Page 63 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

“The exam?”

“The rearing of the child,” I snapped. “I absolve you of fatherhood. Or better yet, I lied. You’re totally not the father. I banged ten other wolves that same night.”

Rhyson just leaned against the wall and watched me quietly. When Tessa returned, she squeaked. “Uh…Rhyson, you probably shouldn’t be here.”

He didn’t move, and the door opened and Saul came in, and he also frowned. Rhyson looked at him coolly. “I’m not leaving.”

“You, sir, are absolutely leaving if the lady requests it. We believe in privacy here,” Saul thundered. “And I believe your own healer has requested that you leave. Please step out.”

Rhyson straightened and looked at me. “I’m getting awfully tired of people telling me what to do.”

I knew what he meant. He could make every wolf here do what he wanted and kneel before him. I swallowed hard. “Join the club.”

Growling, he turned to Saul. “Is there any way to tell the paternity of the baby now?”

For fuck’s sake! The door was still open, and his voice carried. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. Closing my eyes, I willed away the tears.

“There is a procedure, but it is incredibly painful for the mother,” Saul said calmly.

His sentence was met with silence, and I opened my eyes. Enough was enough. “Do it,” I muttered.

“I had hoped that was enough, but it is also incredibly dangerous for the baby, and I will not perform it, nor will I allow it to be performed in my clinic.”

Rhyson turned and left without a word. The door closed, and I knocked my head back and blew out my breath. “Is that true?” I asked. “Or did you just want to get rid of him?”

“It is true,” Saul said cheerfully. “I will let your healer perform the exam, and then I am going to teach her several techniques she might be able to employ to keep an eye on the babe while you are without the equipment. How far along are you?”

Time had lost most of its meaning since we’d come to the mountain. How long had we been here? “Eight weeks, I think.”

“Excellent. Would you like to know if you’re carrying a boy or a girl?”

A boy or a girl. Would that make it more real? Tears welled up in my eyes, and I nodded. Saul took my hand and squeezed it gently. There was so much fucking kindness here in the middle of nowhere. It was actually starting to hurt.

“Then let’s not keep you waiting.”

33

Rhyson

Nobody said a word as I walked out of the office, but a few minutes later, I found Jax behind me. “Don’t you have someone to spy for you?” I asked.

“Not spying. Apparently there’s a skirmish forming between your people and mine. I was going to suggest we go check it out.”

A skirmish? I frowned. “My people don’t skirmish.”

“Neither do mine, so this should be interesting.” He fell into step next to me. “We fight to survive out here, but we do know how to have fun.”

“Are you implying that my people don’t know how to fight to survive? Do you know what we’ve faced to get here?”

Jax shrugged. “I just assumed the outside was all luxury cars and golden thrones.”

He was baiting me. It was clever. “Our threats are different, but they are no less real. I brought only the best with me.”

“Care for a wager?” Jax asked lightly. “My people win, and you leave. You can leave the woman too. It’s clear you don’t know how to take care of her.”

I growled at him for that.

“And if your people win, then I will continue to help you with Elonso. I won’t turn my people over to him, but I will help you find another way. You’ll have my word.”

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