Page 2 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

“Yes, I’ve also heard you have a very obedient wolf. I like that, too.” His hand squeezed my ass. “This is a very interesting dress that you’re wearing. What do you say we go somewhere more private so I can see it better?”

This was it. This was the moment I’d been waiting for, to let Larson get a good look at the goods, as my father liked to call it.

Except, I couldn’t do it. My chest was tight, and it was getting even harder to breathe. The room was starting to spin.

Instead of letting him walk me through the crowd, I tried to pull away, but his hand circled my wrist. “What do you think you’re doing, little red?”

“I just…I need some air.”

“What’s wrong? Worried about your lover?”

“My…what?” Surely, I’d heard him wrong.

“Your horde of lovers?” His voice rose and his smile turned cold. “I know all about you, Maya Callahan. I know what you’ve been getting up to at night, and I know what your father wants.”

At night? I just sat on the roof and tried to pretend I was free as I felt the moon bathe me in her light.

“My father…he wants us to marry…” I whispered as my mind whirled. The situation was not at all what I’d imagined or planned for. Part of me had hoped that Larson was my hero, maybe even a true mate, someone who would love me and see me as an equal. Another, more realistic part of me simply hoped that he would fuck me at night and ignore me during the day, and I’d finally be able to roam and have some freedom.

But this? I had absolutely no idea where this was going, but it didn’t seem good. “I’m not sure…”

“You’re disgusting,” Larson snarled as he suddenly pushed me. I fell to the floor painfully, and my dress ripped. Cold air touched my chest, and I wrapped one arm around myself to hide while I frantically tried to pull the fabric over my chest. People around us laughed, and a familiar female walked over to Larson and threaded her arm through his. “He dresses you up because he knows you’re a slut. True, most wolves think with their dick, but I’m looking for a queen. I can take a whore to bed anytime, but marry one? I don’t think so. Nobody will ever want you, Maya. Certainly not someone like me.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off my cousin. We’d only met a handful of times, but she’d always acted like my friend. Now she was standing by his side and watching me with a cold expression.

“You can go crawl home and tell your father that I’ve chosen my wife. I, Larson Peterman, Alpha of the Chalmer Basin Pack, reject you, Maya Callahan,” he said with a cold smile as he turned. “I choose a woman of real substance and a strong wolf: Selena Devereux.”

There was applause and laughter as I struggled to get off the floor. Holding my dress together as tightly as possible, I ran from the ballroom.

Tears blinded me, and my heels broke before I made it out of the hotel. Everywhere I looked, people were whispering and pointing and laughing.

This was supposed to be my night when I finally found my freedom, and instead, I was a laughingstock, and my father?

My father would kill me.

Whimpering, I turned and raced into the gardens behind the hotel. There was a shout, and before I knew it, I tripped and fell and rolled. Above me, a group of men snarled and closed in on me.

“What do we have here? Entertainment? Already half-undressed for us,” one grunted. Hands touched me, and I tried to pull away.

“About time these balls get more interesting. I can’t wait to feel her mouth around my cock.” I heard a zipper, and I lashed out with my foot. It connected with someone, but they only laughed. More hands grabbed me and pushed me to the ground.

This could not be happening. “Stop,” I screamed. “No, stop!”

“That’s enough,” a voice commanded. Immediately, I was released, and the circle widened around me as the men stepped back. They all lowered their heads and their gazes. A few muttered apologies under their breath.

“Leave us,” the man said calmly, and reached down. As he pulled me up, my dress started to fall, and I gasped and held it up.

The biggest man I’d ever seen in my life stared down at me. His eyes were so dark they were practically black, and there was a scar that ran down his right eyebrow. There was no warmth on his face.

Tears running down my face, I pulled my dress back up and looked around. There was a group of men standing stiffly behind me, but everyone else had gone. Was this man saving me? Or did he simply want me for himself? Shaking, I finally raised my gaze to his.

No pity. No kindness. He studied me as if he were wearing a mask.

“Elliot,” he growled, his eyes never leaving mine. “Bring the car around.”

Oh my God, what the hell was happening?

“You’re coming with me.”

---