Page 36 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

“Here, dearie. I just bought it for my mate. It’s long enough to reach your knees.” She held out a black T-shirt. I put it on,though I still hugged my stomach for comfort. She tilted her head to the side and asked, “What’s your name?”

I didn’t want to expose my last name and reveal my true identity. I feared that people would recognize it as the name of a kingdom’s alpha. My father made a lot of enemies, and so did my former mate, so I kept my identity hidden. “Kylie Clawborn,” I squeaked out the lie.

Her eyebrows twitched, and I knew she could smell the deception. This was something I should have thought about before coming in here, giving me time to convince myself it was my name so no one could detect the lie.

“I’m Charlotte. Are you new here?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Recently rejected.” My chest tightened at saying those words out loud. I had never said them before, and they felt like a knife stabbing into my chest. “Thought it would be best to be here instead of where he was because I think he planned to take another mate.”

She hummed and put her arm around my shoulders. “That sounds like you need some tea. Follow me.”

Her hugs were as warm as her appearance and scent. I normally wouldn’t have walked away with this female. My father always told me not to trust anyone but pack, but I didn’t have a pack anymore. I’d need to trust someone at some point; otherwise, I’d end up dead. Rogues were scrappier than I was, and maybe they could teach me how to be.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I blurted the words out and cringed with regret immediately. I had better manners than this,but I wasn’t used to anyone being kind to me outside of Amara, Eli, and Maximus.

A sharp pain stabbed through my chest at the thought of his name. I really needed to stop doing that.

She patted my shoulder with a smile. “I don’t like acting beastly to others. Just because we share our souls doesn’t mean we need to act like them. Besides, it looks like you could use some kindness. Kindness hasn’t ever hurt anyone.”

Charlotte walked me to her cabin, about two rows from the trees. Like the others, the cabin was wooden, but I noticed flower beds on its windowsills. They carried different herbs, which I hoped were for cooking and not spellcraft. She smelled like a lycan, but I’d heard of hybrids or lycans practicing the ways of witchcraft before.

Inside, it looked like a pleasant home. It opened onto a living space with a couch and a few chairs around a table. Behind it was a higher table with a few chairs, which I assumed was where she and her mate dined. Off to the left, a small step led to the kitchen. I could see that there were two doors on the right for bedrooms, I presumed.

“Why don’t you clean yourself off? There is a bathroom off the kitchen. It smells as though you slept outside recently.” When she looked at me, the warmth in her eyes made mine water. “You are maybe a size smaller than me, so my clothes may fit you. The clothing shop will open tomorrow morning. We can go then to grab you a few things.”

There was seemingly no room to argue. It wasn’t like I had another option. It didn’t look like there was a shelter for me togo to, so it was trust in this stranger or continue to sleep outside. My stomach growled, and Charlotte laughed.

“I’m going to cook up something for dinner. My mate should be back by the time you get out.”

The way Charlotte welcomed me without many questions made me wonder why so many people called rogues savages. Everyone I knew said that rogues would rip my throat out if I came across one. Yet I walked into this territory, and one offered me a place to bathe and eat without question.

I have a feeling everything I heard about rogues is wrong.

Let’s see how tonight goes before we place all our trust and loyalty in these people.

Fair enough.

The bathroom was small; it was just big enough to move around without bumping into everything. The toilet was in the far left corner, and the shower was on the right. A sink was on the same wall as the toilet, with cabinets underneath to hold some things, and another cabinet next to it for towels and extras. The shower had a small bathtub attached to it, and I debated taking a bath instead. I pushed through the pain of my aching body because I couldn’t bear to be discourteous to Charlotte.

The hot water cascading down my body felt amazing. The stress and pain of my journey washed away under its steaming spray. I squeezed the body wash into my hand, not wanting to use the loofah because it wasn’t mine. The scent of peaches hit my nose, and I had to admit how wonderful it smelled. Normally, I used unscented soaps because my father didn’t want to spend extraon me, and at Maximus’s, I just didn’t ask for anything different. I could get used to living here.

Though I doubted I’d be able to find work here. It’s not like anyone had a pack house for me to clean. I was only considered valuable as an omega tasked with cleaning, with no other abilities recognized. Within the kingdom pack, I learned how to organize everyone to keep the pack happy. Was there anywhere in this place for me to use those skills to get by? I doubted it.

There was a knock at the door, and Charlotte’s sweet voice came through the wood. “Kylie, I have the clothes for you. I’ll leave them outside the door if you want.”

“No, you can bring them in,” I called out to her.

Shifters didn’t care much about being naked around others. It’s not like Charlotte had parts on her I hadn’t seen before, either. I wrapped a towel around myself to show some respect. Charlotte walked in, holding a pink T-shirt and black sweatpants. “I think you could fit into a bra of mine, and the underwear isn’t anything fancy.”

“Thank you.”

“Not a problem. I have a few chickens baking in the oven and some potatoes boiling on the stove. If you want anything else, please ask.”

I looked at the floor. This was far too much generosity. “Whatever you make is fine, thank you. Please don’t feel like you have to cater to me.”

She smiled. “You are my guest, Kylie. That is my job.”

She left before I could say anything else. It felt strange to have someone I didn’t know doing all these things for me. I sensed that Charlotte was someone of power. Her caring nature and desire to look after me could be her alpha tendencies.

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