Pregnant And Rejected

Chapter 14 I Am Pushed Into The Pool

Selene’s POV

I’ve never seen so many people in one place.

Nova hall is packed to the gills with glittering bodies. Wolves from across the pack have gathered to celebrate Gabriel, all decked out in their finest. I know most of the people here, having met them at some point or another over the last three years, but at least a quarter of the guests are outsiders.

Members of a dozen other packs have come to pay their respects, for tonight not only marks Gabriel’s birthday, but also his 30th anniversary as Alpha. There is no question my father-in-law has been a highly influential leader, brokering unprecedented alliances with powerful packs across the continent.

I stand close to my mother-in-law’s side, wishing I could go back to the pack house. I hate these events, which always leave me feeling scrutinized and judged by the prying eyes of pack socialites. Most pack members view me as either an oddity or a charity case, but there is one group in particular who took great offense when Bastien took me for a mate.

Everyone knows my story. My escape and Garrick’s subsequent disappearance was headline news in Elysium, and if it weren’t for Gabriel and Bastien, I probably would have become something of a pack side show.

With all our other concerns, I’m not sure any of us considered that I might need protection from negative attention within the pack, but time proved it was very necessary. Bastien had been the Nova’s most eligible bachelor since he was a boy, and the pack’s unmated women took our marriage especially hard.

It was one thing when people thought he would marry Arabella – she fit the role of an Alpha’s wife, the de-facto leader of Novan females. I did not. I am not a leader, and standing next to Bastien I look more like his kidnapping victim than a partner. I am short, scrawny and timid; a halfling with strange eyes and nothing but wasted potential.

The fact that I am a Volana ceased to matter when I lost Luna. I am an incomplete person by definition, and that might be alright if I held no power, but the idea of having a woman without a wolf helping to lead the pack did not sit well with a great many people.

I have no doubt the pack will be relieved when our rejection ceremony is announced, but everyone agreed it should wait until after the gala. No one wanted to pull attention from Gabriel on his special night.

I can feel a hundred eyes crawling over my form.

wish Bastien

find her a lovely, calming presence, but no one puts me at ease like my husband. He is the only person with whom I don’t have to constantly worry about my safety, because I know he is looking

he did? It’s hard to fathom what could go wrong now that she’s mostly healed, but it also wouldn’t surprise me given the way she’s been

that happened between us. Her allegations against Gabriel still ring in my ears, posing far too many uncomfortable questions.

person does not mean she’s never been wronged, in fact one could argue that being terrible makes some past trauma more likely. I have a hard time believing it of my father-in-law, but

still don’t have

concerned about what is going to happen when she gets released from the hospital. I know I don’t have to worry about her sharing my

become such a

a while Odette leaves me to check on Gabriel and I find myself

thing,” Someone titters behind me, sounding more disdainful rather than truly sympathetic, “If Bastien hadn’t married her she’d be in a gutter

are no surprise – it’s no secret that Bastien married me out of pity and obligation – but

marking you? It’s so tragic.” Like her companion, this

The first woman scoffs, “You don’t breed a

anymore. I walk away, slipping out the garden door to stroll alongside the saltwater pool bisecting the blossoming greenspace. I hold my head up high as I move through the people, but it seems as if there is no escape from

Arabella down a flight of stairs.” I don’t recognize the speaker, but her words make my

of any size with pain, and the after effects remain to this day. But this is too much. Even if the ensuing argument triggers a PTSD episode, I cannot let this rumor

to hear her; her features are alight with malicious glee as I approach. “I didn’t

of it?” I counter. “People have rejection ceremonies all the time.” This is not entirely true. Rejection ceremonies are actually relatively rare, but they are still common enough in pack society to be

flips a curtain of long red hair over her

fire in my belly came from, but rather than shutting down, I fight back. “Actually it seems they

it’s far past time he got rid of