Page 60 of Pregnant Rejected Mate

In my heart, I know it is. But he’s my father, and I need his blessings. Especially if I have a life growing inside me. Without Mama, he’s all I have. She was right—he only means well. That’s why he risked his life to save me.

I open my eyes to a well of tears streaming down my cheeks. He can’t see me right now, so there’s no reason for me to pretend that I’m strong. Gazing at his resting face, I start to wonder why he’d been so hard on me.

“Please wake up, Dad…” I whisper as I hold his hand to my chest. “I need you to tell me why you’d always been so hard on me. Especially when Mama left…” I sniff. “... You always hammered me about my weight, about school. You didn’t realize how much I started to hate you because of it.” A shudder passes through me. “I felt it too, you know?” I whimper, feeling the most vulnerable in front of my father now that he’s not awake.

It’s easier to pour my heart out right now when he can’t hear me. I know it’s pointless, but I need to get this off my chest.

“Mama’s death was hard on me, but having to face you was harder. Why do you think I ran away, huh?” I sniff and wipe my nose with the back of my hand before returning to squeezing his hand. “Then you go ahead and save me like you actually care? Silly old man!” I giggle nervously. “I’m angrier than I was when you kidnapped me.”

I scoff as the sobbing subsides, my freedom to finally speak permitting me to be completely open. “You know, I’m not even mad that you sold me off to the weredragons. I really wish we shared some kind of relationship ‘cause I would have told you about Felix long ago.” Sighing, I continue, “The thing is, Felix was my boyfriend about eight years ago. He l-left.” I hang my head, shivering. “He left, and it left me torn. He had his reasons, which I only came to find out about recently. Thanks to you,” I chuckle and lift my head to smile at him.

I really wish he could see it.

“Thanks to you, I was reunited with the love of my life. And…” I gulp as I look down at my belly. “... I might be pregnant. I need my father’s blessings.”

I begin choking again when I lay my father’s hand on his chest. I turn to the nightstand to get some tissues, and then I feel a hand on my head.

“Dad?!” I exclaim in surprise, turning to find my dad smiling at me, his eyes narrow slits as he blinks his eyelids. “Oh, my God! You’re awake!” I sigh in relief.

He removes his hand from my head, his face contorting with discomfort as he struggles to straighten up. I rush to my feet to help him, placing a pillow behind his head.

“Y-you have my b-blessings,” he croaks. He attempts to chuckle but coughs instead. I quickly pour out a glass of water from the pitcher and help him sip while frowning at him.

“Wait… You heard me?”

My dad manages a croaky chuckle as he gently pushes the glass away. “Of course, I heard you, mi hija,” he says, his voice unusually gruff. “What happened to me? Where am I?”

Taking back my seat, I go on to explain that after he’d been shot, Felix had brought him to the Aurora Island hospital, where their resident doctor removed the bullet and stitched him up.

“You’ve been out for a few hours,” I explain. “I didn’t think you’d wake up so soon.”

Dad smiles mischievously. “I’m glad I did. I heard everything you said.”

“E-everything?” I wince. “I thought you were—”

“Shh…” He presses a finger to his lips. “Let me have my moment, okay?” His chuckle sounds healthier this time.

“Dad…”

He turns his face to me, the sneaky grin gone, in its place, a sternness I’d only seen every time he scolded me.

“Forgive me, Sierra,” he apologizes earnestly, the apology written in his eyes. “I was only ever hard on you because I didn’t wanna lose you the way I lost your mother.”

Blinking back the fresh set of tears welled in my eyes, I nod gently. “You’re forgiven, Dad. I was afraid I was gonna lose you yesterday.”

“Oh, you can’t get rid of me so easily,” he laughs with his belly. “I’m always one step ahead. When I made the deal with the weredragons, I already knew about your heartbreak seven years ago.”

“You did?”

Dad nods. “I’d been watching you since you left. I had to—just to be sure you weren’t in any kind of trouble. If ever you needed me, I would have been there.”

When he smiles at me again, it’s like my heart has been embraced by warm arms. I reach for my father’s hand as he continues,

“When the weredragons approached me, I didn’t know who the man was who would be your mate. I just knew I’d be giving you a chance to find true happiness again. The weredragons might be scary, but they’re not heartless.”

“You just didn’t know that Felix was a weredragon…”

“No,” he concedes. “I didn’t until I saw him after kidnapping you. I’m sorry about that,” he grimaces. “I knew you wouldn’t agree to it, so I had to do it.”

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