Page 17 of The Alpha's Bullied Pregnant Mate

Isla was on her way down the stairs when a knock sounded on the front door. She knew it was Fannar before she got to the bottom of the stairs. His presence filled her comfortingly, and the relief she felt at that stunned her.

She opened the door and gasped. She caught the door frame and steadied herself. Her heart raced in her chest. What the fuck was that? The moment she set eyes on him, she’d felt a compelling urge to jump into his arms, a preternatural instinct to cling to him.

She’d only managed to hold herself back, and the moment passed, leaving her shivering as she clung to the door frame for dear life. It was that unnatural pull again. Only this time it was stronger, much stronger than anything she’d ever felt.

It overrode her emotions and feelings. Everything. It was bestial, and it terrified her beyond words. Fannar laid a hand on her arm, steadying her. “Oh my God, Isla. You look like you just saw a ghost. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she lied. “Just slight vertigo.” Her breathing was still shaky and she refused to meet Fannar’s gaze. She needed to get as far away from him as possible. Whatever was going on, she didn’t understand it and that terrified her.

Fannar didn’t look like he believed her, but he opted to let it go. He handed her a bouquet of roses. “Here, I got you these. I remembered you used to love yellow, but the guys at the farm didn’t have any daffodils. So, roses.”

She accepted the flowers and felt her heart quicken when her fingers brushed against his. She noticed him finch too and wondered if he was also experiencing the same weird sensations she was experiencing. “Thank you. I love roses, actually.”

“Wonderful.” He smiled. “Are you ready?”

She nodded. He led her to the car and helped her climb into the monster truck. He got in and started the engine. “You look lovely.”

Isla spared a glance in his direction. “Thank you.” Fannar looked like he was waiting for her to say more, but Isla looked out the window. He sighed audibly and drove away from Isla’s.

The pain in Isla’s neck had reduced the moment she saw Fannar, and now it had disappeared completely. It was the first time in two days that she didn’t feel the pain in her neck, and her relief was immeasurable.

She couldn’t explain why the pain appeared and disappeared the way it did, but she was certain that it had something to do with Fannar. That much was obvious. She leaned back in her seat and breathed easily for the first time in days.

“First things first,” Fannar said, breaking the silence in the car. “Where and how did we meet? That’s going to be the first question, I think.”

Isla, still looking out the window, said, “I believe we should keep it simple. We met in high school, we fell out of touch for years, and reconnected recently. That was when we started our storybook love. We keep it simple. The simplest lies are the best ones.”

“Wow. You’re good at this.”

“Not really, I’d just rather not be embarrassed, if I can help it.”

“That works,” Fannar replied with a shrug. “Anything else we need to know about each other?”

“Not really. We could always just figure it out as we go. Like I said, we keep it simple and it should all work out just fine.”

“Great.” Silence. “Still don’t want to talk about what happened earlier?”

Isla bit her lip. What did he want from her? He wanted her to tell him how she’d been humiliated by a bunch of kids? How he’d kissed her out of the blues and turned her into the butt of cruel jokes? Her breathing was shaky, her breath fogging on the window.

“Nothing to talk about,” she replied.

“Oh yeah, I’ve got something for you.” He reached around beside him and pulled out an envelope. He balanced the wheel with one hand, and handed the package to Isla with his other hand. “Here you go.”

Isla accepted the envelope and flipped the lid open. She blinked. It was filled with money. She thumbed through the bills, licking her lips that had gone dry. She’d never held so much cash before. Ever.

“It’s all there,” Fannar said, eyes on the road. “Ten grand, like you requested. You’d get a similar package every week for the duration of our arrangement.” He winked. “Hopefully that cheers you up some.”

Isla was tempted to take the money out and count it. She didn’t doubt that it was intact, but she wanted to know what it felt like. She stuffed the cash into her purse, though. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Fannar looked over and grinned. “No need to thank me. Pleasure doing business with you.”

For the first time that day, Isla smiled. She leaned back in her seat and turned to look out the window again. She gripped her purse tight, the feel of the cash inside a comfortable weight in her hand.

***

Mrs. Agdluak looked resplendent in a white dress with silver lining the cuff. Her bright eyes glittered when she saw Isla, the lines on her face deepening when she smiled.

There were two other people in the sitting room with her, the chairs arranged around a fireplace. A young woman—clearly Fannar’s younger sister—and a man almost as old as Mrs. Agdluak. The family sat in front of the hearth, and the young woman and older man got up as Mrs. Agdluak hugged Isla.

---