Page 67 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

I grunted but gave him a hard look. “It’s not like I expected it to be where I said sorry and she would forgive me. I just didn’t expect it to go the way it has.”

He laughed, and it made me want to punch him in the face. This time, I knew he was laughing at me. What male wouldn’t when I struck out with the one person who was supposed to forgive me?

“The females of our species are much harder to understand than human females. The lycan inside us all gives us the extra strength to push back when we don’t want something or to get the things we want. It will never be easy to be a mate—I’ll warn you of that now.”

The groan that escaped my lips at that had Nathaniel laughing again. It was far too easy to like this guy.

“I have a feeling she told you that the only way she will forgive you is if you prove to her you know how to be the mate she deserves.”

My mouth fell open. How the hell did he know that?

“I’ve seen it time and time again. When a woman of any race understands her worth, she will demand that any man step up to the plate to prove he is worthy of her. Kylie didn’t know her worth when she first came here. Her past was hard to accept, and I could see why. When you spend your entire life being told you aren’t good enough, that shit will seep into your very being.” He shook his head and sighed. “Even worse, she wasn’t just told these things. They were beaten into her.”

The snarl that ripped through me joined Nathaniel’s. He didn’t like saying those words any more than I liked hearing them.Kylie had been put through hell. It’s why I dismembered Alexander the way that I did.

“What is your plan to show her you will do what it takes to win her back?”

“What’s it to you?”

The way he growled, slammed his hands on the table, and leaned in toward me made me think this would turn into a physical fight. My lycan reared up and pushed for the shift to defend ourselves, but I knew better than to do that. This wasn’t a challenge in the way my lycan thought it was. I had just pissed off the lycan who had been kind to me this whole time. When you poke the monster, you should expect it to bite back.

“Kylie is like a daughter to me. I have helped her as much as I could since she came here. If you plan to bond with her again, then you not only need to prove to her that you won’t toss her aside for a new model once things get tough again. You also need to prove that tome.”

His words took me by surprise. I could see why Kylie felt safe with these two. They were more like parents to her than her father ever was while she was with his pack.

“I plan to court her! Show her I will be there for her and our son. Take care of her the way I should have when she was mine.”

He shook his head and laughed. “That’s what you think being a mate is about? You have so much to learn.” He settled back into his seat and sighed. “Being a mate is more than just being there for them. It means putting them above everything and anything else. Nothing and no one is more important than yourmate. They are your world, the reason you breathe. Not even the kingdom comes before them, and that is going to be a very hard thing to demonstrate while she is waiting for you to prove yourself.”

“And how the hell would you know?” I snarled at him.

I could tell he was judging me. Nathaniel knew I had rejected Kylie because of her issues with her lycan and wanted to throw digs at me for choosing the kingdom over her.

In his eyes, I could see wisdom gleaming. “Because I had to make that tough choice myself,” Nathaniel told me, placing his arms on the table and leaning in again. “When Charlotte was pregnant, there was a lot going on in our pack. Too many things had taken me away from her during the pregnancy, and honestly, I got tired of it. When she went into labor, I was given an ultimatum: either be there for the pack as it descended into chaos or be there for my mate. Do you want to know what I chose?”

My mouth went dry. I knew the answer, but I didn’t want to say it. He did what I couldn’t.

“I chose my mate. That decision was the easiest one I have ever made. There was no contest when it came to her or everything else. Throughout the pregnancy, Charlotte told me to tend to the pack because she didn’t need me at her side every second of the day. But when she was in labor, it was no contest. That’s where I knew I had to be. There wasn’t a force in this world that would keep me away from her.”

“I would’ve been there for Kylie if I had known about the baby.”

“That’s not what I was talking about, son. We walked away from being in charge because I was being told I had to choose the pack over my mate. They were trying to force that on me.” So many emotions passed through his eyes that I couldn’t tell which one was staring back at me.

That’s when another growl escaped my throat. Was he trying to tell me my father was the one who made him decide this? That wasn’t like my father at all.

Nathaniel must’ve caught the shift in my expression. “No,” he said calmly. “Not your father. My beta and others in the pack. But they weren’t mated. They didn’t understand.” He took a moment to collect himself and smiled. “I hope you see what I mean by this. Kylie deserves someone who chooses her. She has been at the bottom of priority lists her entire life. If you want her, then you need to show her she is your only priority, which is what she deserves.”

It wasn’t a revelation to hear those words. That had been my exact thought when she laid into me earlier.

Maybe I shouldn’t have walked out of her room. Did that make her think I wouldn’t choose her? I thought she would need space after our conversation, and I needed air to calm myself. It wasn’t just about me; calming myself meant calming the beast inside me.

No one deserved to deal with this monster.

Do you wish to see me in a worse mood?

No. No one does.

Then stop complaining and listen to the man. He is telling you how to win back our mate.

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