Library

Search

Home / Werewolf / Rejected by My Mate, Claimed by the Brooding Alpha CEO / Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

All Chapters of Rejected by My Mate, Claimed by the Brooding Alpha CEO: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

77 Chapters

51

Sleep is impossible after the text. By 4 AM, I’m pacing the library while tech teams continue working on tracing the source. Kael shadows me, his protective instincts in overdrive.“Confess your sins,” I mutter for the hundredth time. “What sins? What could they possibly think I’ve done that I need to confess?”“It could be a bluff,” Marcus suggests from where he’s reviewing security footage. “Trying to make you paranoid, second-guessing yourself.”“Or they know something we don’t,” Eleanor counters. She’s been making calls for the past hour, reaching out to contacts across pack territories.“Someone who had access to council footage would have access to other information as well.”“Like what?” I stop pacing to look at her. “My life is an open book now. Everyone knows I was kidnapped as a baby, raised in foster care, worked at a diner, got rejected by Nash. What secret could possibly be damaging enough to—”I stop mid-sentence as something occurs to me.“Sage?” Kael is instantly al

52

The morning of the Alpha gathering dawns cold and gray, matching my mood perfectly. I barely slept-every time I closed my eyes, I saw that text message. *Tomorrow, everyone learns what you really are.*What am I? A kidnapped heir? A powerful Luna? A former waitress who got pregnant from a one- night stand? I’ve already confessed all of that publicly. What else could there possibly be?“You’re spiraling,” Kael says from beside me in bed.His arm tightens around my waist. “I can feel it through the bond.”‘I can’t help it. We’re walking into an ambush and we don’t even know what weapon they’re using.”“Then we’ll adapt when it happens.” He kisses my shoulder. “Like we always do.”“You make it sound so simple.”“It is simple. They attack, we counter. They lie, we tell the truth. They try to bind you, I burn their territories to the ground.” His voice is casual, but his eyes flash gold. “Simple.”Despite everything, I smile. “You can’t actually burn their territories.”“Watch me.” He si

53

I’m still staring at the text when Kael leans over, reading it over my shoulder. His entire body goes rigid.“Silas,” he murmurs into his phone, which he’s pulled out so fast I didn’t see him move. “The texter just made contact. Get the tech team tracing now.On the platform, Luna Victoria is trying to restore order, but the hall has descended into chaos. Alphas arguing with each other, some demanding be bound immediately, others calling for fair investigation. The conservative bloc looks triumphant.“This is exactly what they want,” I say suddenly, loud enough for Kael, Eleanor, and my parents to hear. “They want us distracted by the fake evidence while something else happens.”Alexander frowns. “What do you mean?”“The texts. They’ve been telling me all along-*the real test hasn’t begun,* *confess before they force the truth from you.* Alpha James just presented his so-called evidence, but the texter says the real revelation is still coming.” I grip Kael’s arm. James isn’t the

54

“The motion passes,” Luna Victoria says, and I can hear the regret in her voice. “Luna Sage, your power will be bound effective immediately until-”“No.”The word comes from Kael, but it reverberates through the hall with enough force to rattle the windows. His eyes have gone completely gold, and Alpha power pours off him in waves that make even the strongest wolves in the room flinch.“No,” he repeats, stepping in front of me. “You will not touch her.”“Alpha Thorne,” Luna Victoria’s voice carries a warning. “The vote has been cast. This is pack law-”“I don’t care about pack law.” Kael’s voice drops to something lethal. “She’s my mate. My Luna. The mother of my child. And I will burn every territory represented in this room before I let anyone bind her power.”The temperature seems to drop. Every Alpha in the room recognizes the threat for what it is—a declaration of war.“You’d go to war over a clone?” Alpha James sneers. “Over a fake Luna who was literally manufactured in a labo

55

I find the first gap around 3 AM.I’m lying in bed, Kael’s arm heavy around my waist, his breathing deep and even. But my mind won’t shut off. It keeps circling back to Margaret’s words:*Look for the gaps. The inconsistencies.* So I do.I think about my childhood. The foster homes. I remember Mrs. Patterson’s house-the blue kitchen with sunflower curtains, the way she made pancakes every Saturday morning. I remember being six years old, sitting at that table.But when I try to remember what happened before that house, there’s… nothing. Just a vague sense of other places, other faces, but no concrete details.Like a photograph that’s been blurred beyond recognition.Is that normal? Or is that a gap?I think about Aunt Carol taking me in when I was sixteen. I remember moving into her small apartment, the relief of finally having stability. But when I try to remember how we met, how she found me, the details are fuzzy. Like watching a movie through frosted glass.My heart starts racing

56

The emergency Luna council meeting is scheduled for 9 AM. I barely sleep, but this time it’s not from existential dread-it’s anticipation. Margaret Cross tried to destroy me with lies, and now we get to watch her fall.“Wear the green dress,” Kael says, already dressed in a sharp navy suit. “The one that makes you look like a queen.”“Feeling vindictive this morning?”“Extremely.” His smile is sharp. “That woman made you doubt your own existence for three days. I want her to see exactly what she failed to break when we walk into that council chamber.”I dress carefully, Margaret helping with my hair and makeup. By the time I’m ready, I look powerful. Regal. Exactly what a Luna should be.“Perfect,” Eleanor says when we come downstairs. She’s in her signature cream and pearls, looking every inch the former Luna. “Let’s go Sagend the council why they made the right choice keeping you unbound.”The council meeting is at the same Summit Lodge where the Alpha gathering took place. But this

57

Two weeks after Margaret’s banishment, life starts to feel almost normal again.Almost.I’m eight months pregnant now, huge and uncomfortable and constantly needing to pee. Dr. Vance has cleared me for light activity but insists on weekly check-ups. The baby is healthy, active, and apparently determined to use my bladder as a punching bag.“He’s going to be a fighter,” Kael says one morning, his hand on my belly as our son delivers a particularly aggressive kick. “Just like his mother.”“I’m not a fighter. I’m a mediator.”“You fought Margaret Cross. You fought the conservative bloc. You fought for your right to exist.” His eyes meet mine. “You’re absolutely a fighter, Rice .” I suppose he has a point.We’ve moved back to Kael’s penthouse, though security remains tight. Connor and Maya are still assigned to me, along with two additional wolves who rotate shifts. It’s excessive, but after everything that’s happened, I don’t argue.The conservative Alpha bloc has gone quiet. Alpha Ja

58

Three weeks later, I’m thirty-nine weeks pregnant and ready to be done.“I can’t see my feet,” I complain to Eleanor as she supervises the ceremony setup at the Moonhaven estate. “I waddle everywhere. I have to pee every fifteen minutes. And this baby has decided my ribs are his personal jungle gym.”“You’re almost there,” Eleanor says, examining the floral arrangements with a critical eye. “Dr. Vance said you could go into labor any day now.”“She’s been saying that for two weeks.” I shift uncomfortably in my chair. “At this rate, I’m going to be pregnant at my own mating ceremony.”“Would that be so terrible?” Catherine appears with a glass of water I definitely need. “Having your ceremony while carrying Alexander’s grandson? There’s something poetic about it.”“There’s something uncomfortable about it,” I counter. “I can barely fit into the dress we ordered. If I get any bigger, I’ll need a tent.”“The dress is perfect,” Catherine assures me. “And you look beautiful.”I don’t fe

59

The walk down the aisle feels like it takes forever and no time at all.Two hundred faces turn to watch me-Alphas, Lunas, pack members from across North America. I recognize some: Luna Victoria and the council members, Alpha Sarah Chen, Alpha David Rodriguez. Even some of the conservative bloc is here, looking uncomfortable but present. Marcus stands beside Kael as Beta, grinning like an idiot.Eleanor sits in the front row with Catherine, both of them dabbing at their eyes.But I only see Kael.His eyes track every step I take, gold flickering through the gray like he’s barely maintaining control. His hands are clenched at his sides, and I can feel his Alpha power humming through the air- possessive, protective, impatient.When Alexander and I finally reach the altar, Kael looks at my father.“She’s yours,” Alexander says formally, the traditional words. “Treat her well, or answer to the Moonhaven pack.”“I’ll treat her like the gift she is,” Kael responds.“And ‘ll answer to no one

60

The first twenty-four hours with Adrian are simultaneously the most beautiful and most exhausting of my life.He’s perfect-everyone agrees on that. Tiny but healthy, with strong lungs that he demonstrates frequently at 2 AM, 3 AM, and 4 AM. Dr. Vance checks him thoroughly and pronounces him completely normal, though she notes his Alpha aura is already unusually strong for a newborn.“He’s going to be powerful,” she says, watching him sleep in my arms. “Just like his parents.”The prophecy hangs unspoken in the air. The most powerful Alpha in generations, born to unite the packs. But right now, he’s just my baby-small and warm and utterly dependent on me for everything.“You should sleep,” Kael says for the hundredth time. He’s been hovering since the birth, alternating between staring at Adrian in wonder and trying to get me to rest.“I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I panic that he’s stopped breathing.”“He’s fine. Look at him.” Kael gestures to where Adrian sleeps in

PREV

...

NEXT

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP

DMCA.com Protection Status