Page 12 of The Alpha's Bullied Pregnant Mate

“It’s Isla, right?” Fannar asked without taking his eyes off the road.

The sound of his voice pulled Isla mind back from wherever it had wandered to. She turned to face him, frowning, when his question finally registered in her mind a few seconds later. “I beg your pardon?”

He glanced at her. “Your name. I think I remember it to be Isla, but I don’t think I’ve seen you in so long. I don’t know if you remember me but we went to high school together. Did you go somewhere? Did you leave town?”

Isla couldn’t believe her eyes. She stared at Fannar incredulously. Slowly, her shock turned into a red hot anger. She balled her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms so deep she felt the soft flesh break. All to remain calm.

He doesn’t remember my fucking name? The thought had never occurred to her. To hear him voice it was the most devastating thing that had happened to her the entire. She could not believe it. She refused to believe it. He had to know who she was.

He had a massive impact on her and he couldn’t bother to remember her properly? How many other people’s lives had he affected and forgotten all about? How many other Isla’s were there in Frost Peak? The thought was painful. Sure, it was years ago, and so much had happened in all that time. It still stung, though.

The wave of anger passed and she felt her palms heal even as she drew in a steady breath. She wore her most insincere smile and turned to face the road. “Yeah. Isla. And yeah, I remember you. As a matter of fact, you had a peculiar nickname for me.”

Fannar smiled. “Yeah? What was it?”

Isla tasted bile. “Annoying Banana.”

He frowned, crinkling his nose and turning to look at her. “What? You’re kidding.”

“I wish.”

“That’s a ridiculous nickname.”

Isla blushed. It really was a silly nickname. “I know. I feel really stupid and childish even saying it aloud. However, it just goes to show just how childish and stupid you were to have come up with it in the first place.”

He glanced at her again. “Okay… If you say so… I remember now. It’s good to see that you’re still… different.”

He was making her look like the weird one and that made her angrier than anything. It was his stupid nickname, after all. And what was up with him calling her different? She burned in her seat, and struggled to keep her cool. She beamed at him again and said, “different how?”

“Never mind,” he said with a shrug after a few seconds. “It doesn’t matter now. Whatever it was, it’s all in the past now. We have more important business ahead of us right now. We need to figure out what we’re going to do about my mom. We will be grilled for sure when we go to my house, and it would be nice if we were on the same page when the time comes.”

Isla scoffed. “You’re an insufferable pompous bastard. There. I said it.”

Fannar frowned. “What? Where’s that coming from?”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘we’?” Isla asked, her temper finally boiling to the surface. “What the hell do you think this is? You walk up to me out of nowhere, kiss me like my mate, introduce me to your mother as your partner, and then whisk me off to God knows where in your car. No explanations, no nothing. Who does that?

“Now you listen,” she said, turning to face him again, smiling tightly. “We aren’t doing anything. Not until you tell me what the fuck all of that was all about. Either you do that or you’re on your own. Explain it to me, or there’s no we.”

To his credit, Fannar had the grace to look ashamed and uncomfortable. He pulled off the road and parked the car in the snow. “You’re right. God, I’m such an asshole—”

“No arguments here. Go on.”

“Fine. I’m sorry I kissed you out of the blue like that, but I didn’t have lots of options. I know this doesn’t make sense seeing how this is the first time we are meeting in over a decade, but I need your help.”

Isla eyed him suspiciously. “I’ll bite. What do you need my help with? And why should I help you?”

“Okay. Here’s the thing. My mother has been hounding me to get married for years now, right? Well, recently, she cranked things up several notches. Let’s say she got proactive.

“She’s organized dozens of blind dates for me, a countless line of women who I don’t know and none of whom I share any interests with. It’s been driving me crazy and I didn’t know how to keep her off my back. Well, I didn’t, that is, until I met you today.”

“Hence, your theatrics today, in the middle of a pack meeting. Genius.”

Fannar frowned. Her tone was starting to get to him. “As I said before, I didn’t have a lot of options. And I apologized already.”

“What exactly do you want from me? What’s my part in all this? You kissed me already, right in front of her mind you, so why do I need to come see your family?”

“Because I know her,” he pleaded. “She’s not going to let this go until I introduce you to the family the right way. All we need to do is put up appearances. That’s all. You pretend to be my girlfriend for a few weeks. Tops. Afterwards, you go back to your life and I never cross your path ever again.”

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