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

69. Aiden

69

Aiden

“You wanted to see me,” I say, my voice thick and hoarse from Nyx’s former chokehold on my neck. I don’t dare touch its tenderness in front of her, if only because I worry I may blink and she may disappear.

As if Raine herself is some deathbed vision brought to me as I struggle within an inch of my damn life.

Raine looks at me, and it’s like the first time again. She looks at me like she sees me. The me that is buried beneath duty and bloodline, beneath the armor I wear.

“What are your intentions?” she asks quietly, gliding across the floor. I hold her gaze, appreciating her beauty before me—how her bright eyes sparkle and how she carries herself with grace. I have no doubt in my mind that she will make a fine queen. My gaze settles on her hips, on the slight curvature of her belly.

Though drawn to her, I admit that the magnetic pull I once felt is different.

Looking at her now, no fire overtakes my soul, and no itch needs to be scratched so badly that I can’t breathe.

No feverish need to satisfy.

There is no bond to string us together. We stand apart.

“My intentions are to bring you back to Pollis—”

Raine takes a step closer to me, and I do not move. How can I when every bone in my body aches, and my heart is barely beating in the presence of this woman?

My mate.

“I mean with me .” She says, stopping just an inch away from me. Her gaze flashes to my neck, and I know she sees the thick handprint marks there.

Marks made by her alpha king, nonetheless.

Because he is threatened by me—by what lies between us.

That I am sure of.

Still, her question weighs on me more than it should. The answer should be simple—it’s what I’ve been pursuing this entire journey.

To bring her home. To erase what happened, what I did. To her.

But even as she stares at me, her mouth parted just the slightest, I can’t help but think about what that would actually look like in reality.

As if Raine herself could read my mind, she continues. “Tell me how you see this playing out, Aiden,” she says softly. “Do you wish to take me to the land you exiled me from? What would your Luna think?”

I open my mouth as I step closer to her, but the gravity between us has shifted.

“I can deal with Anais. I—”

“And if not Anais, what of Delilah?” She interrupts, and I nearly get whiplash from her words.

What about Delilah?

I cock my head to the side as I look at her. “Delilah does not factor into this,” I tell her.

Raine shakes her head.

“I will never be enough for you, Aiden. We both know that. I was not enough for you during the ball. I was not enough for you when I discovered you with Anais. I was not enough for you when I was begging you for sanctuary. And you stand here before me claiming that you have changed, but you have never looked at me once the way you looked at Delilah just now.”

Heat builds within me at her accusation.

I lean in closer, capturing her gaze. “You do not look at me the same, either, Raine,” I growl.

Sliding my hand over her hip, my thumb grazes the slight swell of her belly, and she gasps softly.

“You’ve never looked at me the way you look at him.” I can’t hide the jealousy in my voice. I half expect Raine to push me away, to shove me and holler and pitch a damn fit like she did that night she found me with Anais.

But to my surprise, she doesn’t fight me. She slides her hands up my chest, up my collarbone, and around my neck. Her bright gaze is misty, and in it, I can see all the broken promises and pain she has kept hidden beneath her beautiful surface.

“Tell me you feel nothing,” I say, my voice shaking. The energy I once felt is an echo in my bones, replaced by possession and greed.

I long to feel free again, like my life isn’t some awful mess of pain and half-truths.

My father set a high bar for me, insisting I would reach it if I only worked hard enough. If I did as I was told and remained obedient and dutiful to my people and my crown, I would see the success and life I wanted more than anything.

But as I look at Raine, I see that everything I’ve ever wanted has always been out of my reach.

I settle my free hand in her hair, twisting her locks tightly around my fist. Memories flood me of the last time I’d gripped her so tightly.

She moves closer to me, her lips only inches away from mine.

“Aiden...” she whispers my name, and in her breath, I can feel the dying embers that wish to return to life. I stroke her belly softly with one hand while the other slides from her locks to her neck.

And then I feel it. The fresh marks of a claiming bite.

I remove my hand to see the faintest prick of blood.

The bastard.

He fucking bit her.

Anger floods me as her hands find my jaw. She forces me to look at her, and all I want to do is shift. To howl.

I’m too late.

“Tell me you don’t feel anything for me...” I say, my voice betraying me as anger and sadness swell within me. Tears threaten to fall as I balance precariously on the edge of it all.

I don’t think because I can’t. I’m fueled purely by the dying embers that I can’t quite let go of. I crush my mouth to hers, wishing, hoping that it will be enough to spark life back into the charred remains of my heart.

Of our bond.

Raine settles her palms on both sides of my throat, and I can feel my pulse race beneath her touch.

Raine gracefully kisses me, her mouth a slow and tormenting curse.

But she doesn’t slide her tongue into my mouth or moan when I bite and suck on her lower lip like she did before.

Instead, her fingers trace their way down my neck, over the soreness from Nyx’s grasp.

He’s taken everything from me...

Raine whispers into my mouth with sadness. “Of course I feel something ,” she says wistfully. “But I think we both know it’s not the same.” Her voice shakes, almost as if she is nervous. Like it did before...

I break away, looking at her misty eyes.

“Come back with me,” I plead, not caring about the desperation in my voice.” We can find it again, Raine, I—” Her sigh breaks my heart as her fingers stroke my sensitive skin. “We can pretend none of this ever happened. We—”

Raine lets out a soft sob. “That’s the thing, Aiden, I can’t pretend. I can’t erase any of it, no matter how much I want to.”

When she looks at me with regret, I hate myself.

Fate gave me everything I’d ever wanted on a silver platter, and I sent it back.

I was a fool.

I suppose rejection is what I deserve.

Tears threaten to spill out of me like a waterfall as the dam between us breaks.

“We can’t go back,” she says, carefully stroking her thumb over my bottom lip. Her gaze flashes to my mouth, and she swallows hard. “But we can move forward.” She says, her voice barely a whisper of hope.

It’s an olive branch I don’t deserve.

I can’t help but bury my face in her hair. Her scent makes my wolf want to howl and cry, his heart broken along with mine.

“I don’t know how,” I say, the first tear falling from my eyes without warning. Her warmth and scent surround me like a comforting blanket. So many times, I took it—took her —for granted.

My palm rests on her belly, knowing that despite everything, there is one spark that cannot die. One tiny spark that will forever exist because of our bond. A gift from the gods I don’t deserve but that I want all the same.

I will always have a piece of Raine that Nyx can never own, no matter what he says.

He may have left his mark on her flesh, but my mark grows inside of her day after day, regardless of who she kisses or where she resides. Nothing will ever change that.

I cling to Raine like she’s a life raft and I’m a dying man. And perhaps, in a way, that is exactly what I am.

“Let me go,” she whispers through shaky sobs. “Let me go, and I will give you what you want, Aiden.”

Raine pulls me closer, her arms wrapped around me like she, too, is drowning.

I’m not sure I can have what I want.

But hope threatens to bloom in my chest all the same.

We hold one another as the heat between us fades until there is nothing left to ignite.

And then we hold each other some more.