Pregnant And Rejected

Chapter 38 Marriage Proposal

Odette’s POV

“I swear to the Goddess.” Donavon crumples the magazine in his hand, lobbing it at the wall, “Where do they get this shit?”

The shiny pages slacken as it falls, brightly colored tabloid headlines peeking out of the wrinkled ball of paper, “Alpha’s secret love child.”

Unfortunately I have an idea where these rumors are coming from. I’ve seen the way Arabella looks at my son, and I can’t stop hearing Selene’s last words to me: She really hates me. She’s attempted worse. Half an hour later my daughter-in law was dead, then Arabella was miraculously found unharmed a few days later – with an iron-clad alibi for her whereabouts at the time of the fire.

Even so, those are not the kinds of accusations one makes without evidence, and a few words from Selene in the height of a very stressful moment isn’t reliable intelligence. I could have completely misinterpreted her meaning. “Does Bastien know?” i query. gesturing to the tabloid.

“He hasn’t left his rooms since the fire.” Donavon reminds me, shaking his head. And he’s not speaking to anyone.”

I understand better than anyone. The only reason I can get myself out of bed in the morning is because Bastien needs me so badly. I’ve been letting him mourn while I run the pack, not that anyone knows what’s happening behind the scenes. However the situation in Elysium is deteriorating without his leadership, and the rumor mill is out of control.

What’s more, I’m deeply afraid that Bastien cannot go on like this much longer. Young as he is, losing a mate can kill a wolf of any age, and as much as I want to give him time to heal, I can’t risk letting him grieve himself to death.

“That’s not all, ma’am.” Donavon says, pulling my attention from the magazine. “We also received a letter from the Elder Council. They want Bastien to increase the frequency of his security reports.”

“They’ve been weekly since Gabriel’s murder.” I scoff, “What do they want, a daily update?”

The Beta purses his lips and raises his eyebrows, confirming my guess.

“That’s ridiculous.” I snap, “They’ve never had that kind of oversight before.”

*Clearly they want to use Selene’s death to bolster their own power.” Donavon complains, “frankly I’d like to tell them where they can shove their reports.”

resolve, “he’s got to come back to

large man grimaces,

my old friend an imperious glare, “I’m his mother, he can huff and puff all he

Donavon relates gently. “He’s an Alpha who lost his mate. Pushing him is

only alpha who’s lost his mate, Donavon. And I’ve had more

instinct is to douse the entire space in bleach, starting with my son. The air is perfumed with an unsavory blend of hard liquor, dirty

gather a garbage bag and begin filling it on my way through the space, but I

the couch, his golden skin grimy and his jaw covered with weeks’ worth of stubble. An empty bottle of whiskey dangles from his limp hand, and the table in front of him is scattered with beer cans. He wears only a pair of sweatpants, and the weight he’s lost in the

dig into my skin, and my attention leaps to his face. His eyes are wild, staring at me without recognition.

recognition into his hard features, and he slackens his hold.

and

and rubs his eyes,

“You, my son, need to take a shower. And then we need to

wanted to escape a bath, I have to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling. “Do I

my

the apartment, trying not to judge the mess. I know all too well how crushing grief can steal your will to care about anything and

almost looks inhabitable again. He sits down at his

to.” I murmur, holding out the sponge in his direction. “Of course, it would be better if

and beginning to scrub dishes while I find a drying cloth. “I know it feels pointless, and silly and tedious, but you just have to

who I never even got to claim. We never had any happy years, we didn’t get to build a life together.” He drops the spunge and closes his fists around the edge of the counter, “

isn’t true, Bastien.” I argue

bark is so vicious I take a step back, putting some distance between us. “That is the last thing she did before she died. I accused her of kidnapping, put her under house arrest and forced her to run into a situation that killed her.” Bastien thunders,

sinks, and only with much restraint do I stop myself from reaching