Page 40 of The Alpha's Bullied Pregnant Mate

“Somewhere in all of that pretending, things turned real. For me, at least. Isla, I am in love with you. I don’t want us to continue our current arrangement. I want us to become a real couple. I’d love if you could become my girlfriend. A true partner and mate.”

Isla’s mouth turned dry and her eyes widened. She knew what he wanted to say, or at least had an idea. And she’d thought she was ready to handle it. She thought wrong. She was unprepared for how hard his words hit her and threw her off balance.

Fannar watched her quietly, his massive hands folded on the table as he waited for an answer from her. She stared at him with eyes filled with fear and confusion. He had just poured out his heart and she just sat there and stared at him, like some retard.

He let out a deep sigh. “Isla. I need you to say something to me—”

“It’s the scar,” she blurted out suddenly. “You don’t love me. It’s just the scar making you think you do.

Fannar frowned. “I’m sorry? The scar? What are you talking about.”

Isla drew in a deep breath. “Back in high school, I witnessed you shifting your first time. I was worried and tried to help you. Stupid, I know. Anyways, you bit me—” Isla parted her hair and turned in her so that he could see the pale scar on her neck.

“You bit me right there, and for a moment I thought I was going to die. You probably don’t even remember any of this, but that’s beside the point. When I met you again, the scar started hurting fiercely, and I did some research. This is a bond mark. It shows that we are marked to be mates, and it’s the reason we’ve felt such a strong pull towards each other.”

Fannar’s frown deepened and his eyes narrowed in shock. “You’re joking…” His eyes hardened when he realized Isla wasn’t flinching. “You’re not joking…”

“I’m not. You don’t love me, Fannar. It’s just this stupid mark messing with the both of us. It’s still incomplete, and I’ve decided I’d love to have it broken.”

Fannar’s eyes were hard as ice, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “How long have you known for?”

“A few months…”

‘You’ve known for months?” Fannar asked angrily, his voice rising an octave. “Dammit, Isla! Did you plan to tell me about it at all? How could you have kept this to yourself? Do you realize that this changes everything?”

Isla burned angrily. “This changes nothing! This is not my fault! I want to get rid of the bond mark. I don’t want to be with you, I don’t want to be your mate, and I definitely don’t want to be bonded to you.”

“That’s not your call to make,” Fannar replied hotly. “Honestly, Isla? Why would you keep this to yourself? What were you hoping to achieve? We need to see my mother. Hopefully, we are not too late, no thanks to you—”

Isla slammed a fist on the table. “Don’t you fucking dare! This—all of this—is your fault! Don’t act like I’m to blame for this. You did this! You fucking bit me and marked me.” She thrust a finger at him. “I am the victim here, not you. You don’t get to speak to me like it’s my fault.”

She didn’t realize that she’d been shouting. Fannar shouted something in response but his voice sounded far away. The headache was back now, and it was twice as fierce.

She could feel blood pumping furiously through her, her heart hammering in her chest. Her vision turned cloudy and she gripped the edge of the table for support as Fannar’s voice reduced to a muffled thud in the background.

Darkness crept into the edge of her vision and Isla sagged back in her seat, her head feeling light and airy. She could hear Fannar shouting in concern, but she couldn’t make out his words.

She saw him push his chair backwards just before the blackness enveloped her. She fell sideways out of her seat, her body slamming into the soft rushes on the floor. She stopped hearing sounds, and the darkness that swallowed her was absolute.

Chapter 16 - Fannar

Fannar’s anger disappeared in a rush as he watched Isla’s eyes shut and she tumbled out of her seat. He jumped forward to catch her but wasn’t moving nearly fast enough, and she fell to the floor with a thud.

His heart was racing in his chest as he crouched on the floor beside her. “Isla?? Can you hear me?” He shook her shoulder but she remained unconscious. “Isla…”

The waiter had returned with the proprietor, and both men had identical looks of alarm. Fannar ignored them and pressed his ear to Isla’s chest. She had a beat but it was low and beating without a rhythm.

“Sorry, alpha Fannar, but is she alive?” the proprietor asked.

Fannar turned to glare at the man but nodded once. “She is, but I need to get her to a healer immediately.” Without waiting for an answer, he scooped her into his arms and pounded for the exit, trailed by the waiter and the proprietor, and the eyes of the few guests present in the restaurant.

Come on, Isla… Stay with me. Just stay with me. We will figure everything else out, no matter what it is. Just hang in there.

The waiter ran ahead of Fannar and tugged open the passenger door. Fannar settled Isla into the seat and fastened her seat belt. Her pulse was slowing down rapidly, and he was running out of time. His clothes stuck to his back with sweat. He was fucking terrified.

He dialed the healer as he zoomed off down the street. “Where are you, doc? I have an emergency and I’m headed to the clinic now.”

“No, no, I’m not at the clinic right now,” the healer replied. “I’m making house runs now but should be done soon. What’s wrong?”

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