally rustles and a small pack of shifters steps out into view, I make my way to the head of our brigade, feeling Wren follow me closely.

At the helm of the pack is indeed an alpha with a dark golden coat. Behind him is another smaller shifter, female, with a silky brown coat. Fanning out in a V-formation are his enforcers, all of them keeping a distance from my own, but still focused intently on our party.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I drawl.

The alpha shifts to his feet, straightening himself to face me. “Nyx Calloway, I presume.”

“Hm,” is all I reply with.

I do not recognize any of them, much less their alpha—though he does look strangely familiar for some reason. Their scents are odd though, not from around here. They smell faintly of…pine, reminding me of my time up in the North when retrieving Raine.

“It has come to my attention that you took something you weren’t supposed to,” the alpha tells me, his face pinching together in a displeased fashion. “And I need you to return it. Or rather, her.”

Ah, so is Daniel finally coming to his senses and trying to backtrack on his deal with me? Funny that he decides to send a neighboring pack instead of coming himself. Then again, what do I expect from a coward like him?

I really should kill him. Perhaps as a pushing gift for Raine.

“No.”

The alpha’s brows knit together. “No?”

“Yes. No, I am not interested in whatever negotiation tactics he’s told you to use on me. We had a deal. I paid for what I purchased. That’s the end of the story.”

He sighs at me. “She wasn’t ever supposed to be sold in the first place. Let alone to someone outside of our territory.”

I shrug. “Take that up with your king, then.”

“I am.”

Truly, I don’t foresee the Northern King caring. I’ve heard very little about him since the death of his predecessor, though I doubt he has time to chase down a stray female who’s been taken to another territory.

There are bigger things to be worrying about than an unknown breeder from a small pack out in the middle of nowhere.

“Yes, I’m sure you have,” I drawl. “Anyway, best of luck to you on your travels back home.”

“Calloway,” he snaps. “I am taking her back with me.”

The tone in his voice immediately has my hackles rising and my wolf preparing for battle. A thrill chases through me, the bloodlust within me kicking up instantly. I love a challenge. And I especially love one in the form of an overconfident pack alpha.

My smirk is deadly. “Are you sure about that?”

“As her alpha king, yes I am,” he argues.

Without meaning to, I blink in surprise.

Alpha king…?

Then, he says, “By my order as her alpha king, Raine will be returned to the North.”

That’s when it hits me.

His familiarity.

A carbon copy of his father before him.

Aiden Summers.