Page 12 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

Seven Jeeps were lined up near him. He spoke to someone and then slipped into the passenger side of one of the middle cars.

I’d lost my chance. They were leaving.

Taking a chance, I slipped behind the Jeeps and sniffed around. One of them was packed with things that smelled of him, so he probably wasn’t returning. Hoping that they were going to the same place, I snuck into the trunk and lay down quietly. A few minutes later, the trunk closed, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The motor rumbled and the cars pulled out.

After traveling for several hours, I dozed off. I hadn’t slept in days, and I should have accounted for that in the plan. Dreams of my future soothed me. When Rhyson found me, I’d tell him why I’d returned. He’d be pleased. We’d figure it out from there, but I would be safe from my father’s clutches.

Summerset. I would be Maya of Summerset. That had a nice ring to it.

I woke up because rough hands grabbed the scruff of my wolf and hauled me out. I was thrown on the pavement. Immediately rolling over to expose my belly, I whimpered, partly from pain, and partly in submission.

My wolf rarely came out, and when she did, she was terrified of everything. I had so little control over her. Only the thoughts of freedom had gotten us this far, but now that she was scared, she was likely to bolt.

I was too close. I couldn’t let her run now. I couldn’t let her take over.

“Wait,” a familiar voice barked out. Rhyson walked into view and stared down at me. “She was in the luggage? We drove five hours with a stowaway in the trunk, and you didn’t even smell her? You’re fucking fired.”

Five hours? I hoped this was a pit stop. Five hours was still too close to my father.

The man immediately lowered his head and stepped away. Another man cleared his throat. “Don’t go anywhere. You’re not fired.”

“Excuse me? Who gives the orders around here, Duke?” Rhyson growled.

“You do, but I can smell her from here, and I’ll tell you exactly why he didn’t realize she was there. She smells like that damn shirt you refuse to wash.”

I whined. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I hadn’t done all of this just to die because of mistaken identity.

Rhyson stared at me. “Shift,” he ordered.

Immediately, I let my wolf regress until I was naked on my hands and knees in front of him. Sitting back on my haunches, I tried to smile at him. “Surprise.”

As he stared at me, time seemed to stop. This was not how I wanted to see him again, naked and kneeling on the asphalt, but we were here. We were together.

And a cold mask was slipping over his face.

“Surprise,” he echoed with sarcasm. “This is taking clingy a little too far.”

Clingy? He wasn’t exactly welcoming me with open arms. My arms went around my body. “I’m sorry, Rhyson. I’m not trying to be clingy. I’m in some trouble, and I was hoping you could help me.”

“Rhyson,” the man next to him barked, and I jumped, almost forgetting that we had an audience. What had Rhyson called him? Duke. “Did you just call him Rhyson?”

Immediately, I lowered my gaze. In my excitement to speak to him, I’d actually forgotten that I needed to be subservient. “Sorry.” I swallowed hard. “Alpha Summerset. I didn’t mean to offend you.” My plan was quickly going off the rails.

The men around him went very quiet, and I risked peeking up at him. His face was hard and his eyes were inscrutable as he stared down at me. “It’s King Rhyson,” he said darkly.

My heart dove into my stomach. King Rhyson?

I’d heard something about a new king but hadn’t paid any attention to it. I had far bigger concerns.

I should have paid attention. Things were falling into place now: his distaste for the ball, the way every alpha had immediately listened to him, why he’d questioned me calling him alpha.

King Rhyson was vastly different from Alpha Rhyson, and from the distaste in his voice, I knew my heart was about to be shattered into a million pieces.

“You knew I didn’t know,” I whispered.

“Do I?” he asked coldly. “Or do I think that you’re an excellent actress. Poor destroyed little injured bird who couldn’t bag herself an alpha and set her sights higher on a king.”

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