Page 28 of The Wolf's Pregnant Rejected Mate

“Your Beta slept with my daughter,” Lenard said, still far too loudly. “She’s ruined to be mated by anyone else, so he needs to step up and take responsibility for his actions. What if he’s gotten her pregnant? I refuse to let my grandson grow up raised by a—”

“Choose your words carefully,” Ryder interrupted. His shoulders were back, his head lifted. The glare on his face sent shivers down Tess’s back. “Knowing that you will be talking about your daughter and my mother both.”

The shivers running through Tess’s body intensified and pooled between her legs. Oh, he was so attractive like that, quietly demanding that Lenard be respectful. Tess swallowed hard and leaned a bit more into Mica’s side.

“A… single mother,” Lenard finished, sounding somewhat deflated.

“I will speak with my Beta and Tess about the situation,” Hayden said. “You don’t need to concern yourselves. They’re both adults and will resolve the situation without your interference.”

Tess took a deep breath and blurted, “I won’t force Ryder to be my mate. We agreed beforehand it wasn’t going to happen, and I’m not going back on my word. It’s none of your concern what I did.”

Hilda gave her a nasty look while Lenard growled slightly. Mica rubbed Tess’s back, her expression one of mingled fury and worry. Hopefully, she wouldn’t demand too much information—and hopefully, she’d understand why Tess and Ryder made the agreement they made.

“You can go,” Hayden said in a low growl.

Lenard and Hilda stood their ground for a moment longer, then slunk off. Tess released a breath she’d been holding. The confrontation had left her shaky, her leg hurting even more. Hayden gestured to Ryder to come with him, then turned to Mica and Tess.

“I’m getting the car,” he murmured. “You shouldn’t be walking home anyway.”

“I’m fine,” Tess started, but Mica squeezed her hand.

The men left, and Tess closed her eyes. Everyone in town was going to hear about this. She’d be the subject of rumor and gossip. She could almost hear the nasty comments about her. Not just calling her names for sleeping with Ryder, but there would also be plenty of people wondering how she’d managed to trick him into sleeping with her. She wasn’t a beautiful girl anymore.

“Are you okay?” Mica murmured.

“I’m fine,” Tess lied.

Why was it anyone else’s concern who she slept with? Why did anyone have to have a say in what she decided to do with her own body? Nobody would be insulting Ryder for this. Just her. Because she-wolves were meant to be demure and meant to save themselves for the mating. Men were built differently—at least, that’s what she had always been taught.

She was trembling again, but anger grew in her chest this time. Why hadn’t Ryder said anything? He’d spoken up quickly enough when he thought Echo was about to be insulted. But apparently, she wasn’t enough to worry about.

It’s not his job to take care of me,she told herself crossly.If he did step in, I’d just be angry at him for thinking he needed to protect me.

It was her parents she was furious at—them and Elin. She probably went running to them as soon as they returned to town. She was always that sort of snitch. How many times in school had Elin told the teachers about what the other kids were doing that were harmlessly against the rules? And she’d treated Mica like crap for years. A leopard doesn’t change their spots, as the saying goes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mica asked.

Tess nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Her thoughts kept piling up. By the time Ryder and Hayden returned with the car, she felt like just shifting to her wolf form and racing back to the cabin. If it weren’t for the demons, she might just do that. Even the talisman in her pocket wouldn’t be full protection against them.

Another thought pushed against her consciousness. She held onto the anger to avoid thinking about it, but when Ryder opened the car door for her, it slipped through the cracks.

They hadn’t used protection.

One time wasn’t enough to get pregnant, right? So it didn’t mean anything that they hadn’t used protection. Her period was wonky, anyway. The first time she’d skipped three months in a row, she’d freaked out. But by this time, it was normal to skip it every now and then. Stress. She suspected she had polycystic ovary syndrome, too, but that hadn’t been confirmed.

No. There wasn’t going to be a baby.

Tess moved both crutches into one hand, fighting back the surge of embarrassment that came with that thought. Or rather, the sliver of hope that made her hyper-aware of her own body.

She stumbled slightly, and Ryder caught her elbow. She pulled away quickly. “I don’t need your help!”

Ryder opened his mouth and closed it again. She got into the car, and he shut the door after her. Then he started to walk away. Mica frowned after him and slid into the seat next to Tess. Hayden began to drive, and they were silent as they drove Tess back to her house.

***

A few days later, Tess had just changed Denzel’s dirty diaper and was rocking him as he drifted to sleep. Mica slipped into the nursery. She’d had a long meeting with Christine and Rachel, the eldest daughter of Monroe’s Beta, about drumming up the finances needed to put Rachel through nursing school.

“Is he sleeping?” Mica whispered.

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