Page 30 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

What the hell was wrong with my mate?

Nova was right, and the growl that rose at the realization of the female’s words annoyed me to my core. Kylie couldn’t be my realmate. This was all a mistake. My lycan roared at my thoughts and threw himself against my mind, demanding to shift to stop me from doing this. The cage hadn’t worked, so I erected a wall around him instead, stopping him from nearly breaking through. It didn’t stop him from trying, but the wall was thicker and could contain his rage better than the mental cage.

This had to be done, and I couldn’t let anyone stop me.

Kylie made it into the chair and sank into it. Her caramel and vanilla scent calmed my beast as it wrapped around me. The way her scent could bring this level of ease to me felt wonderful. My muscles relaxed as I breathed it in.

“Something occurred to me, and I wanted to talk about it.”

Kylie’s face went pale, and through the bond, I could feel her uneasiness. I knew this would be hard, but I needed to press on. This needed to be done for the good of the pack.

She whimpered, “Okay.”

“I don’t know how to bring this up, so I’m just going to be blunt with you. When I first brought you here, I thought we would heal your wounds and you would turn out fine. The added layer of your lycan being in this odd state of powerlessness unless we touch is a problem.”

My mate wouldn’t look at me. The audible sigh from her felt like she accepted the news without argument, as if she expected me to say these things and would accept anything I said next. She didn’t believe in herself enough to come up with another reason for this to be happening. Not even a new solution for us to try.

Another reason to add to the list of why this would be the best thing to do.

“I’m sorry, my king. I’ve had to deal with this all my life. No doctor was ever able to fully explain it either.”

“Meaning this was something you had before your lycan emerged?”

She nodded. “It didn’t get better after she emerged. We don’t know why.”

I groaned with frustration as I pushed myself back into my chair. This was worse news because it meant Kylie wasn’t a strong enough host for the lycan.

“It sounds to me like this is something that won’t get better with time. If you were weak before she arrived and the lycan didn’t improve your life, you shouldn’t even be bonded to a lycan.”

Kylie shrugged. I could hear her sniffles, and sadness twisted inside me. This was painful for her to endure, and I could sense her anticipation of my rejection through the bond, clear as day. She knew what was coming, but she wasn’t arguing against my decision. At least I knew she felt this was to be expected. It would hurt her, just as it would hurt me, but maybe it wouldn’t break her.

“As you know, lycans are an aggressive breed of supernatural beings. To rule over them, you need a level of strength that I wonder if you will ever possess. I thought bonding with you would help your lycan grow in power, but somehow, that didn’t happen. It’s not like there is a doctor for bonds who can examineit to tell us why this is happening, so we need to accept that the bond will not fix what is broken.”

The sniffling became louder. Kylie still wouldn’t look at me, which I appreciated. It made this much easier to do without seeing the pain in her face as it happened. Through the bond, I noticed she had erected a wall between us, blocking me out of her feelings and preparing for the worst.

“I’m sorry, Kylie. I have the entire kingdom on my shoulders. This is a decision about what’s best for the kingdom, not what’s best for us.”

Sniffles. “I understand, Max. If anything, I expected this.” She sucked in air, and the sobbing began. Her eyes were bloodshot, and I realized she had been crying all day leading up to this moment, but I was unaffected by her tears. Something was definitely wrong if I could see my mate crying and not want to console her. “I just… want you to know…” Kylie struggled to get the words out. “I love you. If I could figure out what was wrong and change it, I would. I’m not sure if time would make that happen or not. I…” Kylie sighed.

This was painful to watch. I needed to end this now before it got worse. “I, Maximus Morgrave, reject you, Kylie Blackthorne, as my mate and luna.”

Kylie gasped and clutched her chest. The pain from the rejection made her bend forward. I waited through her sobs for her to ride out the pain of the bond snapping. The scent of coconut slowly wafted into the room. My eyes rolled, knowing Nova was here. Of course, she would show up for this. She sashayed through the threshold wearing a red dress that clung to her. Nova looked down at my mate and laughed.

“I’m proud of you, Maxy. I didn’t think you’d go through with it. I’m glad you chose the kingdom over your mate. I told you that’s what you needed.”

The way Kylie snapped her head to look at Nova made my heart feel strange. There was a fire in her eyes I hadn’t seen before. Where had this fire been until now? When her brilliant brown eyes met mine again, the fire turned to ice.

“I, Kylie Blackthorne, accept your rejection, and I reject you, Maximus Morgrave, as my fated mate and alpha.”

Pain seared through my chest at her rejection, and I roared as I felt the bond snap. The beast inside me snarled as he pushed against the wall, slamming into it with a new level of strength to break it down and reach his mate. My vision blurred as the pain continued, and I braced myself on my desk to keep from shifting. My lycan had to acknowledge that the bond was broken.

Yet, when my vision cleared, I saw Kylie shifting. Someone pressed Nova against the wall; her face showed terror. Kylie snarled in her direction as the shift finished, her beautiful light gray coat looking perfectly sleek as she shook the magic from the shift off. Her head whipped toward me, and her normally brown eyes flashed gold with rage before she took off.

What have I done? Kylie didn’t seem to have the strength to complete a shift on a good day, yet she shifted fast enough to run out the door after I rejected her. Did I miss something? This wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Losing my mate weighed heavily on my chest as I stared at the empty chair. What the fuck was happening?

My beast howled in mourning at the loss of the bond, and my chest felt empty, as if Kylie had run off with my heart. The cackling of Zephyrine filled my mind.

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