Pregnant And Rejected

Chapter 16 The Wine Is Drugged

Selene’s POV

Woops.

When I asked Drake to keep me company at the party, I planned to flirt and dance, to give Bastien a little taste of his own medicine. Annoyance, that was the plan. An annoyed Bastien is manageable, an enraged Bastien is dangerous.

I stare at my husband with wide eyes. He’s standing in the doorway, on the verge of shifting, fury rolling off him in waves. His metallic gaze is locked on my face, on my tears and Drake’s comforting hands.

Drake doesn’t seem the least bit troubled by the rabid creature looming over us. He slides his fingers from my skin, turning to Bastien with a friendly smile. “Bastien, it’s been a while.”

“Too long.” Bastien agrees, “So long you seem to have forgotten who you’re dealing with.”

Drake rolls his eyes, and I have a sudden and newfound respect for the young Alpha. He may wear the face of a playful rogue, but underneath he is every bit the hard and commanding leader the role demands. “Honestly Bastien, I didn’t think you’d be so ungrateful.” He quips, “In case you haven’t heard, I saved your wife’s life tonight. I wouldn’t have had to if you’d been here.”

Bastien’s claws extend and retract compulsively, betraying the conflict raging within him. Drake’s words were an outright provocation, but there was no denying the truth in them. After a moment Bastien settles into a low simmer, striding past the other man to reach me. He drags me into a tight embrace, cuddling me to his chest. “What happened?”

Feeling suddenly warm and hazy, it takes me a moment to realize he asked a question. Drake – apparently – suffers no such impediment. “You have some vipers in your nest.” He drawls, “It was only a matter of time before one striked.”

I plant my palms against Bastien’s chest, trying to push away from him so I can pin Drake with the full force of my indignant glare. “What happened to ‘heroes don’t tattle?”

Drake’s face scrunches up in a wince, and I belatedly realize my mistake. I look up at my husband, whose handsome features are awash with foreboding. “Am I to take it you intended to keep this information secret?” He asks, his voice dangerously low.

I lower my gaze, careful not to challenge his dominance, “It wasn’t a big deal.” I argue, “It’s not as if she knew I couldn’t swim.”

I see Bastien’s head turn in my periphery, and realize he’s now looking to Drake, “Who?”

His answer is immediate. “Redhead, blue dress, gaggle of minions trailing after her wherever she goes.”

Ten minutes later the door swings open, and Aiden pokes his head in. “Bastien would like to see you in the great hall.”

in time to see the rest of the party guests gather within. We move forward, slipping through

from the gardens at his feet. Bastien

she-wolf looks up at Bastien sulkily, as if asking whether she really has to do this. Bastien makes short work of her hesitance, clamping one large hand around the back of her neck and steering her forward until she’s kneeling before

growl makes her wince. “Mrs. Durand, I’m deeply sorry for the things I said and the way I treated you. I was horribly disrespectful and I should never have spoken to my Alpha’s wife in such

quickly amends her statement. “I should never have treated you that way, no matter

it. Part of me is indignant: I’ll never learn to stand on my own two feet if other people are always fixing my problems for me. The rest of me is gushing pure elation. For the first time in my memory, Bastien is putting me ahead of the pack. He’s protecting me, making a public example of my detractors, and staking his claim for

fierce and fearless when she was bullying me, emboldened by my vulnerability and weakness. Now she

agree, “I suggest you never do so again: you won’t like the outcome.”

all of you.” He announces, “if I hear anyone speaking about my wife in such a way, or anyone lays a

joy of Bastien’s public display fades almost immediately. Everything was fine when we sat down to dinner, but by the end of the second course, my husband was back to acting as if I don’t

drunk but he’s only had one glass of wine. He’s vacillating back and forth between giddiness, aggression, and detachment. One moment he’s so happy he’s grinning like a fool, the next he’s snarling and

through the meal in starts and stops, and Bastien’s odd does not go unnoticed. I see his parents exchange glances a

begins to shift toward the ballroom, I catch him. “Bastien?” | say firmly, grasping his

his attention to me in a daze. His pupils are dilated and

pointedly, checking his forehead

me, a young socialite approaches his side and asks him to dance. I recognize her as one of the women who’d been gossiping with

extremely odd for a pack member to approach and proposition an Alpha this way – even if he weren’t married. The general rule is that unless you need their assistance with something, they’ll

about my husband about my marriage but I know something is wrong. This is not Bastien. His behavior is completely out of character, regardless of how he may feel about

his direction and our eyes meet. We’re both thinking the same thing. Aiden

the confirmation I

complaint; the least I can do is return the favor. Doubt lingers in my mind as I search the crowd. What if he will not

a risk I have

the center of the dancefloor, Bastien swaying drunkenly next to the blonde, who is wrapped around him like cling film. I glide through the swaying mass of dancers, never

rejected. When Bastien sees me over his partner’s shoulder he steps away from her without a word, closing the distance between us as if in a trance. I rise up on my tiptoes when he is in front of

to the music. I drop back down onto my heels as he begins to turn us haphazardly around the dancefloor, his intimate grip and undulating

right mind, but he is the same dominant Alpha he’s always been, and my body responds thus whether

strangely shifting moods take a turn for the risqué. One moment we’re dancing and the next Bastien has dragged me out a side door and

their trapped position between our bodies and catch his face between them. “I need you to take me

to remember something he’s long forgot. Bastien’s confused expression gives way to something feverish and fierce before he takes