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Author: Ona Hearts
last update publish date: 2026-04-19 00:08:25

Raven's POV

Dara arrived on a Saturday morning and she came alone, which I had not specifically asked for but appreciated, because it meant she understood that this visit was not an occasion that needed an audience.

Alaric let her in and she came into the dorm room. She looked around at the portable crib in the corner, the course notes spread across both desks, and the ,general evidence of three people living in a space designed for one. Then she said, "You have made this work."

"We are mana
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  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    134

    Raven's POV Rendell found me first. He appeared beside me on the path between the lecture building and the campus library on a Tuesday morning. I fell into step without any preamble and said, "Forin is making another move." I kept walking and said, "What kind of move?" "He found a secondary claimant to the Thorne title," Rendell said. "A distant branch of the family that has been inactive for years. He has pointed them at the succession confirmation and funded their legal representation." I stopped walking and looked at him. Then I said, "He shifted from coming after me to coming after Alaric." "When the documentation shut down the inquiry into your background, he needed a different angle," Rendell said. "Alaric's succession is the most obvious pressure point left." "Why are you telling me this?" I said. "Because I told Forin after our library conversation that pursuing this further was a mistake, and he ignored me. I am done being part of something I already advised against.

  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    133

    Raven's POV Dara arrived on a Saturday morning and she came alone, which I had not specifically asked for but appreciated, because it meant she understood that this visit was not an occasion that needed an audience. Alaric let her in and she came into the dorm room. She looked around at the portable crib in the corner, the course notes spread across both desks, and the ,general evidence of three people living in a space designed for one. Then she said, "You have made this work." "We are managing," I said. Managing was the closest thing we had to stability, even if it still required constant small corrections to keep from drifting out of alignment. "No," she said. "You have made it work, there is a difference." Cael was on the floor between the desks. He looked up when she came in and she looked down at him and went still for a moment in the way people did when they saw him for the first time. She crouched down to his level and he looked at her face with the focused serious expre

  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    132

    Raven's POV Dara's documentation went through Lord Thorne's office on a Thursday morning. By the afternoon, his contact on the council confirmed it had been received and logged, and that the faction's inquiry had stalled at the processing stage because there was nothing left to question once the formal acknowledgment was on the record. Alaric told me when I got back from my afternoon lecture. I sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "Just like that?" "Just like that," he said. "After everything," I said. "All of it, and it came down to a document submitted on a Thursday afternoon." "Most things do eventually," he said. "The fighting is loud, but the ending is usually quiet." I sat for a moment, then went to the wardrobe and took out the envelope Maren had given me. I placed it on the desk, opened it, and looked at the photographs again. Not for the first time, but with different eyes. The first time, I searched for myself in them. This time, I simply saw them for what they w

  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    131

    Raven's POV Sable sent the message at 7:00 a.m. It said Rendell Coas studies in the east wing of the library every Tuesday, between ten and twelve, and sits at the same table near the back left window. I read it and sent back a thank you. She replied, "Good luck and do not let Alaric intimidate him before you finish talking," which told me she had already figured out the plan without being told. We arrived at the library at five past ten, and I spotted Rendell before Alaric did, because I had been looking at people carefully my whole life, picking out the ones who were watching. Rendell had that quality. It was not obviously watchful, but watchful in the way that people are when they have been given a specific task and are waiting for the relevant thing to happen. He was tall and neat with dark hair. He was looking at his laptop when we sat down across from him, and he looked up. His expression shifted immediately into something that was trying very hard to stay neutral and not q

  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    130

    Alaric's POV The council faction did not waste time. By the morning after the function, my father had already received two separate inquiries from senior members asking pointed questions about Raven's background and the legitimacy of her standing as a Beta Lord's mate. He called me before I had finished my first coffee and said, "We need to move before they do." "How much time do we have?" I said. "Days," he said. "A week at most before they make it official, and once it is official, it becomes a public record and we lose control of how the information is framed completely." I thanked him and ended the call. I listed the names of council members who were most likely to question the legitimacy of Raven’s claim carefully and started planning the order in which each document would need to be submitted to prevent any challenges. I sat at the desk and thought about everything Raven had shared with me about Maren, Aldric Coas, Dara, the photographs sitting in the envelope in the wardro

  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    129

    Raven's POV We drove back to Thorne territory for the function on a Friday evening and Lord Thorne met us at the estate door. He looked us both over and said, "Good, you're on time," which, from him, was approximately equivalent to a standing ovation. The function was being held at the main council gathering hall in Thorne territory and it was bigger than I expected. Not in terms of the building, which was large enough, but in terms of the people filling it because every significant title holder in every affiliated territory had sent either themselves or a representative. The room had the specific energy of a space full of people who were all quietly measuring each other. I noted several unfamiliar faces quickly as we walked further in. Lord Thorne walked us in. I stayed beside Alaric and watched the room carefully, noting who looked over when we entered and what their expressions did when they saw me specifically. Several people looked at Alaric with recognition and respect and

  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    67

    Raven's POV Saturday morning, I woke up early with a plan in mind. If people were going to keep trying to hurt me, I needed to be ready to defend myself. Pregnant or not. "Finally," Breeze said. "I've been waiting for you to realize this." "What do you mean?" I asked. "We need to train," she sa

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-29
  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    62

    Raven's POV Friday afternoon, I was walking down the stairs between third and fourth period when I felt someone bump into me from behind. I stumbled forward, losing my balance. "Watch it," a voice said. Tyler. One of Dante's friends. I grabbed the railing, trying to steady myself, but someone el

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-28
  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    60

    Raven's POV Thursday morning, I woke up exhausted. I had stayed up until midnight finishing a history paper, then woke up at five to walk Mrs. Chen's dog. After that, I had school, then tutoring sessions, then homework. My body was screaming at me to rest, but I couldn't afford to. At school, I c

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-28
  • The Rejected Plump Mate Was Pregnant    58

    Raven's POV Monday morning started badly and got worse. I woke up dizzy and nauseous. My back was killing me, and the baby was pressing on my bladder, making it hard to walk. But I forced myself to go to school because I had already missed too many days. "This is a mistake," Breeze said. "We sho

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-27
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