Page 26 of Unloved Mate

“I wasn't ready for my first child either. I think what you should do is talk with the Alpha to know what he wants. Once you've both decided, I'll give you every necessary information you need,” she told me and sighed, turning on her heels. “I’ll leave you alone. Anyway, you're ready to go back home if you want to. I'll ask Beta Rohan to get your clothes.” She said. It wasn't too long that she left and Rohan came into his room with my clothes. I sighed and looked at him. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, I am. I just don't know how to react to this or what Kane would say.”

“I guess you'd have to wait and find out.” He shrugged. I got to my feet and changed into my clothes, and we walked out to the hallway and finished up the paperwork at the hospital before returning to the pack house.

Now all I had to do was wait for Kane to return from his work and I did that by lying on the large bed, rolling from one end to the other, rising from the bed and falling back, pacing from the bed to the door until night time. I was so excited to see him, so happy to tell him I was carrying our child and maybe I needed time to think about how this pregnancy would work by getting more information from the doctors. I stood in the middle of the living room, hearing his footsteps from the hallway. As he walked closer, my heart grew with anticipation until he had walked through the door. I tried to embrace him, but he just shrugged me off, unbuttoning his shirt and moving away from me. I walked up behind him, but he just stepped away.

“Where is all this attitude coming from?”

“Attitude? Are you seriously going to tell me that after fucking Zeke?”

“What are you talking about? You're the only man who has ever.”

“You slept with Zeke and you're fucking denying it.”

“What is wrong with you? Why are you saying this?”

“Everything is wrong. You need to leave. Now!”

“But you promised…”

“I don't fucking care what I said in the past. It was just me and you, and you went behind my back to sleep with him. What happened to hating him, after everything he had done to you. You just fucking walked back into his arms.”

“Can you just listen to yourself? Zeke is manipulating your memories the same way he did with me.”

“No, I think we are past that. I think we should stop fucking blaming him!”

“You’re stronger than this, Kane. Please don't do this.” I murmured in a pleading tone and cleared the distance between us, pulling him closer and palming his cheeks. He sighed, and I saw a glint of uncertainty in his eyes before he tugged me offhimself, turning away and taking two steps forward.

“Kane…” my voice broke as tears wormed its way down my cheeks, and I wiped it off. “Kane, please listen to me.” I tried to touch him, but he turned to me with the flash of his crimson, ordering me out of his house. He slammed the door into my face, and I brushed off the tears on my cheeks and turned on my heels, seeing Rohan at the other end of the hallway. His room was on the same floor as the Alpha’s. I headed for the stairs, hoping to beat him to it. It was worse that he kicked me out now I had to face his Beta. I was halfway down the stairs when I heard Rohan’s voice behind me. “Valor.”

“I just want to go home. I can't do this anymore. The running, the stupid decisions. I just want to go home to my dad.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“No. Just give me the keys.” I sniffled, and he dug his hands into his pocket, pulling out the keys and tossing them to me. I walked down the stairs without looking back, getting into the Beta’s car and leaving the pack.

I didn't stop driving until I had made it far away from him. I wasn't ever going to return to him for any goddamn reason. I was so stupid to think that someone would ever fight for me, that I'd find love. It was one heartbreak after another, except this time I ended up with a baby. I just couldn't handle this anymore. My leg hit the brake in the middle of nowhere, and I burst out into a full-blown cry. How could I have fallen for this, fallen for him? He didn't even make it exactly hard. All the memories, the first time we met, how magical it felt, the chase, the ball and the dance, the full moon run, the way he smiled, laughed and the way he looked at me. How could I have convinced myself into believing that it was real. That someone would truly see through me and love me with every single thing they had. It was all a lie. Everything about him that made mehappy. Now all those things blurred into frustration, hurt, and heartbreak. My broken heart just couldn't handle it anymore. This time I wasn't sure I'd be able to pick up the pieces because it hurt much more than I had imagined.

16

Kane

Today was the day we were going after the Lycans Leda and I had tracked outside the pack. Before the sun rose from the skies, I had already woken up and joined the patrol team for the morning run which went as expected. I used the rest of the morning to prepare myself breakfast, not waiting for the pack workers, and getting ready to leave the pack. Beta Rohan had put the Sentinel Training Program on hold, so he was free and could come with me. Gamma Asher would stay back at the pack to get things ready until we returned. We didn't know how many Lycan bloods we'd find, so we had to ensure the houses available were in good condition and the house already finished was well furnished. Our people would have to manage what we had just until we made accommodations comfortable for everyone.

As I waited for the rest of the gang to join me, I downed a glass of water and my hands trembled as I set down the glass on the counter, pictures of a man stabbing me with a dagger burning through my mind. I winced in pain at the point of impact, but when I pulled up my shirt, there was nothing. As I raised my gaze back to the entrance, Leda sauntered in on her high heels. “What the fuck happened to you and Valor? I only left for a few days to visit my parents and I came back to this.” She said with her hips propped up. I chuckled and walked toward her.

“My relationship with Valor isn't your business.” I replied to her and tried to walk past her, and she pulled me back.

“You can't just send him away like that. Rohan told me everything.”

“Mm, you have all left your actual duties to discuss my relationship, huh?” I raised my brows, but she didn't say a word. She let me go and I walked away, heading outside of the building where Beta Rohan and the warrior Lycans were waiting. There were three cars and two large buses. We didn't know the number of people we would run into in the mountains hence the number of vehicles. Leda tailed behind and joined us in the vehicle, her and Rohan taking the first vehicle while I sat alone in the last one.

We left the pack and followed Leda and Rohan’s direction, driving for hours until we had arrived at our destination, which was a mountain side farther from the pack. It was at the foot of a mountain. As we alighted from the vehicle, I took in the green of the forest that stretched and extended through the elevated land. We gathered in front of the vehicles, and I shared the group into three parts, telling them on which path to take.

We headed up to the forest, some Lycans shifting into their beastly form, others holding onto the weapons. I had reiterated that there was no cause for alarm unless they attacked us first. But from what I had heard from Rohan and the others, I could tell these were members of their pack before my father, the former Alpha, died. There was a tendency that these people would recognize each other. Before noon, we had made it up to the settlement in the mountains, and we cautiously proceeded into the forest of Douglas fir and redwood trees, the earth covered by towering trees with leafy canopies stretching to the skies, sunlight spilling into the forest through canopies and casting shadows on the forest floor carpeted by dark brownleaves. We had all arrived at the clearing where there were tents scattered, fallen trees, clothes lines, even claw marks on tree barks, pieces of wood, buckets, etc.

“You said they would be here.” I turned to Leda.

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