Page 9 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

The king is here.

If only he knew I was down here and could save me.

My lycan surged to the surface as best she could at feeling the power. She relaxed, and there were rumblings from my chest of contentment. I couldn’t understand why she would feel like this. We were dying, and the only people who knew I was down here were my father and Amara. My father would command her not to say a word to the king about me.

Mate,my lycan said to me.Mate is here.

That couldn’t be right. The king couldn’t be mated to a weakling like me.

When he didn’t rush down into the dungeon to find me, I groaned as my heart broke. I knew better than to let myself get my hopes up. Things didn’t go my way like that, so why would they now?

The pain in my stomach tightened and curled into a ball to lessen the discomfort.

Then I slipped into the darkness.

I don’t know how much time passed. For a moment, I thought the Moon Goddess had granted my wish, but there was movement upstairs. A male’s bellowing echoed in the distance, but I couldn’t get my eyes to open. Everything hurt. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt too heavy. I faded out again before I heard the metal bars groaning.

Wait. Metal bars groaning? Who could open the bars infused with wolfsbane like that? No lycan that I knew of could. My father was powerful, but he had screamed in agony from touching the bars before. A minty scent wafted into my nose, dragging me from the dark depths of my mind. Something caressed my cheek, and my lycan surged with new energy, enough to make my eyelids flutter. She was excited to be touched, to smell the mint, because it meant someone was here to save us.

He’s here. He will save us. Wake up, Kylie! He’s here to save us!She rejoiced as I slowly emerged from the darkness to open my eyes.

Thick, dark blond hair slicked back with product was the first thing I focused on. Deep blue eyes met mine, and my lycan sighed in relief at seeing them. A strong chin andhigh cheekbones registered next before another wave of minty goodness filled my nose. Even crouched down, this person appeared to be a menacing hulk of muscle. I sighed at the scent but then realized I didn’t know who was in front of me. I moved away, only to be met with pain, and I winced.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you,” the man said, reaching out his hand.

I could feel his anger radiating off him, making it hard for me to concentrate. I had seen this look before, but only on one person: my father. This man was going to hurt me.

I was tired of being beaten and abused at the hands of angry alphas for no reason. This couldn’t be my life anymore. I pushed the thought away before feeling overwhelmed with lethargy again. “Stay back!” I croaked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Everything about this man seemed tense, and my mind wandered to how it would feel to be in his embrace. My lycan stirred with glee inside me at the thought of him. She repeated,Mate,in my head, but I couldn’t believe that to be true. How was this man my mate? He looked powerful, as if he could tear through the entire house within seconds.

I was the broken daughter of an alpha, and this was clearly an alpha standing in front of me.

These two things didn’t add up, so how was he my mate?

The king.

This was King Maximus.

And he wasmymate.

How was this possible? The Moon Goddess had a twisted sense of humor to give me a mate like him.

“Are you… King Maximus?” I squeaked out, needing to know if my assumptions were correct.

“Yes,” he replied as he got to his feet, not once loosening his grip on me. “And you are?”

“Kylie.”

“Kylie. Who did this to you?” he growled as his eyes scanned my body.

My breath hitched in my throat at his words. He seemed furious. No, worse than furious at the sight of me. I let out a whimper, feeling embarrassed, knowing I looked like hell. I felt like hell had worked me over, and I was sure I was covered in bruises and blood. I looked away from him, hoping to disappear so he wouldn’t see how frail I was at that moment. If this man was my mate, he needed to know I was worthy. Looking the way I did right now wouldn’t inspire the confidence an alpha would want in a mate.

“Tell me who did this to you so I can make them pay!” he said through clenched teeth.

I knew better than to answer that. If I told him it was my father, he’d either not believe me or cause a problem with my father. Neither option sounded good.

“I don’t—”

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