Page 53 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

Another growl escaped me. I didn’t like the sound of this.

“There are reports of her appearing ill and collapsing. They said she is being taken to a small makeshift clinic they have set up in the rogue territory.”

It was difficult not to give in to the madness I had been keeping at bay since Kylie’s disappearance. It had already been a slow descent into madness since she left because of my mistake. I had been kicking myself for months now for allowing my terrible judgment to get the better of me and rejecting her. Now, hearing that it had only grown worse made me believe I could have been the cause.

Before I rejected her, I grew concerned about her not getting stronger without physical contact with me. It didn’t feel like I could leave for long periods without worrying about her healthwhen I returned. Having her so reliant on me made me think she would be too weak to be the queen.

But rejecting her could be the cause of her death.

“You’re telling me she has been going to a clinic because of how sick she has become since I rejected her?” My voice strained as I spoke the words aloud.

There wasn’t an upside to this. This was my fault. If I hadn’t rejected her, we could have found a way to bring out her lycan more. It would have been the key to her not needing me as much. Instead, I wanted to separate myself from her. Being connected to her when she was weaker than I wanted her to be felt like the destruction of my future. If I hadn’t viewed it that way, I could have kept her here and found a way to make her better.

“I’m sorry, Max,” he told me as I let go of his shirt.

Returning to pacing the hardwood floors, Eli didn’t make a move to leave. He knew retreating now would make my lycan think he was prey. The beast repeatedly slammed against my mind, demanding the shift. We knew where Kylie was, and he wanted to run there now and reclaim her.

We are the key to her strength. If you hadn’t rejected her, she wouldn’t be sick!

She was sick before we rejected her!I reminded my beast.

It made her worse! You arrogant fool! We could be the reason she is thriving instead of dying!

Replaying the news in my mind, Eli didn’t mention dying. The only thing he said was that she was getting sicker. The collapsing caused her to go to the clinic. That didn’t mean she was dying, though, did it?

“What has the clinic reported about what is wrong with Kylie?” I looked at my beta, demanding the answer more with my expression than my words.

He shrugged his shoulders. “They weren’t allowed inside to know. She is staying with an older bonded couple, and they took her in.”

“We don’t know the cause of her illness? How does no one know what is wrong with Kylie? Surely, there is an answer as to why her lycan has not connected with her enough to become strong!”

It was something I had researched while looking for her. Nowhere on the internet or in any book we had on our kind mentioned something like this happening. The other kings’ mates didn’t have the same circumstances as Kylie. Tala was delayed because of her being a white lycan. Elena had more of a mental block from not feeling good enough. That was the only information Aaric and Talon gave me when I asked them. They were sympathetic enough to share the details of their rejection journeys, but they reported they had not seen Kylie in their territory. Since their mates had disappeared on them like mine had, the security of leaving the kingdom increased, making it harder for anyone to move in and out without them knowing. It didn’t matter that they were living a good life now with pups. They didn’t want the idea of that happening to anyone within their kingdom after what they experienced.

Something I would look further into once I brought Kylie home.

Neither of their mates had been like Kylie, though. None of them had become sick like this. Their mates had been strong with and without their lycan.

So why was Kylie? Was it her weakness?

Evening prayers to the Moon Goddess gave me no answers. It seemed like I only received a deafening silence from my creator. Most likely because she disapproved of me rejecting the person she created to be my perfect half. None of the answers I needed came when praying to her.

“The only thing we have noted is that her lycan is not strong enough to create the right connection with her. Maybe it has something to do with her confidence? Luna Elena had something like that from the southern kingdom.”

I shook my head. “I already asked. It was like a mental block or something along those lines. Kylie tried desperately to connect with her lycan. She told me it felt like her lycan just wasn’t strong enough to connect with her.”

Eli walked over to the new chair in the office to sit down. This one was made of stronger wood, apparently, but that wouldn’t stop me from turning it into splinters if I lost my temper again. He grabbed my laptop and started searching for things on the internet.

“It’s no use. I already searched everything about her condition.”

Eli scoffed. “What makes you think I don’t have a different idea than you? I might find something about what we’re looking for that’s better than what you found.” He pulled up the browser and looked past me, still trying not to provoke my lycan. Hestill wanted to let loose, but I managed to keep the chain I had around him in place. “Elena had a mental block. Did you search anything on that?”

“Kylie didn’t have a mental block! It’s no use to search for something she doesn’t have.”

Eli shook his head. “What makes you think she didn’t? Have you forgotten her childhood?”

As if I could forget what she had gone through. I executed her father for what he had done to her. If he were still alive, I would rip him apart again. Sometimes, I wish I could talk to a witch to bring him back to life just so I could.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

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