Pregnant And Rejected

Selene’s POV

I know the words are a mistake the moment they leave my lips.

It was one thing to tell Bastien Lila isn’t his pup. It was another to instruct him to forget about us, but suggesting we’ll never see each other again was akin to waving a red flag in front of an angry bull – and all three together? Well, that was just stupid.

Bastien lunges toward me, tangling one large hand in my hair and tugging my head back so that I’m forced to look him in the eye. His molten silver gaze bores into me, and his mouth hovers mere inches above my own. My breasts graze the muscled contours of his abdomen, and Luna whine needily in my head.

“What did you just say?” Bastien snarls, hitching me up against him.

“I” I stammer uselessly, not following his train of thought.

“Say it, Selene.” He repeats roughly. “Tell me that we’ll never see each other again.”

I gnaw on my lower lip, trying to figure out what to say to defuse his temper, to get him to leave without forcing me and Lila to go with him. “We won’t, as long as Arabella is out there pulling her strings.” I redirect, feeling a twinge of reassurance when the glazed look in his eye eases. “She wont fail next time, even if I do have my wolf now.” His grip on me tightens, but I press on, hammering in the final nail to the coffin. “And she’ll kill Lila too just to spite me.”

“What do you mean, you told Bastien Lila is mine?” Drake repeats, mouth agog.

After telling my mate that Arabella would kill our child if given the chance, he disappeared so quickly I practically fell to the ground. No matter what he believes regarding Lila’s paternity, his protective instincts toward me extend to my pup, which may be the only part of his sudden appearance I can actually appreciate.

Though I truly don’t know what to believe about Bastien’s relationship with Arabella, I’m confident my accusations will at least provide enough distraction for Drake and I to form a contingency plan now that my location has been discovered by my husband.

Admittedly, Bastien left Aiden behind in Asphodel to keep an eye on us, but I’m not worried. Not yet, at least. For the time being, my sole focus is on getting Drake up to speed and figuring out our next steps.

“I told him she’s yours.” I repeat apologetically. “It wasn’t exactly planned but it’s the easiest explanation and another Alpha is just about the only person that could actually stand in his way.”

look or smell like me.” He eyes Lila fondly, “She doesn’t call me daddy, you and I don’t live together, I’m not in any of your photos, she doesn’t

him to reason but that won’t last for long. “We could say I

don’t just give out their sperm left and right, Selene.”

like most Alphas!” i

not that I don’t want to help, honestly. But we have to find an explanation that will stand up to scrutiny for

ideas, I throw out, “We could say you’re gay and this was

eyes to me,

place.” Drake is already rolling

to tell the pack I have a child three years after the fact?” Drake ponders, pulling Lila into his lap and bouncing her on his knee. “How do you expect to

few weeks she won’t even remember when she’ s older, than permanently introduce the chaos of the Nova pack to her life. “This isn’t about either of them.” I utter coolly, “This is about

smarter than this, Selene.” Drake shakes his head. “This isn’t a lie we can keep under wraps.

you

story you need me to.” Drake assures me, “but you have to be sure that story is one you actually want told – for all our

a thousand times before. I’ve always loved watching them play. Once upon a time I even imagined this might

the invisible’ bond tying them together, or the similarities in their expressions. It was the pure rightness of

up in the memory, it takes me a moment to realize Drake isn’t

lie, I’m not sure it’s safe for you

Alpha in Asphodel,

see clearly when it comes to their mate, and yours

I have to put my foot down and say enough is enough.” I reach over my lap to stroke Lila’s cheek. “My mother was chased out of the Calypso territory. I was chased out of the Nova lands. There aren’t many places left on the continent for us to seek refuge in, and I refuse to let my daughter be chased from her home the way my mother and I were. Bastien can huff and puff all he wants.

Odette’s POV

down. I’d been hoping the call was from him, but I was expecting updates about his investigation into the Volana tipline, not life changing revelations unraveling three years worth of hard